Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and more pay tribute to publicist Peter Thompson

Theatre producers and figures have marked the death of theatre publicist Peter Thompson at the age of 81.

As detailed in an extensive tribute by arts journalist Baz Bamigboye, Thompson was the publicity mastermind behind some of the megamusicals of the 20th and 21st century, including Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables and Miss Saigon. 

According to Bamigboye, it was Thompson that introduced composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to producer Cameron Mackintosh when the former had an idea about turning T S Eliot’s fabled book about cats into a stage musical. The rest is theatre history.

Mackintosh said in a statement today: “Peter Thompson was one of the greatest press reps of all time. An inspired shambling showman (with an immense capacity for wine) and a laconic drawl, who could be more lethal than any critic if he thought your show wasn’t up to much.

“Often after a middling opening you would ask Peter ‘What should we do?’ ‘Close it’, would be his brutally honest reply! But if he believed in your show, he was an incredibly perceptive evangelist, who would hound any editor till he got the story and publicity he wanted.

“He often championed material that wasn’t obvious that he saw as special, when others didn’t, and more often than not he was right. He had the rare ability to artfully manipulate situations to make an opening a great news event not just another showbiz opening.

“All of us that worked with Peter owe him a great debt for guiding us through the roller coaster ride of the ’80s and naughty ’90s which were his heyday, as well as his later brilliant work on my productions of Hair and Betty Blue Eyes.

“It was a great loss when Peter became ill and had to withdraw from the theatre. But some of his greatest unlikely hits like Cats, Phantom, Les Misérables and Miss Saigon are still running as proof of his brilliant eye for originality. God bless and thank you Peter.”

Another tribute came from composer and theatreowner Lloyd Webber,  who said: “Peter Thompson was a theatre publicist like no other. He would stand at the door on a first night and tell critics on the way in if he thought the show was rubbish. So he could get interviews in key places nobody else could. Theatre will miss his laconic drone of a voice rounding up the reviews after opening night.”

Amanda Malpass, who worked with Thompson for 20 years before setting up her own company, said in a tribute: “I first met Peter in 1987, when I was press officer at the Chichester Festival Theatre and Peter was the PR consultant. I instantly fell in love with him. It was then my greatest honour to work for him for 20 years at Peter Thompson Associates from 1990 to 2010.  What an amazing time! No one could touch Peter when it came to theatre PR. He was the publicist for Kenneth Branagh and David Parfitt’s Renaissance Theatre and Film Companies, Judy Craymer, Robert Fox, Harvey Goldsmith, Thelma Holt, David Ian, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh, Howard Panter, David Pugh, Robert Stigwood, Duncan Weldon, Michael White and many, many more.

“He told the best showbiz stories, having worked with everyone, from Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, to Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Vanessa Redgrave. He had great taste and knew just what was needed to make a show a hit. He was fearless… and outrageous! He was also that rare thing: a PR who was loved and admired by the journalists (even the ones he was rude too!). So many of us owe our careers to the maestro. Peter was one of the great characters of our industry and it is much duller without him. I told him once that, when he died, I’d write on his tombstone ‘F**k knows!’.  People who knew him will understand.”

West End publicist Simon Raw said in a statement: “Peter was an absolute legend. Not just the ultimate theatre publicist, but a true force of nature in the industry. Working for him was one of the greatest privileges of my career and I will always be grateful for the generosity with which he shared his knowledge, instincts, passion and flair.

“His wit was razor-sharp, his standards were the absolute highest and his presence truly unforgettable. I owe so much of who I am professionally to Peter, and I will miss him more than words can truly capture.”

Bamigboye ends his tribute saying: “Theatre lights should be dimmed in his honour. He was that big.”