WOS Adopted Charity Stage One Announces New Chief Executive

Stage One, the adopted charity for the 2012 Whatsonstage.com Awards, has announced today that Joseph Smith will succeed Nick Salmon as chief executive, starting this November.
Founded in 1976, Stage One’s work includes workshops, bursary schemes, apprentice schemes and start up funds to support new producers and productions for the commercial theatre industry.

Joseph Smith was executive producer for Old Vic Productions alongside chief executive Sally Greene since 2006 and his current and most recent production credits for OVP include Billy Elliot – The Musical worldwide, Jerusalem, Clybourne Park, and The Prisoner of Second Avenue.

“I have always been passionate about nurturing the next generation of theatrical entrepreneurs and am delighted to be taking over the baton from Nick Salmon,” Smith said. “I look forward to working with all the Stage One team and the wider producing community in strengthening the organisation and developing this vital work further across the industry.”

Smith has operated as the commercial consultant for the Royal Court Theatre and as associate producer for RJK Productions in New York f Gypsy, Life x3, Retreat from Moscow and the off-Broadway festival of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads.

Stage One chair Luke Johnson of Risk Capital Partners recognised Smith’s vast list of achievements.

“He brings an energy and commitment to the organisation that will ensure that Stage One continues to be at the heart of quality commercial producing in the UK,” said Johnson.

Smith’s producing credits include Million Dollar Quartet and Spring Awakening in the West End, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway.

Before producing, he worked at the National Theatre for ten years as an integral part of its Transformation Season, which included 13 world premieres with artists including Deborah Warner, Kathryn Hunter, Matthew Bourne, Mick Gordon, Roy Williams, Richard Bean, Owen McCafferty and Simon Bent.

As part of our partnership with Stage One, Whatsonstage.com has declared 2012 the “Year of the Producer”, and will be running a 12-month editorial series of interviews, blogs and other features that highlight the crucial role of the producer. 

Joseph Smith will be talking more about the work of Stage One at the industry-attended launch party of the Whatsonstage.com Awards, which takes place at Café de Paris on 2 December 2011 (for your chance to attend, see below).

For more information on Stage One, visit www.stageone.uk.com.

About the Whatsonstage.com Awards

Each year, Whatsonstage.com selects one arts-related charity as part of the Whatsonstage.com Awards campaign. In addition to the association with the best of British theatre and proceeds received from the two Awards events, the charity benefits from exposure on Whatsonstage.com and our dedicated awards website as well as in our sister print title Whatsonstage.com Magazine and gains a valuable platform to directly address both the theatre industry and the theatregoing public. Previous Awards charities have included The Theatrical Guild, Masterclass, TheatreMAD, Mousetrap Theatre Projects, SAFE (Sponsored Arts for Education), Sophie’s Silver Lining Fund and the Drake Music Project.

All professional productions – from West End to Fringe – opened in London between 1 December 2010 and 30 November 2011 are eligible for nomination in the next Awards. Voting takes place online and is strictly monitored, with only one vote accepted per person. Over 46,000 people voted in the last Awards, which culminated with the star-studded Winners’ Concert at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday 14 February 2011, co-hosted by Miranda Hart, Christopher Biggins and Sheridan Smith. For full results and coverage from previous years, visit awards.whatsonstage.com.

For the 12th annual Awards, we are making a limited number of sponsorship packages – normally reserved for corporate partners – available to private theatregoers. These include tickets to the invitation-only, industry-attended launch party at Café de Paris (not normally open to the public) as well as VIP passes to the Winners’ Concert and exclusive after-party next February. For more information on Theatregoer Sponsorship, click here.