This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2010)

Jeremy Sams (born 12 January 1957, London, England) is a British film director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist.

Biography[link]

Sams studied Music, French, and German at Magdalene College, Cambridge and piano at Guildhall School of Music. Early on he worked as a freelance pianist and coach, giving frequent recitals and tours and doing stints as a repetiteur at opera houses in Brussels and Ankara.

Sams came to prominence as a director with a revival of Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off, which he mounted in London's Royal National Theatre in 2000. This production then transferred to the West End, and then to Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway in 2001.^[1]

Among his other directing credits are the West End musicals Spend Spend Spend (1999), the story of Viv Nicholson, who squandered a fortune won in the British lottery, and a stage adaptation of the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, called simply Chitty the Musical (2002), starring Michael Ball, for both of which he received Laurence Olivier Award nominations; the 2002 Broadway production Amour, which he translated from the original French libretto by Didier Van Cauwelaert. His efforts earned him two Tony Award and two Drama Desk Award nominations. His directing credits also include Jason Carr and Gary Yershon's musical of The Water Babies at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2003. He directed the Jason Robert Brown Broadway musical13 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, on Broadway.^[2]

Sams' many translations include plays by Botho Strauß; Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Puccini's La Boheme, and Wagner’s The Ring Cycle for ENO; The Merry Widow for Covent Garden; Les Parents terribles, The Miser and Mary Stuart for the Royal National Theatre; and The Threepenny Opera for the Donmar Warehouse.

Sams' composing credits include the BBC film of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, for which he won a BAFTA award for Best Music. Other scores include The Mother (2003) and Enduring Love (2004).

Sams has written, arranged, and directed music for some 50 theatre productions, including The Wind in the Willows and Arcadia (RNT) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC).

Sams is the son of the late Shakespearean scholar and musicologist Eric Sams. He has one child with actress Maria Friedman.

References[link]

Gyles Brandreth
Member of Parliament for City of Chester
In office 9 April 1992 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Peter Morrison
Succeeded by	Christine Russell
Majority	1,101 (2.1%)
Personal details
Born	(1948-03-08) 8 March 1948 (age 64)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Michèle Brown
Relations	Jeremiah Brandreth George Robert Sims Benjamin Brandreth
Children	3
Alma mater	New College, Oxford

Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is a British writer, broadcaster, and former Conservative Member of Parliament.

Early life[link]

He was born in Germany where his father, Charles Brandreth, was serving as a legal officer with the Allied Control Commission. After having moved to London with his parents at the age of three, Brandreth was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle (as it is called today), Bedales School, where he met his friend Simon Cadell, and New College, Oxford. He rose to the Presidency of the Oxford Union in 1970, also editing the University magazine, Isis. He was described in a contemporaneous publication as "Oxford's Lord High Everything Else".^[1] Christopher Hitchens suggested that Brandreth "set out to make himself into a Ken Tynan. Wore a cloak."^[2] He went on to become a theatre producer, politician, journalist, author and publisher as well as, later, turning TV presenter.

Television[link]

Brandreth has appeared on Countdown and TV-am. He was known for his collection of jumpers, of which some were sold in a charity auction in 1993.

In 2006, he appeared on the television series That Mitchell and Webb Look, satirising his appearances in Countdown's Dictionary Corner on the fictional game show Numberwang. In 2007, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio play "I.D."

In 2008, he appeared as the guest celebrity in 'Dictionary Corner' on Countdown. This was to commemorate Carol Vorderman's final appearance on the show, plus the final for that round, reflecting his appearance in the first final of Countdown.

In July to August 2009, he hosted the game show Knowitalls on BBC Two. In April 2010, he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Vote Now Show. He also makes a cameo appearance in Channel 4 Sit-Com The IT Crowd in the episode 'The Final Countdown'.

He has appeared in two episodes of the BBC's panel show QI.

He is a regular contributor to the week-nightly BBC1 show The One Show.

He has appeared in two episodes of the TV adaptation of Just A Minute as part of the show's 45th anniversary.

Radio[link]

Brandreth has presented programmes on London's LBC radio at various times since 1973, such as Star Quality.

He regularly appears on BBC Radio 4's comedy panel game Just a Minute.

He has appeared on several episodes of Radio 4's political programme The Westminster Hour, explaining his thoughts on how to make the most of being a government minister.

From 2003 to 2005 Brandreth hosted the Radio 4 comedy panel game Whispers.

In 2006, Brandreth appeared in the Radio 4 comedy programme Living with the Enemy which he co-wrote with comedian Nick Revell, in which they appear as a former Conservative government minister and a former comedian.

In 2010 he broadcast a Radio 4 documentary about his great-great-grandfather, the inventor of a medicine called 'Brandreth's Pills'.

He is the host of the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show Wordaholics, first aired on February 20, 2012.

Writing[link]

Since the 1970s Brandreth has written various books about Scrabble, words, puzzles and jokes, for adults and children.

He wrote an authorised biography of John Gielgud, the actor, as well as lipogrammic reworks of Shakespeare. One of his books, All Wrong on the Night, is a compilation of anecdotes about theatrical performances going wrong due to missed cues, faulty props or mangled dialogue. The book's title parodies a phrase often heard when a play is in rehearsal prior to its opening performance: anyone who misses a cue or commits any other error during rehearsal typically assures his colleagues that it will be "all right on the night" (of the opening).

In the 1980s Brandreth wrote scripts for Dear Ladies, the television programme featuring Hinge and Bracket. Brandreth is also the creator of a stage show called Zipp! which enjoyed success at the Edinburgh Festival and had a short run in London's West End.

In September 2004, Brandreth's book on the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage was published. In July 2005, he published another royal book named Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair which is about the three-decade love affair between the newly-married Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

He has also written five works of historical fiction, placing Oscar Wilde at the centre of murder mysteries, in which Wilde works with both Robert Sherard and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Politics[link]

Brandreth was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), representing the City of Chester, from 1992 to 1997. In 1995, he was appointed to a junior ministerial position in John Major's government as a Lord of the Treasury, with his role being essentially that of a whip.^[3][4]

He later published a book of his diaries from his time as a whip, Breaking the Code. After his parliamentary career, he broadcast some of his reminiscences on BBC radio as Brandreth on Office and The Brandreth Rules in 2001, 2003 and 2005. He has stated an opposition to the British honours system, and said he will never accept one himself.^{[citation needed]}

Other activities[link]

He is a former European Monopoly champion,^[5] and President of the Association of British Scrabble Players,^[6] having organised the first British National Scrabble Championship in 1972.

In August 2005, he appeared in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Edinburgh Festival.

He is an after-dinner speaker, and he held the world record for the longest continuous after-dinner speech, at 12 and a half hours, done as a charity stunt.

With his wife he founded the Teddy Bear museum, formerly located in Stratford-upon-Avon, and now relocated to Wimbledon, London.

Personal life[link]

Brandreth has been married to Michèle Brown since 1973. They met at Oxford, and they have three children together.

He has at various times claimed Jeremiah Brandreth, executed leader of the Pentrich Rising of 1817, as a 'forebear'.

Selected bibliography[link]

• The Joy of Lex: How to Have Fun with 860,341,500 Words (1980), ISBN 0-688-01397-X
• The Book of Mistaikes (1982), ISBN 0-7088-2194-4
• The Scrabble Brand Puzzle Book (1984), ISBN 0-671-50536-X
• A Guide to Playing the Scrabble Brand Crossword Game (1985), ISBN 0-671-50652-8
• The Great Book of Optical Illusions (1985), ISBN 0-8069-6258-5
• The Scrabble Companion (1988), ISBN 0-09-172698-0 (with Darryl Francis)
• World Championship Scrabble (1992), ISBN 0-550-19028-7 (with Darryl Francis)
• Under the Jumper: Autobiographical Excursions (1993). ISBN 0-86051-894-9
• Venice Midnight (1999). ISBN 0-7515-2658-4
• Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries, 1992-97 (1999), ISBN 0-297-64311-8
• Brief Encounters: Meetings with Remarkable People (2001), ISBN 1-902301-95-1
• John Gielgud: An Actor's Life (2001), ISBN 0-7509-2690-2
• The Biggest Kids Joke Book Ever! (2002), ISBN 0-233-05062-0
• The Joy of Lex: An Amazing and Amusing Z to A and A to Z of Words (2002), ISBN 1-86105-399-1
• The Word Book (2002), ISBN 1-86105-398-3
• Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage (2004), ISBN 0-7126-6103-4
• Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair (2005), ISBN 1-84413-845-3
• Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders (2007), ISBN 978-0-7195-6930-2 (American title: Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance)
• Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death (2008), (American title: Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder)
• Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile (2009)
• Oscar Wilde and the Nest of Vipers (2010) (American title: Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders)
• Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Gyles Brandreth

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Gyles Brandreth
• Gyles Brandreth at the Internet Movie Database
• Listen to The Brandreth Rules
• Gyles Brandreth's official website
• The Teddy Bear Museum

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

Jeremy Healy (born Jeremiah Healy, 18 January 1962, Woolwich, South London) is an English DJ and singer. He is a former member of the 1980s pop group, Haysi Fantayzee.

Career[link]

In the 1980s, Healy and Kate Garner formed the UK novelty pop group, Haysi Fantayzee.^[1] He also acted as co-songwriter and co-producer for the E-Zee Possee and Bleachin'. In addition, he has worked with Gwen Stefani on the mashup for her "Wind It Up" single.

He has been voted 'number one DJ' by both The Face and Mixmag magazines.^[2] Healy also produced and underscored the sound effects for the Duran Duran video, Arena (An Absurd Notion).^[2] Healy has remixed work by both Boy George and George Michael. He had a cameo role playing himself in the 2004 film, Chasing Liberty.^[3]

2004 saw the launch of Healy's latest recording project, Seraphim Suite, collaborating with a variety of featured vocalists including Mica Paris on the first single "Heart" (Inferno Records). His disc jockey duties between 2004 and 2006 included residencies with Miss Moneypennys in Ibiza and Cyprus, plus regular UK dates with Empire, Love to Be, Time Flies, Syndicate, Kool Waters, Naughty But Nice, and overseas events in Dubai, Mediterranean, United States and Brazil. He continued his involvement with designers Dior, Galliano and the Victoria's Secrets fashion house (he has been musical director for every annual VS show from 2001 onwards), plus the Pret a Porter International Fashion Fair in Paris.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Healy undertook the musical director's role for Gwen Stefani's Lamb fashion label, The Golden Age of Couture at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief, the Parisian jewellers Chaumet, plus the launch of J-Lo's fashion wear. 2007 saw production credits on a Gwen Stefani album and remix credits for "Wind It Up". He is currently working on a new studio project, and several remixes. Guest DJ residencies include Attica in Shanghai and Singapore, United Kingdom of Dance, The Empire, DY5, Club 2K, Nakatcha and Boujis in the UK, plus Belmont in Perth, Western Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Healy was engaged to Patsy Kensit, with the announcement they were to marry made on 29 November 2007.^[4] However, on the 31 March 2008 it was reported that the pair had mutually split and called off their wedding.^[5] The pair eventually wed on Saturday 18 April 2009,^[6] but in February 2010 were reported to have separated.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Healy @ myspace.com
• Healy @ trustthedj.com
• jeremyhealy.com
• dexnfx.com

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (January 2012)

Luca Pisaroni (born 1975) is an Italian operatic bass-baritone, known for his Mozartean roles.

Early life and training[link]

Pisaroni was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, and his family moved to Busseto, Italy when he was 4 years old. He grew up attending the musical academy run by the famous local tenor Carlo Bergonzi. He began his training at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, continuing his studies in Buenos Aires with Renato Sassola and Rozita Zozulya, and also in New York.

Career[link]

Pisaroni's professional debut in the operatic world was in the title role of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro in Klagenfurt, in 2001. In the same year, he was awarded the Eberhard-Wächter-Medal as “Newcomer of the Season” by the Vienna State Opera.^[1][2]

Pisaroni has since appeared in major opera houses and festivals across Europe and America. In 2002, he debuted at the Whitsun Baroque Festival with Haydn’s Nelson Mass, and at the Salzburg Summer Festival as Masetto in Don Giovanni, where he has performed every summer since.

Opera[link]

Apart from the aforementioned roles, Pisaroni also has an extensive list of onstage performances to his credit, including Publio (from La Clemenza di Tito) for the Salzburg Festival (with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra), Aix-en-Provence Festival, as well as at the Met, Colline (from La Bohème) and Leporello (from Don Giovanni) at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Opéra Bastille, the latter being where he also performed Melisso (from Alcina), Figaro again at the Met, and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (at the latter, he performed once more as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte), Guglielmo (from Così fan tutte) for the Netherlands Opera, the Glyndebourne, and the Salzburg Mozart Week, Alidoro (from La Cenerentola) in Santiago, Chile, Tiridate en Handel's Radamisto and Fígaro at the Santa Fe Opera and the Houston Opera and Achilla in Händel’s Giulio Cesare for Opera Colorado.

Concerts[link]

In concert performances, Pisaroni has sung Zebul in Händel’s Jephtha with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

He has also performed Michael Haydn’s Requiem in C minor under Ivor Bolton, and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor under Marc Minkowski, both at the Salzburg Festival.

Furthermore, Pisaroni also has Niccolò Piccinni's Iphigénie en Tauride with the Orchestre National de France, Mozart’s Coronation Mass at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso in Toulouse and Brussels under his belt, the last two with Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

Discography[link]

• Cavalli - Ercole Amante - Bolton, Netherlands Opera, Amsterdam (DVD)
• Haydn - Requiem - Bolton
• Handel - La Resurrezione - Haim
• Martin y Soler - Il burbero di buon cuore - Rousset (DVD)
• Mozart - Cosi fan tutte - Fischer - Glyndebourne (DVD)
• Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte - Metzmacher, Netherlands Opera (DVD)
• Mozart - Don Giovanni - Harding - Salzburg (DVD) (Masseto)
• Mozart - Don Giovanni - Jurowski - Glyndebourne (DVD) (Leporello)
• Mozart - Le nozze di Fígaro - Jacobs - París (DVD)
• Mozart: Le nozze di Fígaro - Metzmacher - Amsterdam (DVD)
• Mozart - La clemenza di Tito - Harnoncourt - Salzburg (DVD)
• Mozart - Mass in c minor - Langrée
• Rossini - La cenerentola - Zedda

References[link]

External links[link]

• Luca Pisaroni's official website, lucapisaroni.com