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Back Row Productions (BRP) is a company established in 1995 with offices in London and Sydney and is run by Managing Directors Liz Koops and Garry McQuinn. BRP is involved in theatre, live events, concert productions and international tour booking and licensing.

Back Row specialises in developing and presenting innovative live entertainment throughout the world.

Productions[link]

• Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (The Musical) - Sydney, Australia

• Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake - world tour

• Dein Perry’s Tap Dogs - One of Australia's most successful theatrical exports was presented in more than 20 countries and over 300 cities – often with a number of companies touring simultaneously grossing in excess of US$230m.

• Gumboots - award-winning show which features a troupe of dancers, singers and musicians from Soweto, South Africa.

History[link]

In 2000 Back Row was acquired by Clear Channel, the largest live entertainment company in the world. While working within Clear Channel’s London office Back Row consolidated the European and Asian touring circuits for all of their UK theatrical productions, and took responsibility for developing new international theatre markets, partnerships and strategies.

In January 2005, Back Row re-acquired the company from Clear Channel.

Productions at Clear Channel[link]

• Fosse - Hamburg, Basel, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Paris.
• Mum’s the Word - European, North American and regional tours prior to a West End opening in 2003.
• Slava’s Snowshow
• Cats
• Chicago the musical
• Bounce
• Circus Oz
• Gumboots
• Tap Dogs
• Lady Salsa

Tour Booking & General Management[link]

Back Row has provided tour booking consultancy for external clients touring seasons of Miss Saigon (Portugal), Starlight Express and Chicago (Greece), and Cats (Portugal), Grease (Monte Carlo) and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Dubai).

External links[link]

• Official Back Row Productions
• Priscilla: Queen of the Desert the Musical

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Gordon L. Goodwin (born 1954) is an American studio pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger and conductor. He now lives in Southern California with his wife Lisa, daughter Madison and two sons, Trevor and Garrison.

Early years[link]

Gordon Goodwin was born in Wichita, Kansas.

Gordon Goodwin began his musical education at Cal State Northridge with Joel Leach and Bill Calkins. He wrote his first big band chart when he was in the 7th grade, called "Hang Loose". After graduation he was recruited to Louie Bellson's big band, where he played with the likes of Pete Christlieb and Don Menza. He went on to play under Les Hooper and Grant Geissman.

[edit] Big Phat Band

Since then, Goodwin has risen to prominence in the American studio music scene with his big band, The Big Phat Band.^[1] In the band, Goodwin plays piano and occasionally both the soprano and tenor saxophone. This band brings together the talents of such players as Wayne Bergeron, Eric Marienthal and Andy Martin. These detailed music charts are all written or adapted by Gordon Goodwin. Several of his songs are plays on old jazz tunes: a prime example is "Sing, Sang, Sung" which mimics the famous Louis Prima song "Sing, Sing, Sing". Under Goodwin's direction, the band has released five albums: "Swingin' For the Fences", which received two Grammy nominations, and "XXL", which received three. "The Phat Pack" was released on June 13, 2006, and "Bah, Humduck! a Looney Tunes Christmas (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture)" was also released in 2006. "Act Your Age", was released on September 30, 2008. Their most recent album, "That's How We Roll", was released on April 12, 2011. Goodwin won the 2012 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his Arrangement of George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue.

Gordon Goodwin's music with the Big Phat Band is distributed by Silverline Records.

Popular culture[link]

As a film scorer, Goodwin has worked on such films as FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Majestic, Glory Road, National Treasure, Remember the Titans, Armageddon, Star Trek: Nemesis, The Incredibles, Hot Rod, Get Smart, Snakes on a Plane, Race to Witch Mountain, Coach Carter, Bad Boys II, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, the classic cult film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, and Enemy of the State. His work in television includes music for the TV series Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Tom and Jerry, Histeria!, Road Rovers, and Freakazoid!. His recording history includes performances with artists as diverse as Mel Tormé, Ray Charles and Christina Aguilera. Goodwin himself has received many individual awards, including a recent Grammy for Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his work on the feature film The Incredibles.^[1] He is also a three time Emmy winner.

Goodwin has also been a guest conductor for such groups as the London Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Sheet music[link]

His music is published by companies such as Hal Leonard, Alfred Publishing [1], and Walrus Music.

Discography[link]

The Big Phat Band has five albums currently released:

• Swingin' For The Fences (Released January 3, 2002)
• XXL (Released September 18, 2005)
• The Phat Pack (Released April 15, 2006)
• Bah, Humduck! a Looney Tunes Christmas (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) (Released 2006)
• Act Your Age (Released September 30, 2008)
• That's How We Roll (Released April 12, 2011)
• Grade 3 featured on the Shine On! Volume One album along with Tierney Sutton. (Released September 30, 2011)
• Play With Me featured on the Shine On! Volume One album along with Amber Lily. (Released September 30, 2011)^[2]

References[link]

Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films, such as Anya/Anastasia in Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, and the Adult Kiara in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.

Biography[link]

Born in Chicago, Callaway made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim's short-lived but now famous Merrily We Roll Along (1981). This began a long-term professional relationship with Sondheim, as Callaway has performed in a number of live concerts in his honor and also played the role of Young Sally in the Lincoln Center concert production of Follies with Mandy Patinkin, Barbara Cook, George Hearn, Lee Remick, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch and the New York Philharmonic. Follies was recorded live and also filmed as a documentary. This recording is considered to be the definitive recording of the legendary Sondheim, Goldman, Prince collaboration. Additional stage credits include Lizzie in Baby (for which she earned a Tony Award nomination), The Three Musketeers, The Spitfire Grill (for which she earned a Drama Desk Award nomination), Sunday in the Park with George, Evita, Cats, and Miss Saigon, for which she received another Tony Award nomination. Liz also performed in The Look of Love, a 2003 musical revue of the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Callaway also had her own children's television show on WNEV-TV in Boston, Ready to Go, which ran from 1987 to 1991. She left this series in order to begin rehearsals for Miss Saigon on Broadway.

In July 2012, Ms. Callaway will star as Norma Desmond in the Pittsburgh CLO's new production of Sunset Boulevard ^[1]

Callaway has also provided the singing voices for a number of animated characters, including Kiara in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Princess Jasmine in The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Odette in The Swan Princess, and Anya/Anastasia in Anastasia.

She has performed various cabaret acts at Joe's Pub, Rainbow & Stars, the Russian Tea Room, and the Lincoln Center in New York City, and at the Donmar Warehouse in London, among other venues.

Callaway's solo recordings include Anywhere I Wander, The Story Goes On, and The Beat Goes On. She released her fourth solo recording, Passage of Time, for the record label PS Classics, on October 20, 2009. The album has garnered^{[citation needed]} rave reviews.

Callaway is the sister of singer and composer Ann Hampton Callaway, with whom she sang the theme song for the Fran Drescher comedy series The Nanny, composed by Hampton Callaway. The Callaway sisters have appeared together in a number of cabaret and stage production. Recordings of two of them, Sibling Revelry, recorded live at Rainbow and Stars in 1995 and Boom! recorded live at Birdland in 2011, have been released. Liz Callaway is married to former actor and acclaimed director Dan Foster. Foster is one of the three founding producers of the Hudson Stage Company, a non-profit, professional theatre company in residence at Pace University in Westchester County, New York.^[2] She is the daughter of the late journalist John Callaway and singer and voice teacher Shirley Callaway.

Callaway was honored at the 25th Annual Bistro Awards in New York City.^[3]

Liz Callaway also has a son, Nicholas- as of 2012^[update] a junior at Kenyon College.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Liz Callaway at the Internet Broadway Database
• Liz Callaway at the Internet Movie Database
• Website