Richard Lambert

Lighting designer and producer Richard Lambert of LAMBCO Productions has just opened a new fringe venue in the heart of London’s West End where his first show is Marry Me a Little. Susan Elkin chatted to him.

How did you get into show business?

My mother ran a dance school in Paignton where I grew up and putting me on a chair nearby was a form of babysitting. And when she took her shows into local venues, I watched from backstage and became very interested in the technical side. It was effectively a foot in the door. Meanwhile my hobby was ice skating …

So did you then train in technical theatre?

No. My parents wanted me to have as much education as possible, so I did a BSc Hons in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Sunderland (where I skated every day because there was a rink opposite) followed by a PGCE in Birmingham and two years’ teaching physics to GCSE and A level students in Nottingham.

This is not the life story I was expecting to hear! When did the break come?

Disney on Ice came to Nottingham and I won a competition. Then I applied for a job with them, got it and flew off to Oklahoma. I skated for a year in shows and then moved into the production team. We did international shows in every big arena in the world – and I lived out of two suitcases for the next 7 years.

Did that pall in the end? Well, I was aware that I had no pension, property or relationship and that I probably needed to get off the road, so went to work for another company in New York for two years. Then I was hired by MA Lighting and set up their UK division back in London. My own company emerged from that.

So it was Disney to fringe theatre?

Yes! One extreme to the other. I’ve always loved Fringe Theatre and when, 21 years ago, director Robert McWhir invited me to do the lights for Marry Me a Little at Landor Theatre in Clapham I jumped at it – and terrified him with heavy lights on a wonky ceiling! Then he invited me to work on his next show Muscles the Musical and he and I have worked together ever since. And now we’ve opened our new venue.

Stage Door Theatre is part of the Prince of Wales pub in Drury Lane isn’t it?

Indeed. It’s wonderfully central and a very flexible space – well appointed too. Our opening show here – the wheel has come full circle – is Marry Me a Little with set at one end, cabaret-style seating and a dining/ show ticket option. But it’s pop-up and can be variously configured. Everything folds away so that the space can also be used by the pub for things like rugby internationals.

What else are you planning?

Our next show, which opens on 17 April is The Tailor-Made Man, a straight play by Claudio Macor which opens on 17 April. Our Musical Mondays seem to be going well. They are a weekly, very casual, evening of music from the shows with dining and drinks. Sunday Roasts are very popular too. You choose your Sunday lunch online and then come along. It’s basically a singalong session with a keyboard player.

And I heard something about Composers of Note?

Yes, those are

Sunday afternoon events, about once a month, in which we explore the work of a classical composer with lots of humour along with information – probably with two instrumentalists, a singer and a presenter. I’m busy setting this up at the moment.

It all sounds imaginatively eclectic?

I hope so. The idea is to provide affordable, accessible entertainment. People who go to mainstream theatre are often reduced to expensive drinks in theatre bars or pricey restaurant meals if they want to catch up with their friends as well as see a show. Stage Door Theatre allows you do all that in one place and, by West End standards it’s very reasonable. The Tailor-Made Man costs £41 per head including dining and a Sunday Roast session is £31 all in.

And is all that affordability also economically viable?

It will be. We’re working hard to get to that point.

Marry Me a Little at www.stagedoortheatre.co.uk to April 13th

IP