Biography

He was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours List for his services to British Arts and Culture in Canada. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bard on the Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

[on performing in 'The Pirates of Penzance'] When the Major General hits the stage, you have to do one of the greatest patter songs ever written, like an Olympian at the hundred metre sprint or at the top of the diving board. Like everything else, it's just bloody hard work, and if you don't put everything you've got into it, it just won't work. I use every ounce of technique and elbow grease that I have gathered over sixty years, and just do it.

I tell 'Bard' audiences "Support the arts, not necessarily Bard, whatever you choose, and it will be good for all of us". Enthusiasm is transferable - to theatre, to the symphony to the opera, to whatever.

[on musical at performances at 'Bard on the Beach'] After years of fronting shows like these I now feel that I can link almost anything together. The essential thing is to be light and accessible, but also profound when it needs to be. All I really try to do in my hosting is to throw the ball up in the air, so when the music begins it just serves it over the net.