Stephen Kingsbury

(music & lyrics)

Stephen has written the music and lyrics for four full-scale original musicals: Great Expectations (2002); Treasure Island! (2003) and The Wind in the Willows (2008) and The Railway Children (2011). In addition, he has spent time as a pianist on a world cruise where he produced arrangements for the on-board cabaret. Stephen is a songwriter, theatre composer and music teacher. He was a secondary school music teacher for nearly ten years, during which time he regularly taught singing and directed the music for many shows, including Guys and Dolls, Little Shop of Horrors and Cabaret. He has composed and arranged music for several companies, most significantly for the outdoor touring productions of ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ (The Medal, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, As You Like It and Henry V). Also, Stephen has been the musical director on a number of shows including Third Theatre’s acclaimed production of Bizet’s Carmen. Stephen enjoys creating music in diverse genres, including (but not limited to!) pop/rock songs, ballads, classical orchestral, swing and archetypal musical theatre. 
He takes great care over his own arrangements, orchestrations and the recordings of his own works. More recently, he has taken music theatre workshops for the Brit School; taught at Stagecoach Theatre Arts Schools and has been rehearsal and audition pianist for several production companies.

Ben began writing in 2006 when he was a finalist for the BBC’s Witty and Twisted search for new comedy writers and performers. After being assigned a mentor at the BBC, he went on to write for numerous Radio comedy shows, including: Look Away Now; Newsjack; Play and Record; 7on7 and Recorded for Training Purposes. In 2008 he collaborated with Stephen Kingsbury on a new adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which toured in 2010 and is set to tour again in 2011. He and Stephen have recently finished a new adaptation of The Railway Children, set to premier at The Key Theatre in Peterborough and then tour the UK in 2011. Ben recently finished a new sitcom, ‘Keepin it Real’ which is currently in development.