- Nigel Wright (record producer)
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Nigel Wright (born 13 June 1955, Bristol) is a record producer from England. His career as music producer, orchestrator and songwriter has scored five Number one singles, 31 Top 20 singles and a string of platinum albums with recording artists as diverse as Madonna, Shakatak, Mezzoforte, Barbra Streisand, Boyzone, Sonia, Take That, Sinitta, José Carreras, Robson & Jerome, Michael Ball, Sarah Brightman, Cliff Richard, Connie Fisher, Paul Potts, Andy Abraham and Ray Quinn.
Wright’s career in theatre and film include serving as the music producer for Andrew Lloyd Webber, in a successful partnership that had, as of May 2009, lasted more than eighteen years.
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Record production
Wright first rose to prominence as producer of the jazz-funk group Shakatak. During the 1980s he also produced medleys under various names. In 1981 Wright created "Ain't No Stopping", a rapid response to the success of Stars on 45 consisting of parts of recent disco hits and taking its name from McFadden and Whitehead's "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" which began and ended the medley. Released under the group name Enigma, it reached number 11 in the UK singles chart and was followed by "I Love Music" which reached number 25.
Through the 1980s Wright continued to produce medleys under other names including Mojo and Mirage. Under the latter name, he created the popular "Jack Mix" series of medleys which included the 1987 top ten hit singles "Jack Mix II" (#4) and "Jack Mix IV" (#8) and albums Jack Mix '88 and Jack Mix In Full Effect (both #7).
Musical theatre
Wright has produced a number of cast recordings.
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: London Revival Cast Recording featuring Jason Donovan and Linzi Hateley (1991)
- The New Starlight Express featuring Greg Ellis and Reva Rice (1993)
- Sunset Boulevard: World Premiere Recording featuring Patti LuPone and Kevin Anderson (1993)
- Sunset Boulevard: American Premiere Recording featuring Glenn Close and Alan Campbell (1994)
- Jesus Christ Superstar (1996)
- By Jeeves: Original Cast Recording (1996)
- Whistle Down the Wind: Original Cast Recording featuring Lottie Mayor and Marcus Lovett (1998)
- Saturday Night Fever featuring Adam Garcia and Anita Louise Coombe (1998)
- The Beautiful Game: Original Cast Recording featuring Josie Walker, David Shannon and Hannah Waddingham (2000)
- The Sound of Music featuring Connie Fisher (2006)
- Grease (2007)
Film
Produced the soundtrack recordings for a number of films.
- Alan Parker's Evita featuring Madonna and Antonio Banderas (1996) with BAFTA and Oscar nominations for Best Sound
- Cats (Really Useful Films) featuring Elaine Paige, Ken Page and John Mills (1998)
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Really Useful Films) featuring Donny Osmond and Maria Friedman (1999)
- Jesus Christ Superstar (Really Useful Films) (2000)
- The Phantom of the Opera featuring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum (2004)
Television
In 2006, Wright was the musical director and arranger for the hit BBC TV show, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? as well as the NBC version, Grease: You're the One that I Want!. In 2007, he served as musical director for the follow-up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do. In 2008 he was also the musical director for the TV program where a Nancy and Oliver were selected I'd Do Anything and conducted the Orchestra on BBC's Your Country Needs You. He is the musical director of the live heats of The X Factor (ITV), since it began in 2004. He has also worked on many hit American shows, with the latest being America's Got Talent.
Recent work
Wright is currently working on Britain's Got Talent, as well as co-producing Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.
Wright worked on Over the Rainbow as the musical director.
External links
Categories:- 1955 births
- Living people
- English record producers
- Eurovision Song Contest conductors
- English songwriters
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