BWW INTERVIEWS: Peter Huntley, Producer Of AUSTENTATIOUS

You started off as a performer - tell me a bit about the road that has led you to an interest in show production.

I actually originally trained as a dramaturg, though I always wanted to act. We had to do some basic production work during my degree but I was pretty determined to go to drama school. I'm glad I did - university wouldn't have prepared me for the industry and I had a brilliant exposure to a huge rep whilst I was there. It also taught me how to be with actors - I love actors.

As many actors do, I temped when not working - which was most of the time - and ended up working for the Victoria and Albert Museum, where I eventually ended up with the old Theatre Museum. While I was there I was given the opportunity to create a series of events - singalongs to classic musicals, with live casts and projections. They became a huge hit and people started to say to me, "You are a natural producer." Slowly I started to realise that actually I wanted the chance to work on something which wasn't just shown once and I looked around for ideas. I realised I wanted more control than actors are often given, I wanted to share the things I loved with the world. I still work for the Museum alongside my production work and I helped produce the films you can see if you go to our new galleries in South Kensington.

"You are a natural producer" - does that mean you're a scarily organised bossy-boots? What does producing actually entail?

I think I'm quite a creative producer, I want to stamp my mark on a production and make decisions about the way it is going. At the same time you have to be the person who the buck stops with - you organise the budget, the creative team and you make sure the contracts are in place.

How did you first find out about Austentatious?

I attended a Musical Theatre Matters conference last year, met the director of Austentatious and the rest, as they say, is history. It was a strange show in the sense that the director approached another producer and myself, rather than the other way round. The original intention was that we would co-produce, but the other producer had to drop out and I thought, "OK, trial by fire, let's see if I can do this."

You had an amazing cast for the show - Cassidy Janson, Fem Belling, Simon Lipkin, Richard Meek, Ilan Goodman, Jenna Boyd and Lucy Mills. How on earth did you get them all on board?

They are amazing, aren't they? We'd always talked about getting a big name in to play Sam, the stage manager [the role played by Cassidy Janson], but then we had a lovely drunken evening coming up with wish lists. We got everyone we wanted. We spent time working out what we could offer, we were honest with them and we said, "We want the show to go further, we want you to come with us." They all did it for the love of the show and of course we were also blessed with a real ensemble piece where everyone gets a wonderful moment. Our director Lotte [Lotte Wakeham] is really someone to watch too and I think her presence was a driving factor behind lots of the decisions.

Was the Landor always first choice for the fringe production?

We talked a lot about this. The Landor has an impressive history when it comes to producing musicals and therefore the audience has some confidence in the product. We looked at lots of venues, but kept coming back to the Landor. It felt like a homecoming for the show as an early version of it had played there while the writers were at university.

What's your favourite song from Austentatious?

I Manage is a real favourite! But I have a soft-spot for the entire score. Matt Board and Joe Slabe are very talented.

As a first-time producer, Austentatious must have been a huge learning curve for you. If you could go back a year and give yourself some advice, what would it be?

Now that would be telling! We had a conversation sometime in the autumn about getting marketing sorted and so on, and I was told it was too early to do that. I now think I was right and we should have done it then. Our marketing worked - we sold really well - but it was a real rush to do it when we did.

A transfer has been rumoured since it closed - are we any closer to seeing that?

We've been offered a venue and it is just a question of raising funds. As you can imagine that is somewhat of a shock to the system to me as a first-time producer and we are just spending time trying to find people to back us. We want to get it right and not rush. We're also hoping to schedule a tour - this show deserves to be seen. It was one of the most glorious things I've ever been involved with.

Keep an eye on BWW:UK over the next week or two for exciting Austentatious footage!

Peter Huntley is the producer of Austentatious. (Photo: John Clark)