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Nigel
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Visit Nigel's Official Website at : Nigel trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and specialises in performing in new musical theatre work. British/European/American Premieres : Pegleg/Georg Schmid/Robert/Man on Stag in The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets (London Barbican, San Francisco ACT, Sydney Festival, Los Angeles Ahmanson Theatre); Dabalohn in Charlotte Salomon (Uilensburg, Amsterdam); Lucien Bonaparte in Napoleon (Shaftesbury); The Road You Didn't Take, lalalaLaChiusa, Songs for a New World , The Senator in Hello Again and Floyd in Floyd Collins (all at the Bridewell); Cutting Edge (Bridewell/Donmar); Property (RNT Studio); Mandarin in China Song (Plymouth); Keith Nicholson in Spend! Spend! Spend! (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Danny in Baby (Forum, Manchester) and soloist in Bernstein's Mass (Barbican).
TV includes : Virgin Birth, Moon and Sun and Judge John Deed (BBC) Radio : Stop! You're Killing Me!; Shaw's How She Lied to her Husband (RTE); Carousel, Friday Night is Music Night and Oklahoma! (BBC Radio 2) Concerts/Cabaret : Angels and Demons (Battersea Barge); Opening of the Aspire Dome in Qatar with Cirque du Soleil; Bridewell 10th Anniversary Concerts; two appearances as soloist with the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus (Minneapolis); Oklahoma! and Les Misérables 10th Anniversary (Royal Albert Hall); A Celebration of Light (Minneapolis); A Night at the Oscars (Jordan); A Celebration of Children (Riverside); Charlotte Saloman : Life or Theatre (Philadelphia); An Enchanted Evening (Drury Lane) Workshops : Nelson : The Musical (music by Cathy Shostak, lyrics by Jennifer Toksvig, showcased by David Quayle for Quill Productions, Soho Theatre, London, 2004). The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (music by Chris Miller, lyrics by Nathan Tysen, book by JOE CALARCO» showcased by Mercury Musicals, London, 2003).
Nigel recently appeared at The Scoop Free Theatre, City Hall, London in two productions - The Caucasian Chalk Circle (a Bertolt Brecht classic to mark the 50th Anniversary of Brecht's death and featuring singing, live music and humour) and Cyclops! (a family show with puppets and original music).
Nigel played his original Black Rider roles - Georg Schmid/Robert/Man on Stag and Pegleg understudy - in the show's run at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles from April 22 to June 11 2006. He returned to the UK in July, where upcoming projects include a reprise of his wonderful Angels and Demons cabaret with Louise Hollamby, and work on his debut solo album Portraits and Landscapes which (I hope I'm right in saying!) will include new works by exciting young writers such as Michael John LaChiusa and Adam Guettel. Nigel has also updated his website with a very interesting memoir of time spent in the Young Vic's production of As You Like It last year, where one of his co-stars was Sienna Miller, no less! Don't miss this, or the other accounts Nigel has written of some of the shows he's appeared in - they make for very interesting reading! You'll find them in the Biography section of his Official Site - click the tick (check) in the Information column.
PREVIOUSLY :
Set in the late1940s, it featured music by Tim Sutton in the style of Brel, Piaf and Montand. Directed by David Lan for Sonia Friedman Productions & the Young Vic, the cast included Sienna Miller, Helen McCrory, Dominic West, Reece Shearsmith and Sean Hughes. Early in 2005, Nigel replaced Marianne Faithfull in the role of Pegleg (the Devil) in The Black Rider for its run at the Sydney Festival. Festival Director, Brett Sheehy, said he was thrilled with the decision to cast Richards. “It is well known that Nigel triumphed in the role when he performed it more than a dozen times in San Francisco. He is a ‘Wilsonian’ performer par excellence, and will set Sydney alight with his astonishing interpretation of Pegleg. Sydney audiences should prepare themselves for the theatrical treat of a lifetime.”
Nelson :
The Musical
Exceptional singing and broad comedy by Nigel Richards in the role of the grotesque hunter Robert makes his contribution particularly memorable. Virgin.net The formidable Nigel Richards executes a tour de force of gravel-voiced song and demonic, rope-constricted dance as one of the devil's earlier marksman clients. Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle The surprise standout of the production is Nigel Richards, playing several roles including the suitor who Kathchen's father wants her to marry. With a Frankenstein-like walk, and a bizarre open-mouthed rictus facial expression that he holds through most of the show, he certainly exudes the most believable creepiness, singing with a voice that goes from falsetto to Tom Waits-style growl to heart-rending operatic yodel. Richards takes over Marianne Faithfull's role on her off nights, which is enough to make this reviewer want to see it again with him in the lead. Suzanne Kleid, SFStation.com Outstanding performances were delivered, particularly by Nigel Richards, who played Robert, the hunting boy preferred by the bride's father. The extreme facial gestures and commitment to the sheer physicality of his character were enough, but when he revealed an achingly rich singing voice, I was smitten. He was scary, seductive, captivating. Heather Clisby, Movie Magazine International The standouts include Nigel Richards as Georg Schmid, a howling foreshadower of Wilhelm's plight. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times Waits's lyrics are seamlessly integrated, and his tunes range from sweet duets and hardpan howls (mostly by Nigel Richards, the tremendous rock singer who plays Robert, an already-corrupted hunter) to bittersweet, cabaret-like anthems. Stephanie von Buchau, Theatermania
More lascivious than Faithfull, Richards is so good in the role, he’s the hot ticket because he’s so superb. A Molotov cocktail mixed from Bjork, Diamanda Galas, Nina Hagen and Slim Whitman. He’s packing them in. San Francisco Chronicle Richards is so good in the role that matinees, usually the province of silver-haired matrons and indulgent husbands, are a hot ticket. People want to see Richards attack the role -- because he's so superb and because he's so obviously having a bloody good time with it. Edward Guthmann, SFGate.com Nigel Richards is so incredible it’s hard to picture somebody else doing the role. He is a slinky Mephistopheles in whiteface, black tux and forked tails. Richards conjures a ripe sense of camp, sex and imminent danger, and delivers Tom Waits’ songs with a lewd grin in a stunning, classically trained baritone. San Francisco Chronicle A particular joy is Nigel Richards, replacing the ill Marianne Faithfull. He is the magnetic centre of The Black Rider, which gets a huge amount of its energy from his sly wit and something-for-everyone sexual charisma. Deborah Jones, The Australian
While in
San Fran, Nigel stood in for Marianne Faithfull at all matinee performances,
to great acclaim!
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Other theatre :
Duke Frederick/Hymen in As
You Like It (Wyndham's Theatre, London); Bill Yately/Rodney Beech in Me, Myself & I, (Orange Tree
Theatre, Richmond); Ghosts,
Macbeth, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, Hands Up! For You the War
is Over (New Vic, Stoke); Blood Brothers
(Olympia, Dublin); The Glass Menagerie (European Tour); Romeo and
Juliet (Arundel Castle); The Marriage of Figaro (
Nigel's
first and as he jokingly said, possibly last (we hope not!) cabaret Angels
and Demons took place at the Battersea Barge on 19 February
2006. Shared with his friend Louise Hollamby, it featured "an
eclectic mix of contemporary songs and show songs."
Nigel took part in a new musical tribute to Admiral Lord
Nelson
which was showcased to
potential backers at London's Soho Theatre on 21 October (Trafalgar Day)
2004,
with Nigel and Rebecca Thornhill in the leading roles. The show was
supposed be opening in Plymouth in September 2005 and moving to the West End in
October but seems to have been postponed. 
The actors
work very hard ...... chief among them is Nigel Richards, principally
playing Georg Schmid, who is led astray by the devil in pursuit of
ultimate happiness. He has a sense of stillness, wonderfully precise movements
and sheer dignity.
Keith Shadwick, The Independent
And, on
Nigel's performance in the title role :