Christopher Dickins has over fifteen years experience of working in professional musical theatre. A law graduate from Downing College, Cambridge, he trained at the Guildford School of Acting, before embarking on a career as an actor-musician and musical director. He was Assistant Musical Director for many of John Doyle and Sarah Travis’ productions at the Newbury Watermill, and has worked as an accompanist and arranger for Dillie Keane and Fascinating Aida. He started composing when working for the Natural Theatre Company in Bath, where he collaborated with Artistic Director Ralph Oswick on writing songs for the BBC Radio 4 series Double Vision. The pair went on to write their own Radio 4 series One Lump or Two?, which was developed into a stage show. Next came two more projects for NTC; Scarlatti in Paradise and Rasputin, both of which toured nationally and internationally. Further commissions with other lyricists have included Beauty and the Beast for Chipping Norton Theatre, and The Three Musketeers (Basingstoke Haymarket Theatre). He wrote songs for two graduate shows – Herr Puntila and his Man Matti, and The Government Inspector – at Brighton’s Academy of Creative Training, where he was Head of Musical Theatre. He is also an Associate Tutor at the prestigious G.S.A. Conservatoire, where he trains young musical theatre performers. In the West End, Chris has appeared as an actor in Gondoliers, Salad Days, The Far Pavilions, The Sound of Music, Blood Brothers, War Horse, Phantom of the Opera and toured with Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins. He has been involved in workshops to develop new West End shows, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, for which he also can be heard on the cast album, and Stephen Ward.