Annemarie Lewis Thomas is a musical director, composer, lyricist. She founded the Musical Theatre Academy (MTA) in 2009, which was named as The Stage's School of the Year in 2012 and 2017.
Early career Thomas trained at Middlesex Polytechnic, graduating with a BA(Hons) in Performing Arts in 1989.
From 1994 to 2004 she was musical director of fringe theatre company, The Steam Industry with productions including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The King & I, The Sound of Music and the UK stage premiere of Calamity Jane, all at Battersea Arts Centre (BAC).
Thomas has been commissioned by British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT) to write several musicals including CCTV, The Open Door, Girl In The Ashes, Great Expectations and Fool’s Gold.
Composition Thomas has written the music and lyrics for almost 50 musicals including:
Year Title Type of work Performance venues Notes1990 The Silent Tramp Full length musical Polish Theatre, Hammersmith1992 Wizard of Oz Full length musical Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury1995 Dangerous Nights Full length musical Jermyn Street Theatre, London2000 The Roaring Girl Play with songs Finborough Theatre, London2001 Uncle Ebenezer Full length musical Various2002 Around the World in 80 days Full length musical Various Pub. Samuel French, Inc. Book and lyrics, Phil Willmott.2002 Man Is Man Play with songs Finborough Theatre, London2003 The Wolf Boys Full length musical Yvonne Arnaud Theatre commission Book and lyrics, Phil Willmott2007 Black Eyed Susan Underscore for melodrama Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds2010 Dangerous Daughters Full length musical The Drill Hall, London With Nick Stimson2013 Great Expectations Full length musical Book, Gerry Flanagan2017 Dangerous Daughters Full length musical Bridewell Theatre, London Book, Nick StimsonPublished by Samuel French.2018 Oh My, Nellie Bly Full length musical Bridewell Theatre, London Book, Nick StimsonPublished by Samuel French.2020 The Time Machine Full length musical Bridewell Theatre, London Book, Nick Stimson
Thomas also wrote the music and lyrics for the following pantomimes with the book by Daniel O'Brien: Cinderella (2007), Puss in Boots (2008), Jack and the Beanstalk (2009),Aladdin (2013), Beauty and the Beast (2014), Robinson Crusoe (2016), Mother Goose (2017), Robinson Crusoe, Dick Whittington and his Cat (2019), Covidella and the Masked Ball (2020) an online production and Jack and the Beanstalk (2021).
She wrote the music and lyrics for two online films by Nick Stimson: Coming Home (2020) and J (2021).
Musical direction Since 1989, Thomas has been musical director of over 150 productions, including:
Year Title Role Performance venues Notes1994 The Night We Buried Judy Garland Musical director Shaw Theatre, London Director: Phil Wilmott1996 Ud's Garden Musical director Wimbledon Studios, London1996 Dick Daredevil Musical director Drill Hall, London Director, Phil Wilmott2000 The Ultimate Man Musical director Bridewell Theatre, London Director, Paul Tomlinson2004 Victor/Victoria Musical director Bridewell Theatre, London Director, Phil Wilmots
Teaching, accompanying and writing Thomas was head of musical theatre at the Hertfordshire Theatre School and a staff member at Middlesex University.
In 2009, she founded the Musical Theatre Academy (The MTA) in Islington, London. It was named The Stage's School of the Year in 2012 and 2017. The MTA closed in September 2022 after it failed to secure financial backing.
As an accompanist, Thomas has worked with Maria Friedman, Liz Robertson, Patti Boulaye, Rachel Tucker, Mari Wilson, Diane Langton and Peter Polycarpou, amongst others.
Thomas wrote for The Reviews Hub for several years. In 2015, she created her own blog which evolved into a vlogging channel on YouTube. She writes for Backstage.com and has staffed their Office Hours forum on occasion. She has also contributed articles to The Stage, Backstage.com and Drama & Theatre.
In March 2015, together with Angie Peake a dual-registered nurse practitioner and therapist. Thomas organised the first conference for UK drama schools to discuss mental health in the arts which resulted in the #time4change Mental Health Charter. Launched by Mark Shenton in The Stage in July 2016, by December of the same year 115 major arts organizations had signed up.
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