Toby_Sedgwick

Toby Sedgwick

Toby Sedgwick

British movement director

Toby Sedgwick (born 16 August 1958) is a British movement director, actor and theatre choreographer. He achieved critical acclaim for his expressive "horse choreography" for life-size puppets used in War Horse (2007), which played at West End's New London Theatre, Broadway's Vivian Beaumont Theater and Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre.[2][3][4] For the latter, Sedgwick won a 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer[5] and a 2012 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography in a Play or Musical.[6] Due to its success, the play went on a 30-city tour in the United States and was also produced in Australia and in Germany, opening late in 2013, just before the centenary of the first world war.

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Early life and training

Toby Sedgwick was born in England in 1958 and attended Bryanston School in Dorset. He trained at the Arts Educational (drama course). He later studied for two years at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq[7] in Paris, where he co-founded "The Moving Picture Mime Show"'.[8] in London.

Career

Early work and subsequent career

Sedgwick made a directorial debut with Pidgin Macbeth (1998) at the National Theatre in London.[1] In 2006, he choreographed Hergé's Adventures of Tintin at the Playhouse Theatre and Dick Whittington And His Cat at the Barbican. He also directed a Manchester production of The Taming of the Shrew.[7]

Sedgwick's first major credit was providing co-direction for The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre, West End, 2006).[9] Acting credits include Earfull at the Battersea Arts Centre in 2007. Other credits include The Tempest (2007), His Dark Materials (2009), and Looking For Yoghurt (2009).[1] Sedgwick had previously acted as "The Professor" in the West End musical Animal Crackers,[8] which opened at the Lyric Theatre on 16 March 1999 and closed 15 May 1999.[10]

Sedgwick has served as movement director for British productions of The Nativity, Cinderella, King Lear, The Government Inspector, Marat/Sade, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.[7]

Other work

Sedgwick's theatrical work outside England is limited; besides the Broadway transfer of War Horse, Sedgwick's lone New York movement-directorial credit is The 39 Steps, produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company starting in 2008.[11][12] Billed as Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, it opened on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre, later transferring to the Cort Theatre (and later the Helen Hayes Theatre) for an extended run.[13]

Sedgwick assisted Danny Boyle with the choreography for the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

Film and television

In addition to theatre work, Sedgwick's film credits include 28 Days Later, Laissez-passe, and Shrooms.[7] In addition to serving as movement director in films, he has also appeared in small acting roles, such as "Thompson" in Safe Conduct (2002), "Infected Priest" in 28 Days Later (2002), "Black Brother" in Shrooms (2007), and "Enemy Pilot" in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010).[14] Sedgwick's first television role was as "Mummy" on Monster Café, which aired from 1994 to 1995 on Children's BBC.

References

  1. [1]
    "Toby Sedgwick Credits, London, England". London Theatre Database.
  2. [2]
    Database (undated). "War Horse" London Theatre Database. Accessed 20 January 2010.
  3. [3]
    Hetrick, Adam (20 December 2010). "Seth Numrich to Lead 'War Horse' on Broadway; 35-Member Cast Announced". Playbill. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  4. [4]
    "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 August 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. [5]
    "Hairspray Wins Four 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards Including Best Musical" Archived 24 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, 9 March 2008.
  6. [6]
    "Black Canadian theatre company cleans house at Dora awards", Globe and Mail, 25 June 2012
  7. [7]
    "Toby Sedgwick", Who's Who, playbill.com, accessed 28 February 2011.
  8. [8]
    "Toby Sedgwick", National Theatre, London.
  9. [9]
    Brian Logan (23 September 2006). "The 39 Steps (Criterion, London)". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  10. [10]
    "Animal Crackers", This Is London, 16 March 1999.
  11. [11]
    Jasper Rees (18 August 2007). "The 39 Steps from Leeds to Broadway". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  12. [12]
    Ben Brantley (16 January 2008). "Spies, Blonde and a Guy Go North by Northwest". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  13. [13]
    Jones, Kenneth."The Chase Is Back On! 39 Steps Begins at Broadway's Helen Hayes" Archived 6 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, playbill.com, 21 January 2009
  14. [14]
    "Toby Sedgwick", Internet Movie Database.
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