About Me

TOM WAKELEY

Playing the piano for a ballet school launched Tom as a professional musician. At fourteen he was offered a recording contract by Ocean Records (turned down by his parents!) Summer shows and pantomimes as Pianist/Musical Director took him to the wilds of Worthing, Morecambe, Tunbridge Wells and the Theatre Royal, Windsor.

Tom taught and conducted at the Arts Educational Schools on their Music Theatre Course and has broadcast frequently on Radio 2 and 3 as an accompanist. In 1985 he made his debut at New York's Carnegie Hall playing for the winner of the Concert Artists Guild competition.

For Theatre in Trust, Tom has been both Arranger and Musical Director of DANISH BLUES, PERIL IN VENICE, DRACULA, ANOTHER BLOODY MUSICAL, THE SCOTTISH MUSICAL, PASSION IN PINK, LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN, (the one with music!) and LORD OF THE JUNGLE.

Tom presented a popular music programme on BBC Radio Berkshire for two years and has been Arranger for several television signature tunes. He has also made a recording of settings of Robert Louis Stevenson pieces with Jane Asher, for which he wrote the orchestral arrangements and composed additional original material.

As an ex- School Governor, Tom is particularly interested in music and theatre for children - his two daughters, Eleanor and Jessica and his son Tom are his biggest fans! Since 1992 Tom has worked with lyricist Sara Ridgley (under his given name, Gavin Mole) writing original children's musicals as Writers of Note! Ltd. Their SING IT & SAY IT series (for 7 to 11 year olds), CLASS ACT PRODUCTIONS (for 4 to 7 year olds) and BOX OFFICE PRODUCTIONS (for 7 to 14 year olds) are on sale in all good music shops worldwide. Writers of Note! Limited are now an internationally-recognised music publisher..

In 2000, Sara and Gavin teamed up with Andrew Maley to create the internet sheet music shop dotdismus.com limited which if you haven’t already used you probably soon will!

Tom was Musical Director of OLIVER at Nottingham Playhouse, Lord Lloyd-Webber's ASPECTS OF LOVE at the Prince of Wales and BY JEEVES at the Lyric, London. West End credits include as keyboard; JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, LUST, KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, CITY OF ANGELS, SHE LOVES ME and Cameron Mackintosh's MISS SAIGON at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. As Children's Musical Director/3rd conductor for Cameron Mackintosh on OLIVER at the London Palladium. Most recently he was Assistant Musical Director of DAMN YANKEES at the Adelphi and Assistant Conductor on CHICAGO.

Tom was MD of The Vivian Ellis Prize for new musicals organised by the Performing Rights Society in 1995 and 1996 and has been on the staff at RADA (as Vocal Coach) since 1990.