Biography
Before gaining experience in his hometown of Gosport, James moved to London to study Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Following completion of his degree, He was fortunate enough to gain a place at The Royal Academy of Music to study a Postgraduate Diploma in Musical Theatre. Whilst James was there, he won the Toni Fell competition and gained the Hilda Deane Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Some of the professional artists he worked with whilst training were: Mary Hammond, Karen Rabinowitz, Julie Armstrong, Maureen Scott, Stephen Hill, Matt Ryan, Lolly Susi, Sam Spencer-Lane, Jeremy Sams, David Grindrod, Sir Tim Rice, Tamara Harvey, Gareth Valentine, George Hall, Anne Marie Speed, Stuart Barr, Glyn Kerslake, Glen Carter, Mark Warman, David White, and Jonathan Kiley.
Credits
Theatre
A Christmas Carol (Old Vic Theatre)
Monsieur Reyer (1st Cover Andre / Cover Phantom) in The Phantom of the Opera (West End)
Monsieur Reyer (1st cover Monsieur Andre) in The Phantom of the Opera (UK and Ireland Tour)
Ensemble/Cover Pickering in My Fair Lady (Teatro Massimo, Palermo
Michael In Tick Tick…Boom! (Bridge House Theatre)
Man 2 in I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical (Edinburgh Festival)
Bishop of Digne (1st Cover and played the role of Javert) in Les Miserables (West End)
Bamatabois (1st Cover and played the role of Thenardier) in Les Miserables (West End)
Park Keeper/Von Hussler (Cover George Banks/Admiral Boom) in Mary Poppins (International Tour)
Les Miserables (International Tour)
Mr Etches in the original London cast of Titanic (Southwark Playhouse and later transfer to Toronto, Canada)
Michaud in Therese Raquin (Park Theatre)
Mother Goose (Qdos- Edinburgh)
Pierre Gringoire In Lionel Bart’s Quasimodo (Kings Head Theatre)
My Park or Yours? (Jermyn Street Theatre)
Workshops
Daniel in Babylon (Solid Rainbow)
Dr Mcindoe In The Guinea Pig Club (Perfect Pitch)
Broken Wings (AM Productions)
Morker (Theatre Renegade/Southwark Playhouse)
Recordings
Thérèse Raquin (Jay Records)
Broken Wings – Concept Album (Auburn Jam Productions)
Sailing – A New Brain
I Will Be There – The Count of Monte Cristo
If You’ve Never Felt This Way – It Happened in Key West
Concerts
MND Gala Concert (Gordon Craig Theatre – Neil Rutherford)
Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration (ITV/Windsor Castle)
Berlin – a new musical (Bloomsbury Theatre)
You Are Home (St. James Studio)
BBC Radio Anniversary Concert (Radio House Theatre)
Anya Hindmarch: The Handbag Chorus (London Fashion Week)
Teaching
James has been teaching for the last 10 years. His passionate approach to teaching seeks to champion the individual. He encourages instinctual acting choices, whilst focusing on practical techniques to make sense of the text. He likes his students to engage with personal experience and self-interpretation. He has a keen focus on confidence building, creating a safe and relaxed environment, where mistakes are embraced and learned from.
With extensive knowledge of the Musical Theatre genre, James also prides himself on helping students select appropriate and engaging audition material, which the students both enjoy and feel comfortable performing to represent themselves and stay current in an ever-developing theatrical environment.
James is available to visit schools/colleges for Masterclasses in:
- Audition Preparation
- Acting Through Song
- Monologue Workshops
- Industry Q&As
- Ensemble Workshops
James offers private 1:1 classes either in person or via Zoom. These can be booked as a one-off or group booking.
Lamda offer exceptional training to creative artists and technicians; and empower people of all ages and backgrounds through our examinations in drama, literature, musical theatre and poetry.
West End Cabarets
Together with a fellow West End performer, James produces cabaret evenings for a variety of venues. The shows feature some of the best songs from the Musicals and crosses over with other genres such as Swing, Pop and Rock.
Upcoming Shows
Gallery
Contact
Use the contact form below to contact James about performance, teaching or mentorship opportunities.