Bernard Jay
Bernard Jay (1946-) [1]. British born theatre administrator and producer.
Contents
Biography
Born and educated in Britain.
At the age of sixteen he began a long and comprehensive career in entertainment administration by learning his craft in management positions at such British government-subsidised theatres as York Hampstead Theatre. During this period, Bernard also received a Bursary from the Arts Council of Great Britain to study theatre administration.
He was appointed in 1970, at the age of 24, as the General Manager of the City of London’s Mermaid Theatre.
Started, in 1973, his career in commercial theatre production when he became General Manager of Triumph Theatre Productions, based in London. Bernard immigrated to the United States in 1978 and formed his own personal management and theatre production company. Based in Manhattan for the next eleven years, he produced off-Broadway and engineered the career development of many American performers.
Contribution to South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance
Relocated to South Africa in 1993 and was appointed Entertainment Director of the ticketing company Computicket and in 1997 and became deputy MD of Big Concerts, where he oversaw a number of hit commercial productions, such as Summer Holiday, Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance.
He took up the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Johannesburg Civic Theatre (Pty) Ltd in 2000, a position which he held for thirteen years until 2013 when he took on the newly created position of executive producer for Joburg, which meant he would be working directly with productions. His work as Executive Producer for shows at the theatre since 2000 has included Janice Honeyman's pantomimes Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Aladdin and Peter Pan. He also produced the successful South African premier production of the Tony Award winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Awards
Finalist for the ACT Arts Management Award 2008.
Sources
Summer Holiday programme notes, 1998.
The Star, 28 May 2013.
http://www.joburgcitytheatres.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-First-45-Years.pdf
Go to South African Theatre/Bibliography
See also
Who's Who Southern Africa [2].
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