Curator/Producer/Choreographer
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First and foremost a dancer/choreographer, music and movement underpins most aspects of his professional life.
Choreography was a natural leap to becoming a Producer. As a director of The Bright Thoughts Company, 95% of their shows had some degree of music content. Among other things, Neil always maintained a keen eye on the staging and constantly around on set or in a rehearsal room working with the director and cast. When required, choreographing a few steps or new routine was never far away, .... which remains the case today! Although no longer producing shows professionally, Neil continues his involvement in music and performance projects working in different genres of music. Curating the Bright Thoughts Catalogue is very much part of the ongoing work, aiming to distribute the Archive Collection to the streaming and broadcast platforms which are dedicated to archive programming. The current focus is also to develop new partnerships to further exploit the existing brands and formats such as Top C's & Tiaras™ more broadly within the entertainment industry. |
West End Boys ...
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Revisiting Soho for an article about the indie producers in the 80s, it's so heartening to still get a warm greeting from people within 'the village' after all this time, kindred spirit and all that.
The Empire Ballroom Leicester Square could be regarded as where it all started. I had a regular gig at the Empire with my dance troupe and, among others I met Barrie Morrison there who introduced me to various record producers including the legendary Dave Dee. As well as choreographing and doing a weekly gig, also the occasional cabaret for example for a film premier party across the road at the Odeon. Now, the doorman (left) recollects the dancing era and including the World Disco-dancing Championships hosted at the Empire and offers to show me around again. Fond memories of regular meet-ups with so many close friends who influenced my early career including film director Derek Jarman who also at the time lived nearby; composer Stephen Oliver, photographer and artist Russell Young and many more. Around the corner back on Brewer Street outside what was once my front door, meeting and chatting with a neighbour who has also been living there for 25 years, recalling our other neighbours in the building including Mark Almond (Soft Cell). It was indeed a wildly exciting time to be living and working in the heart of Soho in the 80s. |
Neil Anthony, December 2023
Background
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Neil’s love of performance has been a lifelong passion. In the late 1970s he relocated to Australia and trained as a professional dancer with his ballet master being ex-Australian Ballet. He returned to the UK at the prompting of composer Stephen Oliver, who encouraged him to gain professional experience on the West End stage. He appeared in a variety of shows, and gained his Equity card along the way.
Seeking to expand his horizons, he founded his own dance troupe, performing a weekly gig at the Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square, exclusively to the synthesized music of the New Romantic movement. Whilst booked to perform live at the former ITV company, Southern Television, he befriended the station’s head of entertainment, Bryan Izzard. Effectively becoming the resident choreographer for a short while, he found himself increasingly involved in the production of a number of primetime ITV shows, including devising the Scarecrow Dance for Jon Pertwee and Una Stubbs in Worzel Gummidge. In 1981 Neil and Bryan formed The Bright Thoughts Company, independently producing programming for the fledgling Channel 4. |
Working from offices at the heart of Soho, he produced and devised much of the station’s performance-based entertainment output for many years. Using some of the cream of British and American talent, Neil worked with such comic legends as Arthur Askey, Leonard Rossiter, Julie Walters and Barry Cryer. Other highlights included filming in the USA with the renowned avant-garde jazz group, The Art Ensemble of Chicago; working with some of the early “alternative” comedians, including Ben Elton and Jim Barclay; and recreating the life and stage act of the inimitable music hall comedian, Max Miller.
His proudest success was the hugely acclaimed Top C’s & Tiaras™, first broadcast in 1983, which presented operetta and musical comedy in a manner never seen before on television. Recorded on location at a neo-Palladian country house, with all performances recorded-as-live, it featured the American soprano Julia Migenes, along with Peter Morrison, Marilyn Hill Smith, and Benjamin Luxon, and was one of Channel 4’s first critical and popular hits. Very much ahead of its time, Top C’s & Tiaras™ anticipated the explosion of interest in classical music as popular entertainment, from the 1990s to the current day.
Later, Neil thought it the right decision to pull out of mainstream producing whilst at the top of his game "It's the right thing to do. I don't take these things lightly. I'm convinced it's right. I have no regrets but a lot of special memories."
In the following years, whilst continuing to keep a hand in the world of television (advising on a number of editions of the ITV arts programme, The South Bank Show, as well as various regional ITV productions), staging and being involved with performance-based projects has remained an important part of Neil's life. His love of Britain’s built heritage has also come to the fore. Now based on the Kent coast, he founded a Building Preservation Trust and been instrumental in saving a number of Buildings At-Risk which are of historical significance. He is also actively involved with a number of charitable causes mostly centred around music.
Neil retains his strong creative vision. The relaunched Bright Thoughts Company is looking both to develop new partnerships to further exploit existing brands and formats, the Intellectual Property such as Top C's & Tiaras™; and to distribute The Collection to the many streaming and broadcast platforms dedicated to archive programming.
His proudest success was the hugely acclaimed Top C’s & Tiaras™, first broadcast in 1983, which presented operetta and musical comedy in a manner never seen before on television. Recorded on location at a neo-Palladian country house, with all performances recorded-as-live, it featured the American soprano Julia Migenes, along with Peter Morrison, Marilyn Hill Smith, and Benjamin Luxon, and was one of Channel 4’s first critical and popular hits. Very much ahead of its time, Top C’s & Tiaras™ anticipated the explosion of interest in classical music as popular entertainment, from the 1990s to the current day.
Later, Neil thought it the right decision to pull out of mainstream producing whilst at the top of his game "It's the right thing to do. I don't take these things lightly. I'm convinced it's right. I have no regrets but a lot of special memories."
In the following years, whilst continuing to keep a hand in the world of television (advising on a number of editions of the ITV arts programme, The South Bank Show, as well as various regional ITV productions), staging and being involved with performance-based projects has remained an important part of Neil's life. His love of Britain’s built heritage has also come to the fore. Now based on the Kent coast, he founded a Building Preservation Trust and been instrumental in saving a number of Buildings At-Risk which are of historical significance. He is also actively involved with a number of charitable causes mostly centred around music.
Neil retains his strong creative vision. The relaunched Bright Thoughts Company is looking both to develop new partnerships to further exploit existing brands and formats, the Intellectual Property such as Top C's & Tiaras™; and to distribute The Collection to the many streaming and broadcast platforms dedicated to archive programming.
