The Stage

Richard Jordan

The Stage

About Richard Jordan

Richard Jordan is an award-winning UK and international theatre producer. He has been a regular contributor to The Stage since 2005. Read Richard's latest column for The Stage every Thursday.

Recent Articles

The Rocky Horror Show's enduring success is a masterclass in timing

Opinion

When the timing is right and a musical finds its audience, it can be rediscovered by generation after generation, says Richard Jordan

What could the Iran conflict mean for British theatre?

Opinion

The theatre industry is facing another crisis and needs to remember the lessons of Covid - preparedness and solidarity are key to weathering what comes next, says Richard Jordan

Australia and New Zealand’s arts markets are a lesson in effective collaboration

Opinion

Richard Jordan examines how cross-country alliances can strengthen the global landscape while still preserving distinctive local identities

What is the secret to Adelaide Fringe’s success?

Opinion

Look beyond the sheen of irreverence and liberation – the Adelaide Fringe’s success lies in its depth, says producer Richard Jordan

The Adelaide Festival can emerge stronger from Writers’ Week crisis

Opinion

As the Adelaide Festival 2026 prepares to begin, producer Richard Jordan looks at the furore over its Writers’ Week and the clash between art and politics

Commemorating the greatest musical flop 30 years on

Opinion

It takes a perfect storm of circumstances to become a true mega-flop says producer Richard Jordan as he shudders through the memory of The Fields of Ambrosia

Why aren’t theatre’s best and wisest lines more widely quoted?

Opinion

Quotes from film and TV are ubiquitous yet, Shakespeare aside, quotes from theatre productions are rarely heard. Richard Jordan suggests a way to bring them into the vernacular

Richard Jordan’s Big Christmas Theatre Quiz 2025

Opinion

Forty questions (plus bonuses) about the theatre world in 2025 – on Broadway, in the West End and elsewhere, as well as some history

Chess makes the wrong move with Broadway revival

Opinion

Musicals can trust their audiences to follow stories without heavy-handed narration to explain the plot or set the scene, says Richard Jordan

What does the return of Scott Rudin mean amid Broadway’s financial woes?

Opinion

In a bruising fortnight on the Great White Way, optimism collided with reality and several high-profile casualties left producers rattled, says Richard Jordan

How the enduring power of theatre helped me make a new connection

Opinion

A chance charity shop find in Stratford-upon-Avon also found Richard Jordan a new friend, showing how a love of theatre can connect people through time and place

Why don't playwrights turn their hand to directing musicals more often?

Opinion

We may be seeing a quiet resurgence of the writer-director in musical theatre, bringing new insight to material and giving shows a second life, says Richard Jordan

India is primed for a musical theatre movement

Opinion

A fast-growing urban middle class and the rising appetite for live performance have created fertile ground for musical theatre in India, says Richard Jordan

What Stephen Fry's return to the Noël Coward says about mental health progress in theatre

Opinion

Richard Jordan reflects on mental health in theatre as Stephen Fry returns to Noël Coward to play Lady Bracknell 30 years after walking out of the same venue

Will Jamie Lloyd continue to reinvent or is he stuck in a corner?

Opinion

The director’s public profile is proof of his savvy navigation of aesthetics and cultural trends, but his next steps will be crucial, says Richard Jordan