Next on the list we have The Ambassadors Theatre Group (ATG). It's a receiving and producing operation, the business model including theatre ownership, production management, marketing and ticket operations.
ATG has a useful Wikipedia page that tells you about its business history and structure. Founded in 1992 by husband and wife team, Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, it has pursued an aggressive acquisition policy from the outset.
In the late-1980's, after landing a contract for the management of an arts and entertainment complex in Guilford, the couple received investment from Greek a shipping magnet. Yes please! Not long after, the Duke of York's theatre, London, was acquired, then the Ambassadors and management contracts for new theatres in Milton Keynes and Stock-on-Trent.
In 2000, ATG acquired seven more theatres in London, moving into corporate partnerships including Carlton TV. In 2009, sixteen more venues, were acquired from Live Nation UK. Now controlled by an American private equity firm, ATG has expanded internationally, having upward of fifty theatres worldwide.
With a cultural impact as broad as it is deep, ATG's website advertises repertoire that includes: musicals, plays, comedy, dance and opera. Instagram is the social media tool of choice, showing everything from: The SpongeBob Musical to Uncle Vanya with Toby Jones, Hamilton, Prime Facie with Jodie Comer. There's new writing with A Little Life and Operation Mincemeat, to name just two, not forgetting contemporary classics like Shirley Valentine – you lose track.
With all that turnover, ATG's Careers section is like a separate website of its own, and they have won awards for training as their 'Learning and Development' page testifies. Performers will need representation of course, but for backstage and front of house, technical, hospitality, production management, legal & business, sales and property management, there are opportunities all over the country. You can search by role, location and type of contract.
If you are, or intend, to work in UK theatre, the Ambassadors Theatre Group could be a good place to to build your career, as many others have done. We'll no doubt be meeting them in future posts.
