Terry Parsons

Terry’s previous designs for Vienna’s English Theatre include the European Premieres of Edward Albee’s The Goat and the award winning Proof, Out of Order, Key For Two, Boeing Boeing, Engaging Shaw, Charley’s Aunt, Perfect Wedding, Arsenic and Old Lace, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Visiting Mr Green, Romantic Comedy and Romeo and Juliet.

His recent and current work includes a new production of the pantomime Sleeping Beauty and Grease in Denmark, and he has also had successes in Copenhagen with three major productions – Singin’ in the Rain, Mary Poppins and the set for Les Misérables at Det NY Teater, as well as Treasure Island for the Folketeatret. His many other credits in Denmark include Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The King and I, High School Musical, a concert version of Grease, Showboat and Be Bop A Lula.

Terry has designed thirty-seven productions in London’s West End, among them the mega-hit Grease – which began life at the Dominion Theatre in London, Where’s Charley? and The Pirates of Penzance at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park, Jane Eyre – the ballet, Silly Cow with Dawn French, Gasping with Hugh Laurie, Two Into One with Donald Sinden and Michael Williams and the major musical productions South Pacific, Sweet Charity, Some Like It Hot, Charlie Girl and Singin’ in the Rain at the Palladium. His other credits range from Shakespeare, Sheridan and Congreve to Orton, Ionesco and Durrenmatt, notably a critically acclaimed production of J. B. Priestley’s When We Are Married with Timothy West, Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge, Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge with Topol, and Priestley’s Time and the Conways at The Old Vic with Joan Plowright. Terry also re-created designs for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End presentation of the play Daisy Pulls It Off.

Well-known for his pantomime designs, among them lavish versions of Cinderella for Stanley Baxter and Mother Goose for Danny La Rue, Terry was responsible over a 5 year period for designing a portfolio of major new star-studded productions for the Ambassador Theatre Group’s theatres – amongst them Peter Pan with Henry Winkler, Cinderella with Mickey Rooney, Snow White with Ross Kemp, Peter Pan with Bonnie Langford, and Dick Whittington with Barbara Windsor.

Terry’s extensive regional credits in the UK include Miranda and Underneath the Arches (also West End) at Chichester Festival Theatre, No Trams to Lime Street at Liverpool), and Father of the Bride, The Surprise Party, A Passionate Woman, Shady Business and A Foot in the Door all at the dinner theatre, The Mill at Sonning.
Terry’s string of international credits include Sian Phillips’ stunning concert costumes for her appearance as Dietrich in Marlene on Broadway, Fame in Scandinavia, Grease in Paris, Chicago in Athens, and Romeo and Juliet, Blithe Spirit, Move Over Mrs Markham and Sailor Beware in Denmark. He has worked in Canada, Australia and Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle and Far East, and designed productions for several major cruise lines including the QE2. Possibly the most unusual of his overseas assignments was his creation in Dubai of a magical fairy-tale Arabian Nights setting in the desert for three thousand guests – the ultimate birthday party for one of the world’s wealthiest sheikhs.