James McCullagh
James is musical supervisor of the current UK tour of Legally Blonde. Recent credits as musical director include Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats for Royal Caribbean International and Rufus Norris’s acclaimed production of Cabaret, starring Will Young, prior to which he was musical director for the long-running tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Alongside this, James spent three years as musical director for SLP College, Leeds, where shows have included Spend Spend Spend!, The Witches of Eastwick, Anything Goes and Jason Robert Brown’s Parade.
Musical director credits include the UK premiere of John Bucchino’s It’s Only Life (Against the Tide Theatre Company/Brighton Fringe); Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (UK Productions); Rockin' Horses, headlined by Michael Ball (Playhouse Theatre, London - MD and arranger); Fings Ain’t Wot They Used t’Be, Treasure Island (Westcliff Palace Theatre) and extensive work on cruise ships around the world, including Mexico, the Mediterranean, the Panama Canal and Glacier Bay, Alaska. Pantomime credits include Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Aladdin and Cinderella (Bradford Alhambra) for Qdos Entertainment; Peter Pan (Sunderland Empire) and Snow White (Blackpool Grand) for UK Productions; Aladdin and Snow White (Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl); Snow White and Sleeping Beauty (Oakengates Theatre, Telford) and Cinderella (Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare) for Paul Holman Associates.
He also spent two seasons as musical director of Scandinavia’s largest circus, Cirkus Arena. These included royal command performances in front of the Danish royal family, television broadcasts and a top ten album.
Originally from Northern Ireland, James read music at St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
