Martin McCallum

Martin McCallum FRSA (6 April 1950 – 14 January 2024) was a British theatrical producer who was President of the Society of London Theatre. He worked on over 500 shows, many as an independent producer, on Broadway and in the West End.

Early career

McCallum was born Martin Higgins in Blackpool, Lancashire, the son of Jessie (née Lamb) and Raymond Higgins, a greengrocer. The family moved south, from Manchester to Surrey, where he would begin his theatrical career in 1967, as an assistant stage manager at the Castle Theatre, Farnham. After a number of years in repertory, McCallum was hired as a production manager under Laurence Olivier at The Old Vic, then home to the National Theatre of Great Britain.

While at the National, McCallum managed numerous shows, including Michael Blakemore's 1971 production of Long Day's Journey into Night, starring Olivier and Constance Cummings, and the original production of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land, with John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. In 1976, he was threatened at gun point for breaking strike in order to remove the set of No Man's Land to Canada and proceed touring. After Olivier's departure and the appointment of Peter Hall as director, McCallum remained at the National Theatre, assisting with its relocation to London's South Bank.

Musical theatre

Leaving the National Theatre in 1978, McCallum established the Production Office with former colleague Richard Bullimore and was soon engaged to supervise shows including Franco Zeffirelli's Filumena, Harold Prince's Evita, and Cameron Mackintosh's Cats. Following the latter show's success, McCallum would partner with Mackintosh in 1981. His subsequent 22-year tenure as Mackintosh's Managing Director and later Vice Chairman spanned a period of extraordinary commercial success. Described by The Stage as "a key figure in the British musical theatre boom of the 1980s", McCallum would oversee the international roll-out of shows such as Cats, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Miss Saigon, across Europe, Asia and North America.

During this time, McCallum was also regarded for his work in theatre design, collaborating on the renovation of London's Prince Edward and Prince of Wales theatres. In 2001, he acted as a consultant on the restoration of the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, USA.

Society of London Theatre

From 1992 to 2003, McCallum served as Chairman of the Donmar Warehouse, a period in which both Sam Mendes and Michael Grandage were appointed as artistic directors. As Chairman, his support of subsidised theatre led to the commission of Tony Travers' Wyndham Report in 1998, the first major study of the economic impact of the West End theatre industry. The following year, McCallum was made President of the Society of London Theatre.

McCallum's presidency was marked by a commitment to youth access and by the inauguration of the joint Theatre Conference in 2001, exploring the future of London's theatrical buildings and spaces. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he would collaborate with Mayor Ken Livingstone in the campaign to revitalise London's commercial centre, and was later appointed to London's Cultural Strategy Group (2003-2005), tasked with developing strategic policy in regard to culture, arts, and heritage in the capital city. From 1999 to 2003, McCallum sat on Arts Council England’s Drama Panel, serving as a member of its Advisory Task Group until 2005.

Later career

After 2003, McCallum worked mainly as an independent producer, on shows including Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands, winner of a 2007 Drama Desk Award, and Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan, nominated for six Tony Awards in 2014.

McCallum served on the board of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2005 to 2015, and as a member of the STC Chair’s Council oversaw planning for the renovation of its Wharf Theatre in 2018. He died in Sydney on 14 January 2024, at the age of 73.