John Napier

John Napier on the official Cats website.

John studied fine art at Hornsey College of Art in the early 60s and subsequently theatre design at the Central School of Arts and Crafts under Ralph Koltai.

Musical theatre credits include:   Cats, Starlight Express, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon  and  Sunset Boulevard. These productions have been presented on Broadway and around the world.

Other designs for the West End include:   Time, Children of Eden  and  Jesus Christ Superstar. John designed the  Captain EO  video, starring Michael Jackson for Disney. He created and co-directed the spectacular  Siegfried & Roy Show  at the Mirage in Las Vegas, followed by Steven Spielberg’s film  Hook.

He is an associate designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Notable productions for the RSC include:   Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, King Lear, Once in a Lifetime, The Greeks, Nicholas Nickleby, Hedda Gabler, Peter Pan  and Mother Courage and Her Children.

His work at the Royal Court includes:   Disconnected, Lear, Big Wolf  and  Cancer. Productions for the Royal National Theatre include:  The Party  (Olivier’s last performance at The Old Vic);  Equus, later seen worldwide;  Trelawny of the ‘Wells’ ,  An Enemy of the People ,  Peter Pan ,  Candide  and  South Pacific.

Opera credits include:   Lohengrin  and  Macbeth  for the Royal Opera Covent Garden;  Don Giovanni  (WNO);  Idomeneo  for Glyndebourne;  The Devils  for ENO and Nabucco  for the Metropolitan Opera.

Other designs include:   Birdsong  (West End);  Burning Blue  at the Haymarket (1996 Olivier Award for Best Set Design);  The Tower  and  Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (both at the Almeida);  Martin Guerre  (West Yorkshire Playhouse and tour); the musical version of  Jane Eyre  on Broadway;  Skellig  at the Young Vic;  Aladdin  at The Old Vic, and the 2007 production of  Equus.

Design awards include:  four Olivier Awards, a BAFTA, and five Tony Awards for  Nicholas Nickleby, Cats, Starlight Express, Les Misérables  and  Sunset Boulevard. Mr Napier is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, was elected Royal Designer for Industry in 1996 and is an honorary fellow of the London Institute.