Photo by David Levine
Aria Entertainment was founded in 2012 by Producer Katy Lipson. In 10 years, she has produced over 70 productions in the West End, Off-West End and across the UK. She most recently produced Zorro – The Musical and Broken Wings (Charing Cross Theatre), A-Typical Rainbow (Turbine Theatre), the West End transfer of The Last Five Years (Garrick Theatre) and the World Première of Jack Holden’s Cruise (Duchess Theatre and Apollo Theatre) which was nominated for a 2022 Oliver Award for the Best New Play.
In 2017, Lipson was awarded the Best Producer award by the Off-West End Awards and in 2019 was nominated for International Producer of the Year by the League of Professional Theatre Women in New York. She is a recipient of the Stage One Bursary and Start Up Award and works as a mentor on their Bursary and Bridge the Gap programmes. In 2018 she was included in “The Stage 100” list and in 2019 and 2020 for her work at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester and again in 2021 for her work as a solo producer.
She produced the UK Premiere Tour of The Addams Family in 2017, which has recently completed its second major tour and the 50th anniversary touring production of Hair in 2019, which previously ran for 15 weeks in an acclaimed version at The Vaults, London in 2017.
Katy was the Producing Artistic Director for all 13 in-house musicals at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre from 2016 – 2019 producing and general managing shows such as Parade, Hair, Yank!, Pippin, Aspects of Love, Mame, Putting It Together, Rags and Little Women amongst others and producing all London transfers of Hair (The Vaults); Yank! (Charing Cross Theatre); Pippin and Aspects of Love (Southwark Playhouse) and Rags (Park Theatre). She was extremely proud to have worked with Stephen Schwartz on a revised version of Rags, for which an original cast recording was also made.
Hair won the award for Best Off-West End Production at the 2018 WhatsOnStage Award. Spring Awakening won the Best Regional Production award at the 2019 WhatsOnStage Awards. The Southwark Playhouse production of The Last Five Years won both the Best Production and Best Direction Award for Jonathan O’Boyle at the Off-West End Awards.
In 2012, Katy produced a revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Arts Theatre for the bi-centenary year of Charles Dickens and in 2017 The Toxic Avenger ran at the Arts Theatre following runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s Pleasance Theatre earlier that year, and the Southwark Playhouse in 2016.
Lipson set up the From Page to Stage festival to support new musicals at all difference stages of development. In 6 years, From Page to Stage has given a platform to over 100 new musicals; many of which have gone on to have full productions and be licensed worldwide. In 2017 the festival ran at The Other Palace and was supported by The Really Useful Group. She recently set up a new chamber musical award with Adam Lenson Productions to support and commission one new British chamber musical a year and she also runs a full-time literary department for new musicals.
Current projects include: The Osmonds and The Cher Show (UK Tours); From Here to Eternity (Charing Cross Theatre) and Claus – The Musical (The Lowry, Salford).
Twitter: @ariaents
