Sir Howard Panter | |
---|---|
Born | Howard Hugh Panter |
Occupation(s) | Theatre producer and manager |
Spouse | Rosemary Squire |
Children | 3 |
Sir Howard Hugh Panter is a British theatre impresario and theatre operator. With his wife Rosemary Squire he ran the Ambassador Theatre Group from about 1995 until 2016; they remain directors and shareholders of the company.[1] When they left the active management of ATG, they bought Trafalgar Studios (the former Whitehall Theatre), which became the centre of a new company, Trafalgar Entertainment.[2][3]
In a guide to "the 100 most influential people in UK theatre" published by The Stage, Panter and Squire were placed first each year from 2010 to 2016.[4] In 2013 they were placed first in the theatre section of the Evening Standard 'Power 1000'.[5]
Panter received a knighthood in the 2013 Birthday Honours.[6][7]
In 1991, with Sir Eddie Kulukundis and the brothers Peter and John Beckwith, Panter became a director of a company which bought the Duke of York's Theatre and in 1992 was renamed The Duke Of York's Theatre (Holdings) Limited.[8][9] It later bought the Ambassadors Theatre, and was again renamed, to Ambassador Theatre Group.[8][9]
In 2016 Panter and Squire ceased to manage the Ambassador Theatre Group. They bought Trafalgar Studios (the former Whitehall Theatre) from the group, and made it the centre of a new company, Trafalgar Entertainment.[2][3][10][11]
Panter is on the development board of LAMDA,[12] and was chairman of the Rambert Dance Company for ten years.[13] In March 2020 he was appointed chair of The Birmingham Rep Theatre.[14][15] He is a director of Rocky Horror Company Limited.[16]
Panter and Squire have received a number of joint awards and recognitions:
Panter received a knighthood in 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours for "services to theatre".[24][25]
Panter met Rosemary Squire at the Queen's Theatre in London, where both were working during his production of And a Nightingale Sang with Patricia Routledge.[26] Simon Callow was his best man at their wedding.[26]