After Sam Mendes and his Donmar executive producer Caro Newling departed from the Covent Garden theatre, they stayed in the physical area — hiring offices in nearby Neal Street and re-inventing themselves as Scamp Film and Theatre Ltd, with Newling heading up the theatre division and Pippa Harris the film department.
While their early theatrical slate didn’t bode well — with Fuddy Meers (not directed by Mendes) in particular proving to be a fast flop at the Arts Theatre last summer — there was further confusion afoot when it turned out that there was another theatre production company already with the same name, Louise Callow and Jenny Sutherland’s Scamp Theatre, who are Edinburgh Fringe regulars, and whose production last year of Jonathan Harvey’s one-woman show Taking Charlie was even, in one negative national review, blamed on the Mendes/Newling company! (This autumn, Scamp are touring Bristol Old Vic’s production of Private Peaceful, seen at the Edinburgh Fringe last year).
So with immediate effect, the Mendes/Newling/Harris company has been re-branded Neal Street Productions. On the movie front, they have Sam Mendes’ third feature movie Jarhead in post-production for a US release on November 4 and UK release slated for January 13, and another new film about to go into production, Starter for Ten, being helmed by debut director Tom Vaughan with a cast that includes Peter Hall’s actress daughter Rebecca.
On the theatrical scene, they in partnership with other producers to bring Shrek — the Musical to the Broadway stage, directed by Jason Moore (who staged last year’s Tony Award winning best musical Avenue Q, heading to Stratford East next February), with a new score by Jeanine Tesori (who provided additional songs for Thoroughly Modern Millie) and lyrics by Britain’s Jeremy Sams (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang).
