Michael Wooldridge

Michael is often heard on BBC Radio 2's 'The Organist Entertains' and also broadcast playing to five-million listeners on 'Steve Wright In The Afternoon' as a part of the special 2Day celebrations. He was honoured to play the wonderful five-manual Compton theatre organ in the Odeon, Leicester Square, for a film premiere in the presence of H.R.H. Prince Charles, and thrilled to play piano with the re-formed Mantovani Orchestra for a sell-out concert in Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre. Michael is resident organist for afternoon tea dances at the Assembly Hall in Worthing and on Europe’s largest Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ at the East Sussex National in Uckfield. He has also enjoyed playing for dancing at UK venues as far flung as The Winter Gardens in both Eastbourne and Blackpool, where he has also played in concert and for dancing at the world famous Tower Ballroom. One of England's top electronic and theatre organists, Michael won the A.T.O.S. Young Theatre Organist of the Year Competition in 1980 and, in 1984, was honoured by the C.O.S. with their prestigious Ian Sutherland Award. He has gone on to regularly give concerts throughout the U.K. and has made playing tours of Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Australia. He has worked as a celebrity concert artiste and sales demonstrator for Yamaha, Hammond and Wersi organs. Playing keyboards with The Los Palmas 6, the leading Madness tribute band, took him to Ireland and Dubai! He has recently spent a year playing with leading Shadows tribute band, The Fabulous Shadows, recreating all of the classic hits, including Apache, Wonderful Land and the Guitar Tango and performing Cliff and the Shadows nights with Jimmy Jemain, who has been voted the UK's number one tribute artiste (from 33,000 acts) by the Agents' Association of Great Britain. Michael feels extremely privileged to work with many of the stars he grew up admiring on television, including Supersonic Syd Little, Crackerjack and Good Morning Sunday's Don Maclean, stars of the Black and White Minstrel Show, pianist Bobby Crush and, from Ireland, the hilarious Jimmy Cricket and Eurovision Song Contest winner, Dana. He has worked in cabaret with master magician, Paul Daniels and, to a crowd of over 2,000 caravaners and in summer season, with his superbly talented son, Martin Daniels. A great lover of musical theatre, Michael has played ‘in the pit,’ often working as Musical Director, for countless musicals including Carousel, My Fair Lady, Kismet, Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, It’s A Swing Thing, Guys and Dolls, Glitz, Half a Sixpence, Call Me Madam, Snow White, Bugsy, Oklahoma, Hans Anderson, Annie Get Your Gun, A Christmas Carol, Blitz, The Will Rogers Follies: A Life In Review, Babes in the Wood, Aladdin, The Minstrel Stars, Memories of the Black and White Minstrels, The Boy Friend, The Wireless Years, Variety Startime, We’ll Meet Again, Oliver, As Happy as a Sandbag, A Night At The Musicals, Chess, Wizard of Oz, Palladium Memories, Variety Bandbox, Melodytimes, Cinderella and Hello Dolly. In rehearsal, he has played for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Sound of Music, Jesus Christ Superstar, and for a 40th anniversary production of Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Sir Tim Rice’s very first musical, The Likes Of Us. He has worked as Musical Director and Producer for many summer seasons in Eastbourne, Bournemouth, Hunstanton, and Blackpool, and with his partnership, Merlin Theatre Productions, supplies the summer and Christmas shows to The West Cliff Theatre, Clacton and tours various productions. A great lover of swing music, Michael enjoys performing gentle jazz, either solo or with other musicians, and also has a classic Hammond organ trio, The 'Organ'isation, which can enlarge when required to incorporate extra musicians and singers. Michael also plays for dances, corporate events and private functions, and has worked at many venues as a cocktail pianist, including London's Savoy Hotel. When not on tour, Michael gives private music lessons, is Principal Tutor to the Rye Wurlitzer Academy and spent three years as Electronic Organ Instructor at the University of Sussex. He also plays the classical organ for church services and weddings.