Joe Harmston, Gala Events Director and Producer
Joe works with John Miller on devising, directing and producing large gala events for charities and special events.
The Joe Harmston and John Miller production team has established itself as first call for major theatrical galas since they first teamed up for the John Gielgud Centenary Gala in April 2004 at the Gielgud Theatre at the request of the RSC. As a result of the huge success of the Gielgud event, Sir Peter Hall asked them to produce Judi Dench and Friends to launch his new Rose Theatre at Kingston in December 2004. They were then asked to create the Christopher Fry Memorial Celebration in November 2005 at the Chichester Festival Theatre and in 2006 they devised, produced and directed The John Betjeman Variety Show with Betjeman’s daughter, Candida Lycett Green at the Prince of Wales Theatre, in the presence of TRHs the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.
Charities which have benefited from their events have included the Mental Health Charity SANE, The Child Growth Foundation, the RADA, The Chicken Shed and Tsunami Charities across south east Asia.
Joe and John are currently being consulted about a number of centenary and charity events in 2008 & 2009.
St Wilfrid’s Hospice Gala - Chichester Festival Theatre, 2007
A fund raising gala evening to celebrate the 20th birthday of St Wilfrid’s Hospice.
Produced with John Miller and Tamsin Stanley.
Featuring Patricia Routledge, James Bolam, Chris Timothy, Paul McGann, Geraldine James, Susannah Harker and String Fever, Teatro and Jonathan Ansell.
Betjeman Variety Show - Prince of Wales Theatre, London 2006
Featuring Hugh Grant, Richard E.Grant, Bill Nighy, Barry Humphries, Jools Holland, Suggs, Joanna Lumley, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dame Edna Everadge, Edward Fox, His Excellency Sir Les Patterson the Australian Cultural Attaché, The Bishop of London, Kit and the Widow, St Paul's Cathedral Choir, Miriam Margolyes, Prunella Scales, Timothy West. Jonathan Cecil, Ronnie Corbett, Sinead Cusack, Joanna David, British Sea Power.
By Christopher! - Chichester Festival Theatre, 2005
Featuring Ned Sherrin, Keith Baxter, Nancy Carroll, John Shrapnel, John Turner, Alan Dobie, Michael Frayn, Alan Cox, Sonia Ritter, Richard Johnson, Paul Moriarty.
Sir John Gielgud Gala - Gielgud Theatre, London 2004
Featuring Alan Bennett, David Hare, Judi Dench, Rosemary Harris, Michael Pennington, Ian Richardson, Paul Scofield, Ian McKellen, Martin Jarvis, Barbara Jefford, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Jennifer Hilary, Ronald Pickup, Peter Hall, Ned Sherrin, RADA.
One Knight Only - The Rose Theatre, Kingston 2004
Featuring Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins, Diana Rigg, Antony Sher, Kevin Spacey, Joan Collins, Edward Fox, Diana Quick, Miranda Richardson, Patrick Stewart, Bob Hoskins, Sian Phillips, Zoe Wannamaker, Clive Rowe, Joshua Jackson, Celia Imrie, Josie Lawrence, Sally Ann Triplet, Julie-Kate Olivier.
"Certainly a rare and special sight – a spectacular evening of drama, music and comedy" - London Evening Standard
The Word Bites Like A Fish - The Royal Festival Hall, London 2004
A Stephen Spender Centenary Celebration
Featuring Harold Pinter, Seamus Heaney, Vanessa Redgrave, Tony Harrison.
Judi Dench and Friends - The Rose Theatre, Kingston 2004
Featuring Judi Dench, Harold Pinter, Charles Dance, Tim Pigott-Smith, Samantha Bond, Colin Salmon, Samuel West, David Oyelowo, Julian Glover, Alan Dobie, Kingston University drama department.