The Mayflower Southampton

Rosie Ashe

Rosie is renowned for her rich career in the West End, including playing the roles of ‘Carlotta’ in the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera, ‘Madame Thénardier’ in Les Misérables, ‘Widow Corney’ in Oliver!, ‘Felicia Gabriel’ in The Witches of Eastwick (nominated for Laurence Olivier Award Best Supporting Actress) & ‘Miss Andrew’ in Mary Poppins. Other credits include: Side by Side by Sondheim, Nickleby and Me, Dear Ivor (Welsh National Opera), ‘Janet’ in The Rocky Horror Show, ‘Maria’ in West Side Story, 'Mrs Higgins' in My Fair Lady to name but a few.

Rosie also has experience in operatic roles all over the world, including: ‘Esmeralda’ in The Bartered Bride, ‘Venus’ in Orpheus In The Underworld, ‘Papagena’ in The Magic Flute, ‘Fiakermilli’ in Arabella and ‘Zou Zou’ in La Belle Vivette all for English National Opera. ‘Helene’ in La Belle Helene, ‘Musetta’ in La Boheme, ‘Frasquita’ in CARMEN, ‘Josephine’ in HMS PINAFORE, ‘Clorinda’ in La Cenerentola and ‘Dinah’ in Trouble in Tahiti.

Television credits includes: The House of Eliott, The Music Game, Whale On, The Garden of Evelyn, The Beggars' Opera and Cosi Fan Tutte. Also, An Audience with Ronnie Corbett and Open House with Gloria Hunniford. Radio includes: The Most Happy Fella, Friday Night is Music Night; Songs from The Shows, One Hundred Best Singers, Loose Ends, Kit and The Widow Cocktails and many Sondheim Concerts.

Paul Knight

Paul has studied at Chethams School of Music, Colchester Institute and The Royal College of Music. He has won the Canon Jack Award for solo recital playing and the Stephens Award. He has appeared as soloist and accompanist in the UK and Europe, most recently performing the Gershwin Piano Concerto at Brussels Cathedral and Wembley Arena. He has broadcast for the BBC on ‘The Pianist Entertains’ and ‘Friday Night is Music Night’. As a conductor, Paul specialises in ‘lost’ works such as “The English Ring” (Maritana Bohemian Girl and Lilly of Killarney) which he revived after a silence of fifty years.

Paul has appeared as actor musician in a number of shows including ‘Grimsley and Tibbs’, ‘Champagne Charlie’, ‘The Killer Soprano’ (with Rosie Ashe), ‘Two’s a Crowd’ (with Rosalind Plowright), ‘Here’s a How Dee Doo ‘(UK tour, West End, Canada, and BBC Radio 2 series), ‘Now for Something Completely Different’ as well as the infamous ‘Forbidden Broadway’ at the Fortune, Jermyn Street and Noel Coward Theatres.

As Musical Director he has played and arranged many shows including ‘Goodnight Mr. Tom’, ‘Applause’, ‘Jacques Brel is…’, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, ‘Marry Me a Little’, ‘Into the Woods’, ‘Godspell’ and endless pantomimes and revues. He acted as the Musical Director of five national tours for David Wood’s Whirligig Theatre Company. He is Musical Supervisor and arranger for ‘Spot’s Birthday Party’ for Oxford Playhouse Productions and the 60’s musical hit ‘Shout’. Film and TV credits include ‘Night on the Town’, ‘Handel’s Resurrection’, ‘Campion’, BBC’s ‘Pebble Mill’ ,’The Late Show’, and he was most recently Opera Arranger on Stephen Poliakov’s ‘Capturing Mary’.