Tony Staveacre

Tony Staveacre is a writer/producer/musician whose specialities are popular culture, oral history, music and comedy. He is the author of four books: 'Al Bowlly' (with Sid Colin), 'The Songwriters', 'Slapstick! - the Illustrated Story of Knockabout Comedy': his biography of band-leader Lew Stone - 'A Modest Maestro' was published in 2011. His tv credits have included 'Irving Berlin - the Voice of the City' (winner of Ace Award, USA), 'Tango Nuevo' (BBC-2), 'Organ Imperial', 'Tangos & Rags'(Decca), 'Behind the Scenes' (BBC-2), 'Tango Maestro' (BBC Four), 'The Old Boys Band' (BBC-1). In the previous millenium, he was a regular producer/presenter of The Radio 2 Arts Programme: also for Radio 2 he devised and presented two series of 'The Tango Trail' and 'Hooked on Tango', and two series of comedy archive programmes featuring John Bird: 'That Mocking Bird'. For Radio 4, he wrote and presented 'Loose Gags, Songs and Sketches', 'Groucho Was My Father', also 'The Wodehouse Letters' and 'Noel Coward from His Diaries', 'Syncopation', and 'The Chocolate Kiddies'. In 1998 he wrote and produced an Afternoon Play for Radio 4: 'The Trouble You Bring Me (scenes from the marriage of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya)'. His recent Radio 4 productions include 'Tim's Comedy Links' (series), 'Ustinov at 80', 'The Last of the Humorous Casuals' (with Richard Briers and Miles Kington), 'The Wodehouse Notebooks' (with John Bird and Tim McInnerny), 'The Liberation of Daphne', 'Speaking from the Belly' (a history of ventriloquism, featuring Nina Conti), and 'Standing Up for Liverpool' (with Les Dennis and Ricky Tomlinson, 2007). In 2008 he compiled and presented 'Kington's Last Tapes' and also wrote an Afternoon Play for Radio 4: 'Wodehouse in Hollywood'. In 2011/12 he produced 'The Chaplin Legacy' for Radio 4 and two series for Radio 2: 'The Bands that Mattered' and 'Why Did She Fall for the Leader of the Band?', also an hour-long profile of 'Betty Driver - So Little Time'. He has written several musical plays for the theatre, including 'Fred Karno's Army' (Bristol Old Vic), 'Wodehouse on Broadway' (Plymouth Theatre Royal), 'Follies of Weston-super-Mare' (Weston Playhouse), 'The Very Thought of You' (Arts Council tour, 2007), 'Jigsy' (Edinburgh, Bristol, Liverpool, 2012). He lives in Somerset, and plays saxophone in several ensembles: Sax-Pack, The Savage Stompers, and The Chew Valley Syncopators.