He's a songwriter, humanitarian, Grammy, Oscar, Tony and BRIT award winner, Broadway champion, football benefactor, a knight of the realm, a superstar and yet still a man of the people. With more than 200 million album sales, Elton John is the most enduringly successful singer/songwriter of his, or any other, generation and also the most decorated.

On the business side, Elton remains the most educated of musicians. He champions up-and-coming artists devotedly, and has seen one of those talents, James Blunt, become one of the best selling artists of the decade.

Elton's charitable endeavours include his Elton John AIDS Foundation, which to date has raised over $100 million.

Theatrically, Elton is deeply committed to the Broadway opening of Billy Elliot the Musical, the Olivier Award-winning show for which he wrote the music and Lee Hall wrote the lyrics.

His film work has included his collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice on music for Disney's The Lion King, winning him not only a Grammy but his first Academy Award, after which he collaborated with Rice again on the Broadway smash Aida.

Along with partner David Furnish, Elton has just produced It's a Boy/Girl Thing, with Rocket Pictures, while he has also written songs for their planned animated movie Gnomeo & Juliet.

But for all of these commitments, he would never disrespect his day job of close to 40 years.

Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he is an ever-thankful student of the Royal Academy of Music. Lyricist Bernie Taupin's melody man from 1966 to this day, he recreated himself as Elton John in '68, and has been shining in the global spotlight since a life-changing performance at LA's Troubadour in the summer of 1970.

His latest release, Rocket Man - The Definitive Hits is his 44th multi-platinum album, in a body of work that includes such groundbreaking hits as Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across The Water, Honky Chateau, Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy and his best selling studio album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Elton celebrated his 60th birthday in March 2007 with all his characteristic bravura and played New York's Madison Square Gardens for the 60th time breaking his own record with an unmatched concert at the legendary venue.

And his love of performing live shows no sign of dissipating: a reinvigorated Elton has undertaken an epic residency with the Red Piano show, which continues at the Caesars Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas, while his stadium shows around the world remain one of the "must see" events for any music fan.

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Lee Hall was born and bred in Newcastle. He has written for radio (including Spoonface Steinberg and the Sony-winning, I Love You Jimmy Spud), theatre (including the Olivier-nominated Cooking With Elvis), television (The Student Prince) and has written several screenplays including Billy Elliot for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He has adapted plays for the Almeida Theatre, the RSC and the National and has a long term relationship with Live Theatre, Newcastle for whom he is writing a play called The Nudists.

Lee is currently working on several other musical theatre projects, including a new film with Elton John.

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Theatre: Billy Elliot the Musical currently running in London at the Victoria Palace Theatre and in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre. For the Royal Court Theatre - A Number by Caryl Churchill; Far Away by Caryl Churchill (also at the Albery Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop); Via Dolorosa by David Hare (also at the Duchess Theatre and on Broadway); Rat in the Skull by Ron Hutchinson (Royal Court Classic Season); Body Talk; The Kitchen by Arnold Wesker; The Editing Process by Meredith Oakes; Search and Destroy by Howard Korder. For the National Theatre - An Inspector Calls (also West End, Broadway and worldwide); Machinal. For the Gate Theatre - Damned for Despair; The Fleisser Plays (with Annie Castledine); Figaro Gets Divorced.  Many productions at Sheffield Crucible Theatre, where he started his career under the late Clare Veneable. Productions at Manchester Library Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse, Stratford East, Oxford Stage, Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Stephen was Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 1992-98 where he headed the £26 million re-development; the Gate Theatre (1989-92) and the Metro Theatre Company (1984-86). He is on the Board of the Young and Old Vic Theatres and remains an Associate Director of the Royal Court. Stephen was the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre for 2002 at St Catherine's College, Oxford. He has won many awards for his theatrical work both in the UK and the USA. Film and TV: Currently filming The Reader with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. The screenplay is written by David Hare based on a novel by Bernhard Schlink. Stephen has produced two "Omnibus" programmes for BBC2. His first feature film Billy Elliot won over 40 awards worldwide and received 3 Oscar nominations including Best Director. His second feature The Hours also won innumerable international awards including Best Picture at the Golden Globes and received nine Oscar and eleven BAFTA nominations.

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Peter Darling choreographed the film Billy Elliot (MTV Best Dance Sequence and America Choreography nominations)

Theatre West End: Billy Elliot (Best Choreographer Laurence Olivier Award, Critics Circle Award, Whatsonstage.com Award); Lord Of The Rings (Best Chorographer Dora Award, Toronto); Our House directed by Matthew Warchus, (Cambridge Theatre). (Best Choreographer, Olivier nomination, Best Musical Olivier Award 2003) Merrily We Roll Along (The Donmar Warehouse) (Best Choreographer, Olivier nomination, Best Musical Olivier Award 2001) Candide (The Royal National Theatre) (Best Choreographer, Olivier nomination, Outstanding Musical Production 2000 Olivier Award) Oh What a Lovely War! (The Royal National Theatre 1999) Off-West End: Closer To Heaven for The Pet Shop Boys/Really Useful Group (Best Choreographer, Theatregoers' Choice Award 2002). Other Power (Royal National Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bristol Old Vic), Sunset Boulevard for the Really Useful Group (UK Tour), The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company Edward II, The Country Wife, As You Like It and Twelfth Night all directed by Michael Grandage.

Film For Really Useful Films: The Phantom Of The Opera directed by Joel Schumacher. For Miramax, Plots With A View directed by Nick Hurran, to be released 2003 and most recently Trauma.

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Ian MacNeil has designed for theatre, opera, dance, film and pop music. His most notable designs include An Inspector Calls (National Theatre/West End and Broadway), Machinal (National Theatre), Ariodante (English National Opera.) and Festen (Almeida/West End). Other designs include Afore Night Comes for the Young Vic and A Number, Plasticine and Far Away for The Royal Court.

He has staged various world tours for the Pet Shop Boys. Recent designs include Tin Tin (Barbican and Young Vic) and Vernon God Little (Young Vic). He has won numerous awards including two Oliviers (An Inspector Calls and Ariodante), Two Critic's Circle Awards (Machinal and An Inspector Calls), and two Evening Standard Awards (A Number/Plasticine and Festen).

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Nicky trained as a fashion textile designer. She works mostly as a costume designer in Theatre and Opera and occasionally as a set designer.

Winner of the Gold award for Best Costume Design, Prague Quadrenale 2003 for Midsummer Night's Dream, Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Work includes The Fiery Angel (La Monnaie, Brussels), The Tempest (RSC), The Seagull (National Theatre), Billy Elliot the Musical (Victoria Palace Theatre), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Royal Opera House), Queen of Spades (Royal Opera House, Naples, Geneva), Pelleas et Melisande (Munich), The Miserly Knight, Flight, Don Giovanni (Glyndebourne), Jumpers (National Theatre, West End, Broadway), Powerbook (NationalTheatre, Paris, Rome), Tales from the Vienna Woods set and costumes, A Little Night Music, Mother Clapp's Molly House (National Theatre), By the Bog of Cats (Wyndhams Theatre), Camille set and costumes (Lyric Hammersmith), Proverb (Royal Ballet), La Traviata, Hansel and Gretel set and costumes, Of Thee I Sing, Pelleas and Melisande, Don Carlos, Wozzeck (Opera North), Midsummer Night's Dream, La Lupa (RSC), Queen of Spades (Royal Opera House), Six Characters in Search of an Author (Young Vic), Flight (Holland), War and Peace (Paris), Turk In Italy, Boris Godunov, Pelleas and Melisande, Peter Grimes (English National Opera), Midsummer Marriage (Munich), Vernon Little God (Young Vic).

Future projects Rusalka (Copenhagen), The Good Person of Szechwan (Young Vic London).

Film Institute Benjamenta Dir. Brothers Quay.

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Originally from Philadelphia, Rick has been based in Britain for 30 years. He received the 2009 Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards for Billy Elliot on Broadway and the 2008 Helpmann Award for the Australian production. Broadway: The Philanthropist, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, Via Dolorosa, Some American's Abroad, An Inspector Calls (Tony, Drama Desk Awards), Serious Money. Opera includes seven seasons at Santa Fe Opera and productions at Covent Garden, English National Opera, Spoleto Festival, Houston, New York City Opera, Venice, Bolshoi. Other awards include two Olivier Awards for Best Lighting.

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Recent Designs:
The Arabian Nights - dir: Dominic Cooke at the Royal Shakespeare Company; Nation - dir: Melly Still at the National Theatre, London; The House of Bernarda Alba - dir: John Tiffany for the National Theatre of Scotland, at the Citizens' Glasgow; Man of The Moment - dir: Alan Ayckbourn at Royal & Derngate, Northampton; Been So Long - dir: Che Walker, at the Young Vic Theatre, London, and Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh; When The Rain Stops Falling - dir: Michael Attenborough, at the Almeida Theatre, London; The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale - dir: Sam Mendes, for The Bridge Project at Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, World Tour & Old Vic Theatre, London; Mary Stuart - dir Phyllida Lloyd, at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York; Billy Elliot The Musical - dir: Stephen Daldry, at the Oriental Theatre, Chicago, the Imperial Theatre New York; Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne; Capitol Theatre Sydney and the Victoria Palace Theatre London; Under The Blue Sky - dir: Anna Mackmin, at the Duke Of York's Theatre, London; The Diver - dir: Hideki Noda, at Soho Theatre, London; The Revenger's Tragedy - dir: Melly Still, at the National Theatre, London; The Year Of Magical Thinking – dir: David Hare at the National Theatre, London and the Booth Theatre, Broadway, NY; Les Liaisons Dangereuses - dir: Rufus Norris, at the American Airlines Theatre, Broadway, NY; Never So Good - dir: Howard Davies at the National Theatre, London; Happy Now? – dir: Thea Sharrock, at the National Theatre, London; Saint Joan – dir: Marianne Elliott, at the National Theatre, London; The Member of the Wedding – dir: Matthew Dunster, at the Young Vic Theatre, London; Vernon God Little – dir: Rufus Norris, at the Young Vic Theatre, London; The Respectable Wedding – dir: Joe Hill-Gibbins, at the Young Vic Theatre, London; Nakamitsu – dir: Jonathan Munby at the Gate Theatre, London; The Pain and The Itch – dir: Dominic Cooke, at the Royal Court, London; Herge's Adventures Of Tintin – dir: Rufus Norris at the Barbican Theatre and Playhouse Theatre, London.

Awards & Nominations:
Billy Elliot The Musical: Tony Award 2009, Drama Desk Award 2009, Olivier Award 2006, Helpmann Award (Australia) nomination 2008; Mary Stuart: Tony Award Nomination 2009; Saint Joan: Olivier Award 2008; Festen: Evening Standard Award 2005 and Olivier Award nomination 2005. The Pillowman: Drama Desk Award 2005, Olivier Award nomination 2004; Crestfall: Irish Times Theatre Award nomination 2004. Far Away: Lucille Lortel Award nomination 2004. The Chairs: Drama Desk Award nomination 2003. Four Baboons Adoring The Sun: Drama Desk Award 1993.

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Martin was a Scholar at the Royal College of Music London.

Musical Director Chicago (Cambridge Theatre); Pirates of Penzance (Drury Lane Theatre); Blondel (Aldwych Theatre); The Boyfriend (Albery Theatre); Follies (Shaftesbury Theatre); Les Miserables (Barbican and Palace Theatres); Miss Saigon (Drury Lane Theatre).

Musical Supervisor Les Miserables (London and worldwide); Miss Saigon (London and worldwide); Cats (New London Theatre); Just So (Tricycle Theatre); Moby Dick (Piccadilly Theatre); Which Witch (Piccadilly Theatre); Oliver! (Palladium Theatre and UK Tour); Martin Guerre (UK Tour); Mamma Mia! (London and worldwide) and Billy Elliot (London)

Recording Over thirty albums as producer or orchestrator (twenty-one gold, and six platinum) among these are the original recordings of Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Oliver!, Les Miserables - Symphonic Recording, Hey Mr Producer, Mamma Mia! (Grammy nomination) Jerry Springer The Opera and Billy Elliot The Musical.

Orchestration Just So; Moby Dick; Tutankhamun; Which Witch; Mamma Mia! (Tony Award nomination); Jerry Springer The Opera (winner of the Olivier, Evening Standard, Critic's Circle and What's On Stage awards for Best Musical); Billy Elliot The Musical (winner of the Olivier, Evening Standard, Critic's Circle and What's On Stage awards for Best Musical) and Desperately Seeking Susan. Martin has orchestrated for many international Orchestras and a wide variety of solo artists ranging from Shirley Bassey to Damon Albarn and has just finished orchestrating five Operas by Richard Thomas commissioned by the BBC.

Martin runs a music production company and recording studio which has undertaken numerous television, album and DVD projects. www.kochandgilpin.co.uk

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Broadway (Music Supervisor): Pajama Game, Flower Drum Song, The Music Man, Side Show, Little Me, Damn Yankees. Broadway (Dance Arranger): Cry-Baby; The Little Mermaid; Curtains; The Wedding Singer; Pajama Game; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Flower Drum Song; Kiss Me, Kate; Seussical; Side Show; and …Forum. London (Dance Arranger): Evita, Guys and Dolls. Also: Boston Pops, Radio City. Musical training: Harvard biology degree.

Dedicated to my own Mrs. Wilkinson, Joan Bedinger (1939-2008), Woodson High School drama teacher and friend.

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Julian was Associate Director for Stephen Daldry's award winning production of An Inspector Calls, and has been responsible for three successful national tours of the UK as well as five recasts for the West End.

Julian was also Associate Director at Liverpool Playhouse, where his production of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men toured nationally. He adapted and directed The Three Musketeers at the Young Vic Theatre, which was nominated for a Barclay's Theatre Award in 2002.

More recently Julian directed the West-End revival of The Shape of Things by Neil Labute at the New Ambassadors and directed The Barber of Seville at the Bristol Old Vic in a new adaptation by Lee Hall.

For eight years, Julian was Artistic Director of Soho Rep, New York - and also directed at American regional theatres including Yale Rep and the Actors' Theatre of Louisville. He has directed On-Broadway (Faulkner's Bicycle starring Kim Hunter) as well as many shows Off off Broadway (including Serves You Right written by Steve Buscemi).

His operatic productions include From the House of the Dead, Wozzeck, Il Tabburro and Vollo Di Notte all for Long Beach Opera in California and more recently Messalina at Battignano.

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Founded in 1983, Working Title Films has been co-chaired by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner since 1992. Between them, the pair has produced more than 95 feature films which have amassed over $4.5 billion at the box office worldwide. To date, their films have won 6 Academy Awards, 26 BAFTAs and won prestigious prizes at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. Bevan and Fellner have also been honoured with two of the highest film awards given to British filmmakers: the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the 2004 BAFTAs and the Alexander Walker Film Award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards in 2005. They were both recently made CBEs.

Working Title Films is Europe's most prolific production company as well as the pre-eminent producer of English-language films outside the United States. The company has produced a roster of films that have defied boundaries as well as demographics. Among their commercial and critical hits are Frost Nixon; Burn After Reading; Atonement; Pride & Prejudice; A Serious Man; The Soloist; United 93; Nanny McPhee; The Interpreter; About a Boy; Notting Hill; Elizabeth; Fargo; Dead Man Walking; Bean; High Fidelity; Johnny English; Billy Elliot; Four Wedding and a Funeral; Bridget Jones's Diary; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; O Brother Where Art Thou?; Love Actually; Mr. Bean's Holiday; Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

Their upcoming slate of features includes Green Zone directed by Paul Greengrass, starring Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear and Amy Ryan; Paul directed by Greg Mottola and written by and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang directed by Susanna White and written by and starring Emma Thompson, alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maggie Smith and Ralph Fiennes.

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Jon started in the film industry as a production manager then line producer on several feature films and major television dramas. In 1996 he joined the production department at Working Title Films overseeing all of Working Title's feature films and television projects at that time. A year later he helped David Goldesgeyne set up the Jerwood Film Prize and produced the BAFTA nominated short film Eight, Stephen Daldry's film directing debut.

In 1999 Jon along with Natascha Wharton set up WT2, Working Title's low budget film label. In the same year he produced his first film, Billy Elliot and in 2000 won the NOVA award from the Producers' Guild of America, an exceptional honour awarded to an outstanding achievement by a new producer. Jon's next film was My Little Eye, directed by Marc Evans, which although a very different film to Billy Elliot, again achieved critical and box-office success.

Jon has since set up his own film production company.

Billy Elliot is his first foray into theatre.

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Theatre impresario Sally Greene is the owner of The Old Vic and the Criterion. She is well known for rescuing and restoring these two great theatres and previously the Richmond Theatre in West London.

In 1993, she launched Criterion Productions with Lord Richard Attenborough and in 1999, renamed it Old Vic Productions plc. OVP has produced, co-produced or invested in over 70 productions in the West End and on Broadway. These include: Cyrano de Bergerac with Antony Sher, The Reduced Shakespeare Company (the longest running comedy in the West End), The Vagina Monologues (London & UK Tour), The Weir, Dolly West's Kitchen, The Car Man, Medea, Life x 3, Benefactors, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, Macbeth, Sexual Perversity in Chicago with Matthew Perry and Minnie Driver, and Hamlet, starring Ben Whishaw, directed by Trevor Nunn (Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play 2004).

Sally appointed Kevin Spacey as Artistic Director of The Old Vic Theatre Company in 2000 which has led to strong Anglo-American collaborations both here and across the pond; most notably Philadelphia Story and Moon for the Misbegotten (which also transferred to Broadway) and the forthcoming Speed the Plow which will open at the Old Vic in 2008. Sally is the proprietor of the renowned Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and two restaurants, the Cheyne Walk Brasserie andthe Waterloo Brasserie. She has also set up Greene Light Films to invest in and develop new UK filmmaking talent.

Sally appointed Joseph Smith as Executive Producer of Old Vic Productions in 2006 to work alongside her on current and future theatre projects.

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David Furnish was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He began his career in advertising and became a filmmaker in 1995. His first project was the BAFTA nominated documentary Elton John - Tantrums & Tiaras. He set up the film production company Rocket Pictures with backing from the Walt Disney Company. Their first production was Women Talking Dirty starring Helena Bonham Carter and Gina McKee. Rocket is currently in production with a major animated feature called Gnomeo & Juliet, a comic love story set in adjoining English gardens. David enjoys writing and is a Contributing Editor for Interview Magazine, and British GQ. He is also a Director of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a Trustee for The Old Vic Theatre.

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Angela Morrison is the Chief Operating Officer of Working Title Films, responsible for the direction of its commercial activities including all business affairs, finance and strategic planning matters. She has been with Working Title since 1992 and was the executive-in-charge of production of the original film Billy Elliot.

A law graduate of University College London, Angela qualified as a barrister in 1988. After working in the independent film and TV industry, she joined Working Title Films and has held the position of Chief Operating Officer for the last ten years. In 2001 Angela was awarded the Women in Film and TV Business Woman of the Year award.

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Current Broadway productions include A Behanding in Spokane, Billy Elliot, and Mamma Mia! and the North American tours of Legally Blonde, The Color Purple and Mamma Mia! Principals in the firm include Devin Keudell, Amy Jacobs and Maggie Brohn. Devin Keudell has worked with Nina Lannan since 1992.

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