About us

It all started way back in 1970. Mike Maran left his home town, Edinburgh, and came to London with his guitar, hanging out with Al Stewart in Bunjies, Colin Scot at The Troubador, Roy Harper at Les Cousins, and Ralph McTell and John Martyn at The Hanging Lamp in Richmond.

After three years on the folk scene Mike recorded his first album for Bronze Records, Fair Warning (ILPS 9221) and moved into the rock scene opening shows for Uriah Heap, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Captain Beefheart, ELO, Roy Wood’s Wizzard, etc etc ... doing late night John Peel shows on Radio 1. In 1977 he opened a show at the Edinburgh Fringe about the life and work of Robert Louis Stevenson,

... and maybe this is where the story really starts. David Rose, senior drama producer at Pebble Mill (do you remember Z Cars? – that was David Rose!) bought the show for BBC television and Penny Whistles of Robert Louis Stevenson was BBC2’s flagship musical of 1979, shown on Bank Holiday Easter Monday. There followed a stream of plays with music – a new one every year – and it’s still going on ...

In 1991 Mike wrote a musical play about the life and work of the Scottish novelist, Neil Gunn, An Atom of Delight, with music by Derek Hoy, which toured the Scottish Highlands and was broadcast on Radio 4. In 1993 Mike presented Italia n’ Caledonia in Valvona & Crolla during the Edinburgh Fringe. It was a media senasation, critically acclaimed, and sold out two shows a day. In 1994 he revisited Robert Louis Stevenson with Songs of Travel which was broadcast on Radio 3. In 1996 he wrote Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman about the bongo-playing Nobel Prize winning physicist – one sell out performance in Cambridge included 167 children and 6 Nobel Prize winners and all of them went away inspired.

The way Mike Maran communicated was turning into very wide and fast-flowing river. Exploring his roots Mike turned out more Italian shows – The Secret of Santa Vittoria, Private Angelo, and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and more shows about his enthusiasms, Mahler: Song & Dance Man with music by Karen Wimhurst, and Did You Used to be R.D.Laing? His missionary zeal about Gustav Mahler and Ronnie Laing, a show he did with the incredible Scottish jazz pianist David Milligan, won Mike Maran Productions Herald Angel awards (Oscars with wings!) at the Edinburgh Festival in 2001 and 2003.

By now the company was growing and Mike entered into partnership with John Brown, technical manager, touring manager, set designer and builder, and the number of musicians that joined the team grows with each show. Mike Maran Productions was awarded Arts Council funding to support Mahler: Song & Dance Man (2003), The Little World of Don Camillo (2004) and Novecento (2005). Colin Steele (trumpet) and Martin Green (accordion) provided the music for Don Camillo and David Milligan arranged and recorded the music for Novecento

Novecento was produced in association with Lighthouse, Poole and The Nuffield in Southampton, directed by Patrick Sandford with lighting by David Kidd and set design by Juliet Shillingford and the same team produced Picasso & Me which toured to theatres throughout the UK in 2007 ... such a long way from those solo singing songwriter days at The Troubador in 1970. Every year out theatre touring becomes more ambitious and we are currently working on the Chet Baker story with music by Colin Steele (trumpet) and Dave Milligan (piano) – Faust, Jeckyll and Hyde, and Peter Pan all rolled into one big story as the American dream unfolds in the American nightmare to a score of cool West Coast Jazz.

Mike Maran Productions is an extending family of artists who come together to do work that is interesting, fun, and available to everyone. We don’t have fancy ticket prices, an agent or publicity person. Over the years we have produced some of the most successful work touring to theatre spaces of all sizes throughout the UK and abroad.