Opera productions over the last fifteen years include five for the Wiener Festwochen - Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, La Cenerentola, La belle Hélène and the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth's Bählamms Fest. Four for Staatstheater Darmstadt – Le nozze di Figaro, Lohengrin, Cendrillon and the world premiere of Günter Steinke’s Till Eulenspiegel. Three for Aalto-Theater Essen - Il barbiere di Sviglia, Giulio Cesare and The Rake’s Progress. Two for Wuppertal and Gelsenkirchen - Der Rosenkavalier and Falstaff; Deidamia for Opernhaus Halle and Händel Festival; Les contes d’Hoffmann in Saarbücken; the world premiere of The Cricket Recovers by Richard Ayres at the Aldeburgh and Almeida Festivals in 2005 and the German premiere of Michaël Levinas’s Les Nègres for Theater Freiburg in 2006. During this time, Nicholas also directed two plays in Britain, The Miser and The Magistrate, both with the celebrated british actor Ian Richardson.
Between 2006 and 2009 Nicholas held the position of Oberspielleiter at Theater Bielefeld for whom he directed Il viaggio a Reims, Le nozze di Figaro, Enescu's Oedipe, Martin y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana, Tristan und Isolde, Don Pasquale, Glinka’s Ruslan und Lyudmila and Falstaff all of which were designed by the leading German designers Timo Dentler and Okarina Peter. During this time he also directed Piccinni’s Catone in Utica in Mannheim, Britten’s Paul Bunyan for the Bregenzer Festspiele and Luzerner Theater and a revival of The Cricket Recovers in Bregenz for London Contemporary Opera of which he is also the Joint Artistic Director.
Between 2006 and 2009 Nicholas held the position of Oberspielleiter at Theater Bielefeld for whom he directed Il viaggio a Reims, Le nozze di Figaro, Enescu's Oedipe, Martin y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana, Tristan und Isolde, Don Pasquale, Glinka’s Ruslan und Lyudmila and Falstaff all of which were designed by the leading German designers Timo Dentler and Okarina Peter. During this time he also directed Piccinni’s Catone in Utica in Mannheim, Britten’s Paul Bunyan for the Bregenzer Festspiele and Luzerner Theater and a revival of The Cricket Recovers in Bregenz for London Contemporary Opera of which he is also the Joint Artistic Director.
Born and brought up in Manchester, Nicholas studied Piano and French Horn at the Northern School of Music before going on to read Sociology at the London School of Economics. After two years as a Staff Director at the Royal National Theatre, he directed a number of plays in London including two in the West End and two for the renowned new writing company, Joint Stock.
In 1992 he set up Music Theatre London for whom he directed Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro (which he then redirected for television with the BBC), La Cenerentola, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte and La traviata. The enormous success of MTL's work led to a variety of invitations to direct in Europe.
In 1992 he set up Music Theatre London for whom he directed Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro (which he then redirected for television with the BBC), La Cenerentola, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte and La traviata. The enormous success of MTL's work led to a variety of invitations to direct in Europe.
