{{short description|Theatre producer}} {{Multiple issues| {{COI|date=December 2017}} {{Promotional|date=June 2023}}}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Dame | name = Rosemary Squire | honorific_suffix = DBE | image = Rosemary Squire.jpg | caption = Squire in 2011 | birth_name = Rosemary Anne Squire | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1956|5|27}} | birth_place = Nottingham, England | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Theatre owner and producer | years_active = | spouse = Sir Howard Panter | children = 3 }}
'''Dame Rosemary Anne Squire''', DBE (born 27 May 1956) is a British commercial theatre owner and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) LTD, and co-founder of Trafalgar Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/17/theatres-power-couple-step-back-from-atg-to-run-trafalgar-studio/|title=Theatre's power couple step back from ATG to run Trafalgar Studios|newspaper=The Guardian|date=17 May 2016|accessdate=23 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=17 May 2016 |title=Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire step down from top ATG roles |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/howard-panter-rosemary-squire-atg-step-down_40476.html |accessdate=23 August 2019 |publisher=What's on Stage}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Squire was born in Nottingham, England, on 27 May 1956. From 1967 to 1974, Squire attended Nottingham Girls' High School.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/powerful-woman-West-End-goes-nationwide/story-12274889-detail/story.html|title=This is Nottingham {{!}} Rosemary Squire of Ambassador Theatre Group on Live Nation takeover|date=2011-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712043105/http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/powerful-woman-West-End-goes-nationwide/story-12274889-detail/story.html|access-date=2019-06-07|archive-date=12 July 2011}}</ref> She then enrolled at Southampton University between 1975 and 1979, where she earned a BA degree in Spanish. She later worked at the University of Barcelona from 1977 to 1978 as an English language assistant. Squire then studied at Brown University from 1979 to 1980 on a postgraduate scholarship.<ref name="atgtickets.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.atgtickets.com/uploads/media/44/35305.doc|format=DOC|title=Rosemary Squire CV|website=Atgtickets.com|accessdate=30 December 2017}}</ref>
== Career == Squire arrived in Theatreland in 1980. She held various administrative roles at Wyndham's Theatres Ltd. In 1984, she was a manager of Maxbox Group plc, the second largest group of West End theatres. In 1988, she became the manager of the theatre production company Turnstyle Group Ltd, of which she then became executive director. In 1991, she co-produced the West End revival of the musical ''Carmen Jones''.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.atgtickets.com/uploads/media/44/34161.doc|format=DOC|title=Rosemary Squire CV|website=Atgtickets.com|accessdate=30 December 2017}}</ref>
Squire and her husband Howard Panter established the Ambassador Theatre Group in 1992, with the acquisitions of the Duke of York's Theatre, a management contract of the Ambassadors Theatre, and a cinema complex in Woking. In 1995, ATG acquired the Ambassadors Theatre, which was renamed New Ambassadors Theatre in 1999. Between 1996 and 1997, the group expanded further with contracts for the Milton Keynes Theatre and the Regent Theatre, as well as Victoria Hall. In 1997, Squire became executive director of the Ambassador Theatre Group.
=== 2000s === In 2000, ATG acquired Churchill Theatre, Richmond Theatre, Albery Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Fortune Theatre, Phoenix Theatre, Piccadilly Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Trafalgar Studios, Wyndhams Theatre, Playhouse Theatre, and the Theatre Royal Brighton. Squire joined the board of management of the Society of London Theatres and the advisory panel of Arts Council Capital. The expansion of ATG continued with the acquisition of two Scottish venues (King's Theatre and Theatre Royal Glasgow) and the reopening and rebranding of the New Wimbledon Theatre in 2004. Squire was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and joined the board of Donmar Warehouse Productions.
In June 2005, Squire became the first democratically elected president of the Society of London Theatre (the trade organisation of London's theatre owners and managers), and the second-only female president in the organisation's 100-year history. She campaigned to improve the West End theatre-going environment and to secure vital funding for capital improvements to protect the long-term future of London's historic theatres. Squire became a member of The Arts Council of England Lottery Advisory Panel from 2000 to 2005 and is a member of the Theatrical Management Association.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}
In 2009, Squire was appointed a National Member of the Arts Council England Board. She was Chair of Great Ormond Street Hospital's Theatres for Theatres Appeal and vice-chairman of Dance Umbrella. She is also a Trustee of The Hall of Cornwall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atgtickets.com/uploads/media/44/34187.doc|format=DOC|title=ROSEMARY SQUIRE APPOINTED NATIONAL MEMBER OF THE ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND BOARD|website=Atgtickets.com|accessdate=30 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atgtickets.com/uploads/media/44/34188.doc|format=DOC|title=Co-Founder and Joint CEO : The Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG)|website=Atgtickets.com|accessdate=30 December 2017}}</ref>
In February 2009, ATG acquired the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/news/2009/feb/operator-chosen-aylesbury-waterside-theatre|title=Aylesbury Vale District Council • Operator chosen for Aylesbury Waterside Theatre |publisher=Aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk|accessdate=31 July 2014}}</ref> In November 2009, ATG realigned its shareholding to bring in private equity group Exponent for a deal to secure the funding for the acquisition of Live Nation's UK Theatre portfolio. Following this, ATG became the largest theatre group in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atgtickets.com/uploads/media/44/34186.doc|format=DOC|title=AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP BUYS LIVE NATION UK THEATRES|website=Atgtickets.com|accessdate=30 December 2017}}</ref> Panter remained a joint-owner and became joint Chief Executive and Creative Director. Greg Dyke became the Executive Chairman of the larger group.
=== 2010s === In 2010, ATG opened the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. In the same year, London's Evening Standard named Squire and her husband as the most influential people in British theatre in their list of "London's 1000 most influential people 2010".<ref name="thisislondon.co.uk">{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/londons-1000-most-influential-people-2010-theatre-6536306.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122143718/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/article-23897752-londons-1000-most-influential-people-2010-theatre.do |url-status=live |archive-date=22 November 2010 |title=London's 1000 most influential people 2010: Theatre – Home – London Evening Standard |publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk |date=15 November 2010 |access-date=31 July 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 2011, ATG launched their Manchester Gets it First (MGiF) initiative.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westendtheatre.com/13560/theatre-press-releases/manchester-gets-it-first-following-the-success-of-ghost-the-musical-at-the-opera-house-the-ambassador-theatre-group-pledges-to-launch-more-new-shows-in-the-city/ |title=Manchester Gets it First: Following the success of GHOST The Musical at the Opera House, The Ambassador Theatre Group pledges to launch more new shows in the city | London Theatre |publisher=Westendtheatre.com |date=16 May 2011 |accessdate=31 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citylife.co.uk/news_and_reviews/news/10020248_king_and_queen_of_theatre_hit_20_years |title=What's On: Music, Film, & Things To Do in Manchester – Manchester Evening News |publisher=Citylife.co.uk |date= |accessdate=31 July 2014}}</ref> In February 2013, Squire appeared at number 16 on the inaugural BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power List, intended to serve as a snapshot of the 100 most powerful British women.<ref name="autogenerated1970"/>
In 2014, Squire topped ''The Stage'' 100 list for the fifth consecutive year, equaling the run previously set by Andrew Lloyd Webber.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/atgs-rosemary-squire-wins-entrepreneur-award/|title=ATG's Rosemary Squire wins entrepreneur award|publisher=The Stage|date=27 June 2014|access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref> From 2010 to 2016, Squire topped the list seven times.<ref name="The Stage 100 Record">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/jan/07/ambassador-theatre-group-founders-break-stage-100-record|title=Ambassador Theatre Group founders break Stage 100 record|newspaper=The Guardian|date=7 January 2016|accessdate=23 August 2019}}</ref>
In March 2015, Squire announced The SPACe (the Squire Performing Arts Centre) at Nottingham Girl's High School. Squire was Chair of the 'Raise the Curtain' Development Board, which was created to oversee the project. Squire officially opened The SPACe in April 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ie-today.co.uk/Article/nottingham-girls-high-opens-new-9m-performing-arts-centre/|title=Nottingham Girls' High opens new £9m Performing Arts Centre|publisher=Independent Education Today|date=8 April 2017|accessdate=6 September 2019}}</ref>
In 2016, Squire stepped down from her roles at Ambassador Theatre Group to concentrate on new projects.<ref name="Playbill Panter and Squire step down">{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/howard-panter-and-rosemary-squire-to-step-down-from-the-helm-of-ambassador-theatre-that-they-co-founded|title=Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire to Step Down from Helm of Ambassador Theatre Group|publisher=Playbill|date=18 May 2016|accessdate=6 September 2019}}</ref> She co-founded a new live entertainment business, Trafalgar Entertainment, and acquired the two-space West End theatre, Trafalgar Studios.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://britishtheatre.com/sir-howard-panter-and-rosemary-squire-announce-new-roles/|title=Sir Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire Announce New Roles|publisher=British Theatre|date=17 May 2016|accessdate=6 September 2019}}</ref>
==Personal life== Squire married Alan Brodie in 1982, with whom she had two children. She divorced Brodie in 1994 and married Howard Panter the same year, with whom she had one child.<ref>{{cite web |date=6 November 2009 |title=Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23765470-howard-panter-and-rosemary-squire---mr-and-mrs-west-end.do |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108022556/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23765470-howard-panter-and-rosemary-squire---mr-and-mrs-west-end.do |archive-date=8 November 2009 |accessdate=31 July 2014 |publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Productions== ''Produced by Rosemary Squire unless otherwise noted:''
* ''9 to 5'' (UK tour and London) * ''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'', 2019 London * ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', 2003 London * ''Admissions'', 2019 London and UK Tour * ''After Mrs Rochester'', 2003, London * ''All New People'' (UK regions and London) * ''Annie Get Your Gun'', 2014 UK tour * ''Apologia'', 2018 London * ''Being Shakespeare'' (London, UK tour, New York and Chicago) * ''Blue/Orange'' (UK tour) * ''Carmen Jones'', 1991 London * ''Company'', 2006–07 Broadway * ''Dandy Dick'' (UK tour) * ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', 2014 London * ''Education, Education, Education'', 2019 London * ''Elling'', 2007 London, 2010 Broadway * ''Equus'', 2019 London * ''Exit The King'', 2009 Broadway * ''Far Away'', 2000–01 London * ''Fat Pig'', 2008 London * ''Ghost The Musical'', 2011 Manchester, 2011 London * ''Goodnight Mister Tom'' (London) * ''Guys and Dolls'', 2005–07 London, 2006–07 UK Tour, 2008–09 Australia, 2009 Broadway * ''Inala'', 2015 (London and UK Tour) * ''Joe Egg'', 2001 London, 2003 Broadway, 2009 UK Tour * ''Jersey Boys'' (London) {{When|date=March 2026}} * ''Jersey Boys'', 2017 UK Tour * ''Killer Joe'', 2018 London * ''La Cage Aux Folles'' (national US tour) * ''Legally Blonde'', 2009 London * ''Legally Blonde'' (London, national tour and Sydney) * ''Love Me Tender'', 2015 (UK Tour) * ''Macbeth'' (London) * ''Mary Stuart'', 2018 London * Matthew Bourne's ''Highland Fling'', 2005 London, 2005 UK Tour * Matthew Bourne's ''Nutcracker!'', 2002–03 / 2007–08 London, 2003–08 UK Tour, 2004 Worldwide Tour * ''Misty'', 2018 London * ''Maurice's Jubilee'' (UK tour)* ''Monkee Business'' (regional tour) * ''Mouth To Mouth'', 2001 London * ''My One and Only'', 2002 London * ''Nine Night'', 2019 London * ''Noises Off'', 2001 Broadway, 2001–03 London, 2008 UK Tour * ''Oresteia'', 2015 London * ''Passion Play'' (London) {{when|date=March 2026}} * ''Porgy and Bess'', 2006–07 London * ''Posh, Jumpy and Constellations'' (Royal Court at the Duke of York's, London) * ''Pretending To Be Me'', 2003 London * ''Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (UK tour) * ''Richard III'', 2014 London * ''Riflemind'', 2008 London * ''Rocky Horror Show'', 2008 Australia, 2009–10 UK Tour * ''The Rocky Horror Show 40th Anniversary'' (UK tour) {{when|date=March 2026}} * ''The Rocky Horror Show'', 2018 UK Tour / International Tour * ''Shakespeare, The Man from Stratford'', 2010 UK Tour * ''Shockheaded Peter'', 2001–02 London * ''Smokey Joe's Café'', 1996–98 London * ''South Pacific'' (London and national tour) {{When|date=March 2026}} * ''Spamalot'' (London and UK tour) * Stephen Poliakoff's ''Sweet Panic'', 2003–04 London * ''Sunset Boulevard'', 2008–09 London * ''Sweeney Todd'', 2004–05 London, 2006 UK Tour, 2005–06 Broadway * ''The Grinning Man'', 2018 London * ''The Height of The Storm'', 2018 London * ''The Homecoming'', 2015 London * ''The Hothouse'', 2013 London * ''The King and I'', 2018 London / UK and International Tour * ''The Last Cigarette'', 2009 London * ''The Lover The Collection'', 2008 London * ''The Messiah'', 2018 London and UK Tour * ''The Misanthrope'', 2009 London * ''The Mountaintop'', 2009 London * ''The Mountaintop'' (Broadway) {{when|date=March 2026}} * ''The Mystery of Charles Dickens'', 2000–02 London, 2002 Broadway * ''The Mystery of Charles'' Dickens 2012 (London) * ''The New Statesman'', 2006–07 London, 2006 UK Tour * ''The Pride'', 2014 London / UK tour * ''The Ruling Class'', 2015 London * ''The Starry Messenger'', 2019 London * ''The Three Sisters'', 2003 London * ''Vincent In Brixton'', 2002–03 London, 2003 UK Tour / Broadway * ''Vulcan VII'', 2018 UK Tour * ''The Weir'', 1997–98 London, 1999 Broadway * ''West Side Story'', 2008 London, 2008–09 UK Tour, 1995–97 Australia * ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'', 2014 London
==Honors and awards== * 2006 – CBI Real Business First Women Award for Tourism and Leisure * 2008 – Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to Theatre<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |title=Rosemary Squire profile |url=http://www.atgtickets.com/uploads/media/44/34159.doc |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808045423/http://www.atgtickets.com/uploads/media/44/34159.doc |archivedate=8 August 2014 |accessdate=23 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=58557|date=29 December 2007|page=12|supp=y}}</ref> * 2008 – Entrepreneur of the Year – Regional Finalist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/atgtickets/docs/atgmagazine_autumnwinter2008|title=ATG Magazine Autumn/Winter 2008 by ATG Tickets|date=31 October 2011 |publisher=ISSUU|accessdate=31 July 2014}}</ref> * 2012 – named one of the 250 of the most influential people in Greater Manchester at the ''Manchester Evening News'' Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shop.menmedia.co.uk/250-of-the-most-influential-people-in-greater-manchester-184-p.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201004847/http://shop.menmedia.co.uk/250-of-the-most-influential-people-in-greater-manchester-184-p.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 February 2013|title=250 of the Most Influential People in Greater Manchester|publisher=Shop.menmedia.co.uk|accessdate=31 July 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> * 2013 – Squire was listed first in the Evening Standard 'Power 1000' Theatre section.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/the-power-1000-londons-most-influential-people-2013-imagineers-theatre-8824912.html|title=The Power 1000 – London's most influential people 2013: Imagineers, Theatre|publisher=Evening Standard|date=19 September 2013|accessdate=5 August 2019}}</ref> * 2013 – assessed as the 16th most powerful woman in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.<ref name="autogenerated1970">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb/features/power-list-100|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213155310/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb/features/power-list-100|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 February 2013|title=BBC Radio 4 – The Power List 2013|date=1 January 1970|publisher=Bbc.co.uk|accessdate=31 July 2014}}</ref> * 2014 – EY Entrepreneur of the Year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/e355068c-4a0e-11e4-bc07-00144feab7de |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/nb8zW |archive-date=4 March 2023 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Meet the winners of the 2014 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards|newspaper=Financial Times|date=2014|accessdate=23 August 2014}}</ref> * 2018 – Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to Theatre and Philanthropy<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/honour-for-theatres-most-powerful-woman-rosemary-squire-four-years-after-husband-sir-howard-panter-gvzjlkf57|title=Honour for theatre's most powerful woman Rosemary Squire four years after husband Sir Howard Panter|work=The Times|date=28 December 2017|access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 62150|date= 30 December 2017| pages=N8|supp=y}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Squire, Rosemary}} Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century theatre managers Category:British theatre managers and producers Category:British women theatre managers and producers Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Nottingham Girls' High School Category:People from Nottingham Category:Wives of knights