Andy Rapps
Principal Lecturer - Vocals
LRAM, Cert of Advanced Studies (RAM), BSc (Hons)
Andy studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London (LRAM and Cert. of Advanced Studies) and has worked for over 30 years as a musical director, vocal coach, pianist and keyboard player, mainly in London’s West End.
MD work includes: Associate Musical Director for Sweeney Todd (Chichester and Adelphi), Merrily We Roll Along (Menier Chocolate Factory and Harold Pinter Theatre), Bend It Like Beckham (Phoenix Theatre), Sister Act (London Palladium), The Sound Of Music (London Palladium) and Les Miserables (Queens and Palace Theatres), Associate Conductor for We Will Rock You (Dominion), Sunny Afternoon (Harold Pinter Theatre and UK Tour), Musical Director for The Woman In White (Palace), Assistant and Childrens’ Musical Director for Whistle Down The Wind (Aldwych), Assistant Musical Director for My Fair Lady (Drury Lane), The Witches Of Eastwick (Drury Lane and Prince of Wales), Cats (New London and UK tour), Maddie (Lyric) and Stepping Out (Albery).
Work as keyboard player/pianist includes: Follies (National Theatre), Matilda (Cambridge Theatre and UK Tour), Tina – The Tina Turner Musical (Aldwych), Half A Sixpence (Noel Coward), Beautiful (Aldwych) and 42nd Street (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Mamma Mia, Shrek, Billy Elliot, Oliver!, Grease, Miss Saigon, Bombay Dreams, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jerry Springer The Opera, Guys And Dolls, Kiss Of The Spider Woman and Sunset Boulevard.
Andy is also an associate lecturer at the University of Chichester and is the composer of two musicals, Quasimodo and Gulliver’s Travels, both of which have been performed to acclaim at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall. Gulliver’s Travels has also been professionally showcased in London, workshopped at the Royal Academy of Music and performed by the University of Chichester in a fully staged production in 2017.