Robert Arditti
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Director/Choreographer and actor, singer, dancer of stage, television, and movies. His most notable feature is his red hair. He was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Among his most prominent roles was playing Baby John in the original London production of West Side Story.
In 1956, at ten years of age, he was enrolled at the Ballet Rambert School in London where he trained for Classical Ballet. Robert was born into an artistic family. His mother had been an actress, singer and dancer. His father had studied the classical violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
.
After two years, his mother felt that he should learn other forms of dance, together with acting and singing. He was taken to a stage school, where he studied Ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, Tap
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
and mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...
with Acting in the L.A.M.D.A. style.
His Classical dance training was taken over in part by Isobelle Florence, and by Tamara Karsavina
Tamara Karsavina
Tamara Platonovna Karsavina was a famous Russian ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was most noted as a Principal Artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and later the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev...
, the famous dance partner of Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...
. By the age of twelve, Robert had become a child actor, singer, dancer, appearing in many television, film, radio and theatre productions. These included such movies as: Carry On Teacher
Carry On Teacher
Carry On Teacher is the third Carry On film, released in 1959. It features Ted Ray in his only Carry On role, alongside series regulars; Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques. Leslie Phillips and Joan Sims make their second appearances in the series here, having made...
, Carry On Regardless
Carry On Regardless
Carry on Regardless was the fifth in the series of Carry On films to be made. It was released in 1961. By now a fairly regular team was established with Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams all having appeared in previous entries. Hattie Jacques - who was...
and Bottoms Up.
By the age of fourteen his career took a major change in direction. He was engaged to play the role of Baby John in the original stage production of West Side Story which had transferred from Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
to Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. This was certainly a culture shock but became one of the most important influences in his entire career.
Following this, Robert appeared in many musical films and theatre shows together with a string of Television Series and Specials. However, somewhere deep inside him, he felt there was something he had not completed. This led to his joining The Russian Federation Of Classical Ballet as their Principal Dancer, at the age of nineteen. During this period he danced such roles as: Sigfried in Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
and Albrect in Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
. He stayed with the Ballet Company for approximately eighteen months, in which he managed to exorcise the old desire he started with, of being a Classical-Dancer.
Robert then returned to what had become his first love: the musical. This was followed by many theatre, television and motion picture engagements such as: Victor/Victoria
Victor/Victoria
Victor Victoria is a 1982 musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that involves transvestism and sexual identity as central themes. It stars Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies. The film was produced by Tony Adams, directed...
, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
, Goodbye Mr Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969 film)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1969 American musical film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Terence Rattigan is based on James Hilton's 1934 novella of the same name, which originally was adapted for the screen in 1939.-Plot:...
and The Slipper and the Rose
The Slipper and the Rose
The Slipper and the Rose is a 1976 British musical film retelling the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. This film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance motion picture selection for 1976....
. The progression of his career continued and Robert soon found himself in the driving seat as a Director/Choreographer. He directed the very first musical he had ever appeared in, West Side Story, thus bringing his career full circle.
He went on to direct and choreograph many theatre productions such as: Illya Darling
Illya Darling
Illya Darling is a musical with a book by Jules Dassin, music by Manos Hadjidakis, and lyrics by Joe Darion, based on Dassin's 1960 film Never on Sunday.-Production:The show previewed in a tour of Philadelphia, Toronto and Detroit for nine weeks...
, The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...
, Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
, Underneath the Arches, Something's Afoot
Something's Afoot
Something's Afoot is a murder mystery musical that spoofs detective stories, mainly the works of Agatha Christie, and especially her detective novel And Then There Were None . The book, music, and lyrics were written by James McDonald, David Vos, and Robert Gerlach, with additional music by Ed...
, Salad Days, Ain't Misbehavin', Robert and Elizabeth
Robert and Elizabeth
Robert and Elizabeth is a musical with music by Ron Grainer and book and lyrics by Ronald Millar. The story is based on an unproduced musical titled The Third Kiss by Judge Fred G. Moritt, which in turn was adapted from the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolph Besier...
, The Music Biz, and many more.