BIOGRAPHY: STEVE WARD, formerly known by his stage name Steve Hughes
A former member of the British Actors' Equity Association, Steve began his professional career on stage in 1999, playing The Grand Vizier in Aladdin at His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen. The following year, he returned to play Giant Blunderbore alongside Su Pollard in Jack & The Beanstalk, a role he reprised in 2001 at the New Wimbledon Theatre opposite Shane Richie (while also serving as an understudy for Dame Trot). In 2002, he appeared as Pirate Starkey in a sold-out run of Peter Pan at the Richmond Theatre alongside Bonnie Langford OBE and Robert Powell.
Blending his passions for the stage and international travel, Steve spent five years circumnavigating the globe as Production Manager for Royal Caribbean International, operating out of their Miami headquarters.
Returning to land, he managed a diverse array of plays, musicals, operas, and ballets for leading global producers. His work took him on extensive international tours across the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, and Asia.
Throughout his career, Steve has collaborated with some of the industry's most respected creatives, including Gillian Lynne DBE (†), Claude-Michel Schonberg, Andrew Lloyd Webber KG, Carl Davis CBE (†), and Stephen Daldry CBE. He has also managed artists of the highest calibre, such as Mickey Rooney (†), Richard Wilson OBE, Brian Blessed OBE, Joe Pasquale, Marti Webb, Suranne Jones, John Savident (†), Johnny Briggs MBE (†), and Susan Hampshire CBE.
Steve made his directorial debut in 2008 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre with Cinderella, starring Cilla Black OBE (†). The high-budget production received rave reviews and was hailed as Britain's biggest and brightest pantomime during a landmark year for Liverpool as the European Capital of Culture.
He later served as General Manager and Executive Producer at Northern Ballet for three years—overseeing national and international programming alongside Artistic Director David Nixon CBE—and acted as Strategic Advisor to Yorkshire Dance.
In 2011, theatre impresario Michael Codron CBE appointed him to manage the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End for the Nederlander Theatre Group.
Notable productions during his extensive tenure include:
• Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage (2006–2011)
• Cool Hand Luke starring Marc Warren (2011)
• Top Hat the Musical (2012–2013)
• Stephen Ward the Musical (2013)
• The Royal Shakespeare Company's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (2014)
• Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (2015–2017)
• Sophia Loren in conversation with Jonathan Ross (2018)
• Tina - The Tina Turner Musical (2018–2025)
• Shadowlands starring Hugh Bonneville (2026)
• Sinatra The Musical (2026-present)
As a venue leader, Steve has personally hosted a vast array of high-profile guests, including Professor Stephen Hawking CBE (†), Tom Cruise, Sophia Loren, Rowan Atkinson CBE, Judi Dench DBE, Michael Caine CBE, Rod Stewart CBE, Cliff Richard CBE, Tina Turner (†), Carole King, Tina Sinatra, Baroness Karren Brady CBE, members of West Ham United Football Club, U.S. President George H. W. Bush (†) and First Lady Barbara Bush (†), Prime Minister John Major KG CH and Norma Major DBE, Her Majesty Queen Camilla, The Duke & Duchess of Sussex, The Duchess of Edinburgh, and Lady Louise Windsor.
As an independent producer, Steve has mounted shows and concerts across major West End venues (such as the Garrick Theatre, Harold Pinter Theatre, and the Hippodrome) and across the UK. His international transfers have reached Gibraltar, Barcelona, Milan, Miami, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macau, and Beijing. He has also regularly supplied headline entertainment for luxury cruise lines including Celebrity Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.
In 2025, Steve was granted a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
Click here to see past productions that Steve has produced and the talent he has represented.
