James Inverne

Biography

James Inverne. Leading British arts-commentator-turned-playwright, James Inverne began his career, aged 21, as a theater reviewer for Plays And Players magazine, as well as Classical CD Reviewer for the best-selling Mail On Sunday newspaper. He was also appointed Arts Editor for the UK's Performance cable television channel.

Moving to Time Magazine, he spent six years there as European Performing Arts Correspondent, where his duties included theater reviewing but also a much wider net (he worked on stories as varied as violent attacks on actors in Mugabe's Zimbabwe; cross-cultural theater groups in Israel; reporting from London rehearsals for Mary Poppins The Musical!). During this time he was also a regular arts feature writer and theater critic for the Wall Street Journal, arts commentator for CNN, and wrote often for other publications, principally including the Sunday Telegraph, Financial Times, UK Metro and Playbill (where he was London Theater Correspondent). He has also been a regular commentator on various other radio and television outlets, including the BBC, Classic FM and NPR.

On becoming the Editor of his long-time favorite magazine, Gramophone, Inverne worked to bring in classical-music-loving artists from other art forms. During his editorship, he featured columns and articles by, amongst others, Robert Redford, Simon Callow, Armando Iannucci, Richard Eyre, Mark Morris, Sophia Loren, and very many more. He also led the exposure of the infamous 'Joyce Hatto piano fraud' (which inspired a prime-time BBC television drama by Victoria Wood - in which Inverne features as a character), for which campaign he won the prestigious Press Gazette Award for "Exclusive of the Year." He also won the HMG Chairman's Award for a magazine he founded (and edited for four years) for the Sundance Institute And Film Festival. He has created magazines for other arts institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Aspen Music Festival And School and led a revamp of theater programs for Delfont Mackintosh Theatres (Cameron Mackintosh's West End theater group).

Inverne, who divides his time between Israel and the UK, has written five books, among them The Impresarios (Oberon), Wrestling With Elephants: The Authorised Biography of Don Black (Sanctuary) and The Faber Guide To Musicals (Faber & Faber). Alongside his writing, he maintains a music consultancy, working with leading classical musicians. After the July 2005 London terrorist bombings, he co-founded the culture-based interfaith network, InterAct.

Inverne's first play is A Walk With Mr Heifetz, which received its world premiere Off Broadway, with Primary Stages at the Cherry Lane Theater in 2018. The production was directed by Primary Stages' Artistic Director, Andrew Leynse. The cast included Erik Lochtefeld, Adam Green, Yuval Boim and Mariella Haubs. Prior to this first production, the play received a preview reading at London's Jewish Books Week festival, with a cast including Henry Goodman, Ed Stoppard and Yuval Boim.

Inverne's second play (title not yet announced) has been invited for a producers' reading at one of London's major West End theater companies. A third play is also being developed.