Biography
Anthony (Tony) James is a Canadian born International Director, Producer, Writer, Arts Executive, and Presenter whose body of work has spanned more than four decades. He began his illustrious career as a child model, actor, dancer, and singer at age 6 before crossing over into feature film, television, and industrial video in his mid to late teens. It was during this time Anthony was first introduced to professional theatre when he worked for the Royal & McPherson Theatre Society in Victoria, British Columbia. The opportunity would ultimately spark a long and deep interest and passion for theatrical design, direction, production, and management.
Primarily known for his comedic and dramatic stage roles, he has recieved multiple accolades throughout his career, including the 1995 EMT Award for "Arts Excellence" and a Monday Magazine Arts Award Nomination for "Best Presenter" in 2010, along with several other awards and nominations for acting, community service, citizenship, and philanthropy.
As a professional performer Anthony has had the good fortune to be in several plays and classic Broadway musicals including Larry in "Invasions of the Quarter Snatchers" (1989); Ventriloquest/Ensemble in "Cabaret" (1990 - VOS); Ensemble in "Fiddler On the Roof" (1991 - VOS); Danny Zuko in Grease (1992 - BBT); Chino in West Side Story (1993 - VOS); Yeoman Herbert Quale in South Pacific (1993 - VOS); The Host in "Shall We Join the Ladies" (1993 - BBT); Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret (1994 - BBT), Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden (1995 - TTP), Uncle Jocko in "Gypsy" (1995 - BBT); Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie (1996 - BBT), Richie Valens in The Buddy Holly Story (1999 - Stage West), and Jafar in Aladdin (2016 - EPAC), among countless others.
As a teenager, Anthony had the opportunity to direct, co-direct, and produce several productions for Black Box Theatre including "A Toast to Murder" (1993); "The World We Live In" (1993); "Shall We Join the Ladies" (1993); "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1993); "The Lover" (1994); "Bed of Nails" (1994); "Ledge, Ledger and the Legend" (1994); "My Gun is Pink" (1994); "Cabaret" (1994); "Gypsy" (1995); "Our Town" (1996); and "Bells Are Ringing" (1996).
In 1995 Anthony co-starred in the 13-part documentary series "Life Seminars" for PBS (Detroit) which preceeded working with legendary actors Judy Geeson, James Doohan, Oliver Muirhead, and John Neville in the motion picture "The Duke" (1999 - Keystone Entertainment). Additional film credits including "The Wedding Dance" (2018); "Five Summer Weddings" (2019); and "Sailing Into Love" (2019) (Hallmark Pictures). He had a supporting role in in the motion picture "Erin's Goldfish" (1998) for VMPA and years later with the late Richard Tomborello's Bravo Canada Documentary "A Leap of Faith ~ A Tale of Two Ballet Company's" (2008) where he protrayed himself.
After the birth of his daughter in 1995, Anthony went onto launch Ocean Entertainment Worldwide, a privately held independent production company, that continues to present and produce live theatre, concerts, fashion shows, dance, special events, and various other artistic disciplines. The company celebrates its 30th Anniversary in 2025.
After highschool, Anthony relocated to Vancouver in 1998 where he worked as a Talent Agent for Absolute Talent representing international fashion models and actors and at the Arts Club Theatre/Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, where had the pleasure of being personally mentored by esteemed stage producers Rocket Norton, Sam Luttifya, and the late Entertainer, Writer, Composer, Producer, and Director, Dean Regan (Forever Swing, Hotel Porter, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, and Red Rock Diner) who each gave Anthony the necessary knowledge, guidance, support, and encouragement required to become a successful producer. It was through this direct mentorship that Anthony went on to produce productions including "Cabaret at the Revue" (1998); "The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber" (1998) Recording Arist, Lori Paul in "Lori Paul ~ Live in Concert" (1999); "Grinners" (2000); and "Moo" (2000), to name just a few.
In the early 2000, Anthony relocated to Toronto where he went to work for Mirivish Productions during "The Lion King" (2000-02) and "Mamma Mia!" (2000-02) inaugural production engagements. Following that, he returned to the West Coast where in 2002 at age 26 he was appointed Founding Executive Director (2002-05) of the critically acclaimed award-winning Ballet Victoria Company under the artistic direction of former NBC ballerina Jacqueline Sloan and International Recording Artist/Composer, Colin Doroschuk (Men Without Hats) where he went on produce the record-breaking ballet "Peter Pan" (2003) in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of J.M. Barries's classic story; the World Premiere touring ballet "Medea Metamorphoses" (2004); "The Legend and the Myth" featuring special guest star Prima Ballerina (Ret), Evelyn Hart.; and "Shall We Dance" (2005).
In the fall of 2004 Anthony secured legendary International Prima Ballerina and Former National Ballet of Canada Artistic Director (Ret.) Karen Kain as Ballet Victoria's Honorary Patron and subsequently went onto create and produce a major multi-day fundraising event including the signature production "Gala at the Royal" (2004) at the 1400 seat Royal Theatre. The event featured notable Canadian dancers including Sarah Murphy-Dyson, Jaime Vargas, Rokaya Duval, Evelyn Hart, and Paul Destrooper to name just a few. Anthony had the opportunity thereafter to successfully tour through-out Vancouver Island with the "Variations" (2004-05) series in an attempt to bring professional dance to smaller cities outside of the Capital Region and to reach those under-served communities that may otherwise not recieve professional quality dance. These annual tours allowed Anthony to create and implement the "RBC Youth Lecture & Masterclass Series & RBC Youth Arts Pass" (2003-06) to which he his directly responsible for negotiating major program funding through his strong business relationship with the Royal Bank of Canada.
Throughout the mid 2000's, while leading the business department at the ballet, Anthony continued to independently create and produce several original concert productions including Award-Winning International Jazz Recording Artists, Denzal Sinclaire and renowned Saxophone player Mike Allen in "Jazz Sounds" (2006-07); British Actress/Singer, Niq Deanne in "Cabaret at the Met" (2007); The Swingin New Big Band Musical "Get Happy" (2009)|; Maria Manna, Miranda Sage, Melinda Whitaker, and Maureen Washington in "Great Ladies of Jazz" and "Christmas with the Great Ladies of Jazz" (2010); and the acclaimed "Legends Concert Series" (2009-10) which was hailed as "The Jazz Highlight of the Season" and starred international performing artists Dee Daniels, Denzal Sinclaire, Jayme Armstrong and Niq Deanne. The series subsequently garnered Anthony a "Best Producer" nomination (M Arts Awards) in 2010.
In 2006 Anthony left Ballet Victoria after being invited to be the Founding Executive Producer/Director of the award-nominated romantic and classical ballet company Canadian Pacific Ballet (2007-10) under the artistic direction of the late Prima Ballerina, Roberta Taylor (Columbus Dance Theatre - Columbus, Ohio) and Principal Dancer, Graham McMonagle (Columbus Dance Theatre, Columbus, Ohio). During his tenure Anthony produced several premiere ballets including the touring production of "La Flute Magique" (2007); the Award-Nominated "La Esmeralda" (Best Production - M Arts Awards - 2007); "Swan Lake" (2007); "Gaite Parisienne - The Tour" (2007); The Snow Queen" (2008); "Scent of Cedars"' (World Premiere - 2008); "The Rivals" (2008); "A Winter Gala 1 & 2" (2007-09) which became a signature Gala fundraiser for the company; "Little Red Riding Hood - The Tour" (2008); and "Coppelia" (2009); among many other ballets, masterclasses, workshops, and special events. One of the keystone productions Anthony created and produced was "Ballet Under the Stars" (2007-10) which brought residents and visitors alike to the courtyard of Victoria's Market Square each summer to enjoy many selections from the company's extensive repertoire.
During the 2010's, Anthony continued to work regularly as a General Manager, Producer, Director, and Writer most notably creating and writing the Big Band Musical "Get Happy" (2011) based on the life of the late, Judy Garland with Intrigue Entertainment; along with "Future Stars" (2011) and "The Best of Webber & Rice" as Creator, Producer and Director with Ocean Entertainment and "Hanna's Suitcase" (2012) & "The Hobbit" (2012) as General Manager/Producer with Kaleidescope. Anthony continued his work as an Executive Producer with 17 back-to-back sold-out performances of "The Wizard of Oz" and Norm Foster's comedy farce "Self Help" (2013) with KST. That same fall he was invited by the Board of Directors of KST to form a new professional company where he would go on to create, produce, and direct "Unforgettable ~ A Nat King Cole Christmas" (2013) starring Canadian Stage and Television Actor/Singer, Tenaj Williams; "Prelude to a Kiss ~ The Music of Ella Fitzgerald" (2014) starring the late International Stage Actress/Recording Artist, Sibel Thrasher; "Classical Enchantment" (2014) starring International Grammy Award-Winning Violin Virtuoso, Pablo Diemecke and international Ballet Soloist, Sarah Murphy-Dyson; and "The Way We Were" based on the music of Barbra Streisand starring International Performing/Recording Artist, Diane Pancel accompanied by pianist and entertainer, Yanik Giroux, all under the KPAC brand. He also played a key role in the UK motion picture "Bedtime Story" as Executive Producer which starred Canadian/UK Actress, Sam Lawrence.
By the mid-2010's, Anthony accepted a contract as Executive Director/Producer of Mile Zero under the esteemed Artistic Direction of Jerry Morita. The 30 year-old company would go onto present several exciting presentations including Fine5 Dance Theatre (Tallinn, Estonia) and their premiere production of "Phases" (2014); "Bears Picinic" (2014); "Ortona 100" (2014); "Coming of Age" (2014); "AIR - Building Innerspace" (2014); "Nuit Blanche" (2015); and "Without Borders" (2015) to name just a few. His work included co-creating, managing, and producing the company's 30th Anniversary Gala Celebration which featured works from the company's extensive repertoire, all while expanding his concert touring schedule with the production "Unforgettable ~ The Music of Nat King Cole" (2015) being presented in both Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta.
In 2014, after meeting and forging an artistic alliance with the late British/Canadian Entertainer, Teacher, and Choreographer, Doreen Cleverley, they would togther go onto launch a branch of Ocean Entertainment Worldwide with the formation of a pre-professional company, Elite Performing Arts. Over the next few years the company would produce the World Premiere presentation of the original production "Curtain Up" (2014-15) which starred International Opera Tenor, Richard Margison, Canadian Television, Film, and Stage Actor, Dancer, and Vocalist, Jeff Hyslop; Canadian Stage & Film Actor, Hector Johnson; Canadian Performing Artists, Sarah Wedam and Bernard Quilala and an ensemble company of exceptional young local emerging artists. The company's touring presentations included "The Lion King"; "Annie"; "Mary Poppins"; "Annie Get Your Gun"; "Rent"; "Matilda"; "Wicked"; "The Wizard of Oz"; "Sunset Boulevard"; "Beauty and the Beast"; and "Les Miserables" (2015). Throughout 2016 the company continued to present both original concept productions including the World Premiere Musical "Imogene ~ The Storybook Queen" (2016), which Anthony conceived, co-wrote, produced, and directed and included several classic Broadway favorites including "Mary Poppins"; "Aladdin"; "Cinderella"; The Little Mermaid"; and "The Lion King".
During the summer of 2016, Anthony was appointed Executive Director/Producer of the 40 year-old Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra where he worked diligently to increase awareness and audience attendance which he was successful in accomplishing through multiple channels including the development of major AD Campaign's including "Become the Music". Anthony played an integral role in the presentation of several orchestral projects including "Elgar Enigma Variations" (2016) which saw record attendance and ticket revenue; "Musique Royale" (2016); and the company's annual fundraiser "Motown Magic - A Pops Gala" (2016) which saw a record number of attendees and revenue and starred East Coast Music Award Nominee (Artist of the Year) Owen O'Sound Lee and Recording Artist, Cyndi Cain. Additionally, Anthony helped coordinate and co-produce two special concert engagements "Two Orchestras Play ~ Romeo & Juliet" with the NYSO and Symphony Nova Scotia (2017); and "Homecoming ~ A Celebration of 40 Years" (2017), along with conceiving and writing an original World Premiere multi-media production titled "The Journey" (2018) that tells the story of a childhood cancer survivor and artistically brings into focus to the 4 key areas faced when diagnosed with cancer (Shattered | Acceptance | Transformation | Transcendence). This deeply emotional production was in support of both the NSYO and Healing and Cancer Foundation. Following this Anthony expanded his work to include fashion when he co-created, financed, and produced "Royally Fashioned" (2017) a red-carpet fashion show directed by International Model, Maggie Bryant.
Over the next several years, Anthony continued to create, produce and direct several projects across Canada including "Prelude to a Kiss ~ The Music of Ella Fitzgerald" starring BC Walk of Fame Inductee, Recording Artist and Actress, Sibel Thrasher (2018 - OEW); "Christmas with Sinatra" starring International Entertainer, Dane Warren (2018 - VI Tour - OEW); "La Vie en Rose" starring International Grammy Award-Winning Violin Virtuoso, Pablo Diemecke (2019 - OEW); the record-breaking "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" starring Canadian/British Actor, Reuben Leonard (2019 - Gallery 7 Theatre); "Motown Magic ~ 60 Years of Motown Music" starring East Coast Music Award Winning International Recording Artist, Owen O'Sound Lee and Award Nominated International Recording Artist, Leina DeBoer (2019 - OEW); "Matilda the Musical" starring Canadian Actress, Samantha Madill (2019 - Four Season Musical Theatre); and "Christmas with Sinatra" (BC Mainland Tour) starring International Entertainer, Dane Warren and featuring the 19-piece Bruce James Orchestra (2019 - OEW).
In early 2020, Anthony founded the National Stage Company of Canada (NSCC) where he built a diverse company of artists ranging in age from 9 - 80. Sadly, within 3 months of its launch COVID-19 forced the company to halt production until late 2021 when Anthony created, produced, directed, and toured the hit new concert production "Home for the Holiday's ~ A Nat King Cole Christmas" starring Award-Winning New York Actor, Playwright, and Recording Artist, James Rich (2021 - OEW) along with the Vancouver Island premiere musical "Flavia and the Dreammaker" starring Canadian Actress,, Dancer, and Singer, Samantha Madill (2022 - NSCC/OEW); the Vancouver Island tour of "Prelude to a Kiss" starring Award-Nominated International Recording Artist, Leina DeBoer and celebrated Canadian Pianist, Morrissey Dunn (2022); and the Nova Scotia Tour of "Prelude to a Kiss ~ The Love Songs of Ella Fitzgerald & Nat King Cole" starring Award-Winning New York Actor, Playwright, and Recording Artist, James Rich and Award-Nominated International Recording Artist & Actress, Leina DeBoer (2022 - OEW).
In 2026 Anthony is scheduled to direct the 2-time Tony Award-Winning production “SIX the Musical”; produce and direct his new touring concerts “Beyond the Frame ~ An Evening at the Cinema” starring Grammy Award-Winning Violin Virtuoso, Pablo Diemecke, “Scratching at the Surface Live Tour" of Billboard Chart-Topping Soul, R&B, Pop, and Jazz Recording Artist, Avery Raquel, and the World Premiere Christmas concert tour "Home for the Holiday's ~ An Ella Fitzgerald Christmas" starring International Recording Artist & Actress, Leina DeBoer with acclaimed Pianist, James Darling and the Home for the Holiday's jazz band.
In 2027, Anthony will premiere two new productions with the internationally renowned group "The Timeless Tenors" in an exclusive Mother's Day week set of performances in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto; directing the hit musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” this spring in Ontario; and premiering his new holiday production "Christmas with The Timeless Tenors" in both Victoria and Vancouver, BC in December 2027 before heading off to Europe where he will have a secondary residence.
Anthony’s deep dedication, love, and passion for artistic creativity and expression, combined with his natural talents, skills, and eye for storytelling, whether through the presentation of theatre, dance, music, or fashion, is a direct reflection of his commitment to inspiring and mentoring both young emerging artists, semi-professionals, and seasoned professionals with each project he is associated with.