Michael John McCarthy is a musician, sound designer & composer for stage & screen.
He has worked on over 90 theatrical productions, including ten Scotsman Edinburgh Fringe First award winners, most recently The Last Return by Druid Theatre Company. He is also the musical supervisor & co-sound designer on Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), winner of the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.
His band Album Club released their debut LP on Last Night From Glasgow in May 2022. It reached #6 in the UK Vinyl Albums chart, & #2 in the Scottish Albums chart, spending 6 weeks in the Top 100.
Work for screen includes the documentaries Where You're Meant To Be and Pitching Up.
Recent Productions:
Kidnapped (2023, with Isobel McArthur) - National Theatre of Scotland
★★★★★ “Scottish theatre at its absolute finest"
Broadway World
★★★★★ "Kidnapped is a piece of theatrical brilliance"
Theatre Scotland
★★★★★ "McCarthy's rearrangements of such unlikely songs as Kenny Rogers' The Gambler, Talking Heads' Road to Nowhere, and Yazoo's Only You are folksy and funky by turns, and an absolute hoot [...] This is a special show."
The Stage
Castle Lennox (2023, with Linda McLean) - Lung Ha Theatre Company/Lyceum Edinburgh
★★★★★ "The mood of the show, therefore, has something of the texture of life itself; often brutal and heartbreaking, but also funny, beautiful, and sometimes downright magical."
The Scotsman
★★★★★ "Composer Michael John McCarthy and on-stage Arranger & Musical Director David Paul Jones conspire to soundtrack proceedings with a dynamic song-book and soundscape [...] a layering of songs, hopeful and heartbroken, motifs which follow the story through the long years towards a final liberation."
Cinderella (2022, with Lynda Radley) - Dundee Rep Theatre
★★★★ “glittering new musical that shines with tradition and heart from tales of old"
The Reviews Hub
★★★★ "A dazzling, unique family musical... A truly breath-taking show"
The Wee Review
★★★★ "a perfectly balanced show... hits all the classic fairytale notes"
The Stage
He has worked on over 90 theatrical productions, including ten Scotsman Edinburgh Fringe First award winners, most recently The Last Return by Druid Theatre Company. He is also the musical supervisor & co-sound designer on Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), winner of the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.
His band Album Club released their debut LP on Last Night From Glasgow in May 2022. It reached #6 in the UK Vinyl Albums chart, & #2 in the Scottish Albums chart, spending 6 weeks in the Top 100.
Work for screen includes the documentaries Where You're Meant To Be and Pitching Up.
Recent Productions:
Kidnapped (2023, with Isobel McArthur) - National Theatre of Scotland
★★★★★ “Scottish theatre at its absolute finest"
Broadway World
★★★★★ "Kidnapped is a piece of theatrical brilliance"
Theatre Scotland
★★★★★ "McCarthy's rearrangements of such unlikely songs as Kenny Rogers' The Gambler, Talking Heads' Road to Nowhere, and Yazoo's Only You are folksy and funky by turns, and an absolute hoot [...] This is a special show."
The Stage
Castle Lennox (2023, with Linda McLean) - Lung Ha Theatre Company/Lyceum Edinburgh
★★★★★ "The mood of the show, therefore, has something of the texture of life itself; often brutal and heartbreaking, but also funny, beautiful, and sometimes downright magical."
The Scotsman
★★★★★ "Composer Michael John McCarthy and on-stage Arranger & Musical Director David Paul Jones conspire to soundtrack proceedings with a dynamic song-book and soundscape [...] a layering of songs, hopeful and heartbroken, motifs which follow the story through the long years towards a final liberation."
Cinderella (2022, with Lynda Radley) - Dundee Rep Theatre
★★★★ “glittering new musical that shines with tradition and heart from tales of old"
The Reviews Hub
★★★★ "A dazzling, unique family musical... A truly breath-taking show"
The Wee Review
★★★★ "a perfectly balanced show... hits all the classic fairytale notes"
The Stage
Stage Work Sampler
If you want to find out more about any aspect of Michael John's work, write to info@michaeljohnmccarthy.com.
Michael John is represented by Davina Shah at TEAM: davina@team-artists.co.uk
