Pippa Ailion

Philipa 'Pippa' Ann Ailion MBE (born 20 September 1947) is a British Theatrical Director and Casting Director best known for her contributions to London (West End) theatre. Ailion has worked extensively in the West End and for film and television. She has cast Broadway and European productions, UK and US tours as well as seasons at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre and Crucible Theatre Sheffield. She has cast over 185 productions with a focus on productions that cast people of varying ethnicities.^[1]

Ailion was born into a theatrical family in Mortlake London in 1947 to Philip Ailion and Pamela Mary Ailion (née Harris). In 1948 the Ailion family moved to Brighton where Philip and Pamela opened The Brighton Theatrical Costumiers. The company continued in Brighton until 1981. Philip was a tailor, cutter and makeup artist. The company served much of South East England including The Brighton Theatre Royal, the Brighton Hippodrome and other local professional and amateur productions and films.^[2] In Brighton and Hove, Ailion attended Hove County Grammar School and the Brighton and Hove School of Music and Drama. Later she attended Bulmershe College in Reading training as a teacher of English and Drama. Her drama tutor was Annie Castledine. After graduating in 1968 Ailion taught drama to school children and university students in Sussex and London before joining the Bowsprit Company of Greenwich Young People's Theatre (GYPT) in 1973 as an actor and teacher. She would later work with the main company as well.^[3]

In 1973 Ailion moved to New York when Playwright Neil Simon invited her to work as his assistant on the Broadway production of The Good Doctor. Soon thereafter, Ailion met Emanuel Azenberg and The Shubert Organization. There she worked as a Theatre Consultant giving casting suggestions for theatrical transfers from Broadway to London.^[4]

In 1975 Ailion returned to the UK where she performed in various productions at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter before taking a position in the theatre department at Dartington College of Arts from 1977-1981.

In 1981, she became the Assistant Director to Gordon Davidson and Company Manager on the award-winning London transfer of the Broadway play Children of a Lesser God. She later directed the production at the Market Theatre (Johannesburg), South Africa, Olympia Theatre (Dublin) as well as an Australian production. Ailion also directed the UK tour of this show.^[5]

From 1984-1987, Ailion worked as a freelance Resident Director and Company Manager for various West End shows including When We Are Married, A Month of Sundays, West Side Story, and An Italian Straw Hat.

In 1987 she joined The Old Vic Theatre as Resident Associate Director and Casting Director for Jonathan Miller, working on over a dozen European classics. During that time the theatre garnered five Olivier awards for The Tempest with Max Von Sydow, Too Clever by Half and The Liar with Alex Jennings and Candide with Patricia Routledge.

While at the Old Vic, Ailion also cast the original London production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. This marked a shift in Ailion's career. In 1991, she set up her a casting company: Pippa Ailion Casting through which she worked as a freelance casting director for TV, commercials and theatre both in London and in Dublin, Ireland.

In 1994, Ailion joined the Central School of Speech and Drama as Head of Department for their BA Acting course, whilst continuing her freelance TV casting career including the multi award-winning TV movie Breaking The Code with Derek Jacobi. In 1997 she left her post when she was asked to cast the original London production of Rent and four productions at Chichester Festival Theatre. In 1998 she was asked to cast the original London production of Disney's The Lion King. From about this time Ailion's primary focus has been on London West End productions.

From 1973 to 1978 Ailion's partner was Roger Sell. Roger Sell headed the Theatre Department, Dartington College of Arts. In 1976, Ailion and Sell had one son, Mark Thomas Sell. Ailion's granddaughter, Olivia Charlotte Sell was born in 2007. In 2008 Ailion married Paul Hale. The couple share a home in Pevensey Bay, East Sussex.^[6]

• In 2020 Ailion was awarded the Casting Director Award for "Best Musical" for Come from Away
• In 2018 Ailion was awarded the MBE for services to Theatre and Diversity in the Arts and was listed in the 2018 New Years Honors Roll.^[11]
• In 2018 Ailion was named a patron of the Urdang Academy.^[12][13]
• In 2017 Ailion was listed by The Stage as one of London's 100 most influential power players in its "Theatre’s Power List 2017".^[14]
• From 2010 to 2017 Ailion served as a Trustee of the Regents Park Open Air Theatre.^[15]
• In 2009 Ailion was made a Companion at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts^[16]
• Ailion is a member of the Casting Directors Guild of Great Britain^[17]
• Ailion is listed in Who's Who.^[18]

• Pippa Ailion at IMDb the Internet Movie Database
• Pippa Ailion on IBDb.com the Internet Broadway Database