A little about me...
I'm Paula James an actor, puppeteer, singer, composer, MD, writer and musician who plays classical, electric & bass guitar, upright & double bass, mandolin and keyboard, and there are many more instruments I intend to master! Playing classical guitar since the age of 8, this music was my first love and I began writing classical guitar music with a Spanish twist for soloists, moving on to composing pieces for ensemble guitars which were performed in shows and concerts. I began singing at an earlier age, taking classical singing lessons from the age of 10 and fell in love with performing while at school, leading me to focus on Music, Drama and English studies.
I trained as an actor at Drama Studio London, graduating in 2010 and immediately began incorporating my musical skills into my acting career. In 2011 I wrote and performed the score for Look, But You Must Leap, for Firstdraft Theatre. I've helped devise the songs for Electra with Lazarus Theatre Company in 2011 and The Gingerbread Man with Hiccup Theatre in 2017. I also arranged and performed music for Guildford Shakespeare Company's Thy Eternal Summer and in the summer of 2017 released my debut solo EP called Shelter.
I've had a lot of experience working on New Musicals and Family Shows featuring actor-musicians, touring internationally with Tutti Frutti’s Snow Child, and touring the UK with the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Comedy Of Errors. I've also had the joy of participating in numerous devised shows and R&D's including working with the award winning Zara Nunn on an R&D and sharing of her new musical In Versions, and in 2017 I composed and performed the score for the short play Dead Reckoning (Five Plays) at the Young Vic.
These last few years have been a whirlwind of studio recordings, screen work and new musicals like Gin Craze! at Royal & Derngate in 2021 & The Lost Spells UK Tour in 2023.
In February 2024 I became the recipient of a DYCP grant, allowing me to spend focussed time developing my artistry as a composer for theatre and live arts. It is an incredible privilege which has seen me take courses, work with new software, fantastic mentors and carve out time for research and composition. This has already led to my first Composer & Musical Direction job up at the Storyhouse's Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre during their summer rep!
Take a look through this website for more details of what I've been up to!
Paula James
mUSIC
COMPOSER
MUSICAL
My Musical Directorial debut couldn't have happened at more brilliant and inclusive place than Chester's Storyhouse Theatre! What a building and what a team! Summer 2024 sees me composing and musical directing for The Importance Of Being Earnest, dir. Natasha Rickman at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre!
DIRECTOR
COMPOSER
As a classical guitarist it was with utter joy that I wrote Gypsy Minuet for 3 guitars. The recording below was taken at a live performance of the Merton Music Guitar Ensemble (part of Merton Music Foundation) at the Music for Youth National Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. You'll note a few more than 3 guitars in this spirited version conducted by Mr Peter Woodings, plus the addition of a not so classical electric bass!
COMPOSER
SHELTER EP
My debut solo EP Shelter is a bluesy jazzy stripped back affair. As an acoustic, unplugged artist it was great to be working with a producer who helped embrace that sound for this release, especially as I was on vocals and guitar! Produced by Samurai Sound, recorded at their West London studio, Shelter was released in the summer of 2017. Read Daisy Sells' interview with me featured in The Urban Watch here.
MUSICIAN
COMPOSER
SINGER
Also available on: Apple Music
Amazon Music and Spotify
SINGING SISTERS
MUSICIAN
In Winter 2023 my wildly talented sister Anna and I decided we'd like to flex our creativity by collectively writing, recording, and creating music videos for children and their families to enjoy! We decided to become SINGING SISTERS! With me writing the tracks, Anna creating the artwork and us both recording vocals, this is a passion project we are loving!
Click here for our YouTube channel (@Sing.Sisters) and like and subscribe to catch new videos as we release them!
COMPOSER
SINGER
Since 2010 I've been in some incredible companies and great directors to create brilliant shows! While the magic of theatre is the immediacy and uniquness of each performance, it can seem a little fleeting and intangible at times. One antidote to that is a CAST RECORDING to help capture the moment!
In 2020, during a break in the lockdowns (when social distancing had become second nature), the great Ivan Stott worked his magic to create a cast recording of our UK Tour The Gingerbread Man, in an album called Goldi, Red and Gingerbread, produced by Hiccup Theatre.
I sing and play guitar on the tracks heard here in these sing-along-sign-along BSL videos created by Hiccup Theatre to accompany our album. For more information and to purchase the full album please click here.
MUSICIAN
2021 saw me working with the spectacular Ed Zanders & Matthew Cavendish on their hilarious brand new musical comedy Bluff - written exclusively for radio! It's a madcap, surreal, musical comedy about one honest man who grows up in a world where everyone lies about everything! Thematically on point for 2021!
Playing Fiona Bonum in this wonderfully wacky piece with this extraordinary cast and company was gloriously daunting and I learnt learnt so much!
For more info click here.
SINGER
SHOWS
I've been lucky enough to work on a number of shows as an actor, puppetteer, musician & singer. Double click the photos below for details, reviews & videos or
visit Spotlight for full CV...
Writing &
Bits 'n' Bobs
SISTERS IN WAITING
written by Paula Hamilton (Paula James)
Sisters In Waiting (submitted under my writing name Paula Hamilton) had a public rehearsed reading at a Stitchin' Fiction night at the Theatre Deli in Broadgate, London in 2019.
Directed by Nieve Hearity and performed by some fantastic actors this short play about two estranged sisters forced to face their issues in a cramped solicitor's hallway was sizzling, and the audience Q&A afterwards was invaluable!
BED AIR
written by P Hamilton (Paula James)
In the summer of 2017 my short play Bed Air was chosen to feature in a week long run at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre. Submitted under my writing name P Hamilton, this intimate 2 hander joined a collection of short plays in a show called What Keeps Me Awake, directed by Carl Fletcher for KDC Theatre.
The ensemble cast and crew did a fantastic job! For more information including cast list please click here.
THE ODYSSEY AT JERMYN STEET THEATRE
I had the pleasure of taking part in the award winning online reading of Jermyn Street Theatre's The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson a 2020 Booker Prize Judge and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, directed by Tom Littler.
OFFIES: “The third ONEOFF goes to the magnificent undertaking of assembling 72 actors to read sections of Homer’s 24 book ODYSSEY, completing the work in its entirety over twelve hours on 9 October – a triumph for participants and audience alike…” click here for more info.
PODCAST: SPOTLIGHT ON PAULA JAMES
In May 2021 I was a guest on Lazarus Theatre Company’s ‘Spotlight On’! A podcast which reveals the people behind the scenes, the creatives, the artists, the process that makes Lazarus work. I had a lovely time catching up with Artistic Director Ricky Dukes and Lazarus Producer and Director Gavin Harrington-Odedra.
TATTERHOOD
by Amber Hsu told by Paula James
Tatterhood is a tale of two sisters with a bold, brave and independent heroine at its heart! Part of The Story Museum's second series of Stories From The Woodshed, this telling of Tatterhood is availible to the public on YouTube. Watch the video to the right of this text and click here for more info.
for visiting my site! If you'd like more info or to get in touch please feel free to contact my agent Lucy Middleweek at Middleweek Newton Talent Management and for my Spotlight CV with my full credits click here!
Take care and stay safe,
thank you
