Our team
We're very lucky to have a team of dedicated individuals who keep the good ship PB running.
Our Creative Team are professional directors and musicians who bring a wealth of experience working with both children and adults to us; they ensure that performances are artistically brilliant as well as brilliantly fun.
Behind the scenes, our Governing Board support the Creative Team make sure they have everything they need for a smooth rehearsal process. They work tirelessly year-round on the less flashy bits of running the group, volunteering their time alongside jobs and studies to make PB happen. More often than not, they're also members of the cast!
Creative team
Pamela Leighton-Bilik
Director
Pamela puts the “PB” into PB Theatricals. She is a veteran educator (Drama, English, Chorus, Special Education), graduated from the Interlochen (Michigan) Arts Academy. She earned a B.A. magnum cum laude from Ithica College (New York) and an M.A. in Communication Arts and Theatre from the University of Maryland. An international Gilbert & Sullivan director, Pamela is a founder and stage director of PB Theatricals. She is a teaching/directing artist for ArtStream, a Washington D.C.-area based non-profit theatre organisation for performers with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Additionally, Pamela is a freelance vocal coach and speech/language arts tutor in the Washington D.C. metro area and the UK. She also conducts acting and public speaking workshops in the US and the UK.
Rebecca Anderson
Musical Director (Youth show)
Rebecca Anderson is a Scottish conductor and mezzo-soprano. Working across the UK, Rebecca has musically directed a number of fully-staged operettas including The Mikado at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, HMS Pinafore in St Andrews, and Patience and The Yeomen of the Guard with PB Theatricals in the summer of 2023. She has previously held the position of Conducting Fellow for the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union and has worked with Sian Edwards and Alice Farnham as part of the Sorell Conducting Programme.
As a mezzo-soprano Rebecca is an experienced concert and stage performer. Recent opera credits have included: Lady Bertram, Mansfield Park; Lapak The Cunning Little Vixen; Soeur Anne de la Croix Dialogues des Carmelites; and Noémie Cendrillon. She has previously performed at the Wigmore Hall as part of the RNCM’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and has performed for a number of seasons at Buxton International Festival.
Initially, Rebecca studied geography at the University of St Andrews and then worked in meteorology before moving to Manchester to complete an MMus at the Royal Northern College of Music (2019-21). She then worked as the President of the Students’ Union (2021-22) and has recently completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Studies at the RNCM. She also works as a Project Manager for the National Youth Choir.
James Gillett
Assistant Musical Director (Youth show)
Accompanist (Young adults show)
Originally from Grimsby, James is a Manchester based pianist and conductor. He is currently in his final year as a Masters repetiteur student at the Royal Northern College of Music.
In 2020, James graduated from the University of Manchester with a first class music degree. It was at University that James’ interest in conducting, and later opera, was developed and cultivated. Recent operatic engagements have included Fortepiano Continuo player for RNCM’s production of Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro, Young Artist Conductor for Waterperry Opera Festival, and musical director/project curator for Manchester Contemporary Youth Opera at Tête-à-Tête.
Although currently dedicating much of his time to operatic repertoire, James is a strong advocate for community music making. He is currently musical director of Oldham Symphony Orchestra and Abney Orchestra, and has previously worked with a range of choirs in Manchester and the surrounding area on an ad hoc basis.
Whilst much of James’ work is in performing existing repertoire, James is also involved in Manchester’s new music scene. Since 2019 he has enjoyed working with Manchester composers to workshop and perform their works, a process which he believes vital to the future of classical music. Most recently James has been fortunate in working as repetiteur for the world premier of Anna Appleby’s opera Drought, performed by the BBC Philharmonic in October 2022.
Martin Thiselton
Assistant Musical Director (Young adults show)
Accompanist (Youth show)
Martin joined PB Theatricals in 2023. Based in Sheffield he is a rehearsal pianist for Hallam Choral Society and Stannington Mixed Choir. In his younger years he was MD for Fiddler on the Roof at Durham University, a viola player in Durham University Light Opera Group, and also in the Dore Gilbert and Sullivan Society. He was MD for productions with Sheffield College including West Side Story and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. He has also helped with Barnsley Youth Theatre.
Martin has written compositions for Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, Sheffield Youth Orchestra and also wrote a piece for the Trinity Grade 8 Keyboard syllabus. He is also keen on creating music with Logic and Soundtrap.
Jacob Plumtree-Jones
Accompanist (Young adults show)
Jacob is a keyboardist based in the West Midlands, working with local choirs and ensembles. He is currently engaged as an accompanist with the Selly Park Singers, Birmingham Early Modern Vocal Ensemble, and acts as creative director of South Birmingham Opera. He has previously worked with Ex Cathedra, Singing Medicine, and studied accompaniment with Simon Carrington, Julian Wilkins, and Andrew King. An avid Gilbert and Sullivan fan, he has accompanied just about every single show with various G&S societies and performs with the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society.
Jacob is also a musicologist and PhD student, focusing primarily on French keyboard music during the Ancien Régime. He recently recorded WF Bach’s Concerto for Two Harpsichords with the University of Birmingham Baroque/Classical Orchestra and is currently recording an album celebrating the zenith of harpsichord music in the mid-18th Century. Recent conference papers have included tonal and timbral language of the 17th Century, Elizabethan domestic music, and a reception analysis of Iolanthe.
Governing Board
Find out more about how we're run.
2024/25 Board
Company Chair – Jamie Benson
Production Co-Ordinators (Young Adult Show) – Benedict Parkin & Patrick Sharman
Production Co-Ordinator (Youth Show) – Samuel Higginbottom
Company Secretary – Michael Beale
Treasurer – Katy Beale
Publicity Co-Ordinator – Liddy Buswell
Jamie Benson
Chair
Jamie has been with PB since its creation in 2009 and has been involved with all of their shows, either on stage or backstage. He credits PB Theatricals for many important things in his life including launching his almost full-time hobby as a G&S nerd. PB has been an important part of Jamie's life since he was 13 and he's met many life-long friends through the company, and now he's delighted to be the chair.
Jamie works for the police and has performed G&S and other musicals with companies in Derbyshire, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and York. If he's not on stage he can be found in the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, The Scottish Highlands or in heritage railways.
Michael Beale
Secretary
Michael clearly remembers when he laughed on stage during his first audition for PBT in 2009. The warm welcome by his fellow cast members and the hilarity of the show just made everything fun. He has continued to enjoy taking part in PBT every year since, forging lifelong friendships and gaining valuable skills and confidence on and off stage. Michael now works in publishing in London and you can find him grumbling about never having enough time to read.
