Nikki Mundell-Poole
Musical Theatre Director & Choreographer

Nikki was the director of my last two WOW shows, and she has impacted my life in the best way possible. The first was ‘Legally Blonde’ where I played Elle Woods. That show helped me grow my confidence so much, as well as my performance skills, all thanks to Nikki’s direction.

The other show was ‘Guys and Dolls’, I played Miss Adelaide, which I don’t think I would have ever been able to do if it weren’t for Nikki.

I have loved working with Nikki so much, she has helped me and many others develop our skills and love for this industry.

It was Nikki that made me realise that I wanted to do musical theatre as a career, not just a hobby.

I first met Nikki in 2002 and it was evident from our first meeting that she has an intense capacity for Musical Theatre that few people possess.

Over the past twenty years I have been privileged to watch her nurture not only my daughters passion and love for performing but also three of my grandchildren.

Nikki always encourages them, fills them with confidence and is happy to work on not only their strengths but also their weaknesses too to bring out the absolute best in each of them in all aspects of performing, preparing for exams or indeed auditions. She is very patient, kind and understanding.

Such is her nature they all love her dearly and thoroughly enjoy working on all aspects of musical theatre training whether that’s Singing, Acting, Dancing or even helping with props/costumes for her productions. 

I consider myself so lucky to have been able to watch a great number of shows under the directorship of Nikki, each and everyone of them has been a top class production.

Nikki certainly has a knack of casting people in the right part (even though sometimes people don’t realise they are in the right part until the rehearsals are well under way) and to her every single person in her productions are as important as each other. Nikki’s mantra that you don’t have to be a lead to be a star sums her up - to Nikki everyone is a star.

All of Nikki’s shows are fabulous to watch, her attention to detail is flawless and they all have you leaving the theatre on a huge high thinking that you have watched a West End Performance. 

There are of course too many shows to mention however a special mention to WAOS for her Made in Dagenham the last show I had the pleasure of seeing. This was a show that I had never seen before but Nikki knocked it right out of the park the whole production was phenomenal! 

In my opinion “You ain’t seen a show till you’ve seen a Nikki show”

"Our Son Jenson first met Nikki  when he joined WOW in Witham, Essex and he auditioned for a production of Guys and Dolls.

This was his first production with this society and Nikki was Directing this.

Nikki’s planning, Direction and vision was amazing, and she built up an excellent rapport with the all the members and although hard work the rehearsals were made fun.

In a very short time Jenson learnt so much, and his confidence grew greatly and continued to grow right until the final performance and he received some wonderful comments and reviews, and this was due and helped to Nikki’s belief and dedication.

Jenson is now having coaching with Nikki in preparation for his A levels and University applications.

We honestly cannot thank Nikki enough for her help with Jenson and cannot recommend her highly enough to anyone who wants to get involved within the performing arts”

I" first met Nikki in 2021 when I was lucky enough to be a part of a show she was directing for WOW. Therefore when it came to preparing for auditions, I knew Nikki would be the perfect person to help develop my skills and prepare me in every aspect for each individual audition.
Nikki has helped change me from a person scared to go outside their comfort zone, especially Shakespeare, to a person who now enjoys a challenge and feels they have the necessary skills to face them. Nikki helps me to pick suitable material for all auditions and makes sure they always show off the best parts of me, which is something I really struggled with before.  She has also taught me so many transferable skills, for example, with both analysing and performing text which I have used on many occasions and will continue to do so. As someone who finds nerves have a big impact on me, having these lessons have helped so much and I’ve felt my confidence grow massively since having private lessons with Nikki. I cannot thank her enough for all of the past and ongoing training and support."

"I first met Nikki in September 2021 through her connection to WOW and was lucky enough to work with her performing in Guys and Dolls. She was able to transform my character and has boosted my confidence within performing tremendously. This has come through constructive criticism as well as having a good laugh with her. I have had lessons with Nikki for the best part of 2 years and can happily say I don’t regret a single second.

Nikki taught me so many transferable skills from how to read a text with correct emphasis and pace all the way through to the small details of a performance. She helped me tremendously with preparations for drama school auditions and I have found that all principles taught were then being reiterated as I started my training. I cannot thank her enough for what she has done for me

"I have worked with Nikki directing a number of times as musical director. She has a clear vision and always achieves this with an organised attitude to rehearsals. Nikki puts her heart into her work and cares a great deal about each cast member and those in the team. She strives to get the best out of those around her and puts every effort into making sure the actors reach their potential."

"Working with Nikki was an absolute joy. She has a very clear vision for her productions, and executes them with passion and flair.

Nikki has high expectations for her actors and makes the rehearsal period so much fun!

She is always willing to discuss your character, and understands the need for actors to make a part their own. This is not always the case, and as an actor I found it especially freeing".

​​"Nikki was the director of my first show in 2013 'Oliver!' when I was 10 and was the instrumental reason to why I fell in love with musical theatre. Since then I played the cigar smoking Pugsley in 'The Addams Family', A Snow child in ‘Carousel’, Emmett in ‘Legally Blonde’, a factory worker/Barry in ‘Made in Dagenham’ and Nathan Detroit in my final show WOW show ‘Guys and Dolls’ under her direction.

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Every show has been an absolute pleasure and I have learnt all my theatrical skills and etiquette from Nikki and I have enjoyed every single second of it. Nikki is firm but fair and everyone she casts even if they think they can’t do it, Nikki makes them believe and turns them into the best performers!​"

"Our Singing lessons with Nikki were fantastic and they followed all Covid-19 regulations. We were able to perform in a safe environment and receive the top quality training Nikki provides. An Amazing learning experience with and equally amazing teacher"

"Nikki has directed me since I was 14 and was a key player in my drama school audition preparations.  She gave me 1 to 1 sessions for monologues, and duologues, with insight and expertise.   As a director she is both inspiring and dedicated, and has never been afraid to push me to my full potential.   Nikki was a constant source of support and inspiration whilst i was deciding to become an actor, and my auditions for drama school, and has never stopped helping me to believe in myself as a performer."

“When I took my 8 year old daughter along to audition for a part in a musical 5 months or so ago, I had no idea of the journey Nikki would take us on. Right from the off, Nikki's energy and passion for her art have been infectious and utterly inspirational. My child has been welcomed, included and valued as part of a team and she has enjoyed every second of her first ever performing experience. Not only that but Nikki has managed to unlock and nurture a talent that I never knew existed within my little girl. She has ignited a fire within her soul.

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It is clearly evident from the results that she achieves that Nikki is dedicated to recognising and valuing individual potential and pushes hard to get the absolute best out of the family of cast and crew she builds around her for every show. 

And it doesn't stop there; Nikki continues to be a friendly and approachable source of advice and support. I can't wait to see where the journey takes us next."

"My daughter worked with Nikki Mundell-Poole during a production of Annie with The Sudbury Musicals Society. Nikki had a very clear vision of the end show and rehearsals were planned carefully in advance. She built up an instant rapport with Penny and was always considerate of her opinion. Penny learnt so much from working with Nikki and her team, it was an amazing experience and has given Penny a brilliant platform for the future."

“It's always been a great pleasure working on behalf and under Nikki's instruction. She has always produced fantastic shows and its nice to have been a part of them!

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Nikki feels me with confidence as she always knows what she wants and the type and styles required and makes my life easier from a provision production and technical requirements. Any relevant information and detail is given quickly and to a high standard and with all relevant information.

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Nikki puts a lot of time in behind the scenes and this is shown with the end result. We always like working on a Nikki produced show as there is a fun and happy side to the hard work we all put in. Happy to recommend to any group, society or organisation"

"My daughter played a part in the performance of ‘Annie’ with Nikki being the Director.Nikki was fantastic at guiding and teaching Rose on how to present herself on stage and find her confidence to be able to play a great part in the show.During the 4 months of rehearsals Rose learnt a lot by working alongside other performers and listening to Nikki’s advice along the way. Nikki showed that she was attentive and supportive of all of the girls and they all grew to respect her and Rose is keen to keep up with dance and performance after such a positive and successful Theatre experience on stage."

"My daughter Megan has just taken part in the performance of Annie. Nikki was the Director.  From the moment Nikki met my daughter at the audition, she made her feel at ease.  Megan suffers with Tourette’s Syndrome but not once did this seem to concern Nikki. I explained everything about her condition and Megan still got the fantastic part of being an orphan in the “Annie” production! Nikki is very patient, and gives great advice that helped Megan to achieve her best on show week.  Megan has learnt so much from Nikki and really enjoyed herself. "

“I have had the pleasure of working with Nikki on three shows, as well as watching her direct my daughter in a fourth. As a relative newcomer to performing, my experience has been in chorus and character parts. I have now performed in eight shows and I have to say that I have always produced my best work under Nikki's directorship.

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Nikki has an incredible stage presence and when she talks the cast listens. She has mastered the balance between time to have fun and time to work hard and I look forward to opportunities to work with her; marshalling an amateur group who are there as a hobby, tired or stressed can seem like herding cats, but Nikki achieves this with aplomb. She is a hard taskmaster, but this is delivered in such a way that the cast raises its game and produces something special. 

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A strong opening number is a hallmark of Nikki's shows and the energy built up in the opening is then transitioned to the rest of the show.

Nikki is the most prepared Director I have worked with, every scene is blocked in advance in various documents making the setting rehearsals run as smoothly (as they can with an Amateur Group!) as possible. As a performer, I am grateful that once the blocking is set it does not change at every rehearsal.

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When working with Principals and character performers, Nikki avoids feeding every line and allows the performer to explore the part and create their own interpretation, with guidance given to ensure that the performance is honest to the character and in keeping with the overall interpretation of the show.

In my experience, there are shows and there are Nikki Mundell-Poole shows."

"I first met Nikki when I was asked to help with the props for Grease for WOW at Witham as someone had dropped out. I was a bit daunted to say the least as I had never worked on such a large show before. As it was set in the 1950's some items were hard to source. Nikki made it very easy by having photos of everything that was needed and gave advice on where to source or how to make items. After working with Nikki on Grease, it gave me the confidence to do props on many other shows and I'm now also in charge of our props barn.

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I've also appeared in five shows in the chorus, two of which were okay, the direction given by Nikki and the attention to detail was very strong, she knows exactly what she wants and is able to portray her vision to the cast. Everyone gets excited when Nikki directs a show because we know it's going to be brilliant"

"At the age of 53, I decided to follow in my children’s footsteps and make my stage debut with Witham Amateur Operatic Society.  On the plus side I had bags of enthusiasm, could hold a tune, wasn’t afraid of giving it a go and could tap dance.

On the downside, I am registered blind.

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Nikki has directed 4 of my children in shows with WOW so I was confident that if my foray into musical theatre was going to work then I was in safe, capable, experienced and professional hands.

Nikki was focused, organised, had a great vision of how the show should develop and progress. Rehearsals were very structured with little time wasted and no one called unnecessarily to rehearsals.

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Nikki’s direction was always clear and she wasn’t afraid to make changes if certain scenes worked out differently as to how she had envisaged them.   Always plenty of time was given to ensure everyone knew the changes. Much use was made of emails, Facebook notifications and videos of routines as well as handouts of choreography and stage direction, as well as the usual ‘writing in the margin’ on scripts.  Nobody could ever claim that they didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing. In addition, Nikki was always available to go through all direction either before rehearsals as she was usually there well ahead of the start time, and was readily available after rehearsals to give one-to-one instruction if needed. This made me feel very secure and confident as part of the company.

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In particular, I would like to emphasize that at no point during rehearsals or during show week did I feel that I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing and that I was never left in a position either on or off stage where I had no support – mostly people being my eyes.

Nikki did a wonderful discreet job of ensuring that whichever scene I was in I was supported by the company and was always allocated one member  who was responsible for taking me on and off the stage and for orientating me on stage making sure I was  facing the right way and fitting in with the rest of the company.  This Nikki did as a matter of course, no fuss, no singling me out for ‘special instruction’ for which I was very grateful. Nikki always made the rehearsals great fun, good-humoured, as well as very productive.

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All-in-all my experience of being directed by Nikki Mundell-Poole in a musical was a hugely positive one, not only personally but also for the company.  In addition to being in the ensemble I was given the role as one of the Knights who say Ni, French Taunter and tap dancing Knight of the Round Table.  I have since gone on to be in a further three musicals one of which was also directed by Nikki and I have no hesitation in stating that Nikki has been inspirational as a motivator and director.' 

" I've been involved in several of Nikki's productions as a member of the cast and as production manager on show's such as 'Me & My Girl', 'Follies' and 'Sweeney Todd' and not only have the productions been innovative and well received they've also been huge fun to be involved in! Nikki is very good at - working with what you have in terms of stage and technical limitations but also with the groups ability, she's encouraging and always manages to bring out the best in people"

"Nikki has directed many musical productions which I have witnessed. Her attention to detail is immaculate and she always has a very clear idea of the final product long before rehearsals begin. She has also appeared in a show which I directed and she is equally comfortable in that role, giving her good insight into performance techniques, standing her in good stead for her role as director. I would have no hesitation in recommending her as a director of musicals

"Nikki is professional, decisive and takes responsibility for the production from day one. She always makes rehearsals fun but has a strong work ethic and expects the cast to work hard"