A MELTHAM man has received a prestigious award in the world of theatre.

Former Honley High School pupil John Tiffany, was awarded this year’s Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, for his production, Once.

Tony Awards are considered the highest US theatre honour and are presented at an annual ceremony in New York City.

The Tony is just one on John’s long list of awards: he has previously taken home the Laurence Olivier Award and Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director for the show Black Watch, which sold out across Scotland, LA, New York and Sydney.

But the stage show Once was a Broadway debut for John.

Based on the Oscar-winning film, it tells the story of an Irish busker and a Czech immigrant brought together by their shared love of music.

Over the course of one week their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together.

John, who works as associate director of the National Theatre of Scotland, was not the only one to take home an award for Once as it won nine out of 12 nominations.

John is the son of Neil and Margaret Tiffany, who still live in Meltham.

His mum is a former district nurse and it was her character who inspired the hit drama series Where The Heart Is, which was filmed in Slaithwaite and Marsden.

John went to Huddersfield New College with actress Zoe Lucker and Natalie Chivers, who also won an Olivier award for her technical role in theatre in 2007.