After an absence of more than a quarter of a century, Roger Rees is returning to the London stage opposite Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot. In this week’s issue of The Stage, he talks about life in the US, how his painting career is still on hold and why he’s intent on bringing Shakespeare to the masses.

[Shakespeare] was a human being who, if he were around today, would be wearing Levis and writing for television. A lot of it [his one man show, What You Will] is about my journey as a fairly uneducated kid from Wales becoming someone who can act and talk about Shakespeare, and think about the value of language.

I so a soliloquy from Hamlet, I play the nurse in Romeo and Juliet with a country accent, I play Richard II, I play the ukulele, I have a ball. I’ve just finished touring it through the Midwest, playing places like Wichita and Kansas City. They loved it.

Former frontman of the Libertines Carl Barat is starring in Fool for Love at London’s Riverside Studios. While in rehearsals he took the time to speak to us about his first theatrical role and working alongside old friend and co-star Sadie Frost

I did worry if I was stealing some struggling actor’s job, but at the same time, if people was going to come and see it because they know it’s me or whatever and that’s going to pay for the thing, then it kind of works itself out really.

This is the only bit of side-stepping I’ve ever done and I don’t feel guilty about it. I know some people will get pissed off, but we’ve all got a chance to choose our path and I chose music. But I have had a bit of grief about that - you’re taking food off an actor’s table.

Also this week:

• Las Vegas is the largest theatre city after London and New York, and has been hit hard by the recession, with audiences falling and pressure to offer deals and discounts But the tide seems to be turning - business is coming back and Cirque du Soleil has just opened a $50m show in a new theatre. Alistair Smith reports on the downturn’s impact and the latest developments

• Whereas the BBC was once the stronghold of radio drama, other means of producing plays are cropping up today, including collaborations with newspaper websites and the creation of online theatre companies

• Ruth Mackenzie has been announced as director of culture for the London 2012 Olympics, supported by a team of artistic advisers. Michael Quinn looks at the experience they bring to the planning of the Cultural Olympiad and whether it can succeed

• As Network DVD releases a series of Noel Coward plays from ITV’s archive, founder Tim Beddows talk about the company’s origins and bringing older programmes to public attention once more

• Backstage: Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre is redesigning its get-in facilities as part of a £2.5 million plan of improvements, allowing it to host even bigger touring shows

• Despite tougher times for West End shows being predicated after 2008’s record year, 2009 was even more successful - and not just in terms of box office takings. Mark Shenton looks at why London theatre is thriving in the recession

• Dear John: “It is possible to pursue my own career and still collaborate with other performers?”

• Showpeople: CP Hallam and Richard Earl, touring in New Perspectives’ Those Magnificent Men; Former Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jayne Dunn, touring in When Harry Met Sally; and actor, writer and director Tom Mallaburn, of forties pastiche show Fitzrovia Radio Hour

The man once dubbed ‘Nasty Nigel’ by the British tabloid press, Nigel Lythgoe has brought his successful US format So You Think You Can Dance to BBC1. He tells The Stage why he believes the show is a force for cultural good and why he’s optimistic for the future of entertainment television.

“It is putting art into mainstream television and, I believe, helping to change things.”…

He does admit that when he makes forays into public, such as to the Emmys, he is set upon by angry writers, convinced that he has done them out of employment. “But in the end they bite their bottom lip and tell me they enjoyed the dance show,” he adds.

Stand-up comedian Jarred Christmas makes his TV acting debut in BBC2’s The Persuasionists, a new sitcom about an advertising agency. He tells Matthew Hemley what it was like working from a script after live gigs and making a living from jokes.

Stand-up was happening while [my] drama auditions were and to be honest, I eventually decided not to go to drama school because I had found stand-up and enjoyed stand-up. I enjoyed the immediacy of it. The thought of going somewhere for three years and spending all that money and then having no guarantee of work when I came out - I just didn’t like that prospect.

From running a branch of a stage school to becoming a part-time teacher, this week’s special Stage School Franchises supplement examines the opportunities available for performers seeking a new challenge in the sector — plus interviews with three operators and comprehensive listings of the companies available

Since famous faces such as Rupert Friend and Jeremy Clarkson leapt to the Theatre Chipping Norton’s defence when it losts it ACE funding, the venue’s fortunes have been transformed. Director John Terry explains why the theatre is now in such a strong position

As the registration deadline for this year’s Brighton Festival Fringe approaches, Nick Awde talks to its executive manager Nick Stockman about the future direction of the event

Legally Blonde the Musical received its press launch this week, but was the pre-show hype too “supine”? Michael Coveney thinks so, and he explains why good PR coverage must not come at the expense of proper critical discussion

If you’re interested in studying make-up, you have one of the narrowest routes into the entertainment industry. Finally, though, the training on offer is broadening. In anticipation of next week’s International Make-up Artists Trade Show London, Paul Vale looks at the world of greasepaint and prosthetics

Dear John: “Should I promote myself to get experience, or should I wait until I have experience before I promote myself?”

Showpeople: Barbershopera’s Tom Sadler; Chi-Lin Nim, in Panphobia, Lost Theatre Stockwell’s first production in its new venue; deaf performer Caroline Parker, touring Signs of a Star Shaped Diva

Backstage Focus: Over the last decade Geoffrey Joyce has developed qualifications for technicians that emphasise practical knowledge and skills, and are valued by theatre managers and backstage workers alike. Barbara Eifler looks at the history of ABTT training

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Since winning BBC1’s Any Dream Will Do and the chance to play Joseph in the West End, Lee Mead has cemented his showbiz credentials by marrying Denise Van Outen and scoring a starring role in the Bill Kenwright production of Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime. In this week’s issue of The Stage, he talks to about his impending fatherhood and the desire to further his career.

I think that, as an actor, it’s really important to give yourself challenges, to try and stretch yourself…

…I thought, this is a good first step, because Wilde is a real challenge. I’ve been working away for the past month, before rehearsals started, to really understand the language. It’s like Shakespeare, in that it’s not a contemporary language.

After four years of playing Bradley Branning in EastEnders, Charlie Clements is bidding farewell to Albert Square to try his hand at something new. He talks to us about his plans for the year ahead:

From an acting point of view, I hope to go up for parts that are completely different and show that I can do something else. I have played different characters in the past and there is no reason I should not be able to do it now

Aerial theatre company Ockham’s Razor is preparing for a tour of its new show. Company members Charlotte Mooney, Alex Harvey and Tina Koch talk about how the group evolved and where they are heading to next

In a way, being a dramaturg on an aerial show is a totally made up role, but there is a movement in circus in Britain to explore narrative more, so it’ll be interesting to see how this role develops. It doesn’t involve a great deal of writing - it’s more about asking ‘Why is that happening?’ and making sure that the audience can string a story together.

Also this week:

• As debate continues about how best to engage children in theatre supposedly tailored to them, Stuart Mullins, creative director of children’s theatre company Theatre Is…, shares his views

• Irish singing legend Val Doonican reflects on his enduring popularity

• Dear John looks at the world of online TV productions, with input from Ricky Norwood, Fatboy in online drama EastEnders E20, and E20’s producer, Deborah Sathe

• Insight: Maggie Brown considers the long term implications of the government’s decision to include BBC Worldwide on a list of assets for sale and asks whether it could result is destroying a thriving business and being detrimental to the wider creative community

• Showpeople: Q&A interviews with Simon Minty, co-producer of Abnormally Funny People, dancer Douglas Thorpe, theatre director Stef O’Driscoll

The Stage is available from major newsagents, priced £1.40. For postal subscription deals, see http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/

Whether you want a career as a performer, behind the scenes or even creating prosthetic make-up, look out in The Stage for the chance to applu for scholarships to some of the UK’s top courses. Throughout 2010, we will be joining forces with some of the country’s leading training institutions to give 11 aspiring performers the opportunity of a lifetime.

Whether you hope to one day tread the boards in a musical, stage manage a show of create special effects for television programmes, a range of scholarships worth more than £100,000 in total will be on offer to help launch your career in the performing arts.

Further details and application forms will be revealed throughout the year. This week, youngsters who will be school years 7, 8 or 9 in September 2010 can apply for a scholarship to Sylvia Young Theatre School. Now in its 19th year, the Stage scheme offers one full scholarship and two half scholarships.

Also coming over the year:

• Music - a one year full time diploma for singers at Vocaltech
• Dance/musical theatre - a full-time, three-year musical theatre course at Expressions Academy of Performing Arts, Mansfield
• Dance - a full-time, three-year dance diploma at Stella Mann College NEW FOR 2010
• Technical/backstage - a full-time, three-year BA Hons in Professional Production Skills at Guildford School of Acting NEW FOR 2010
• Make-up/costume - a four-week prosthetic make-up course at Greasepaint NEW FOR 2010
• Acting/musical theatre (postgraduate) - a full-time, one-year diploma in either acting or musical theatre from Mountview Academy of Performing Arts NEW FOR 2010
• Musical theatre - A full-time, three-year musical theatre diploma at Reynolds Performing Arts NEW FOR 2010
• Youth theatre - A place on the two-week National Youth Theatre summer course NEW FOR 2010

Application forms for the Sylvia Young scholarship are in this week’s paper - more details about each of the other scholarships will be revealed throughout 2010, so make sure you regularly pick up your copy of The Stage!

This week’s issue of The Stage is our double size Christmas spectacular. This week’s cover star, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps actor Sheridan Smith talks about performing from an early age, her dedication, and playing the lead in Legally Blonde the Musical:

It’s a dream part. I would have been gutted if I hadn’t got it. I know it’s a big, fluffy camp show, but it does have a lot of heart and a lovely message — that you can achieve things others don’t think you are capable of

Since Edward Bennett took on the role of Hamlet at short notice from David Tennant in December 2008, a succession of high profile understudies have helped ensure that the show goes on even when the leading actors can’t. To celebrate, we honour the role of the understudy with a photoshoot of eight talented performers either currently working as understudies or who have taken over in a major role this year.

The Stage’s Hamlet cartoonist and TV reviewer, Harry Venning, took a decade to transform his Guardian comic strip Clare in the Community into the successful Radio 4 sitcom. As his second show, Sneakiepeeks is now under way on the broadcaster, the former actor shares his tips with aspiring broadcast writers:

Sitcom, in particular lends itself to radio far more than TV, where budgetary constraints and the demands of a live audience limit the action to however many sets can be crammed into a studio. Usually this just means three, with one almost invariably a semi-detached, suburban living room. Sneakiepeeks has already gone on location to the Cote d’Azur, the United Arab Emirates, Ceredigion, Eastbourne and Madame Tussauds

Review of 2009

• From taking part in the third Move It dance event in London and reviewing more than 350 productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, to providing scholarships to talented young performers and returning to Blackpool to hold our annual light entertainment party, it’s been an eventful year for The Stage

• Photographer Tristram Kenton shares the photographic highlights of the year

• News reporters Lalayn Baluch and Matthew Hemley look back at the key news stories of the arts sector and broadcasting industry

• Our arts correspondents look back at the last twelve months of West End, London Fringe, regional theatre, opera, dance and light entertainment, television and radio performances, as well as the pick of books, CDs and DVDs

Also this week:

We pick the best radio, TV and podcasts to watch and listen to over the festive period

Physical theatre company Footsbarn will be braving the cold to bring a fortnight of bawdy performance to Shakespeare’s Globe this Christmas. Globe and Footsbarn artistic directors Dominic Dromgoole and Paddy Hayter tell Lalayn Baluch to expect a weird and wonderful array of puppets, music, circus and song, suitable for the whole family

Award winning playwright Che Walker, best known for The Frontline, tells Chloe Thomas about working on Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lyric Hammersmith and why he loves panto

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s children’s books, including The Gruffalo rely on gorgeous illustrations to add to the story — so that adds additional design challenges when transferring them to the stage. Lisa Martland meets Katie Sykes, who has converted the Donaldson/Scheffler book Stick Man for the Soho Theatre

Newly graduated performers should think twice before reaching for the bottle this Christmas, says Hilary Strong, director of the National Council for Drama Training — alcohol can ruin an actor’s career before it’s begun

Since becoming managing director, Andree Deissenberg has transformed iconic cabaret venue the Crazy Horse in Paris, overseeing a €2.5 million refurbishment and injecting a fresh creative buzz by hiring big name performers including Dita Von Teese

For every Christian Bale and Minnie Driver, there are plenty of stories about Brits who have failed to make the grade in Hollywood. We speak to agents and actors to discover the dos and don’ts for developing a Hollywood career

Twins Gary and Paul Hardy-Brown talk about their career as illusionists and their work on pantos up and down the country this Christmas

As the year draws to a close, careers coach and agony uncle John Byrne reflects on the ways you can ensure that your friends and colleagues past and present enjoy a merry Christmas and even, perhaps, a prosperous new year

Showpeople: Teneisha Bonner, appearing in Into the Hoods at the Queen Elizabeth Hall; Frank Sanazi, a comedy cabaret blend of Frank Sinatra and Adolf Hitler; Neal Craig, playing Romeo in Oddsocks’ touring Romeo and Juliet; Charlotte Chinn, appearing in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond.

This week’s double size issue of The Stage is available from the usual outlets for the one-off price of £2.00.

The next issue of The Stage will feature the annual Stage 100 power list, and will be published on December 30.

In this week’s issue of The Stage (which comes with a free 2010 wall planner), as an increasing number of drag stars are being cast as pantomime dames over the more traditional female impersonators, is the genre changing for better or worse? Six industry professionals give their view.

Also this week:

Starring in a wide variety of roles from Shakespeare to sitcoms, Robert Lindsay has written his autobiography based on the audio diaries he started making when his mother died a decade ago. He talks about his career and how he’s conquered his tendency towards professional jealousy.

I remember John Howard Davies, then head of comedy at the BBC, asking me what I wanted to be. Was I an actor? Or was I a frustrated entertainer? And did I really want to be Betty Bothways and have it all?

… There are some actors who take themselves very seriously and would hate to be thought of as entertainers. For me, it’s about having a direct relationship with an audience. Yet, strangely enough, I didn’t fully realise that I had this affinity until I played Archie Rice in The Entertainer at the Old Vic two years ago.

Award-winning BBC drama Cranford returns for a two-part special over Christmas, with new cast members including Jonathan Pryce and Celia Imrie. Mary Comerford finds out more:

Imrie joins the illustrious cast this time round, another fine example of an actress in her prime, and [Julia] McKenzie reckons TV executives have finally got the message.

“I think they’ve realised that if you’re young, you’re probably out clubbing and that people at home would like to see people of their own generation on TV,” says the actress, who has never been busier after landing the iconic role of Miss Marple on ITV1.

“It’s taken them an awfully long time, but I’m hoping there will be more parts for older actresses, because we have such actresses in this country who are so wasted. It’s so sad when your talent is not being tested at a time when it’s at its peak.”

• We reflect on the 50-year history of Hampstead Theatre, during which is has been housed in a scout hut, and ugly sixties prefab and now a state of the art venue

• At a time when the concept of digital theatre is being embraced, Theatre Voice editor Aleks Sierz talks about the Urban Scrawl audio drama project, which broadcasts a play a week based on the 53 stations on the London Underground’s Piccadilly Line

• Insight: As an increasing number of production companies swap live music for prerecorded backing tapes, it is not just the livelihood of professional musicians that is under threat, but also live performance as an art form, as audiences are being robbed of a vital element of theatre

• The Scottish Government’s recent reshuffle, which saw embattled education secretary Fiona Hyslop take over Mike Russell’s role as Minister for Culture and External Affairs, signals that the arts are once again being treated as a political dumping ground, argues Thom Dibdin

• Maggie Brown: “Spare us embittered creatives who spit poison into the system”

• Kenrick Sandy: “Hip hop is so self-disciplined and so motivated… It’s about engaing with young people and making them feel that they can also be more than a dancer”

• Dear John: “I’m working through Christmas on a hectic touring schedule. How do I keep healthy?”

• SHOWPEOPLE: Drag queen Bette Rinse, playing Cinders in Sinderfella at the Leicester Square; Scottish Ballet’s Martina Forioso; Dan Hagley writer/performer of ‘anti-panto’ production Patrick and Bernadine

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In our special Christmas show preview issue, we talk to Susie McKenna, writer and director of Hackney Empire’s panto Aladdin, about that show and reviving her 2003 A Christmas Carol for the Arts Theatre. Plus we have 7 pages of panto and Christmas show listings covering the entire UK.

Also this week, model and actress Kelly Brook talks about her determination to develop her career in theatre, how she deals with negative reviews and why her current West End role is close to her heart:

I’d been back in LA doing a couple of films, but I wanted to be in London and near my family and boyfriend [rugby player Danny Cipriani] again. The rugby season starts in September so I asked my agent what was going on. TV has been taken over by reality, so unless you’re on Strictly Come Dancing or the X Factor it’s quite difficult. So we talked about doing a play and I was walking past the Noel Coward Theatre when I saw that Calendar Girls was playing and I got a strange feeling. It had been mentioned a few weeks previously, so I got my agent to get in touch with the producer David Pugh and we had a cup of tea…

…I lost my father to cancer a couple of years ago, so it’s a subject quite close to my heart and something I can really relate to.

Award-winning TV producers and former members of the Royal Ballet, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt’s latest offering is a radical reinterpretation of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for BBC3, featuring a range of dance styles including pole dancing and tango.

Insight: If elected, the Conservatives plan to give communities more control over central government spending in their area by allowing them to trigger referencums on funding for local arts organisations and projects. Would this help to make the arts more democratic, or provide a way to censor artistics expression?

Theatres make enough money from their festive shows without pressurising parents into purchasing additional merchandise for their kids, argues Roger ‘Scrooge’ Foss

Dear John: “I’d like to have a go at writing my own material. How do I start, and what aelse can I do with my ideas if writing isn’t for me?”

Showpeople: Celia Adams, performing in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Lancaster; Kate Marlais, playing Cinderella at the Salisbury Playhouse; Russell Clough, playing Pinocchio at the Torch Theatre

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40. For postal subscription rates, see www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe

In this week’s issue of The Stage Anne-Marie Duff, best known for her role in Shameless, took on the challenge of playing the legendary Margot Fonteyn in BBC4’s new biopic. She tells Matthew Hemley about visit Royal BAllet rehearsals to perfect a dancer’s poise, her shock at Fonteyn’s huge stardom and the importance of luck in a successful acting career

People would, without realising, let you know silly stuff and that is what you are interested in. You always want to know if someone stank of perfume or had a silly laugh, because as an actor you can read and read, but things like that are very useful

As he is about to step down from his role at the helm of Doctor Who, writer and producer Russell T Davies reveals the mad world of scriptwriting, and how it led to transforming into his latest book

I just liked the idea [of the book] immediately, I get increasingly cross wit hthe way scripwriting is talked about. All the books are about the ABC of it, structure and formal language, and nobody ever talks abotu the ideas - how to get them out of your head and onto paper.

Actress June Whitfield talks about her new book, which is peppered with anecdotes and illustrations of the stars she has worked with, and reflects on the happy times she spent working with Dick Bentley and Jimmy Edwards on radio sitcom Take It From Here

Also this week:

• Howard Panter, joint chief executive of Ambassador Theatre Group, talks to The Stage about ATG’s £90m deal to become the largest theatre group in the UK, its future plans and monopoly concerns within the industry

• Insight: As television advertising appears to be entering a healthier period of growth, The Stage’s media expert Maggie Brown reflects on whether a few big success stories, such as The X Factor, are powerful enough to lift the industry

• Director of the Natiopnal Council for Drama Training Hilary Strong discusses the changes that need to be made in order for a wider variety of youngsters to consider a career in theatre

• Dear John: “I’m building my reputation in drama, but have just been offered some panto work. Sensible career move or detour?”

• Catherine Spellar, communications officer for the Press Complaints Commission, explains how many in the entertainment industry are increasingly seeking the assistance of the PCC to pursue privacy-related complaints against the media, rather than the expensive option of a lawyer

• A last-minute call-up can cause panic for the most hardened auditionee, but if you learn the techniques to manage those nerves, the situation can be turned to your advanatge. Actress and author Jennifer Reischel reveals how

• Backstage Focus: We take a tour of Ipswich’s Jerwood DanceHouse, the new home of DanceEast

Showpeople

• Donald McBride, playing the dame at Durham’s Gala Theatre pantomime
• Coronation Street and Doctor Who actress Ayesha Dharker, who is joining the RSC as the narrator for Arabian Nights
• Actress Luanna Priestman, in Something Else at the Chelsea Theatre

The Stage is available in major newsagents for £1.40. A range of postal subscriptions are available - for more details go to http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/

In this week’s issue, we look ahead to Theatrecraft 2009, supported by The Stage, which puts young people in contact with leading organisations and companies to find out about careers in theatre that don’t involve performing

After watching more than 25 new musical theatre pieces in a month, director Phil Wilmott compares the work in the UK and the US, and gives some pointers on how to write your own successful show

Mike Bartlett’s play Cock starring Katherine Parkinson and Ben Whishaw, is currently running at the Royal Court in London. He tells us how he’s carved a successful career as a playwright and why he believes writers should be involved with all aspects of production

Award-winning musical theatre star Maria Friedman tells us why she’s devoting her time to smaller-scale concerts, her experiences of working in the US and how you need a combination of personality, tenacity and talent to make it in showbusiness

Channel 4’s new comedy drama Cast Offs, which starts on Tuesday, features a cast of six disabled actors. We chat to members of the team to find out what sort of impact they hope the show will make

Writer, comedian and regular panellist on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, Barry Cryer has a career that has lasted more than 50 years. He talks to Fred Redwood about the current state of comedy, the demands of working with legends and whether he thinks that television is ageist

Former professional stage technician Richard Cullyer, who has turned to teaching his technical skills to secondary school pupils, argues that students must be pushed further with hands-on training that emphasises safety and responsibility

This year marks the centenary of American songwriter Johnny Mercer and, to celebrate, a series of concerts dedicated to his music are taking place across the UK, tribute CDs have been released and even a sculpture of the artist is being unveiled. Fred Dellar rounds up the multitude of events taking place to mark the anniversary

Dear John: “I’ve just been voted out of a talent show. How fast to I need to move to capitalise on the exposure?”

Showpeople

• Classical adagio duo Nyron and Saori
• Sarah Smart, currently in The Line at the Arcola, London
• Jayne Wisener, playing Mary in a new musical version of The Secret Garden at West Yorkshire Playhouse

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40, or via postal subscription. For subscription rates and to order your subscription, visit http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe

As Debbie Allen’s all-black Cat on a Hot Tin Roof transfers to the West End from Broadway, we talk to stars Adrian Lester and James Earl Jones.

It had never occurred to me that I’d be asked to do it [says Lester, who plays Brick]. I watched the film with Paul Newman as Brick and Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie years ago, so I knew what Brick was like. But when you read the play, it is so much more about the power of their sexual attraction. I see it as being a lot more visceral and vicious than it was in the film.

Jamie Cullum talks warmly about his love of music — but, as Douglas McPherson discovered, other topics are met with rather frostily. Read our interview to find out more.

Since teaching contestants the moves on Fame Academy, choreographer Kevin Adams has gone on to help celebrities get fit. He talks about his new TV show, Disney Channel’s Club High School Musical - Make It Happen.

In professional theatre circles, the word ‘amateur’ is often used in a negative way. Theatre 503’s James Barry argues that amateur theatre provides a crucial training ground and should be respected and nurtured.

We wouldn’t look at a Sunday afternoon, non-league football game and judge it by the same standard as televised matches on the BBC. But we might notice talented players who will go on to have great careers. This is how we should see amateur theatre - as a stepping stone for young and new talent

Also this week:

• From Festive Road to Albert Square, Ray Brooks has had an acting career spanning 50 years that takes in award-winning films and TV dramas to narrating one of British television’s best loved children’s programmes. He talks about his new autobiography to Mark Wright. Hear a longer version on The Stage Podcast

• For those who resemble celebrities, working as a lookalike can be lucrative, whether it’s meeting and greeting guests or imitating the famous face’s act. We examine the market.

• Insight: Following last week’s look at how theatrical marketing is changing, Allan Glen looks at some recent campaigns from music industry that illustrate how the sector’s approach is altering too

• Christopher Nupen talks about his acclaimed films on classical music figures, as his latest — on Tchaikovsky — is released on DVD and Sky Arts screens a season of his work

• Helen Lederer on her return to theatre in Calendar Girls

• Media expert Maggie Brown on Lord Terry Burns’ appointment as chairman of Channel 4

• Dear John: “What work-creating techniques, new or old, should I be using in a recession?”

• Showpeople: Q&A interviews with:

  • Comedy duo Moonfish Rhumba, aka Londoners Dan Lees and Guy Coombes
  • Speciality act The Skating Willers, returning to La Clique
  • Musical clowns The Popolinos, just named Best Comedy Act by the Circus Friends Association

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40. To save up to 27% of the cover price* and have access to a free digital copy of each week’s paper, why not take out a postal subscription? See www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe for more details.

* Maximum savings with an annual direct debit of £53, compared to newsstand prices of £73.40

In this week’s issue of The Stage we have an in-depth look at the £90m sale of Live Nation’s UK theatre venues to Ambassador Theatre Group. The deal means that ATG will manage 11,000 seats in the West End and over 37,000 more in regional venues.

Also this week:

Insight: Internet marketing and social networking sites are proving an effective way to raise awareness about theatre shows and build a community of fans

Playwright Bonnie Greer discusses how black theatre is triumphing in the West End and beyond and why she has faith in the intelligence of the British public

Dear John: Should I focus more on planning my career, or developing my talent taking any opportunities as they arise?

Although London’s musical theatre scene is highly competitive, there’s always room for innovation, especially when it comes to how a production is created and developed. We meet the teams behind Pages: Promised Land and Showtime Challenge

Singer, dancer and choreographer Jeffrey Daniel is the man behind many of Michael Jackson’s most famous routines. He talks to The Stage as he prepares to share his knowledge with UK dancers in a series of street dance masterclasse

From breaking both legs to pulvering his pelvis, stuntman Derek Lea has endured his fair share of occupational hazards. But he tells us it’s been worth all the pain for the chance to work on top TV shows, including ITV1’s five-part drama Collision

The cast of hit show The Pitmen Painters are a close-knit group, many of whom cut their acting teeth at Newcastle’s Live Theatre. They never expected the journey the production — returning to the National Theatre following a UK tour — would take them on

Backstage Focus: Oddsocks theatre company employs a unique portable wagon stage for its outdoor shows, containing trapdoors, windows, roofs, even scenery flats — and the group members consider it an integral part of the team

Since taking up acting after a short-lived army career, Jonathan Lewis has upheld some of his military connection. He talks about writing and performing and trying to get a theatre adaptation of the film Dog Day Afternoon off the ground

The Stage is available in major newsagents for £1.40. For postal subscription rates, see http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe

As chief associate director of the RSC, Greg Doran has certainly turned his childhood love of Shakespeare into a frutiful and distinguished career. He talks to us about writing The Shakespeare Almanac and making some brave directorial decisions.

Working and living in Stratford, I began to see all the references Shakespeare makes to the natural world though his eyes. I even went to the spot on the river where a girl called Catherine Hamlet drowned. To my astonishment there was a willow that “grew aslant the brook”, just as he writes in Hamlet.

I became increasingly fascinated by his alertness to the natural world and it started to have a knock-on effect on me.

Grammy-nominated singer, pianist and Great American Songbook devotee Michael Feinstein tells Michael Darvell about his upcoming gig at the London Palladium with special guest John Barrowman, and his search for rare songs.

I’ve just had a message saying that two Jerome Kern songs from 1941 have been discovered and did I want to sing them. I’m hoping they have good lyrics, because sometimes songs are suppressed for a reason.

ITV’s director of drama, Laura Mackie, talks about the turning point for its programming ad the challenge of balancing quality shows and tight budgets.

At the beginning of 2008, we launched a lot of new dramas in quite a short period of time. And I think, with hindsight, we were trying to have too big a gear-shift. But by the time we got to autumn last year, we had pulled back a bt. We decided, having had a break from psychological thrillers, that we did want to commission some. But that we wanted them to feel very authored, like The Children.

Also this week:

• For the first time in a quarter century, London is set to host a city-wide festival of puppetry — and it is aimed exclusively at adults. With a host of British and international companies showcasing their productions across seven venues, the event hopes to challenge the notion that the genre is for kids only

• After establishing a School of Comedy club in west London, Laura Lawson cranked up the creative process a few levels by taking the youngsters to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and ultimately landing an E4 television show to showcase their talents. She speaks to Angela Thomas about nurturing comic talent

• Technical Michael Sowby — better known as ‘Gadget’ — has worked on a huge range of productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As he takes on a full-time job and makes 2009 his last working stint at the event, he talks about his experiences

• Well known to long-time Stage readers as a vocal and passionate advocate of the reform of the British drama training establishment, Sam Kogan was the founding principal of the Academy of the Science of Acting and Directing. His daughter Helen Kogan explains how her father’s early life influenced his outlook and why she was compelled to present his life’s study in a new book

• Insight: In the 30 years since children’s theatre has taken off, the variety of performances on offer for the under-fives has been expanding. Susan Elkin examines the market

• Antony Gormley’s recent fourth plinth project One & Other crossed the boundary between visual art and live theatre. Is it the start of a new trend?

• Maggie Brown looks at online EastEnders spin-off, E20, the competition beteen Strictly Come Danicng and The X Factor and why there are better choices for the House of Lords than Kirstie Allsop

• Richard Jordan defends the term ‘showbusiness’.

• Showpeople: Q&A interviews with Ian Kelly, playing Robert Lyon in The Pitmen Painters and Jacqui Dankworth, actress and duaghter of Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, who has released her latest album, Back to You;

Dear John: “How do I combine live and online marketing to best promote my music?”

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Kate Fleetwood, who was nominated for a Tony Award for her Lady Macbeth, plays another bloodthirsty woman in Donmar Warehouse’s Life is a Dream. She tells Nuala Calvi why Rosaura is more than a stock character and how she and husband Rupert Goold balance life and work.

Landing the role of Tracy Turnblad in her favourite musical Hairspray was a dream come true for Chloe Hart. She speaks to Nick Smurthwaite about her fast-track journey to performing in the West End, from joining her local Stagecoach school in Cornwall to training at Guildford School of acting and undergoing the nerve-wracking audition process for the show

The revival of ITV’s Primeval, which was rescued from the jaws of destruction, certainly points to a brighter future for British TV drama, by striking an innovative and mutually beneficial cost-sharing deal. Maggie Brown reflects on the developments and examines the implications

In the seventies, Katy Manning travelled to alien planets, fought Daleks and learned her craft from Jon Pertwee. She talks about being a Doctor Who girl, taking her one-woman play abotu Bette Davis across the Australian outback and returning home to the UK

Birthplace of the Spiky Washer, as well as countless sets for majore West End and national productions. Set-up (Scenery) in Hertfordshire places a lot of importance in education young people through work epxerience. Managing director Mark Wilsher explains why

Insight: The National Endowment for the Arts, the largest funder of the arts in America, is supposedly indepependent. So should it be working with the US government to promote President Obama’s agenda?

Commercial theatre producer Edward Snape discussed the problem associated with touring theatre for children and reflects on ways to make shows more accessible for young audiences

Dear John: My next role is as a real person whom several stars have already protrayed. How do I make my own mark?

Showpeople: Beverley Klein, in Pirates of Penzance at Chichester Festival Theatre; Tamsin Shasha, in Misteriosi at Riverside Studios; Geoff Gascoyne, who has released his jazz quartet’s take on pop songs

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This week, Royal Shakespeare Company executive director Vikki Heywood tells The Stage how the organisation is building the foundation for a more diverse workforce in theatre.

As an industry, we have not been proactive enough about promoting ourselves to kids in schools. I think that really is where the problem is. I don’t think that people from diverse communities think about the arts as a place where they could get a job. And I think we’ve done a pretty poor job of getting that message out there… We really have to start saying that you don’t have to want to be a performer to get into this place.

…We are not attracting a diverse workforce. I think as an industry we have to stand up and say that we want to very loudly. We are not saying it loudly enough at the moment - not at all.

Heywood also talks about the challenges of rebuilding the company’s Stratford-upon-Avon home, and her ruminations of the RSC’s future in London.

Now a familiar face thanks to her role as Dobby on Channel 4’s Peep Show, Isy Suttie followed the comedy circuit route before landing the life-changing role. She tells us about juggling comedy gigs with call centre work and having lots of empathy with the IT misfit character she plays.

You don’t really start earning money in stand-up for a couple of years. For the whole of 2007, I got half my income from comedy and the other half from a call centre for Oddbins. I would do a gig in Machester, get the cocach back at midnight, get home at 6am and sleep for an hour before getting up and going back to work. I left in 2007 and even then I did not know if I could earn a living from comedy. Then I got Peep Show.

Also this week:

• In a special report on the range of choices available to parents who want to enrol their children on a part-time performing arts course, The Stage’s education and training editor Susan Elkin warns that cost does not always felect quality of teaching, while resident agony uncle John Byrne offers his tips on choosing a course

• When The Stage’s news and opinion editor Alistair Smith heard that Hackney Empire was experiencing considerable financial difficulties, he requested to see documents from Arts Council England under the Freedom of Information Act. More than a month later, ACE chose to draw a veil over proceedings — and sent out 12 pages of black ink…

• Media expert Maggie Brown looks at the BBC Trust’s proposed editorial guidelines and their clampdown on language

• Andrew Fishwick, producer for the Fish Partnership, on the conflicts between writer, director and producer

• Dear John: “How do I get the balance right between individuality and employability when starting out in my career?”

• Jacksons Lane arts centre in London has come back from the brink of closure with a bold and adventurous autumn programme featuring German wheelers, acrobatic troupes, burlesque and puppetry. Nuala Calvi speaks to its artistic director Adrian Berry

• Over the last 30 years, rural theatre in the UK has flourished with artists, producers and companies such as Eastern Angles and Forest Forge delivering work to local communities without seeking approval from city audiences. We reflect on this theatrical revolution

• As theatre marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Samuel Beckett, it’s time to acknowledge the influence music hall stars, including crosstalking king Joe O’Gorman, had on his work

• Bands that were big in the eighties are back, with Spandau Ballet reforming and Rick Astley winning awards. We examine the rise of the nostalgia tour

• Backstage Focus reports from the first International Festival of Scenic Arts, held recently at the Victoria & Albert Museum

• Showpeople: Q&A interviews with Kevin Anderson, currently playing Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption; Michael Malarkey, making his professional acting debut in the Young America season at Royal & Derngate, Northampton; Italian quick-change artist Arturo Brachetti, who portrays 100 characters in his London show

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Reality TV stars face more criticism than most if they get so far as to step foot on the West End stage. Diana Vickers, a finalist in last year’s series of The X Factor and currently starring in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice opposite Lesley Sharp and Marc Warren. She talks to The Stage about making her stage debut.

X Factor was incredibly stressful. I was away from home, I had one week to learn and put across a new song, and I was being constantly judged, not just by the judges in the competition but also by the media.

Little Voice feel quite different. It is a longer process and much more relaxed. I’m always chirpy when I come into rehearsals, like a puppy.

We also meet her costar James Cartwright, who plays Billy and is the son of the play’s author, Jim Cartwright.

There is an added pressure because of the nepotism issue, which means I have to work twice as hard to be exceedingly good. Otherwise, even though it’s not true, people will say, “Bloody hell, he’s only here because of his dad.” However, I can sleep well knowing that I have grafted.

David Boreanaz came to fame playing Angel, the campire with a soul, in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel. Now, as he prepares to start a fifth season as FBI agent Seeley Booth in Bones, starting on Sky1 tonight, he talks to The Stage about the pressures on US TV due to the recession, and the pressures on him as a lead actor who is moving behind the camera, with director credits on two of this season’s episodes.

You have to really make that transition relatively quickly, from doing one thing with these shoes on as a director and then stepping in as an actor. It becomes two different forces that you’re working with and you have to recognise that.

Also this week:

• We have a special feature on rehearsal rooms, with advice on how to find the affordable, clean and convenient spaces to best suit your needs, as well as listings of some selected spaces in London and around the country.

• Adam Meggido, artistic director of The Sticking Place, explores a modern Grand Guignol in Terror 2009, featuring new plays by leading writers including Mark Ravenhill and Neil LaBute. He tells Alistair Smith about the “proximity of the laugh to the scream” and why the festival divides opinion

• There are some winners in the recession — and UK holiday centres, and the light entertainment jobs they create, are among the success stories

• Insight: If today’s unprecedented levels of interest in dance across the UK are to be maintained and developed, the art form needs ample well-resourced opportunities at every level of education, argues Michael Quinn

• In response to Roger Foss’s argument against interactive theatre last week, artistic directors David Micklem and David Jubb explain why they are acknowledging and celebrating audiences’ creativity at Battersea Arts Centre. Plus, columnist Ian Herbert looks at how the debate has highlighted the breadth of theatre styles

• Arthur Smith on why Lenny Henry is funny, whatever the Daily Telegraph says

• Backstage Focus: Whether it’s using newer vehicles to improve fuel efficiency, running them on biodiesel or using alternative transport, many theatre companies are trying to make touring more environmentally friendly

• Showpeople: Q&A interviews Elena Edipidi, co-founder of Levantes Dance Theatre, William Ilkley, returning to Hull Truck for its 25th anniversay production of John Godber’s Up’n’Under and Irya Gmeyner, founder of contemporary Cirkus Cirkor, which opens with Inisde Out at London’s Peacock Theatre on October 14

• Dear John: I’ve developed a tribute act and feel I can impersonate the artist very well. But how do I go about getting decent gigs in this market? With guest advisers Stewart Nicol, aka ‘Billy Connearly’, and Mick Gillett, who plays in Johnny Cash tribute band CA$HBACK.

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