In The Paper

In this week’s issue of The Stage:

• Photos from last weekend’s Stage Awards for Acting Excellence party

• Matthew Hemley looks at TV broadcasters’ shifts in attitude towards drama at this year’s Edinburgh TV festival. Meanwhile, columnist Maggie Brown looks at some of the announcements Channel 4 made at the festival.

• Mark Shenton looks at the current state of touring theatre and applauds those producers who are still trying to deliver high-quality product in a difficult market

• Disney’s High School Musical has become a cultural and marketing phenomenon, winning audiences as a TV movie, chart-topping CD and best-selling live show. Disney executive Steve Fickinger talks about the success of the brand and why the company will continue to licence the live musical to as many school and amateur groups as possible. And Jeff Calhoun, who directs the 2008 UK tour of High School Musical - Live on Stage!, talks about the stage show and the forthcoming ice dance spin-off

• The corporate/after-dinner speaking gig can be a highly lucrative one. Mark Ritchie looks at the best in the business and discovers what they’ve got that wins the audience over

• Award-winning author Mark Haddon is bringing the story of a teenager and his Down’s syndrome brother, played by Nicholas Hoult and Tommy Jessop, to BBC1 in an attempt to get more roles writtenfor disabled actors. Mary Comerford finds out more

• Steven Ayckbourn talks to Sarah Leese about his debut play, leaving the Californian cult he was in for 12 years, and the expectations placed on him as the son of Britain’s most performed playwright

• Hilary Vernon-Smith, the National Theatre’s head of scenic design, who recently won the Young Vic Award for inspiring a younger generation to follow in her steps, talks to Nick Smurthwaite about why she chose her career path and encouraging students into the industry

The Stage is available from major newsagents, including most High Street branches of WH Smith, every Thursday priced £1.30. You can also subscribe and receive a copy by mail every week: more details and prices at http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/.

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 6:06 PM | Permalink

This week’s issue of The Stage sees the last of our five weekly competitions to win an exclusive Stage-branded iPod nano. Also this week:

• Nuala Calvi examines the challenges faced by theatres in making their venues accessible to people with disabilities. How can accessibility requirements be reconciled with the practical and financial logistics involved?

• Nick Smurthwaite looks at the uneasy relationship between theatres and business, as more venues use sponsorship to supplement their funding

• A further six pages of reviews from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

• The light entertainment sector in Spain is providing fresh opportunities for performers, from singers to stand-ups. Mark Ritchie and Derek Smith look at how to break into this potentially lucrative branch of the industry

• Light entertainment stalwarts Joe Pasquale and Russ Abbot are appearing together in the national tour of The Producers. Jeremy Austin meets the pair to discover how they’re handling the pressure

• Best known for playing Finchy in The Office, Ralph Ineson talks to Matthew Hemley about his role in Suburban Shootout, which returns to Five on September 6.

• Singers can damage themselves and their careers by not using the right techniques, so the British Voice Association’s first Interactive Rock and Pop Day is a must for vocalists. Nuala Calvi previews the event, and gets top tips on keeping your voice in trim from professionals

• Backstage: Stage manager Kat Nugent describes her work with Impropera, which improvises stories, music and lighting from audience suggestions. Listen to Impropera, who have just finished a run at the Edinburgh Fringe, on The Fringe Podcast from The Stage and The Podcast Network.

• As the Old Vic prepares to bring a new adaptation of Pedro Almodovar’s film All About My Mother to the stage, Gwynne Edwards looks at the story behind the movie

As every week, we have our top range of columnists:

• With just one more show to go, CeCe Sammy continues her exlcusive DanceX diary

• Patrick Newley on a very unusual take on TV news

• Evelyn Curlet reports on some of the news and gossip from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

• Ian Herbert on theatre awards for new writing

• Richard Jordan on why the Drowsy Chaperone failed to light up the West End

And in a Dear John special, would-be stand-up comic Daniel Sloss shadows Frankie Boyle at this year’s Fringe, to find out if it really is ‘the hardest job in the world’.

The Stage is available from major newsagents every Thursday, price £1.30. Alternatively, you can subscribe via http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 2:51 PM | Permalink

With everything in Edinburgh well under way, we have a mammoth seven pages of reviews from Scotland’s capital this week. And for those itching to do a show in the city next year, Dear John is on hand to offer some advice.

Also in the 16 August issue of The Stage:

• Mark Shenton investigates how cities around Britain can nurture their own creative economies and embrace the regenerative powers of the arts

• Bayreuth, showcase for Wagner’s work, has been controlled by his descendants since the composer’s death. As the latest generation fight one another for control, David Blewitt says the time has come for the family to relinquish its grip

• Full photo coverage of the light entertainment event of the summer, The Stage Blackpool summer party, and the opening night party for Grease

• Best known as Fame Academy’s coaching double act, Carrie and David Grant have worked with some of the biggest names in pop. The couple talk to Matthew Hemley about tutoring, training tips and their favourite celebrity students

• Paterson Joseph has built his career on versatility, as comfortable playing a lead on the West End stage as in comedy on television. He talks to Nick Smurthwaite as he rehearses The Emperor Jones by day and performs in Saint Joan by night

• Backstage Focus: Since its launch last year, Belfast Theatrical Linens has managed to secure a number of high profile theatre and film contracts, including the Harry Potter series. Michael Quinn speaks to its director Ryan Saunders

Plus columnists Liz Thomas, Patrick Newley, Dillie Keane, ‘Flyman’ and CeCe Sammy, and a full obituary for comedian and actor Mike Reid.

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In this week’s edition of The Stage:

• It’s the third week of our August iPod giveaway. You could win a limited edition, Stage-branded 4Gb iPod nano!

• With a 2010 deadline for all theatres to meet government-set energy targets, venues are increasingly turning eco-friendly. London’s Arcola Theatre recently revealed ambitions to become the world’s first carbon-neutral theatre. Michael Quinn examines the environmental and financial benefits of going green

• Edinburgh festival veterans and hopefuls alike are now awaiting the response to their work. Reading a negative reaction is never pleasant, but at what point has the critic gone too far? Media barrister Jane Phillips explains the law

• Susan Elkin appraises a new set of LAMDA musical theatre exams for children and students, already welcomed by many schools, designed to cater for a growing interest in the sector

• As the Ambassador Theatre Group’s portfolio of venues continues to expand across the UK and abroad, and its regional theatres report a phenomenal growth in pantomime sales, its chief executives, married couple Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, are looking forward to a profitable year ahead. They talk to Alistair Smith

• Former EastEnder James Alexandrou has been through a steep learning curve since leaving the soap in February, from working with Harold Pinter to overcoming his fear of Shakespeare. He talks to Nuala Calvi as he takes to the stage in As You Like It and Henry V

• Shameless star Maggie O’Neil talks to Matthew Hemley about her refreshingly different role in ITV1’s new comedy drama, Little Devil — although she admits she’d dump everything to work with Paul Abbott again

• The after dinner speaking circuit is expanding to include variety acts as well as the more usual comedians and politicians. Mark Ritchie looks at the opportunities for entertainers

• Peter Capaldi is best known for playing ferocious spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC political comedy The This of It, but now he is turning his hand to another kind of humour — a stage farce. He tells Nick Smurthwaite about Absurdia, at the Donmar Warehouse until September 8

• As Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat settles into its latest West End run, lighting designer Andrew Bridge tells AK Bennett-Hunter about how the set has developed since it was first staged 17 years ago at the London Palladium

• Former Radio Caroline DJ Tom Edwards recalls his move from pirate radio to the ‘enemy’ of the BBC, as BBC Essex prepares to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of offshore pirate stations

Columnists this week

• In the first of our Fringe Chat diaries, Christopher Richardson, former director of the Pleasance, appraises new Fringe director Jon Morgan

• Ian Herbert takes a trip through France, revelling in the arts festivals running in the sumemr months

• Ben Dowell takes the BBC to task for failing theatre

• Dear John helps a reader who has been a regular chat show guest and now harbours ambitions of presenting

• Cece Sammy continues her exclusive DanceX diary. With Team Bruno losing for the second week in a row, how are the remaining dancers coping?

• Barbara Eifler says it’s time for stage managers to stand up and be counted

• Patrick Newley remembers some high-selling 1980s classics on VHS, and laments their 2007 remakes

The Stage is available from major newsagents every Thursday, price £1.30, or via subscription

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)