In The Paper

In this week’s issue of The Stage:

• Michael Quinn takes an overview of MIDEM, the larget music industry trade event of the year

• Joe Duttine on his new role in The Elephant Man: “I personally put the script down and thought, ‘Oh my God, why do human beings treat each other in this way?’”

• Some theatre companies owe their existence to a single, creative individual — but problems can arise when a successor is needed

• Maggie Brown on media: ITV shouldn’t be beaten up over underperforming new shows | The Whicker masterclass | The challenge for soap opera sets in the era of HD

• Dillie Keane on playing Lady Bracknell: “You get the feeling you’re not playing a part, merely lurching from quotation to quotation”

• Dear John: “I’ve been told I have a distinctive sound. How do I break into the world of voice-over work?”

• Training: Rose Theatre Kingston’s ambitious training programme includes a year’s apprenticeship to a resident repertory company, an annual festival of youth work and an outreach scheme

• CASINO ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL: As more global players enter the British gambling market and all-round entertainment becomes increasingly important in casinos, opportunities for performers are growing rapidly. We examine the shift towards live shows, list those venues across the UK which already offer them and review some of the acts.

• Producer Brian Park gave us Footballers’ Wives, Bad Girls and Waterloo Road. Now he unveils his X Factor-inspired ITV1 drama Rock Rivals - starring Michelle Collins and Sean Gallagher — which goes behind the scenes of a TV Talent show

• Alan Dale truns his hand to something completely different as King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot, tackling dance and comedy in the West End. He tells Matthew Hemley about working on Ugly Betty, dealing with critics and battling the spectre of his Neighbours character, Jim Robinson

• Richard Winsor on touring with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: “We are steering clear of the iconic Hollywood image… my costume is quite revealing, so you will be able to see the scars on my body”

• Chilean playright Ariel Dorfman, best known for Death and the Maiden, talks about his prolific writing, themes of hope and guilt, and his latest works

• Laura Stevens on her play about anorexia, Thin Toes: “What frutrates me is that anorexia is being over-simplified. You can’t just say, ‘For goodness sake, eat, you silly girl!’ It’s a very complex condition”

• With three major arts festivals taking place in Budapest each year, an increasing number of tourists are soaking up the city’s thricing cultural scene

• Backstage Focus: Travelling abroad with a show can be exciting, but there are often unexpected challenges. Freelance production manager David Evans offers his tips

• Mark Shenton looks back on a decade of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket’s Masterclass scheme

Plus all the usual news, reviews, national UK theatre listings and recruitment ads.

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 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this week’s issue of The Stage:

• News Feature: With ITV comedy in dire straits, Matthew Hemley examines whether the broadcaster can return to its golden age of family-friendly sitcoms

• Insight: West End box office income hit an all-time high last year, but much of this success is down to just a few productions, while ticket prices have rocketed. With this year’s Olivier Awards acknowledging subsidised venues as being the chief providers of theatrical merit, Mark Shenton questions whether the West End is still relevant to the artistic health of London theatre

• As plans get under way for a skills academy that can provide nationally recognised standards and access to training for technicians of all disciplines, it’s important to ask what lessons can be learned from the mistakes of the past 20 years, urges AK Bennett-Hunter

• Dear John: “As an older performer, I’m finding it progressively more difficult to find work. What can I do to increase my chances?”

• Training: Blunderbus theatre company provides a training scheme for a number of students to gain valuable, hands-on experience in all aspects of theatre from puppetry to acting

• SOLT Centenary: As the Society of London Theatre celebrates 100 years, president Rosemary Squire talks to Mark Shenton about the challenges that lie ahead. And Rupert Rhymes reflects on his time as a SOLT member, its president and chief executive

• Since graduating from Cambridge in 2004, Dan Stevens’ rapid rise to fame has been boosted by his ongoing work with director Peter Hall, including As You Like It, and opposite Judi Dench in Hay Fever. As he retrurns to the West End to play the lead role in another Hall production, The Vortex, he speaks to Mark Shenton

• With Capital of Culture year in full swing, Chris High talks to Liverpool playwright Willy Russell about rewriting his 1978 play Stags and Hens, now running at the city’s Royal Court, and what the state of play is for aspiring authors

• Choreographer Gary Lloyd has been working hard on BBC tribute show The One and Only, painstakingly training the would-be stars to move like their celebrity icons. He tells Matthew Hemley about the experience and his future projects

• After hitting the big time with a supporting role in Life on Mars, Liz White is about to appear in an ITV1 drama made by the same production company. She talks to Phil Penfold about her harrowing part in The Fixer

• Backstage Focus: With fewer theatres runing their own workshops, the provision of specialist, on-the-job training such as the courses run by the Technical Theatre Arts department at RADA, is more important than ever, writes AK Bennett-Hunter

• Ian Herbert: Let’s not consider the ACE grants a done deal

• Richard Jordan: Are there signs that the movie-to-Broadway route is finally reversing?

Plus all the usual news, reviews, national UK theatre listings and recruitment ads.

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 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this week’s issue of The Stage:

• Magic and Magicians supplement: From sleight-of-hand to mind-reading, magic is a brand of entertainment that requires exceptional technical skill and a flair for showmanship.

  • Bill and Roy Davenport, managers of Davenports Magic, the oldest family-run shop of its kind in the world, tell Liz Arratoon about its continuing success and tricks they recommend

  • Legendary magician Ali Bongo* writes about how the Magic Circle encourages budding illusionists under 18, including special workshops and the Magic Circle Young Magician of the Year Award

  • Psychic entertainer Alex Crow interviewed

• In an attempt to bring opera to a wider audience, Lesley Garrett is hosting 20 Operas to See Before You Die on Sky Arts, a run of televised operas which she introduces each week. The singer talks to Matthew Hemley about her likes (music and The West Wing) and her dislikes, including musical snobs and the precariousness of showbusiness life

• Hayley Atwell’s boundless enthusiasm for her work may be overwhelming, but with a jam-packed schedule since leaving drama school it is also understandable and disarming, writes Nick Smurthwaite

• Starring alongside Danny Dyer and Neil Dudgeon, Kenneth Cranham is currently playing Max in The Homecoming at the Almeida. He talks to Michael Coveney about returning to a Pinter play

• Curtain Up: The London transfer of Kneehigh’s stage adaptation of the David Lean film Brief Encounter has resurrected a theatre, writes Alistair Smith

• As the redevelopment of a shopping centre took its toll on the Derby Playhouse, the final nail in the coffin came when ACE confirmed it was to withdraw its £723,000 annual grant. Lalayn Baluch discovers the last-ditch attempts of a venue facing a seemingly insurmountable struggle

• Insight: The education system has long been an important source of work for the performing arts, writes Susan Elkin. This is set to grow as more state schools specialise in theatre and the private sector embarks on a flurry of venue building

• The doom and gloom generated by the recent ACE cuts shouldn’t hasten the arts world into despair — demonstrating the intrinsic value of the arts to businesses is the key, argues Colin Tweedy, chief executive of Arts & Business

• BBC drama Attila the Hun uses computer effects on a scale usually only seen in feature films, but which are increasingly making their way onto the small screen. Holly Wicks talks to director Gareth Edwards and producer Mark Hedgecoe

• Playwright Leo Butler takes inspiration from The Tempest in his new work for the RSC, I’ll Be the Devil. He talks to Aleks Sierz about the Bard and original writing

• Maggie Brown on Media: BBC1 show The One and Only is a tribute to tribute acts | Jeremy Beadle remembered | What is taking the place of Grange Hill?

• Arthur Smith: The loss of Ed Wilson, former director of the National Youth Theatre

• Dear John: “I have been performing my country’s traditional dance for several years and have been told that I am good enough to earn a living from it. Do I need a more formal theatrical or dance training first?” This week’s guest advisers: Afrika! Afrika! choreographer Georges Momboye and performer Huit Huit

• Clive Barnes in New York: The Little Mermaid has flopped on deck like a wet cod

• Backstage Focus: As the flow of skilled workers in the entertainment industry increase between countries, backstage experts are now jetting between jobs. Lighting designer Mark Jonathan describes the experience of keeping up with a hectic international schedule

• More than 50 years ago, Julie Wilson was a regular performer in the West End. Mark Shenton meets the American singer as she prepares to return to London with the best of US cabaret

• Showpeople: Interviews with actresses Ruth Negga and Agnieska Korzuszek and comedian Stewart Masters

Plus all the usual news, reviews, national UK theatre listings and recruitment ads.

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 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this week’s issue of The Stage:

• Broadway star Chita Rivera is back on the London stage, 50 years after making her debut in the West End. She tells Mark Shenton about her long career and the attraction of theatre

• Arts Council Funding: Alistair Smith looks at the winners and losers in the Arts Council England’s final decisions on funding. We also canvass opinions across the industry. Keep up with the latest funding news on our website at http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/funding

• With a career spanning more than 50 years, playwright Ronald Harwood is responsible for works such as The Dresser and Taking Sides. He won a Best Screenplay Oscar for The Pianist and has worked on high-profile films such as Baz Luhrmann’s epic Australia, which stars Nicole Kidman and is released later this year. He chats to Nick Smurthwaite about supporting the striking US screenwriters and opposing the smoking ban

• Best known for her comedy work in TV such as Smack the Pony, Fiona Allen is branching out into drama by playing the mother of a gay teen in the second series of E4 hit Skins. She talks to Matthew Hemley about doing things her own way and why she won’t be appearing in the West End any time soon

• Insight: India is becoming a major global player and its entertainment and media sectors are growing rapidly. As Michael Quinn reports, this is creating an important two-way creative flow with Britain

• Aside from dealing with the competition, one of the hardest aspects of the industry for young actors is accessing information, whether it’s finding out about castings or networking with the right people. Hilary String, Director of the National Council for Drama Training, argues that it’s time for organisations to speak directly to their potential employees

• Ian Herbert: What has happened to the Theatre Museum since the building closed a year ago?

• Ben Dowell: Fostering celebrity backing for venues threatened by Arts Council funding is arrogant, obvious and crass

• Dear John: “What is collaboration on a creative project like compared to working solo?” This week’s guest experts: writer Kirsty Eyre and musician Shale Morgan

• Training: Susan Elkin meets Francis Seriau, the founder of Tech Music, which celebrates its 25th anniversary as a contemporary music college

• The Stage Archive: At the end of this month, The Stage will launch our fully searchable online archive, with every edition of the paper from 1880-19967 quickly and easily accessible through your computer. Following months of work and preparation, this invaluable and unique resource will provide an unparalleled insight into the history of British entertainment. Ian Herbert and Nick Smurthwaite look at the content that will be available, and the work involved in digitising the newspaper’s history

• The entertainment market is strong in tourist favourite Tenerife South, running all through the year. Denise and Tom Bell have made their mark with Viana Shows, but they teallDerek Smith that competition is fierce

• Backstage Focus: As the Grove Theatre in Dunstable prepares to celebrate its first anniversary in April, technical manager Matt Kingslake takes Geoffrey Joyce on a tour of the venue

• As he prepares to revive his hit solo show from the sixties, Brief Lives, Roy Dotrice reminisces about fleeing from the Nazis, partying at the Savoy and successfully reinventing himself for the US market

Plus all the usual news, reviews, national UK theatre listings and recruitment ads.

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 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)