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.
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