In The Paper

False eyelashes aside, Brian Conley is enjoying playing the role of curvaceous Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, which was until recently filled by his friend Michael Ball. He talks to The Stage’s Mary Comerford about his career highs and lows.

One rare setback came 11 years ago with the death from cancer of his father Colin, which threw Conley’s life into turmoil. “It was something that hit me like a ton of bricks. I was all right for about a year, or so I thought, but I had a lot of feelings welling up and anxiety kicked in. I was trying to push it away and bottle it up, but that made me ill.

“I was the guy who hosted Royal Variety Shows and lottery shows, ad I was feeling anxious picking the kids up from school. It’s worse suffering from those things when you’re an entertainer — but I’m no different to anybody else.”

The full interview is in this week’s issue of The Stage. Also this week:

• Conley’s Hairspray co-star Nigel Planer, who plays Wilbur Turnblad, talks about turning his attention to writing, his growing interest in art and the differences in working with a fringe venue (his play Death of Long Pig is currently playing at the Finborough Theatre until August 1).

• Irish actor Owen McDonnell has returned to the area where he grew up to play policeman Jack Driscoll in ITV1’s Single Handed, which starts this Sunday. He tells The Stage why this won’t be a cosy view of rural Ireland

• With cutbacks and falling investment, children’s television programming is going through tough times. Matthew Hemley finds out about the current state of the industry and what the future holds both for young audiences and those who work in the sector

• Boasting an impressive array of highbrow culture shows including operas, Hay Festival coverage and a clutch of live plays, Sky’s arts programming is threating to leave the BBC behind. Ben Dowell asks if the arts can survive on free-to-view television

• Addressing the obstacles faced by female playwrights on a daily basis, Lucy Perman, executive director of women’s theatre company Clean Break, gives her perspective on how sexism in the industry can be overcome

• Dear John: “Is it really worth doing festival shows, especially small ones, when there are so many other productions — many of them bigger and better funded — going on in the same place?”

• Mid-scale touring has become a balancing act between satisfying current theatregoers, attracting new ones and making enough money to stay afloat. Howard Bird finds it’s not just about chasing audiences — management behind the scenes must be clearer if the sector is to achieve its potential

• Fifteen years in the planning, German producer Franz Abraham finally realises his dream of creating the chariot race from Ben Hur live at the O2 Arena this September

• Backstage focus: We meet the acting students who are receiving training in captioning and audio description to help them understand how theatre can become more inclusive

The Stage is available from major newsagents every Thursday for £1.40. For postal subscriptions, please go to http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe.

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 5:00 PM | Permalink

In this week’s issue of The Stage, actress Lisa Dwan tells Michael Coveney how succeeding Billie Whitelaw in Samuel Beckett’s physically challenging floating mouth monologue Not I for the London Literary Festival has led to a friendship between the two actresses. She also talks about the discomfort required for the role:

It’s deeply uncomfortable and very painful performing Not I. I stand on a platform with my head stuck through a hole, with my hands on a railing so they don’t move. Myhead’s strapped in by the stage management and my breatbone pushed through a panel of wood.

Also this week:

• While lobbyists clash over the future of the BBC following the publication of its annual report, the Corporation is serving viewers an array of fresh programming. Maggie Brown asks if there is sufficient political will for a change to the licensing system

• Producer Peter Jay tells Douglas McPherson how he is contuning his 30-year tradition of shaking up circus by presenting a celebratory show with a stand-up comedian instead of clowns

• The initial results of Arts Council England’s free theatre tickets scheme have been announced. ACE’s Barbara Matthews, director of theatre strategy, reflects on the successes, ricks and future plans of A Night Less Ordinary

• Tony Hall, recently announced as chair of the Cultural Olympiad Board, tells The Stage how his team will be working hard to prepare for 2012

• Fast becoming the place to showcase theatre, the Latitude Festival is now firmly imprinted on the theatrical calendar. Alistair Smith reports from last weekend’s event.

• As The Stage revealed last week, changes to teachers’ working time agreements mean that schools now have to buy in expensive cover for teachers taking pupils on school trips — and that is likely to have an impact on visits to theatres. Susan Elkin looks at the impact of the new regulations

• This week’s Edinburgh Fringe-based Showpeople Q&As are with Austrian guitarist Karin Schaupp, who brings her one-woman show to the fringe this year; actress Clare Wallis, performing in Hearts Productions’ Time Out of Joint

• Dear John: What can I do to make myself more attractive to agents, journalists and others who can help my career?

• Kevin Berry attends the final audition for the third new Stage bursary of the year, which provided one talented student the opportunity to study on a three-year musical theatre course at Expressions Academy of Performing Arts

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40. For subscription prices and other options, visit http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 11:55 AM | Permalink

In this week’s paper, broadcaster, writer and comedian Sandi Toksvig talks to The Stage about her latest venture - Sky Arts’ Theatre Live!, a series of short plays broadcast live.

I wanted to make, if you like, reality television for people who have ever read a book. I think people deserve intelligent, challenging television.

Plus author Kate Mosse talks about writing her first play as part of the series:

Everything about the brief I was given was completely not the sort of fiction I write. I wanted to do it because it felt like it would be a fantastic experience, but I was more nervous about this play than anything I’ve

Also this week:

• With websites offering full video and the proliferation of digital TV channels means that demand for good quality TV presenters is going up. In our special supplement, we look at an overview of the market and how to get the skills you need to pursue a career.

• Forbidden Broadway creator Gerard Alessandrini has made a living parodying the best and worst of musical theatre for almost 30 years. As the long-running revue comes to London for the third time in its history, he talks to The Stage about the secret of his success

• Holding a music festival may seem easy enough, but with the challenges of weather, fees and attracting an audience in a competitive market, Fred Redwood finds it is a complex business

• Since the events of September 11 made passengers more nervous about flying, the cruise ship market has grown steadily with customers keen to make relaxing travel the focus of their holiday. We take a look at how the market is now coping with the recession and the logistics of taking stage entertainment to the waves

• Voice coach Patsy Rodenburg talks about her new book, Power Presentation, which teaches techniques that can focus on developing your body, breath, speech and listening ability — and how those techniques can be put to good use ini audition environments

• Insight: With Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, has the BBC finally hit upon a stand-up comedy format that works on television?

• Dear John: “What skills will help me develop my career in children’s television, while leaving my options open in future?” With advice from Disney Channel UK’s Brad Kavanagh and Naomi Scott

• Publicity wars: Theatre PRs have long been undervalued on this side of the Atlatnic. It’s now time to change that, argues a leading West End publicist

• Backstage Focus: Francis Reid look at how the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts has become a world leader inbackstage training

• Maggie Brown: The extravagance game is up — it’s time for the BBC to cull from the top.

• Richard Eyre: Why designers ate the unsung heroes of theatre

Showpeople:

• Bob Golding, who plays Eric Morecambe in Playing Eric at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
• Claire Cunningham, who trained as a classical singer before moving into physical theatre and who premieres a double bill of solo works at this year’s Fringe
• Michael Whitham, in Eight at Trafalgar Studios until July 25

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 3:10 PM | Permalink

In this week’s issue of The Stage, writer/director Neil Bartlett suggests it may be the first time that many theatregoers have been inside a bingo hall, but that’s exactly where they will find themselves when attending his new show, Everybody Loves a Winner. Part of the Manchester International Festival in July, the cast of 20 is led by former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay and features a live bingo game that audience members will participate in. There are even prizes. Nick Smurthwaite talks to Bartlett and Lindsay to find out more

It is all about hope. Your head knows bingo isn’t about winning, it’s about losing. Only one person wins. If it was all about winning, the bingo halls would go out of business overnight. But the interesting thing is that your heart rate increases dramatically as you’re playing, because you are telling yourself that your life is about to change…

We’ve no idea who is going to win. It might be a member of the audience, it might be a member of the cast. The only thing you can be sure of in bingo is that there is always going to be a winner. There will be passages of improvisation which are not in the script because they will depend on what the audience does and on what the computer does.

Leading the cast of Ruby in the Dust’s adaptation of Dorian Gray, Matthew James Thomas has experienced highs and lows recently, landing a part in the ITV drama Britannia High, only for it to be cancelled after nine episodes. He talks to The Stage about his career so far, and keeping mum about moving away from dance.

When we first had the music, they did have very different storylines and they were going to a very different place with it… There is a lot of drama in just being a young kid and involved in the performing arts. Obviously it’s a very different job and something where you have to be very mature from a young age. And you have to take yourself quite seriously, I think.

Whether you are looking at the availability of drama schools in your area to find a suitable place to send your child or as an entry to drama teaching, then research is essential. In our Weekend Schools supplement, Susan Elkin examines the wide range of classes on offer nationally and looks at some company and career success stories.

Also this week:

• In light of Gordon Ramsay’s recent antics in Australia, Chris Bartlett reflects on how much crudity and swearing is tolerated on British television in comparison to the USA and Australia, and how well our presenting talents translate

• Insight: Creative disciplines in classrooms, such as drama, dance and music, not only reach pupils who are not academic but also develop communication skills. Nick Smurthwaite argues that we need to act quickly to educate youngsters for the workplace of the future

• Animatronics may have been overtaken by CGI in films, but it’s making a comeback in live shows. Sonny Tilders, director of Global Careatures and creator of the dinosaures for Walking with Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular, explains why

• Dear John: If ‘star quality’ is what sets one performer apart from others, is there an equivalent for backstage professionals?

• Ian Herbert on the International Association of Theatre Critics’ Amsterdam conference

• Richard Jordan on two very different musicals — Spring Awakening and Dirty Dancing — that could not be more different

Showpeople

• Shaun McKee, of all-male Shakespeare troupe The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
• Christopher Beeny, star of Upstairs Downstairs and currently playing Lane in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
• Rebecca Allin-Jayns, a National Youth Theatre member currently touring with the British Shakespeare Company

The Stage is available at majore newsagents every Thursday for £1.40. For subscription details and prices, go to http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe.

Posted by Scott Matthewman at 12:19 PM | Permalink