What can actors do when they’re between acting jobs?

Surviving Actors was the conference intended to answer that question, with seminars, careers advice and exhibitors.

We talk to conference organiser Felicity Jackson and Phil Matthews, editor of Drama Student Magazine and sponsor of the event.

The Stage education and training editor Susan Elkin gives her impression of the event, and finally our regular agony uncle, John Byrne, gives his advice.

To listen to the podcast:

The preferred way to listen to the podcast is through iTunes. If you subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes, then not only will you get this edition of the podcast, but you will automatically receive further editions, for free, as they are released. The iTunes edition of the podcast also has additional photography and chapter marks for easier navigation.

• Listen and subscribe now in iTunes (recommended)

A lower quality MP3 version can be played below:

Every year, The Stage publishes the Stage 100, the list of the hundred most influential people currently working in British theatre.

Scott Matthewman discusses this year’s list with Alistair Smith, The Stage’s news and opinion editor who oversees the compilation of the list each year. They discuss who is eligible for inclusion, some of the key movers in the top 20, and a selection of the interesting names from lower down in the list.

The full list can be found in the December 30 issue of The Stage, and will be available online later this week.

To listen to the podcast:

The preferred way to listen to the podcast is through iTunes. If you subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes, then not only will you get this edition of the podcast, but you will automatically receive further editions, for free, as they are released. The iTunes edition of the podcast also has additional photography and chapter marks for easier navigation.

• Listen and subscribe now in iTunes (recommended)

A lower quality MP3 version can be played below:

In this week’s Stage Podcast, theatre critics Mark Shenton (The Stage, Sunday Express) and Charles Spencer (Daily Telegraph) discuss the nature of theatre journalism in front of an audience of students.

The seminar was recorded two weeks ago at TheatreCraft, a careers fair sponsored by The Stage.

Read Mark Shenton’s daily blog at thestage.co.uk/shenton.

To listen to the podcast:

The preferred way to listen to the podcast is through iTunes. If you subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes, then not only will you get this edition of the podcast, but you will automatically receive further editions, for free, as they are released. The iTunes edition of the podcast also has additional photography and chapter marks for easier navigation.

• Listen and subscribe now in iTunes (recommended)

A lower quality MP3 version can be played below:

Next week, the three couples competing in the Strictly Come Dancing semi-final will each perform an Argentine Tango in their quest to compete in the following week’s final.

Argentine Tango experts Kele Baker and Ralf Schiller teach the dance style to the celebrities and professional dancers who have reached this stage in the competition. They have also written a book, Strictly Come Dancing: Step-by-Step Dance Class, which illustrates each of the classic ballroom and Latin dances used in the series.

I went to Kensington Dance Studio and met Kele Baker to talk about the book, the Argentine Tango — and to sneak a few minutes of tango practice.

Strictly Come Dancing: Step-by-Step Dance Class is published by BBC Books, ISBN 9781-1-846-07765-4, RRP £9.99

• Buy Strictly Come Dancing: Step-by-Step Dance Class from Amazon.co.uk - price at time of publishing this blog post is £6.50 (35% off)
• Last week’s Strictly Come Dancing Results Show, which featured demonstrations of the Argentine Tango by Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, is still available on iPlayer until 7.09pm on Friday, January 1, 2010. The studio dance is also available on YouTube.

To listen to the podcast:

The preferred way to listen to the podcast is through iTunes. If you subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes, then not only will you get this edition of the podcast, but you will automatically receive further editions, for free, as they are released. The iTunes edition of the podcast also has additional photography and chapter marks for easier navigation.

• Listen and subscribe now in iTunes (recommended)

A lower quality MP3 version can be played below:

In this week’s Stage Podcast, Nick Smurthwaite meets Peter Davison. The television and theatre actor plays Professor Callahan in Legally Blonde: the Musical, which starts previews at the Savoy Theatre on December 5.

• Legally Blonde The Musical - Original Broadway Cast Recording [CD]
• Legally Blonde - Original Broadway Cast Recording [MP3]
• Buy tickets for Legally Blonde the Musical, Savoy Theatre

To listen to the podcast:

The preferred way to listen to the podcast is through iTunes. If you subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes, then not only will you get this edition of the podcast, but you will automatically receive further editions, for free, as they are released. The iTunes edition of the podcast also has additional photography and chapter marks for easier navigation.

• Listen and subscribe now in iTunes (recommended)

A lower quality MP3 version can be played below:

With Christmas just round the corner, theatreland’s annual celebratory concert, Christmas in New York, descends upon the Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday, December 6.

This year, the Notes from New York team behind the concerts have also released a CD featuring performances by Julie Atherton, Daniel Boys, Leanne Jones, Hannah Waddingham, Louise Dearman, Ashleigh Gray, Paul Spicer, Oliver Tompsett, Samuel Barnett and Anna-Jane Casey.

Scott Matthewman met performers Julie Atherton and Paul Spicer - who is also producer and creative director of Christmas in New York - to talk about the CD and concert, as well as some of the other issues facing West End performers today.

• Buy tickets for Christmas in New York from http://www.christmasinnewyork.co.uk

• The CD is available online from Amaaon.co.uk or from Dress Circle

To listen to the podcast:

The preferred way to listen to the podcast is through iTunes. If you subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes, then not only will you get this edition of the podcast, but you will automatically receive further editions, for free, as they are released. The iTunes edition of the podcast also has additional photography and chapter marks for easier navigation.

• Listen and subscribe now in iTunes (recommended)

A lower quality MP3 version can be played below:

While Doctor Who may currently be one of the BBC’s most popular dramas, that wasn’t always the case. In the mid to late 1980s it was always skirting with cancellation. When BBC1 controller Michael Grade needed to find the money in his drama budget to launch EastEnders, Doctor Who was one of the places where he made his cuts.

Though the series would return in 1986, the previous year’s season was cancelled, with several scripts either fully written or at the commissioning and/or planning stages.

Now, indie drama company Big Finish, which has been producing licensed Doctor Who audio dramas for over a decade, has adapted the episodes from the lost season into a series of audio dramas. The first, The NIghtmare Fair, is released later this month. Originally written by Graham Williams, it would have seen the Doctor (Colin Baker) and his companion Peri (Nicola Bryant) holidaying in Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Scott Matthewman visited the West London recording studios to talk to Baker, Bryant and director John Ainsworth, who also adapted Williams’s teleplay for audio.

• Doctor Who: The Lost Stories on bigfinish.com
• Buy The Nightmare Fair
• Pre-order Doctor Who: The Complete Specials Box Set, which includes last week’s episode The Waters of Mars, due for release in January 2010

To listen to the podcast:

The preferred way to listen to the podcast is through iTunes. If you subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes, then not only will you get this edition of the podcast, but you will automatically receive further editions, for free, as they are released. The iTunes edition of the podcast also has additional photography and chapter marks for easier navigation.

• Listen and subscribe now in iTunes (recommended)

A lower quality MP3 version can be played below: