The Show People Podcast With Andrew Keates

Today’s guest is Josh Boyd-Rochford, Chief Operating Officer and an agent at Simon and How Associates, who also teaches, produces and is forever generating opportunities for theatremakers. Josh has had one heck of a journey to arrive where he is today as a sober, married and respected agent with an enviable client list. He’s been had highs and lows, from being a struggling actor to appearing in the film Pride (as well as many other productions both big and small), he’s helped Pippa Ailion with her castings, studied Musical Theatre at Mountview, performed as a drag queen whilst running a pub in Dalston, worked as a teacher, been a marketing manager for an international beer company and throughout this myriad of Josh’s jobs and life experiences, his long-time companion throughout it all – even since he was a schoolboy also working with the ENO as a boy soprano – has been alcohol, drugs and depression.We spoke with Josh about his entire life, career and lessons learned, as well as answer your questions about how to have the best relationship with your agent.Episode features include:Theatrical Tips:Andrew reveals his theatrical tips of things to see and do this August 2018, including productions at The Park Theatre, Brasserie Zedel and the Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh.The Platform:Today’s platform is given to The Wicker Husband with music and lyrics by Darren Clark and a book by Rhys Jennings (who happens to be our special guest’s husband too!) and a song called The Sparrow’s Tale, sung by Laura Wickham with Josh Sneesby on accordion, Anne-Marie Piazza on ukulele, Rachel Dawson on cello and composer Darren Clark on guitar.

Our special guest on the Show People Podcast is Marie McCarthy –  Artistic Director of the Omnibus Theatre, Clapham. Marie goes into great detail about her multi-award-winning theatre, its history, her vision and the many ways that theatre-makers can work with them as well as outlining their exciting upcoming season too.Marie talks about growing up a Catholic and her early theatre experiences, her time training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts as an actor and her journey to becoming a director via Birkbeck University and setting up her own company – Lightning Ensemble – an immersive theatre company that creates thought-provoking productions within communities. Marie shares her experiences directing immersive productions and explains why she is so interested in exploring relationships with non-conventional spaces, she also reveals why she decided to leave Lightning Ensemble to take up her post at the Omnibus Theatre and the many challenges and rewards that face her now.Episode features include:Dramatic News: Andrew covers the latest industry headlines, including stories about the passing of Dame Gillian Lynne, casting announcements for Marianne Elliott’s upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company and the West End production of 42nd Street, a new Disney pop-up for The Lion King and Aladdin in Covent Garden and an update about Arion Productions’ GoFundMe campaign.The Platform: Today’s platform is given to Joe Wilson and Matthew Rankcom’s new musical Perfectly Ordinary – a piece that explores the lives of patients with mental health illnesses and their carers and we play a song called, In-between, performed by Emily Lane.

Cassie Compton talks with director Andrew Keates about growing up in Crouch End, London in a home filled with music and her supportive teachers during education and her early experiences in the West End as a child actor in productions such Whistle Down The Wind and The Secret Garden at the Aldwych Theatre. She also reveals her extraordinary relationship with fellow musician and mother Terri Christopher and tells us about her rebellious teenage years and how one day her mum handed her an application form for a new TV series called The X Factor, which would lead her to become a finalist, mentored by Sharon Osbourne in front of millions of TV viewers and often over 22,000 people in arena tours.We explore Cassie’s many theatre and television credits, West End highlights include playing Eponine in Les Miserables, Nessa Rose in Wicked (and playing a character with specific needs), Elizabeth in Dirty Dancing, Jemma in Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory, Kate in Spinach and Lena in Diamond (both at the Kings Head Theatre), Jean in American Psycho (opposite Matt Smith at the Almeida) and her commitment to new writing and the many lessons she’s learned on her journey as an actor and singer.Episode features include:Dramatic News: Andrew covers the latest industry headlines, including stories about the National Theatre and London Fashion College’s commitment to BAME wardrobe, hair and make-up specialists, Maisie Williams’ stage debut, a new production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in San Francisco and a brand new Show People Podcast addendum series called, Show Peep.The Platform: Today’s platform is given to Paul Boyd’s most successful piece, Alice – The Musical, based on the famous Lewis Carol story. We play a song from that show called Nothing Here Makes Sense performed by John Davis as the Caterpillar. Alice meets the caterpillar in Wonderful and realises they both have much in common – that nothing here makes sense! Alice – The Musical returns to the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in November 2018 in a new production directed by Paul.

Julie Atherton joins us shortly after completing the West End run of The Grinning Man at Trafalgar Studios and shares her experiences of working with puppets in that and many other productions she has starred in. She speaks passionately about her frustrations with the patriarchy in the performing arts industry and the reasons why she has decided to become a director to take control and make the work she wants to be a part of. Julie suffered a terrible tragedy as a little girl and spent a great amount of her childhood being a very quiet child growing up in a grieving household in Preston. She explains how her life changed when she discovered the cast recording of Miss Saigon and her experiences struggling at school - later training at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and how her time at drama school was both the very best and the very worst time of her life - especially when she discovered performers who liked to sing in her face. Julie covers her early career successes including Charlotte’s Webb, Just So and Mamma Mia and how she became an established industry name in the original London cast of Avenue Q and the gruelling media schedule she had to endure. Julie Atherton is synonymous with championing new Musical Theatre both in the West End and on the London Fringe and explains why she invests so much of her time in brave new pieces of theatre in tiny little theatres for very little money but with so many rewards. Episode features include:The Soapbox: Julie shares the difficulties she has faced in her career thanks to a theatre industry that is still very much lead by white men. She explains why she doesn’t like female roles in older musicals and what she is doing in her work as a director to empower women and the preconceptions that many women face when it comes to comedy. Theatrical Tips: Andrew shares his theatrical tips of things to see in July 2018 including Home, I'm Darling by Laura Wade and The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini in an English version by Ben Power at the National Theatre and Consent by Nina Raine at the Harold Pinter Theatre. The Platform: Today’s platform is a Show People Podcast exclusive! Actor and comedian Steve Furst has sent in a very special recording he made for the London cast of Matilda - The Musical just before he left the production playing Mr. Wormwood. You won’t hear this anywhere else!

Host and Director Andrew Keates is joined by two-time Olivier Award winner David Bedella. David talks about growing up in Gary, Lake Country, Indiana to a family who worked in the steel industry, his showbiz inspirations and challenges he faced during education, his first jobs as a performer - including spending ten years working in Chicago, appearing in the first Broadway production of Smokey Joe’s Cafe, his frustrations with being perceived as being ‘just a dancer’ and why he left America after falling in love with a pastor that would end up seeing him folding towels as a hairdresser in Islington. David explains his profound connection with God and how that relationship has transformed him and how that relationship has been strengthened playing roles such as Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar and Satan in the highly controversial Jerry Springer - The Opera. He talks in great detail about his involvement in the many different productions of Jerry, including working with Harvey Keitel in a production at Carnegie Hall as well as his conversations with Christian protesters outside the theatres during the “blasphemous production”. For many David is synonymous with playing Frank’N’Furter in both the touring and West End productions of The Rocky Horror Show - a role he played as a much younger man that didn’t satisfy him in America and how later he would play the role in the UK for over three years and why he did not appear at the Royal Court anniversary celebrations. Other productions that David talks about include Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Roadshow, Harvey Fierstein’s A Torch Song Trilogy, John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mel Brooks’ The Producers and many others. Episode features include:The Soapbox: Andrew and David discuss the pros and cons of celebrity casting in musical theatre with focus on the recent casting of Cuba Gooding Jnr in the West End production of Chicago and David’s own experiences working with celebrity Jo Brand. Dramatic News: We cover the latest news The Platform: Today’s platform is given to Emma-Jane Morton and Edwin Ray with a song from their new musical Prophecy - A New Tudor Musical.

Our host Andrew Keates spent the afternoon with Director, Producer and Artistic Director of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Other Palace - Paul Taylor Mills. Paul spoke to us about the thousands of pounds he’s raised for charities running marathons, his upcoming “big-gay-holidays” and his preparations for the upcoming UK premiere of Heathers - The Musical, which stars Carrie Hope Fletcher and how he thought he wouldn’t get the rights to do it because he felt the musical wasn’t quite yet cooked and how he secured the show over the many other producers who wanted to do it and the controversy surrounding the show’s announcement on the day regarding ticket prices and the casting of Carrie Hope Fletcher. Paul Taylor Mills goes into great detail about the highs and lows of running The Other Palace, how shows are produced at the theatre, the ways he facilitates new theatremakers using The Other Palace resources, how shows are chosen to be developed at his venue and the family ethos of theatre too. As well as covering The Other Palace, Paul tells us about how he discovered producing and directing when growing up, his early days producing shows by maxing out credit cards at places such as the Lost Theatre and the Union Theatre, his unfortunate need to liquidate his production company after two unsuccessful shows at Southwark Playhouse and his rise from the ashes within the same week and becoming a recognised producer after his phenomenally successful production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. Episode features include:The Soapbox: Paul talks with Andrew about the recent attacks he, The Other Palace and Carrie Hope Fletcher received on social media after announcing their production Heathers - The Musical regarding the costs of tickets, casting decisions and other matters. Paul talks frankly about how we should act on social media and what he thinks is unacceptable. He also talks about how he monitors his own behaviour and image on social media being a young, gay man who likes to party with his friends, whilst at the same time, honouring his responsibilities as Artistic Director of The Other Palace. Theatrical Tips: Andrew covers his theatrical tips for June 2018, including Lonely Planet at Trafalgar Studios 2, Heathers - The Musical at The Other Place and Steve Furst: In Character at the Underbelly Festival. The Platform:Today’s platform is given to composer Tim Driesen and a song from his musical, ‘Just a Normal Girl’ (formerly known as Super Alice Smith) called ‘Evil has many faces’ sung by Kelly-Ann Gower.

It’s the hottest day of the year and we’ve got a leading man to match! Actor, Alistair Brammer joins host and director Andrew Keates for today’s episode of the Show People Podcast after playing Chris in both the Broadway and West End productions of Miss Saigon. Andrew and Alistair chat about biscuits, the differences between Broadway and the West End as well exploring his whole life and career, including growing up in Exmouth, not going to drama school, working for his local council – counting cars sat in a deck-chair, his experiences participating in the BBC’s Any Dream Will Do competition – which took him to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s castle, going on to appear in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, playing various roles both on stage and for the film version of Les Miserables, appearing in his first immersive production of Taboo playing Billy at the Brixton Club House, getting his kit off in Hair, his auditions and experiences in War Horse, working with Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi in the TV show Vicious and so much more. He also does a very good impression of Fra Fee. Episode features include: The Soapbox: Andrew and Alistair talk about pigeonholing/typecasting in the industry. Alistair asks for the opportunity to be seen for roles that might not necessarily be an obvious casting option for him. He shares his frustrations with just getting into the room and the way auditions are very different in America compared to the UK. Andrew chats about his frustrations about why certain roles must have certain physical dimensions and the two of them discuss the horror stories they’ve heard about actors being cast on beauty alone, rather than talent and the subsequent pressures on actors to look a certain way. They also discuss the challenges that face BAME artists and the controversy of casting a black actor to play Javert in Les Miserables. Dramatic News: Andrew covers the latest dramatic news including stories about Gemma Hamilton’s controversial comments about BAME artists, the new cast of Les Miserables and The Other Palace/Mercury Musical Developments upcoming Musical Bites. The Platform: Today’s platform is given to composer Ashley MA Walsh and his new musical called The Jury, which will soon play at the Brindley Theatre and we hear a song called So It Comes To This performed by Leanne Talbot from that show.

Today’s guest is Dominic Keating who is a British actor who has spent the past 25 years in Los Angeles. He caught up with his friend and host of the Show People Podcast, Andrew Keates whilst filming a new movie which stars Derek Jacobi. Dominic talks in detail about his entire life, from growing up in Leicester as the son of a theatrical landlady and discovering theatre whilst at Stoneygate and Uppingham Schools, receiving his first review from Rowan Atkinson and how when he was denied the opportunity to train as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama he cut his teeth by gaining his Equity Card by unexpectedly becoming a drag-queen, being mentored by Theatre Critic, Jack Tinker and playing roles in early fringe venues, including originating the role of Cosmo Disney in the premiere production of Philip Ridley’s A Pitchfork Disney at the Bush Theatre. Dominic is best known for appearing in long-running television shows including playing Tony in Desmond’s and Malcolm Read in Star Trek: Enterprise for Paramount Pictures. Dominic talks about his experiences in both shows, why they were important and Andrew asks about the rumour that his Star Trek character was nearly the first openly gay main character in the franchise as well as the highs and lows of being an actor in Hollywood. Episode features include: The Soapbox: Andrew and Dominic discuss whether or not the grass is really greener for performers who move to LA, including explaining Dominic’s decision to move to the USA, the people and haunts he first found himself in when he arrived, the different casting processes he’s experienced, what work is available to British actors, the difficulties that performers face getting a green-card and Andrew asks Dom the question, if he had the choice again, would he have left the UK all those years ago? Theatrical Tips: Andrew delivers his theatrical tips of shows to see this May 2018 including productions such as 3Women, Absolute Hell and Chess the Musical. The Platform: Our platform is given to friend of Arion Productions (due to being in our production of the European premiere of ROOMS: A Rock Romance), Alexis Gerred, who many will recognise from both BBC Eurovision’s Let It Shine and many West End productions such as American Idiot. Alexis is currently appealing to supporters to help him raise £4K to produce his debut album and we play an original track by Alexis called ‘Sweet Angel’.

Today’s episode of the Show People Podcast is with world-renowned Theatre Critic and Journalist Mark Shenton – Associate Editor and New York Theatre Critic for The Stage, London Theatre Critic for LondonTheatre.co.uk, he’s Chairman of the drama section of the Critics Circle Awards, he was the former Theatre Critic for the Sunday Express for eleven and a half years, however he was laid off due to a highly controversial legal batter after ‘inappropriate’ images of him were leaked to his employers. He’s just launched a brand new theatre podcast called Commit No Nuisance. Mark talks openly and honestly about his life growing up in Johannesburg and its thriving theatre scene, studying at Cambridge with various famous alumni, coming out and his early relationships, the genesis of his career including working for companies such as Dywynters and the Press Association and ultimately his journey to becoming an internationally recognised theatre critic. Mark goes into great detail about the demons in his life including sex addiction, depression and the simple but effective things he does to stay happy, healthy and continue to be one of the finest critics in the UK. Episode features include: The Soapbox: Mark Shenton has recently taken to Twitter and his blog at thestage.co.uk stating that he will only read reviews and features written by people who are paid to write them. Andrew talks to Mark about his historic championing of work on the fringe and whether his decision may lead to him losing out on discovering new and upcoming talent, whether producers and directors really are getting rich on the fringe and the consequences both Mark and the industry may face thanks to his decision. Mark talks about his own concerns and the difficulties that now lie ahead of him as well as clarifies where he stands not only on his stance, but also about a lot of the injustices that are occurring on the fringe, the Twitter battles he’s faced because of his announcement and his own experiences and mistakes he made when producing a production at the Cock Tavern. Dramatic News: Andrew covers the latest dramatic news, including stories about David Haig’s new play Pressure transferring to the West End, Bat Out Of Hell, the return of Arion Productions’ Steve Furst In Character coming to the Underbelly Festival in June 2018 and news about the 10th anniversary product of Green Day’s American Idiot – The Musical. The Platform: Todays platform is given to The Hidden Theatre Company and a song called So Many Different Windows from their new musical Island Song. With words by Sam Carner, Music by Derek Gregor and Story by Sam Carner, Derek Gregor and Marlo Hunter. The recording comes straight from their rehearsal room and features the full company; Abby Restall, Drou Constantinou, Joshua Wills, Jack Anthony Smart & Stephanie Lyse.

Annie Rowe CDG is a Casting Director for theatre, film, television, commercials, and more. Fresh from casting Not Talking by Mike Bartlett at the Arcola Theatre, Annie talks about growing up in Chiswick as the daughter of two actors and being part of an extensive theatre family, her time training at Arts Ed, National Youth Theatre and RADA and her transition from being an actor to becoming a Casting Director. Episode features include: The Soapbox: Andrew and Annie discuss what a Casting Director actually does and some of the many misconceptions that some actors have about that role. Annie reveals the right and wrong way to get in touch with her, including whether or not you should use social media to talk to a Casting Director, how to get an audition for productions she’s casting, the way she likes to run an audition room as well lots of handy advice for anyone who is considering doing work as an extra and golden advice about how to prepare and what to do when auditioning. Theatrical Tips: Andrew’s theatrical tips for April 2018 include Strictly Ballroom at the Piccadilly Theatre: http://strictlyballromthemusical.com Pressure at the Park Theatre: www.parktheatre.co.uk I Wish That My Life Were Like a Musical at the Crazy Coqs: www.brasseriezedel.com The Platform: Todays platform is given to composers Sara Eker and Giles Fernando and their musical Country Dream. We hear Cross The River performed by Flyn Devey and Sara Eker. The song is sung by the character Garrison Hendricks, the Nashville DA, to his daughter Ashleigh. It’s the song sung by his ancestors on the plantations, to give them hope. He gives Ashleigh the banjo given to him by his great grandma, the significance being that the banjo is a West African instrument that was brought to the US by slaves. For more information about this dynamic duo, visit www.gilesfernando.co.uk or www.saraeker.com