Audition Dramaturgy: Michael Sharmon @ Edfringe 2017

GOLDEN VOICE ENTERTAINMENT

Original musical, 

AUDITIONS 

debuts at the 70^th Anniversary Edinburgh Festival Fringe

the new hit musical conceived and written in Hong Kong.

The show premiered in 2016, selling out and receiving rave reviews. Acclaimed author, Sarah Brennan describes it as “spell binding, “poignant”, “searing”, and “…with humour aplenty”. 

Venue: Grassmarket 2

Dates: 15.30, August 3-13 

AUDITIONS is about four performers from across the globe who take the audience on a journey of all the highs, lows, embarrassing and often hilarious experiences that occur to artists. 

What was the inspiration for this performance?

The audition process for a performer is a very topical issue in performing arts. The movie La La Land highlighted the insane pressures that performers go through when they audition. A recent article in the British Press highlighted and reinforced the stress associated with the current audition process. 

Many well respected actors such as Sir Patrick Stewart, Dame Julie Walters and Sir Mark Rylance have all gotten behind a campaign wanting to change the current audition process.

As a child I saw the show “A Chorus Line” and absolutely loved it, but after I began working as a professional performer and going for multiple auditions, I felt there was room to create a show that highlighted the highs and lows of going for auditions, not just for a chorus line of dancers, but also for actors, singers and voice over artists. 

Our opening title song, “Auditions”, depicts

what a performer needs to go through to prepare themselves for an audition. This was the genesis behind the show, and the concept, the story and the characters came from my own experiences, as well as revelations of friends.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

I think performance will always be a necessary space for public discussion. Sometimes, the decision makers in our various countries across the globe can diminish the power of performance, by not giving it the support it deserves. The song “Art”, the finale of the show, highlights the importance of performance and the relationship between the artists and their audience.

How did you become interested in making performance?

Both myself and my business partner Sandra Leung Waters are from Australia and have been performing since we were children. Meeting each other in Hong Kong, we were very keen to create a company that focused on musical performances. 

Musicals, cabaret shows and concerts. We have been going for seven years and in that time, we have done hundreds of different shows and worked across the world, but this is our first time bringing a show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

The approach was to be as honest as possible in the story we told. So even people outside of the industry can relate to the show because the issues the characters face are things all of us can identify with. 

My objective with the music was to create songs that were memorable, but also covered a range of different styles, from jazz to musical theatre.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

This show compliments the work we have produced and continue to produce very well. We are always trying to find new ways to tell a story and we are very excited and proud of what we have created. 

AUDITIONS had its official premiere in Hong Kong in 2016, and opened to a sold out house and glowing reviews. We've flown the original cast and crew out from Hong Kong. Edinburgh audiences will be treated to a revamped production of the show that we have modified for touring.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I hope that the audience will be entertained, but also enlightened about an industry that is constantly changing, but first and foremost I hope the audience feels inspired. The song “Who I Am” is where the characters all bare their hearts and souls towards the end of the show. 

Without the audience, performers will not be able to continue to be creative and produce new pieces of art. So I would love the audience to walk away from the show committed to their support of live theatre.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

Being part of the biggest Arts Festival in the world is not an opportunity that we take for granted, but we believe we are offering a different point of view, and a glimpse into some of the issues that performers face such as racial prejudice, ageism and abuse. 

We tell the story in a heartwarming, touching and humorous way that makes it accessible to a wide audience. We hope audiences will enjoy coming to see our show in the afternoon - after they have enjoyed their lunch and before they plan their activities for the evening. 

It’s only an hour, but one of the characters, Vivian, sings, “….if there is one thing that I know, it’s how to give a show…” - and we hope the audience walks away having spent one hell of an afternoon with us.

We follow the four characters as they share their audition experiences, each on their own path, as they reveal candid and intimate stories about the entertainment industry. The show deals with the harsh realities of show business - sexual abuse, ageism, and art versus commercialism. It features both humorous and poignant moments, as well as a surprise twist at the end. 

In these unsettling times when the world is in chaos, AUDITIONS reminds us why “art” is essential not only for the soul, but to help enlighten, entertain and inspire us. 

Writer, Michael Sharmon, saw “A Chorus Line” as a young boy and it left an indelible mark on him. Over the years he often thought it would be interesting to tell the story of other performers each dealing with rejection, and those unforgettable breaks that every performer hopes for. 

He wanted to tell the story of not only dancers, but also singers and actors, and this led to AUDITIONS. He based the story on his own experiences, as well as friends’ revelations, and hopes the show will shed insight into the struggles and joys that every performer faces. 

Sharmon explains, “This is not just a story for artists, but for anyone who is brave enough to follow their dreams.” 

The original cast recording is already out on iTunes – featuring eleven of the fourteen songs in the show - from toe tapping show tunes, to melodic anthems, to witty Broadway numbers.

For Edinburgh, we have brought back together the talented original cast – whose diverse performing credits cover Asia, Australia, England and the USA. Some say it’s the easiest job in the world to be a performer and anyone can do it. Find out for yourself when AUDITIONS opens August 3. 

Show Category: Musicals and Opera

ABOUT GOLDEN VOICE ENTERTAINMENT

Golden Voice Entertainment specializes in creating, developing and producing professional musical theatre experiences. 

From intimate cabaret acts to lavish theatrical productions, GVE guarantees a quality performance. Headquartered in Hong Kong, our team is made up of the best in the industry. This broad spectrum of expertise in the field of musical theatre production ensures that a GVE production is always a magical experience.

Apocalypse Dramaturgy: Theo McCabe @ Edfringe 2016

Apocalypse Cruise Ship Love Affair

Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14) ​

Aug 3-14, 16-29 1.30pm

Hot on the heels of smash-hit comedy B-

musical Vampire Hospital Waiting Room, which garnered rave reviews and an off-West End transfer, Beach Comet debut their brand new comedy, featuring a live band, original songs and the end of the world. 'A feast of daft, dark comedy and brilliant songs.' 

What was the inspiration for this performance?
Our company was formed creating a show called Vampire Hospital Waiting Room – which was an in-joke at our student theatre, that someone needed to create a show with that name because of the abundance of chairs, doctors coats and vampire capes in the props cupboard. 

That Idea stuck in my head as an interesting show to make because it was a title that had everyone and talking and laughing before anything had even been done. I think a big part of why it worked was because of the rule of three – vampire capes, hospital gowns and chairs – Vampire Hospital Waiting Room.

To make our second show we decided to try and expand on the same formula – so chucked three new ideas together, including a b-movie horror threat and a location, to try and make a catchy new title. Hence Apocalypse Cruise Ship Love Affair. After we had the title we just kind of wrote it, using any influences on those topics that we could find on the internet. One thing that comes to mind was a beautifully crafted essay on luxury cruising by David Foster Wallace.

How did you go about gathering the team for it?

It was largely the same team as Vampire – who I know through student theatre. Also a few people who were recommended from others already in the team. Many of the key performers and creatives come from improv troupe The Improverts of which I was a part at University.

How did you become interested in making performance?

My fathers a jazz musician and I have performed music from as young an age as I can remember. Theatre came a bit later but it’s all part of the same thing. It’s an addictive hobby.

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?

Yes. We spend lots and lots of time thinking and planning and not doing anything – and then have a few mad rushed weeks with the team putting it all together.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

Laughter and light hearted entertainment. Pleasure?

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

We tried wherever possible to make it funny and make it entertaining.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?

Tons really, we kind of fit into the university-centric comedy troupe tradition a la Cambridge footlights – particularly as the majority of us are from a 30 year old university comedy institution.

We’re also from the tradition of cheap student theatre. We borrow a lot from pantomime, and silly, densely plotted English musicals like G&S. We also take a lot from Garth Marenghi and Tim and Eric and many other modern comedians who like to make things that are deliberately bad.

Sprayed Dramaturgy: Tony Maudsely on being Edna

Lorna Irvine discusses Hairspray (so that I don't have to do too much work...): I have a great, extended interview with actor Tony Maudsley instead. Worth your time... read on...


What made you decide that it was an actor’s life for you?
It was probably as simple as watching children's television in the seventies. I was a TV addict from a very early age. I was also an avid reader and used to especially love the BBC and ITV dramatisations of my favourite books like The Secret Garden, The Phoenix And The Carpet, The Didicoi, Midnight Is A Place. And of course I loved the light hearted fun stuff too like The Double Deckers, The Kids From 47a and of course later, Grange Hill. 

The kids in all of these shows looked like they were having such an amazing time. I was desperate to be part of that world too. I used to write off to TV companies all the time begging to be taken on in one of their shows. But of course I had zero experience. I'd never been to an acting class and at the time there was little going on in my area to give me a leg up. 

Kids were I lived were more interested in playing football or smoking on street corners. I gave the football a wide berth but was a fully fledged very heavy smoker by the age of 11. I didn't give up on my ambitions though. I wrote to The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at the age of 12 to tell them that I'd 'like to join!" They wrote me a very nice nice letter back telling me to reapply in about 6 years time. 

It's hilarious to think back now that at the age of 12 I was planning to give up school, move to London and become a full time acting student, without a mention of any of it to my Mum & Dad. God knows how I was planning to pay for it all.

My dream remained a dream for quite a few years, sidetracked by becoming a stroppy teenager, behaving badly at school, starting and finishing various jobs in quick succession as a milkman, a bingo caller and an MFI warehouse assistant. 

By the time I was 23, I'd travelled a lot of the world (with no money but having a fabulous time.) I'd been an extra on Brookside and I'd gotten myself in trouble with the police a few times (remember that bingo calling job I mentioned? They caught me fiddling the games for my own personal gain and I got arrested on the premises one night in front of 300 very disgruntled bingo addicts) I got a slap on the wrist and a £50 fine at the local magistrates court and decided it was time to grow up and sort my life out. 

My dream of becoming an actor still lingered in the back of my head. I thought, well if I don't do this now, I never will. I applied to go to drama school again. Maybe they'd give me a second look now that I wasn't 12 anymore but 23? 

This time I applied to The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. I did a piece from Peter Nichol's 'A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG' and another piece from 'RICHARD II' (which I didn't even understand.) To my amazement I was offered a place on the spot, Not the usual form...they usually make you wait a few weeks and then call you back for second and even third auditions. 

But I told the course tutor that they needed to tell me today as if I hadn't got in I was going to go to CAMP AMERICA to work on a kid's summer camp. He left his office for 5 minutes, looking a bit flustered, then came back in and said "Ok you're in!!" Result!!





What is it about this show that made you want to be part of it?
I didn't want to be part of it. I had to be persuaded. I hadn't done any work on stage for 12 years and I hadn't done a musical for 18 years. I was having a great career doing lots of great TV and film and wasn't that interested in going back on stage. 


My agent suggested to me that maybe it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone (I think that's agent-speak for stop being so fucking lazy) and think about doing some stage work before I lost the confidence and the skills that I'd trained so hard for all those years to acquire. 

She told me to at least have a listen to HAIRSPRAY and get back to her. And I did just that. I put the CD on and instantly fell in love with the show. I'd seen the original Broadway carnation about 14 years earlier with Harvey Fierstein in the role of Edna and I remembered that I had really enjoyed the show. I already knew that I had another series of BENIDORM to look forward 10 months down the line and so I thought, well why not? 

This could be really good fun and I've got absolutely nothing to lose (apart from a bit of face if my singing was shit) by at least going to meet them. So I did. I met them, sang for them (they didn't think it was shit), read  a few scenes for them and they offered me the job the next day and I accepted. 

And I'm so glad I did. I have had the most amazing time. I've reignited some of my old skills and learned lots of new ones from the massively talented cast and highly experienced team that make up the show. They've welcomed this non-musical theatre television actor with open arms and literally held my hand to the point we are at today. I feel very lucky. 

Was the process typical of the way that you make a performance?
The essence of creating the heart and soul of my character was a typical process for me. All actors work very differently but my own process is based on absolute truth. I question everything about a character. Where they've been, where they are now, where they want to be. In my head I put the character on a hot seat and delve into every aspect of their lives. 

It's the only way I know how to do it. If I'm ever struggling to work out how to play a scene I just always revert back to truth and the 'here and now' and revisit my process to ask how the character would behave in this very instant if faced with this very situation. I think that's a fairly  typical route that most actors take when building a character. 

The rest of the musical theatre process was not so typical for me. I was used to under performing for the camera but on stage I knew that I would have to give a more heightened performance (purely so that the people watching from Row M would be able to see what I was doing).

I also had to come to terms with the fact that occasionally I would inexplicably be bursting into song and hoofing a few nifty dance moves. For this part of the process I had to 100% rely on the people around me who were vastly more experienced than I was in this field. Once I reconciled in my own head that a musical theatre performance could still be a truthful one, I was up and running.




What do you hope that the audience will experience?
I hope they experience a little of what I experience every night. Hairspray is a joyful show. It pulses through you and crescendos to a point where you want to fling your arms up in the air and dance! And trust me they do! 

Every night thus far without fail! But as well as having a great night out at the theatre, I wouldn't feel like we'd done our job properly if they didn't leave the building with at least some questions about the human race and how we behave towards each other. 

The main themes in the show are racial prejudice and conformist issues where people (especially women) are under pressure to look and behave in a certain way. The show is set in 1962 against the backdrop of The Baltimore riots. It's now 2016 and only a couple of years ago that same city was still suffering a similar backlash as a result of how it's black community was being treated, We live in an ever changing world. Through our own advances in technology and engineering our world is so much smaller than it used to be. 

Countries borders are much more blurred than they used to be and different cultures now live side by side, more than they ever did before. HAIRSPRAY talks about changing gear, moving with the times and learning to love and live with other people's cultures and differences rather than constantly challenging and opposing them. The world would be a very dull place after all if we all looked and sounded the same and all thought the same things. 

Difference is good and we need to accept that more and learn to embrace it. It's a wonderfully colourful old planet that we live on and we need to grab it and make the most of everything it has to offer us in the short time we have on it.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?
I don't really. I've been incredibly fortunate in my career to be play a whole range of theatre types, and hugely differing TV and movie characters. No two jobs are ever the same for me. I suppose that by stepping into certain genres of theatre and film you are stepping into someone's idea of tradition but for me each job is new and fresh and I try to treat it as such. 

I like to challenge what is expected of me and offer up something that might take a director by surprise. By trying to do that you keep it more interesting for everyone, I think. I once sat in a glass case at The Heywood Gallery in London for a week, for the renowned artist and film director, Peter Greenaway, who was a really lovely man. 

In the gallery there were 5 glass cases and every week he would have a different type of group sat in the cases. Some weeks it was 5 women in their eighties, some weeks it was 5 men who only had one leg, some weeks it was 5 children who didn't speak any English etc. Lots and lots of different group types. I was in the group '5 men over 20 stone.' I loved it! 

It was so exciting to be an exhibit, having all those arty type people staring at me through the glass case like I was a work of art. I think I only got paid £200 for the whole week but I wanted to do it (a) because it was different and (b) because I wanted to get in Peter Greenaway's good books for when he was casting his next big movie. And he did indeed call me in to audition for a main part in his movie trilogy 'THE TULSE LUPUS SUITCASES', but I didn't get the job. Bloody cheek! All those days sat in a bloody glass box, I at least expect a few lines from him!! Hahaha.

Are there any other questions that might help me to understand the meaning of dramaturgy for you in your work?
I suppose we could talk about appearance. How a character looks. You can alter many things in your characters head quite easily by just bouncing a few emotions and brain cells off each other but I guess appearance is a whole other layer. 

An important one though. An audience will more often than not, see how you look before they hear what you've got to say. You can always alter your appearance by affecting a walk or an unusual gait or a certain tilt in your bodily stature but on the day you are what you are. In the case of HAIRSPRAY, Edna Turnblad's size is very relevant to the themes in the show. Although they usually cast a biggish guy as Edna (the fact that it's always played by a guy was a choice made by the original screenplay writer, John Waters who cast it as such to make one more push towards subversiveness in challenging his audience and to also cast his friend, DIVINE, who was the very first Edna in the original 1988 film. It's a casting choice that all future productions have stuck with) there is still a need to accentuate her womanly curvaceousness and how by being housebound for so many years have taken their toll on her physical being. 

Although I'm already a big guy of about 6'4" and about 20 st (I'm being generous) to get the underlying themes of the show across to the audience,Edna needs to be bigger, exaggerated and larger than life. We achieved this with a body suit. 

An ample womanly shape, carved out of foam and lycra to fit over my own more masculine curves. The results are very effective and as an actor, once the suit was on and the costumes were dressed over it, I was immediately transported to a different place and a whole new gender. My own gait was instantly transformed, whether I wanted it to be or not. 

I immediately felt like a loving Mama the minute the actress playing my daughter Tracy flung her arms around me and gave me a hug. I suddenly felt very maternal and protective over her. Is that what having boobs does? I asked an actress friend and she said she completely understood that. 

She said boobs don't only feed your child when it's young, but they cushion your child like pillows and warm them when they're cold and protect them when you draw them in out of harms way. It made complete sense to me. Without Edna's fake boobs and curves I think I would lose so much of what I've brought to her over the last 6 months. 

And so creating a character like Edna is definitely a collaborative process. Without the help of an amazing design team behind me, I'd just be a man in a dress. Though I guess without me inside it there'd just be a pile of old foam on the floor, saggy and a bit loose at the seams, as they said about Bagpuss. There we go...we've come full circle. We're back on to children's seventies TV.  Probably a good time to stop.

New Dickensian Dramaturgy:Dean Johnson talks contemporary satirical parody

HAZELL ICON NICHOLAS BALL RETURNS WITH TIMELY DICKENSIAN PARODY


Legendary actor Nicholas Ball returns for a

very rare London appearance: for the first time over four decades he will tread the boards of a West End fringe theatre.

The former TV heart throb who created the iconic 70's detective Hazell, stars in the world premiere of New Dickensian, a dark social satire which features spoken word and song, to be staged at the award winning Jermyn Street Theatre in January 2016.

The term 'Dickensian' was coined to describe anything that reflects the dark, squalid times in which Charles Dickens lived and wrote about. 

He drew inspiration from his many visits to Liverpool, from where writer Dean Johnson hails. This contemporary parody of A Christmas Carol follows his success with Bullets and Daffodils (which was also debuted at Jermyn Street).

New Dickensian asks if we have returned to the bleak bedlam of Dickens' age. It tells the story of one Ethan Shrewd, a ruthless stockbroker, and his beleaguered junior partner, single parent Rob Cadgit, whose self-harming teenage daughter Emily he desperately strives to bring up alone.

The cast also includes Dean Johnson, Jane Hamlet, and introducing Leah Taaffe as Emily Cadgit.

Music, lyrics and book by Dean Johnson

Sunday 17th January 2016 – 8pm (duration 70 minutes)

The Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6ST

What was the inspiration for this performance?  
It comes straight from everyday life, the scenario is that we have returned to the same social environment of Charles Dicken's time: mass homelessness, extreme cases of poverty, people literally going cap in hand to charitable institutions for handouts, people boarding up their bedrooms to avoid paying the tax, former financial institutions (ie banks) ironically used now as food banks. 

The Dickensian metaphor seems perfect for the times we are living in now , using A Christmas Carol as a template gives endless scope dramatically as the original plot is so strong , and its pathos and sentiment remains true to contemporary themes  

How did you go about gathering the team for it? 
I have my own little company around me , they are kind enough to believe in what I do and are keen to take part in my productions for little financial reward.

Our star Nicholas Ball has been involved in my last 2 shows Bullets and Daffodils (the Wilfred Owen Story) and Ice Picks and Violets (The Mallory and Irvine Story ), Jane Hamlet has been working with me for the last year. But singer Leah Taaffe is brand new , she is a very cool and edgy youngster , and I feel I need a contemporary young voice for this show. After all, they will  inherit this situation that we find ourselves in. 

How did you become interested in making performance?
I have been a singer /songwriter for 30 years , I've recorded over 20 albums , when I turned 50 I just thought  the album /tour treadmill has become stale to me, I would like to embellish my writing to tell a bigger story and to have the words illustrated by actors and narrators instead of just my vocal. 

My shows are not strictly musical theatre, they are a mixture of lots of live performance mediums,coming from the rock world I didnt see any rules. So everything gets thrown in the pot, it tends to freak out the London theatre critics .

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance? 
No because I don't have a regular process , I just use the best techniques to tell the story , that's all that concerns me ...the words and the story and ultimately the message of the piece , did it get through . 

What do you hope that the audience will experience? 
Something that they have never seen before, and a level of honesty that they won't be used to within popular theatre. I'm not really interested in entertaining, more engaging, the audience.

If people want escapism ...they know which shows to go to for that. My ambition would be that the show makes them think , and maybe even recognise a little of themselves in the piece, the most powerful thing that you can offer on stage is a mirror ..you cant make the audience look into it ...but its there if they want to .

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience? 
If it excites me and the performers and we get a buzz rehearsing then hopefully that will transcend out to the punters, this show is very dark and so the comic moments really stand out because they are seen as such a relief from the rest of the narrative.

At the end of the day I think its a great set of songs and they would work just on that level. But with lyrics and spoken word you can really hammer home a point . 


Do you see your work within any particular tradition? 
This show is based in the 'satire ' tradition of the writers and  maybe the art school bands of the 1960's   the Bonzos, Scaffold , the Mersey Poets , music and words with live action. 

Parody is a really strong tool to hit people over the head with. I think even Shakespeare was a satirist.

Are there any other questions that might help me to understand the meaning of dramaturgy for you in your work?  
The tradition of the great rock critics of the early 70's ( Lester Bangs, Nick Kent etc) they used to write articles that did not have a traditional structure ...they became known as 'Think pieces' the content could go all over the place and then veer back to the main point , I would like to think all my stuff is Think pieces.

Theatre review: The Bodyguard

Based on the blockbuster film starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, Thea Sharrock's direction of Alexander Dinelaris' script is heavily on the spectacular: familiar tunes from the film – including I Will Always Love You  - are given full-blown diva attention by Alexandra Burke as the heroine Rachel Marron and what is lost in character development is hidden by the all-singing, all-dancing chorus-line and the fast-placed melodramatic plot.

Although there is a slight suggestion that Marron undergoes a personal journey towards humility (after winning an Oscar, fortunately), the story is driven by her relationship with the stoic, yet sensitive Bodyguard Frank Farmer – played by Stuart Reid with an appropriate restraint. As Rachel, and her sister, prepare for the climax of her career, a stalker gives chase, allowing Frank to defend her with his mix of straight-talking and paternal sensitivity.

The plot, however, simply provides a framework for the musical numbers, and even the  climatic confrontation becomes fodder for the resolution of Frank and Rachel's relationship. Fortunately, the fast pace and the lavish routines and set provide excitement and virtuosity enough to compensate for the lack of character development. Frank is a cypher of romantic masculinity, but Rachel's unpleasantness in the first act – she even steals Frank from her sister – is not redeemed.

However, the show is not about the script: it is about the emotional songs and the romantic tension between the showgirl and the bodyguard. Teasing the audience in the first act, the performance builds to the finale, that famous love song of regret and acceptance, and the flashing lights, dynamic dancers, bold choreography and relentless energy ensure that The Bodyguard delivers the expected excitement.

RSC DOES MADNESS