The Virgos of Edinburgh
August 29, 2009
Being a Virgo means that I have spent almost every birthday in some way connected to Edinburgh, yesterday was no exception. It was great to catch up with many different friends around the City and celebrate. Over the years I have celebrated my birthday by driving a packed car from Edinburgh to London (50th), by having a massive chinese meal with 150 Pleasance crew and staff (42nd I think), and by sitting in a lighting perch for the whole 24hrs of my birthday plotting a show with our Bristol University called WHO NEEDS ACTORS, opening my cards between lighting states (20th). Read more
Directing a musical - that can’t be a serious business
August 25, 2009
I was at the British Council reception last night - a great gathering of many promoters and presenters from nations across the globe preparing to take to the streets of edinburgh in search of great new work. Phelim McDermott gave a wonderful heartfelt and impassioned plea to the delegates to enter into conversations with the performers and the companies. He challenged us to engage wholly with the potential of real connection, and to see whether something that happens this week could influence artistic endevours in years to come. He warned against “shoulder surfing” Read more
Congratulations Bristol…and now its MBF Gala / MTM Awards time
August 24, 2009
Last night we held the final of the Musical Theatre University Challenge, and FASCINATING AIDA did a brilliant short set of songs to remind the audience what consumate professionals (and gloriously dark storytellers) they are. They sure awakened interest from a student audience - great fun.
Cheers and applause for BRISTOL who beat off fierce competition from Mountview in the Semi-Final and then showed their superior skill against Edinburgh in a very tough contest. Read more
Fascinating Aida oversee the battle of the brains…
August 23, 2009
Last night we had the semi-finals of the first Musical Theatre University Challenge. LIPA challenged Edinburgh, and Mountview challenges Bristol. A tough battle with some extraodinary knowledge of the history and the trivia of the genre. Tonight the final will be between EDINBURGH and BRISTOL and we are delighted we’ll be starting with a couple of songs by the award winning trio. It should be quite a night, and I hope the other 6 teams will come and support. Read more
Hitting the pain threshold
August 21, 2009
Hard to realise we are only about a half of the way through in terms of the financial capacity of the whole Festival - 10 days to go. I’m finding a lot of companies hitting that pain threshold. The cathartic process (or joyous or painful process) of creating the show, getting the first audiences in, appealing to the press, reading the first reviews, and finding your way to the late late night bar - these are all hopefully achieved now. So the next two weeks can feel like a real slog. This is the point at which people can sometimes take the foot off the gas. Read more
LIPA and Edinburgh through to semi-finals…more battles tonight
August 21, 2009
Last night saw the first two quarterfinals of the very first Musical Theatre University Challenge. A fantastic atmosphere was created by the three members of Fascinating Aida taking charge of the scoring, chairing and mystery voice in true BBC sonorous tones. Congratulations to the cast of FALSETTOLAND & SIX WAYS (LIPA Liverpool) and the home team of Edinburgh (led by George Square press officer (Joe Pike). Commiserations to great sports GINGERS THE MUSICAL (Leeds University) and The JERRY SPRINGER Company (RSAMD Glasgow) for putting up a tremendous fight. Read more
Four Nights… Eight Teams… Only One Winner
August 13, 2009
Preparations for the first Musical Theatre University Challenge are picking up. We’ve just finished typing up 830 questions and now comes the joy of checking all the answers, grouping them into starters and bonus questions. There are some great questions from Whatsonstage.com readers, some crazy ones, and a few downright impossible. We will use this basis to create a load more because we reckon we need 1,000 good ones to make a great contest. Read more
You Can Be Serious in SIX WAYS and more
August 12, 2009
I’ve just come out of Six Ways the new piece by 3 young graduates of LIPA, Michael Bradley, Paddy 
Clarke, and David Hutchinson and I am very excited. Last night I heard Sam Thackray from the cast delivering a knock-out diva cabaret set in our George Free series (think a young Roger Allum in La Cage).  This morning the trio of writers gave a fascinating masterclass on the creative process for their collaboration, then I get to see the result in George 2 this afternoon - sharing the tears of many of the audience with this gritty morality tale of relationships. Wow. Read more
New musical, cabaret, free things and Kerry Ellis
August 11, 2009
The last few nights have seen us getting to grips
with the free cabaret programme in the bar of George Square Theatre (George 1 or George Free whichever you fancy). It’s taken a while to get the lighting right and the atmosphere buzzing, but by last night it felt like the place to be for anyone who wanted to enjoy a few showtunes, catch up with other companies, see some new work, and promote their shows. Read more
Masterclasses and “It’s a Marathon not a sprint”
August 10, 2009
Hard to believe that today is the first day of Week 1 of the Fringe. It is staggering how much energy you need to get to this point of the phenomenal creative marathon each year. Week 0 (last week) is always a killer, for everyone involved, getting dozens (or in some cases hundreds) of shows open in a very short time scale, and then working to open late-night cabaret and all the other extras which make a Festival.  There’s hopefully a moment now to take a few moments to see some shows, refill the fridge, catch up on some sleep, and breeeeaaathe. Read more
EIF: 14 August-6 September
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