Month: October 2015

Sam Toland recently graduated from The Musical Theatre Academy and has hit the ground running. Since then his professional credits include Understudy in 3 Little Pigs (UK tour/Palace Theatre) and Sam will soon be touring again with 3 Little Pigs, to Australia and Hong Kong. During his training, Sam’s credits included Prince/Beast in Beauty and the Beast (BGAC), Davy in Sunshine and Leith, Jaguar in Just So and Robbine in Just the Ticket (Bridewell). With a rapidly building CV, additional other work Sam has undertaken includes as an Actor in OCR Educational video series, a supporting dancer at the MOBO’s and Ensemble in Cool Rider (Lyric Theatre).

Sam definitely has his head screwed on, now with the opportunity to both work and see the world.

Photo: Leejay Townsend

 

 

Have you always wanted to be involved in theatre?

No, not always. When I was younger I essentially did everything you can think of to not do theatre. I’m pretty sure I was convinced I would play hockey in the Olympics.

How did your involvement begin?

My older brother has been involved in theatre from about eight years old but until I was about 12 I was adamant that I wanted nothing to do with it. Instead I wanted to pursue a life of circus skills. It was then that the local theatre group my brother was part of asked me to come and be in their production of Barnum. I was all for it as it was a chance to juggle and walk on stilts and everything that I enjoyed. So I did that show and haven’t really stopped since. And it wasn’t until I was about 16 that I thought that there was a chance I could make a career out of it.

Did you train? Where, and what was it like?

Yes, I have just graduated from The Musical Theatre Academy, more commonly known as The MTA. It was everything I wanted it to be, and more. After having been through drama school I think it’s really important for people to understand that 80% of it is not about teaching you how to sing and dance. Obviously I had three hours of dance classes every day, but for me the main focus of drama school is to help you find yourself as a person. There is no point (in my opinion) working like stink to try and get into splits or get that top note you really want, if at the end of the day you still have thousands of hang ups about yourself. There’s no way you can truly let go of your inhibitions and lose yourself in a character if you don’t understand or control what those inhibitions are. Through college I have improved vastly as a performer not because I can now touch my toes but because I have an acceptance of who I am. And that’s what it’s all about.

What was a typical day like?

5:45am: I would wake up and shower, have breakfast

6:45am: My dad then drove me to the station and I caught the 6:56am train

8:00am: A long commute later I got to college. I would then have 25 mins to either workout, go through things before class or just sit and chat

8:25am: We would start a full college warm up for half an hour and then at 8:55am we would prepare the studios for class and get ready to start

9:00-12:00pm: We would normally have three one hour dance classes or occasionally two hour and a half classes. These would encompass everything; jazz, tap, commercial etc.

12:00pm: Lunch hour. The standard rush to use a microwave so you weren’t in the huge queue. We would then clean up ready to start back at 1:00pm

1:00-5:00pm: Consisted of two two hour long classes in either acting, musical theatre or voice. Occasionally we would have a special afternoon that would feature a Q&A with a special guest or things of that nature.

Then at 4:55pm we would stop to tidy away. We also had a cleaning rota, so for 2 weeks per term you would stay behind to clean the kitchen or take the bins out.

What is a typical day like now?

I am currently on a break from 3 Little Pigs so am working backstage on The Book Of Mormon. So a typical day consists of getting up at around 8am, helping around the house, taking the dog for a walk and chilling out until 2pm. Then to the gym for around two hours, then a train to work and home by 11:15pm, trains permitting!

Tell me more about your next venture…

After finishing our run at the Palace Theatre, the 3 Little Pigs is heading for a two month stint in Australia/Hong Kong. I start rehearsals for that in six weeks as Swing/Dance Captain. Just looking forward to getting started really!

What is your favourite thing about theatre?

Working. There’s nothing better than knowing you are earning a living doing the thing that you love. I mean come on, who doesn’t want to get paid to just sing and dance and be silly?!

And the worst?

The moaning and the egos. And the waiting after an audition. I just had an audition and waited three weeks until I was told I didn’t have the job. That’s hard.

What or who inspires you most on a daily basis?

I’m very guilty of watching my idols on YouTube, a lot. So if I ever feel like I need a kick to get to work then I listen to those people sing/watch those people dance, and that tends to make you feel like a very small fish in a very big pond! That, or I listen to the Rock Of Ages soundtrack (I would sell my soul to be in that show)!

What advice would you offer to an aspiring performer?

Work hard but don’t take yourself too seriously. There is a fine line between the two but always remember the most important thing is to be a nice person. No matter how well you can sing and dance, if you’re not fun to work with then no one will hire you.

What’s next for you?

I’m in Australia with 3 Little Pigs until the start of February, and then I come back to England unemployed and back on the audition circuit. Fingers crossed something will come up quickly but in this business you just never know!

The Young Vic, London, is seeking male dancers for the Company’s upcoming main house production of ‘If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me’. Auditions will consist of a technique class followed by a creative session, open to highly skilled graduate/professional dancers, on 2 November. Rehearsal and production dates are from 18 January–16 April 2016, with an option to extend the run until 30 April 2016.

The new production will be a part dance/part gig, a theatrical collaboration conceived by Jane Horrocks and Aletta Collins, and directed and choreographed by Aletta Collins. The Young Vic is looking to meet with male dancers who have an excellent contemporary technique, strong improvisation skills and a willingness to contribute to the process.

With regards to show information, Jane Horrocks stars in this world premiere of a show unlike any you have previously seen. As an eclectic part gig, part dance piece, at its heart is the nation’s sweetheart Jane Horrocks who will sing her own gritty and soulful versions of the new wave music she grew up with in the North West. With gorgeously evocative choreography by director Aletta Collins, a company of brilliant dancers and a fabulous live band, If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me follows a woman’s life through desire, love, motherhood and loss, with the energy of the best night out.

To apply, submit a brief cover letter (maximum 250 words) explaining your interest and what you feel you would bring to the company, in addition to your CV with headshot and an online link to your showreel, if applicable. Applicants travelling inside the UK or internationally are required to arrange their own travel and accommodation for the audition, and I nternational applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

English National Ballet has worked closely with the University of Roehampton to see a second phase of breakthrough research uncovered into the effects of dance on people with Parkinson’s Disease. English National Ballet presented the findings from Dance for Parkinson’s: An Investigative Study 2, at the Evidence of Impact: Moving Forward symposium, live-streamed on 27 October.

As a UK leader for Dance for Parkinson’s, English National Ballet has been working with people with Parkinson’s since 2010, the first major dance company in the UK to do so. Its Parkinson’s programme offers people with the disease, as well as their carers, friends and family members, the opportunity to engage in high quality artistic dance activity, inspired by the Company’s repertoire and with live music.

Through weekly classes held in London and regional hub partner venues, the Dance for Parkinson’s programme has proven to support people with Parkinson’s to exercise, develop confidence, strength, and potentially lessen the interference of symptoms on everyday life. Classes are expressive, creative and promote feelings of freedom from the physical and social constraints of having Parkinson’s.

The mixed-method research of the university in collaboration with the ballet company collected quantitative and qualitative data from the London and national programmes, to understand more about physical, psychological, social, and emotional changes as a result of participating. The results are groundbreaking, and suggest that dance activity is of great benefit to sufferers. These benefits include helping people nurture a physically and socially active lifestyle, nurturing a feeling of capability, aiding fluency of movement, postural stability, and decreased amount of freezing temporarily, as well as offering a positive environment where there is a community of support through dance.

Aside from such positive benefits, the study also showed that participants saw trends towards less interference of symptoms on everyday life, an improved certainty about future life, including maintaining social relationships, having hope for the future, continuing to learn new things and developing self-confidence. As a result the study concludes that dancing offers participants a physical activity that resonates deeply on intellectual, social, and emotional levels, benefiting further participants in the future.

Producers of the popular show American Idiot, currently playing in the West End, have confirmed that Green Day’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical will embark on a national tour from 19 March 2016, following its critically acclaimed London run. The show, which is currently running at the Arts Theatre, will begin it’s tour at the Curve Theatre, Leicester, with other confirmed venues including the Palace Theatre, Manchester; New Theatre, Cardiff; Kings Theatre, Portsmouth; New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham; Exeter Northcott Theatre; Sunderland Empire and King’s Theatre, Glasgow.

Further venues and casting are yet to be announced, however Amelia Lily (star of the The X Factor) has confirmed that she will reprise her role of Whatsername from 5 April at the Palace Theatre, Manchester. Touring the production will mean bringing the show to a wider audience who haven’t had a chance to see it in London, something Lily is particularly looking forward to. She is a singer who finished third on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, and her debut single, “You Bring Me Joy”, was released in 2012, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart. American Idiot is Lily’s West End debut and she previously starred as the Narrator in the UK tour of Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The musical – which features the music of Green Day with the lyrics of its lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, and a book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer – opened in London in July. The show is directed and choreographed by Racky Plews, with musical supervision by Richard Morris. It tells the story of three boyhood friends, each searching for meaning in a post 9-11 world and features hit songs including “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” “21 Guns” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and the title track “American Idiot”.

An all-too frequent sight, be it at once-a-week dance classes, competitions or even staged performances, is a parent who is more invested in dance than their offspring. Whilst wanting the child to achieve their best through dance is in no way a negative thing, doing so at the expense of enjoyment however will unfortunately not glean the best response as expected from stage parents.

As demonstrated on the popular TV series ‘Dance Moms’, here mothers of their dancing children morph into monsters, turning a hobby into something far from the meaning of the word. Despite the fact the young dancer may want to make their hobby their profession in the future, many would advocate it is the parent’s job to keep the child’s feet on the ground and add some perspective to their life in dance.

Stage mothers and fathers are in no way the norm for the dance experiences of children, but they are definitely a reality. Naturally, it is important for parents to want to encourage and develop any talent and enjoyment for the activity that they recognise in their child, yet it is often the parent – rather than the child – who loses focus of what dance, in all aspects of the word, is truly about.

With young dance students, it is important to give them the freedom to be children and discover their own talents and goals. By pushing them to do what the parent thinks they are capable of will quickly become a negative experience, rather than being patient and supportive in the efforts to polish their skills and provide them with positives. Encourage children to do their best at their own pace, win or lose, rather than demanding that they to perform to any perceived standard. Empower them to achieve their goals rather than living through them, being more motivated by their progress than the child themselves.

The Curve, Leicester has announced its Spring 2016 season, with exciting highlights including a new production of Legally Blonde, alongside the already announced premiere of Breakfast at Tiffany’s starring pop star Pixie Lott. Other shows in the season include JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls (17-23 March); Kali Theatre’s The Dishonoured (10-12 March) and Zoonation’s Into the Hoods (14-15 March).

Legally Blonde The Musical, the award-winning West End and Broadway show, will run from 11 April to 14 May. Nikolai Foster will direct the production, which follows sorority sister Elle Woods who heads off to Harvard Law School to win back her boyfriend. Delighting fans, another hit tale will land in the form of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starring Lott as the iconic Holly Golightly. The show will be directed by Foster and will feature an onstage band. Truman Capote’s tale is being adapted for the stage as a “play with music”, by Tony and Olivier Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s will run at Leicester Curve’s main house from 3-12 March 2016 before touring the UK. Breakfast at Tiffany’s will then culminate with a 12-week West End run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 30 June to 17 September 2016. This stint on stage will also star Pixie Lott.

Additionally for the Curve, under the new creative partnership of chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Foster, the season will include Rupert Goold’s successful King Charles III tour. Wipers, a Curve commissioned play written by Ishy Din also features in the season. Inspired by the real life story of Khuddadad Khan, the first South Asian soldier to be awarded a Victoria Cross for his bravery at the First Battle of Ypres, the play examines the contribution made by South Asian soldiers in WWI. The production will be directed by Curve associate director Suba Das.

It has recently been announced that a new production of the classic film Dirty Dancing will return next year to tour the UK from August 2016. The production, which premiered in Milan in July 2015, will be directed by the artistic director of Milan’s Teatro Nazionale, Federico Bellone, with choreography by Gillian Bruce.

While next year will mark the tenth anniversary of the original stage show, the new UK production will open at the Blackpool Opera House on 11 August next year, and will then tour to Orchard Theatre, Dartford; Opera House, Swansea; Aylesbury Waterside; New Theatre, Wimbledon; Palace Theatre, Manchester; Grand Opera House, York; Carlisle Sands Centre; Northampton Derngate; Regent Theatre, Stoke; Kings Theatre, Southsea; and finishing with the Reading Hexagon in November.

The classic story of Baby and Johnny is set to delight audiences across the UK once again, with the hit musical featuring the classic songs “Hungry Eyes”, “Hey! Baby”, “Do You Love Me?” and “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life”. The production is written by Eleanor Bergstein, script writer of the successful 1987 film, and features the much-loved characters and much of the original dialogue from the iconic film, with additional scenes added.

Dirty Dancing –The Classic Story On Stage originally opened at London’s Aldwych Theatre in 2006 and had a successful run for five years. The show then embarked on its first tour, returning to the West End for a year in 2013, prior to launching a second UK and Ireland tour. Dirty Dancing is produced by Karl Sydow, Joye Entertainment and Paul Elliott, in association with Lionsgate and Magic Hour Productions. Further tour dates and casting are yet to be announced.

Mrs Henderson Presents is set to move to the big smoke of London in February next year, setting its sights on the Noel Coward Theatre. The critically acclaimed musical will arrive from the Bath Theatre Royal production, heading to London for a strictly limited season.

Mrs Henderson Presents will start previews at the Noel Coward Theatre on 9 February, officially opening on 16 February. Following a sell-out season at Bath’s Theatre Royal, Mrs Henderson Presents marks yet another West End transfer for a successful regional production. It is a new musical adaptation of the 2005 film starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, where the production tells the true story of Laura Henderson, an eccentric widow who ran a nude revue at the Windmill Theatre in London’s Soho in the 1940s. The Windmill provides a refuge for all throughout the war, boasting “We Never Close”.

During a time of great censorship, Mrs Henderson Presents sees Henderson looking for a way to spend her time and money, and her attention falls on a run-down former cinema in Great Windmill Street. Hiring the feisty Vivian Van Damm to look after the newly renovated Windmill Theatre, the bill of variety acts sees glamorous young women posing as nude statues. As war takes over, more and more is required to boost morale and the box office.

The show stars Tracie Bennett as Laura Henderson, Ian Bartholomew as Vivian Van Damm and Emma Williams as Maureen. More casting is yet to be announced. Directed by Terry Johnson, the show has lyrics by Don Black and music by George Fenton, with the film’s original music director, Simon Chamberlain, returning for the stage production. Choreography is by Andrew Wright with set design by Tim Shortall, costume design by Paul Wills and lighting design by Ben Ormerod

For many dancers, cracking joints are part of everyday life and dancers often pop them subconsciously, whether for relief in the joint or just through habit. There has been much debate as to whether this is safe, or whether the noise is simply an exaggeration of what is really going on in the joint, making it sound worse than it really is.

The hip joints are possibly the part of the body that is cracked the most, with some dancers even experiencing snapping hip syndrome. For many dancers, they simply have to crack their hips, otherwise they would struggle to turn out or get their leg up high enough; they also pop their joints because it feels good, it can help with mobility, and it can often seem truly necessary. When the hips are ‘popped’ it should not induce pain, just relief for the joint and reduce any pain that is already felt there.

There are several different ways you might pop in your hip, and this sound is from the tendons moving over the hip’s bone structure. Tendons connect muscle to bone and usually cross a joint. They are held in place by tough fascia and bony structures, but they can sometimes get temporarily caught on the joint as you are moving through a large range of motion. When this is not smooth it results in the audible “pop” and/or a pop that you can feel. This can happen either by force or on its own.

Everyone’s joints are fairly similar in shape, but how tight or loose the soft tissues are around the joint, and whether or not someone can pop their hips or not, can differ a lot between individuals. Occasional snapping of the hip is acceptable however if it is done repetitively or habitually, this can result in irritation of the tendon or inflammation of the tendon and the joint capsule. This can cause genuine pain and discomfort, tears and decreased dance function.

It is interesting that many people involved in the dance industry are unaware that Freed of London make pointe shoes, and are only aware that the factory makes Ballroom & Latin shoes, or vice versa, only having experience of one of the shoe styles. However, both aspects are covered under the one roof of the legendary factory tucked away in Hackney, east London, and it is often a pleasant surprise to visitors that the factory is constantly busy designing and producing shoes for both ballet and the ballroom floor.

From the outside the factory looks fairly modest in size, however it extends a long way back in order to incorporate a number of different rooms and activities. From the design office to the finishing room, each area is buzzing with activity. What is reassuring to customers is that all the shoes of Freed of London are, in fact, made in England, specifically in the east London factory. With high quality and craftsmanship of iconic trademarks of all the shoes that are produced by Freed, customers are safe in the knowledge they have bought something of high quality, made with love.

For pointe shoes in particular, this area of the factory is awash with the unique ‘new pointe shoes’ smell that is loved by so many dancers. There are a number of ‘makers’ for pointe shoes, each concentrating on the specifications of both catalogue pointe shoes and more bespoke orders. Part of the factory’s work is also made up of supplying ballet companies with their dancers’ pointe shoes; many dancers like to remain with one maker throughout their careers, making small changes to their shoes as per their working requirements. The hard work truly begins when a maker retires, and it is the responsibility of one person to ensure there is a smooth changeover to another maker for the dancers relying on their particular expertise.

Whilst factory tours are few and far between, there is a magical world behind those factory doors.