In the 'House Seats'

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At the time of recording, Tara had finished as director for Falsettos at the Other Palace theatre, which was the winner of the Whatsonstage Best Off West End Musical. She is currently associate director/choreographer for Come from Away in the West End.

Tara's director credits include: The Producers (China); Little Shop of Horrors (UK Tour); Peter Pan and Cinderella (Poole); Miss Saigon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Who’s Tommy and Sister Act (Isle of Man) and Cats (Channel Islands).

Her associate director credits include: Motown (West End and UK Tour); Memphis (Shaftesbury); Sister Act (UK Tour); Sunday in the Park with George (Menier Chocolate Factory, Wyndham’s and Broadway) and High School Musical 1 and 2 (UK Tours).

She was resident director for 9 to 5: the Musical (UK Tour); Hair (Gielgud); Grease (Scandinavia) and The Fully Monty (UK Tour) and assistant choreography for Tick Tick…Boom! (Menier Chocolate Factory and Los Angeles) and Adrift in Macao (Off-Broadway).

Her workshop experience includes: Allegiance and Frozen (New York).

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Bill Deamer is one of Britain's leading choreographers whose extensive training is grounded in ballet, jazz and tap. He is the first-choice go-to choreographer for period choreography.

He started his career when, employed as lead dancer in a production of Cabaret in the West End (choreographed and directed by his mentor Dame Gillian Lynne OBE), he was offered an opportunity to choreograph his own version of Cabaret at Salisbury Playhouse. From there he has never looked back…

He was reunited with Gillian Lynne when he was invited by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Trevor Nunn to create the new tap choreography for the critically-acclaimed production of Cats at The London Palladium in 2014 (which has subsequently run world-wide). Other notable productions include The Boy Friend (Menier Chocolate Factory), Top Hat (For which Bill won the Olivier Award for Best Choreographer), the 50th Anniversary UK Tour of The Sound of Music, Evita at the Dominion Theatre, UK/European revival Saturday Night Fever and the acclaimed Follies at The National Theatre directed by Dominic Cooke, for which Bill was nominated for his third Olivier Award. 

Bill is also a very successful choreographer for film & television – His keen eye for the camera has served him well, most notably for So You Think You Can Dance, ITV’s All Star Musicals and the hit BBC series Strictly Come Dancing, where he continues to contribute featured group professional routines and Charlestons.

Throughout his career Bill has also become an expert on Fred Astaire, one of his dance idols. He directed and choreographed the first-ever tribute to Fred at the London Palladium, and has appeared in ITV Perspectives programme For the Love of Fred Astaire. 

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Norma has had a long and amazing career in theatre, film and TV.

In theatre, Norma  played  Emily Whitman in Follies at the National Theatre directed by Dominic Cooke also Liesl at the print room in Babettes Feast directed by Bill Buckhurst , Abuela Claudia in In the Heights directed by Luke Lheppard.

Her West End credits include, Les Miserbles, Nine, Pirates of Penzance, Matador, Daisy Pulls It Off, Cats, Chicago, Evita and Oklahoma directed by Jamie Hammerstein and in repertory, Rocky Horror Show, Fiddler On The Roof and Stepping Out.

TV credits include, Sister Berthe in the live recording of The Sound Of Music for ITV directed by Coky Giedroyc, Rome directed by Alan Coulter, Judge John Deed directed by Steve Kelly, Mrs Stubbs in Chuckle Vision, directed by Jack Jameson, Genie In The House directed by Rob MacGillvray, The Biz directed by David Andrews, Hale and Pace directed by Peter Orton, Practcie Makes Perfect directed by Charles Garland, Eastenders directed by Michael Owen Morris, Friday Night Project directed by Steve Smith and Spy Series directed by John Bird

Norma has also appeared in Beauty and the Beast directed by Bill Condon, Irini Meryl Streeps Housekeeper in Mamamia directed by Phyllida Llyod, Mother Whore in Les Miserables directed by Tom Hooper, Bronwen in Mortdecai directed by David Koepp, Mrs Grimm in The Story Of…. Directed by James Abadi, The Kid directed by Nick Moran, Yentl directed by Barbra Streisand

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Stephan is a Welsh Italian Tenor who trained at The Royal Academy of Music London, graduating with a Masters Degree in Opera, under the tutelage of Ryland Davies. Prior to this, he gained his initial degree in Music from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance

His operatic works to date include The Barber of Seville (Glyndebourne), The Magic Flute (Glyndebourne), La Damnation de Faust (Glyndebourne), Cendrillon (Glyndebourne), La Traviata (Glyndebourne), Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne), Madama Butterfly (Glyndebourne), Saul (Glyndebourne), Vanessa (Glyndebourne), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Glyndebourne), The Cunning Little Vixen (Glyndebourne), The Rake's Progress (Royal Academy Opera), La Traviata (GO Opera), La Cenerentola and Eugene Onegin (Bury Court Opera).

Stephan has performed with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne and has undertaken master classes with Susan Bullock, Matthew Rose, Sarah Connolly, Dennis O'Neill and Gerald Finley. He has also performed in various venues across the UK and Europe, including the Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Monasterio de SanLorenzo del Escorial, Madrid and The Royal Palace of La Almudaina, Mallorca.

Stephan made his BBC Proms debut in 2016 performing Rossini's Semiramide at the Royal Albert Hall with Opera Rara, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. He also performed in Glyndebourne’s The Magic Flute at the BBC Proms 2019. Stephan is also a member of the extra chorus at English National Opera.

Stephan’s most recent engagements have included Handel’s Saul at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, and also traveling the world as a lead production vocalist on board the luxury cruise line Silversea.

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In this podcast Loliya talks to Craig about her initial training as an athlete, teaching science in various London secondary schools and then her passion about the importance of good nutrition and regular exercise to support health which led her to retrain as a nutritional therapist

She also trained to become a personal trainer, remedial and soft tissue massage therapist, pilates teacher and an oxygen advantage breathing instructor. 

With all this knowledge she developed an eating and exercise regime that worked to reset her hormones, manage her weight and enjoy her life more. She is now passionate about supporting women in their 50s, who are fed up with feeling frumpy and want to reclaim their confidence, look and feel great in their clothes again and enjoy their lives more. 

Craig discusses with her how this knowledge can benefit those training to become performers and dancers. For more information then visit her website at https://loliyaharrison.co.uk

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Ian was born in Blackpool and at the age of twelve was lead singer on the re-recording of the Queen song, Who Wants To Live Forever, for Brian May and EMI records.

After dance training with television choreographer Phil Winston and travelling weekly from the North to London for singing lessons with the renowned Ian Adam, Ian was contracted as a performer in the West End at the age of seventeen. 

Performance credits included Mungojerrie in Cats, Flat Top and cover Rusty in Starlight Express, Napthali in Joseph, and swing in Fame.

He was then asked to create the songs for the soundtrack of the award winning Eclipse Circ Musical back in Blackpool. 

The show was featured on the Royal Variety Performance at the Lyceum Theatre in which Ian played the leading role of the Narrator. 

He then qualified as a singing teacher with the London College of Music and became a member of the British Voice Association, from there he was invited to be head of Musical Theatre at Theatreworks college and stayed for 8 years training students, many of which have had glittering showbiz careers.

He then composed his audition song album, The Good Singer, which was launched at Dress Circle in London, the album featured many of his former pupils and other Professional Artists. 

Being I.D.T.A. dance trained throughout, Ian then started on the road to become a theatre dance Examiner. He was also involved in writing their Musical Theatre and Acting Syllabi, and is the author of the book Sing Sing Sing which encourages dance teachers to get involved in Musical Theatre. He has also just completed 2 years as Chairman of their Theatre Craft faculty, and has served on the Board of Directors for two years also.

Following the challenging experience of Professional choreography for A Chorus Line and the musical version of Peter Pan at the Lowry Theatre Manchester, his knowledge in the field of co-directing and staging had been enhanced.

This lead him to opening his own Theatre School in the Midlands. There he arranged music, and wrote ten original scripts for the productions. 

After handing the school over to a former pupil, he now teaches singing privately from home in Stratford Upon Avon, and continues to write and compose in preparation for an exciting workshop next year. 

Trivia.

Ian loves Victorian history and Georgian buildings, and so volunteered and worked part time for seven years at two National Trust properties, and at the Church where Shakespeare is buried in Stratford Upon Avon.

Ian has not flown for 20yrs, he can’t get his head around it, but he is becoming obsessed with Cruises, mainly setting sail from the UK!

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After training at Laine Theatre Arts in London, Ashley has gone on to have an amazing career in theatre, TV and film.

He has appeared in numerous musicals in the West End including Fame, Billy Elliot, Wicked, Chicago and High School the Musical. He was dance captain in Monty Python Live (Mostly) at the O2 and principal dancer and vocalist in the original cast of Drunk for the McOnie Company.

Recently moving to the US, he has now notched up An American in Paris, resident choreographer in the original cast of King Kong and associate choreographer for Jesus Christ Superstar all on Broadway and he is now in the process of rehearsals for the original cast of Diana the Musical which will also open on Broadway later in the year.

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Rhys was born in Manchester and played Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre in the West End at the age of 12. He then went on to train at Centre Pointe in Manchester.

In 2017, became the winner of the BBC Young Dancer Competition within the ballet section. That same year he also joined the English National Ballet.

In 2019 he was an Emerging Dancer finalist and also the winner odf the people's choice award.

His favourite roles to date are The Mad Hatter in Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Oberon in Ashton’s The Dream and Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated.

For more information: https://www.ballet.org.uk/people/rhys-antoni-yeomans/ 

Sorry for the sound quality on this podcast but this was due to the interview being conducted outside on a mobile phone.

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Born in Whitechapel, raised in Essex, Lisa attended drama and ballet classes from an early age. Going onto train at the Italia Conti Academy before graduating and venturing into the big wide world! She has had a varied career from stage, screen, TV, cruise ships, and an abundance of fascinating 'day jobs!'

Her musical theatre credits include Miranda in The Return to the Forbidden Planet which is the musical adaptation of The Tempest, Grease, Debbie Does Dallas the musical, The Rat Pack, The Rocky Horror Show, Footloose, Fame and as The Green Girl in Shout the musical.

Her acting credits include Carla in a two handed thriller Wasp, Lisa in Wastwater, Lilly White in The Two Faces of Agent Lacy and she also played the part of Tracy Walsh in the BBC Drama White Gold.

After making the decision to move across the Atlantic to Los Angeles, Lisa was cast to perform at the Hollywood fringe festival. From this, other jobs came in and she was offered the role of Maggie Clap in The Mollyhouse. While she was there she became an invited member of the prestigious BAFTA LA Newcomers programme.

Now back in the UK after three years in LA, Lisa talks to Craig about her life, her career and her online dating during lockdown.

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After her training at Laine Theatre Arts, Pip went onto to have a very successful career in musicals such as Mack and Mabel, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Thoroughly Modern Millie before becoming assistant choreographer for Parade at Donmar Warehouse, Shrek UK and Ireland Tour and Beautiful - The Carole King Musical and is currently associate choreographer for the UK production of Frozen at the Theatre Royal Dury Lane. 

She was also a resident dancer for 6 yrs, Stars in their Eyes for Granada TV, appeared in numerous commercials and has worked with Kenneth Branagh on many of his stage and film productions.