Curtain Call Podcast

Today, we have both a returning guest and a returning show…although not what you’d expect. Listeners of this podcast will remember Jonathan Andrew Hume from the original London Cast of the Olivier Award winning best musical “Come From Away” as one of the Kevins. He was brilliant in that show…and when I was offered a chance to speak to the incoming cast for the revival of Guys and Dolls at The Brid...

This is PART ONE of a TWO-PARTER. Listen to The Wrong Cat Died via the links below for the companion episode to this episode. Mike Abrams is the creator and host of the theatre podcast “The Wrong Cat Died’. Originally conceived as a 10-part mini series, he’s now over 150 episodes in and going strong. We’ve decided to have each other on…well…each other’s podcasts. It’s something neither of us have...

This is an attempt to answer the age old theatre questions; “Is it possible to remove expectations and worry over results and create theater that is pure execution? Is there a way to insure that every artist works only from their instinct in creating a play?” Hmm… So what if an evening was created by randomly pairing artists and have them create new plays under a nearly impossible timeline. Would...

This week, i chat to Olivier Award nominee Anoushka Lucas - actree, playwright, singer, songwriter, composer...I mean, she's defining multi-hyphenate We first had Anoushka on the podcast in 2016 when she starred in Jesus Christ Superstar at Regents Park Open Air Theatre - a critically acclaimed production which I saw twice, as once wasn't enough. And she's about to be heard again in Part II of a m...

To kick off 2024, and what seems like a year of non-stop elections…USA Presidential elections, General Election here in the UK as well as a Russian Election (if you can actually call it that)...less of that, the better, I watched 1979 at the Finborough Theatre. A scathing satire of the Canadian political landscape, and a snapshot of the 6 month reign of the infuriatingly righteous Prime Minister J...

This week, we bring you another dose of cheer in the form of our annual Christmas podcast. In the past, I have asked some of my theatrical friends to read out a classic Christmas story, with past readers such as West End stalwart Siobhan Harrison and The Walking Dead star Eleanor Matsura. This year, we have a special treat.   On the 1st of December, my family was asked to put together a series of...

This week I’m chatting with a dear friend of mine Lourdes Faberes. You may have seen Lourdes in Sandman or The Power or No Time to Die or Good Omens or…I could go on!!!! She’s an incredible actor. Lourdes is currently appearing in untitled f**k m*ss s**gon play at The Young Vic in London. Kimber Lee’s hard-hitting, but hilarious play is running now until the 4th of November. The play had its initi...

This week, I sat down with Sharlene Hector, who plays Thought 1. But you may recognize the voice as Sharlene is the lead vocalist for the band Basement Jaxx and appeared in the West End production of Hairspray.. But Sharlene can also be heard providing backing vocals for artists such as Alicia Keys, Primal Scream, Josh Groban and many, many more.  We were joined by Tendai Humphrey Sitima (Thought...

This week I am talking to a photographer who really is changing the game when it comes to headshots and self-tapes.  When I came across Charlie Frances and his AKTA photography, that is A-K-T-A and their model of a “pay what you can” for those who see a professional headshot as a barrier to entry, I had to do some research. And if their website aktaphotography.com is anything to go by, Charlie and...

There’s a new show in town, but born a few years ago… pretty much like the main character in this astonishing musical. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse: Elephant (not to be confused with the Southwark Playhouse Borough) . First appearing in London in 2019 at its sister theatre, Jethro Compton and Darren Clark’s musical is a fresh take on an old ta...

Cedering Fox is an internationally accomplished voice over artist. However, her most incredible achievement is Founding Word Theatre way back in 2003. Along with Kirsty Peart here in the UK, Word Theatre and Cedering have been casting top film, TV and theatre actors in readings of works by the world’s finest contemporary authors. Theatre talents such as Olivia Williams, Damien Lewis, Elizabeth McG...

This week, I’m chatting with cast and some of the creative team behind the world premiere of Eric Henry Sanders’ play Maybe Probably - a play about two couples as they navigate the hilarious waters of preparing to have a baby, or recently having one. We’re all either the product of this or have gone through it ourselves. Sanders isn’t new to London and UK theatre, with his work being seen in Londo...

Cottage is a gripping comic drama that has so many themes bubbling underneath the facade of two men meeting up in a public toilet. It goes beyond a queer story and commands the audience’s attention and asks questions of the viewer’s thoughts into human relationships and their deeply complicated makeup - no matter what sexual preference one might have. Cottage’s playwight, Ben Willows, sat down wit...

Earlier in the year, i was honoured to be asked to judge the 2022 Durham Drama Festival at Durham University in the UK. It was an incredible 3 days of workshops, talks, networking events…but most importantly new theatre written, directed and performed by the incredible talent pool of students at Durham Uni. One of the stand out plays was Em Oliver’s “Beautiful Nothing”. A one-woman show bringing i...

Director Ben Mole has put together an incredible ensemble cast for his latest project, "Code of Silence" - a feature film surrounding the events that led to the arrest and incarceration of the legendary London gangland bosses, the Kray Twins, Imagine my shock at hearing good friend, the American actor Ronan Summers, was the next to follow in some pretty big footsteps in taking on the role of BOTH…...

in our Pioneer series, we’re going to be highlighting the companies that are getting the live events industries back to business and who’ve been supporting the freelancers and professionals that found themselves unable to make a living in the sector due to the pandemic. Andrew Bishop - of BishopSound - is a fascinating first guest in our Pioneer Series. I do mention in this episode that I could ha...

Alex Parker is a musical director, composer, conductor...you name it, if it has anything to do with music or musicals, Alex is all over it..and now he has his own orchestra, to boot! Alex is the musical director on a massive concert presentation of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical Sunset Boulevard in the iconic Royal Albert Hall. Sunset Boulevard is perhaps on of ALW’s most beloved scores, and in my o...

Andrew Norlen is a New York-based artist and performer, most recently on stage in the national touring company of Broadway’s Kinky Boots. During lockdown, when Andrew was at a loss as to what his performing career was going to look like when things opened up, if indeed they were ever going to open up, and when he’d ever get back to see the people he loved and worked with...he felt he needed to do...

In July 2012, a gunman opened fire on a cinema audience that had just sat down to watch a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora Colorado killing 12. Writer/Director Kate Barton, actors Hannah Schunk-Hockings, David Austin Barnes as well as original designer Matthew Jennings take us through the journey of the verbatim play Screen 9 so far, and how they’re looking forward to their ru...

The Come From Away team didn’t want to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the events of September 11th 2001, without sitting down with the current West End company and really drilling down into their personal experiences of that day.  Come From Away tells the story of how the inhabitants of a small, rural community on a Canadian Island came to be involved in a musical that transformed one of the...

“Welcome to the Rock!” is a behind the curtain peek of the multi-award winning musical Come From Away - and what it takes to get a show from a seed of an idea all the way to a Broadway hit and beyond. In this episode, meet the real inhabitants of Gander, Newfoundland and the Come From Away’s that you see on stage in the musical, including Captain Beverley Bass, Sheriff Oz Fudge and many more.  The...

“Welcome to the Rock!” is a behind the curtain look at the musical hit Come From Away. Listen to the incredible real-life story of the passengers from all over the world that were grounded in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland in the wake of the events of 9/11. In the first episode, the creative team behind Come From Away discuss their personal experiences on the journey of the musical. In thi...

Listeners to Broadway Radio’s “Today on Broadway” will recognise Grace, as she has recently joined the line up alongside Matt Tamanini and Ashley Stevens. Grace Aki is an actress, stand up comedienne and podcaster in her own right - you can find her podcast “Tell Me on a Sunday” on all good streaming platforms. Grace Aki is a powerhouse. The energy she brings to every episode of Today on Broadway...

This week’s guests are Bristol's The Wardrobe Ensemble - a group of young theatre makers who met whilst studying drama. They create new pieces that explore modern themes through intimate storytelling, with the Wardrobe Ensembles’ nine core members garnering praise up and down the country for their innovative productions. With their shows cut short because of the COVID pandemic, this group of young...

2021 had felt like a beacon of hope, and the new year promised the restart we were all waiting for. But as the year ticked over, shows programmed for the new year, for Spring for Summer even well into the future that started to feel uncertain, then impossible, and inevitably, they were cancelled too. According to current government guidelines, supposedly, theatres will be able to reopen in a few w...