Podcast appearances and mentions of rose bruford

This week on Skip the Queue, we're stepping into the turret and turning up the tension, as we explore one of the UK's most talked-about immersive experiences.Our guest is Neil Connolly, Creative Director at The Everywhere Group, who have brought The Traitors Live Experience to life. With over 10 million viewers watching every betrayal, backstab and banishment on the BBC show, expectations for the live version were nothing short of murderous.So, how do you even begin to transform a TV juggernaut into a thrilling, guest-led experience? Let's find out who's playing the game… and who's about to be banished…Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on LinkedIn. Show references: The Traitors Live website: https://www.thetraitorslive.co.uk/Neil's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-connolly-499054110/Neil Connolly is a creative leader of design and production teams focused on development, production and installation of live theatre, entertainment, multi-media and attractions for the themed entertainment industry worldwide.Neil began his career as a performer, writer, producer & artist in Londons alternative theatre/art scene. It was during this time Neil developed a love and passion for story telling through the platform of interactive playable immersive theatre.Having been at the vanguard of playable & immersive theatre since 2007, Neil had a career defining opportunity in 2019 when he devised, wrote & directed an immersive experience as part of Sainsbury's 150th Birthday Celebrations. Making him the only immersive theatre & game maker in the world to have HRH Elizabeth Regina attend one of their experiences.In a distinguished career spanning 20 years, Neil has brought that passion to every facet of themed entertainment in the creative direction and production of attractions such as; Handels Messiah, Snowman & The Snowdog, Peppa Pig Surprise Party, Traitors Live, The Crystal Maze Live Experience, Tomb Raider Live Experience & Chaos Karts, an AR go-kart real life battle. Other clients and activations include: Harrods, Sainsbury's, Camelot/The National Lottery, Samsung, Blenheim Palace, Land Rover and Warner Brothers.Neil has worked across 4 continents for many years with private individuals; designing, producing and delivering live entertainment on land, sea & air. A world without boundaries requires freethinking.Neil is currently working with Immersive Everywhere on creative development of show and attraction content for projects across U.K, Europe, North America & Asia. Transcriptions:  Paul Marden: This week on Skip the Queue, we're stepping into the turret and turning up the tension as we explore one of the UK's most talked about immersive experiences.Paul Marden: Our guest is Neil Connolly, Creative Director at The Everywhere Group, who've brought The Traitor's live experience to life. With over 10 million viewers watching every betrayal, backstab and banishment on the BBC show, expectations for the live version were nothing short of murderous. So how do you even begin to transform a TV juggernaut into a thrilling guest-led experience? Let's find out who's playing the game and who's about to be banished.Paul Marden: So, we're underground. Lots of groups running currently, aren't they? How did you make that happenNeil Connolly: Yeah, so now we're two floors under us. There's a lower basement and some other basement. So the building that we are in, there's a family in the 1890s who owned all of the land around Covent Garden and specifically the Adelphi Theatre.Paul Marden: Right.Neil Connolly: And they wanted their theatre to be the first theatre in the UK to have its lights powered by electricity. So they built their own private power station in this building. Like, literally like, all this, this is a power station. But unfortunately for these the Savoy had taken to that moniker, so they quickly built their important institution. The family had this building until the 1980s when the establishment was assumed through the important UK network.Neil Connolly: And then it was sat there empty, doing nothing for 40 years. And so the landlord that is now started redeveloping the building 10 years ago, added two floors onto the top of the building. So now what we're in is an eight-storey structure and we've basically got the bottom four floors. Two of which are ground and mezzanine, which is our hospitality area. And the lower two floors, which are all in the basement, are our experience floors. What we're looking at right now is, if you look off down this way to the right, not you people on audio, but me here.Neil Connolly: Off this side is five of the round table rooms. There's another one behind me and there's two more upstairs. And then I've got some Tretters Towers off to the left and I've got my show control system down there.Neil Connolly: On the floor above me, we've got the lounges. So each lounge is connected to one of the round table rooms. Because when you get murdered or banished, one of the biggest challenges that I faced was what happens to people when they get murdered or banished? Because you get kicked out of the game. It's not a lot of fun, is it? Therefore, for me, you also get kicked out of the round table room. So this is a huge challenge I face. But I built these lounge concepts where you go— it's the lounge of the dead— and you can see and hear the round table room that you've just left. We'll go walk into the room in a while. There's lots of interactivity. But yeah, super fun. Neil Connolly: But unfortunately for these the Savoy had taken to that moniker, so they quickly built their important institution. The family had this establishment until the 1980s when the establishment was considered through the important UK network.Paul Marden: Yeah. So we've got 10 million people tuning in to Traitors per episode. So this must be a lot of pressure for you to get it right. Tell us about the experience and what challenges you faced along the way, from, you know, that initial text message through to the final creation that we're stood in now.Neil Connolly: So many challenges, but to quote Scroobius Pip on this, do you know Scroobius Pip? Paul Marden: No. Neil Connolly: Great, he's amazing. UK rapper from Essex.Neil Connolly: Some people see a mousetrap and think death. I see free cheese and a challenge.Neil Connolly: There's never any problems in my logic, in my thinking. There's always just challenges to overcome. So one of the biggest challenges was what happens to people when they get murdered or banished. The truth of the matter is I had to design a whole other show, which happens after this show. It is one big show. But you go to the Lounge of the Dead, there's more interactivity. And navigating that with the former controller, which is O3 Media and IDTV, who created the original format in the Netherlands, and basically designing a game that is in the world and follows the rules of their game with some reasonable adjustments, because TV and live are not the same thing.Neil Connolly: It takes 14 days to film 12 episodes of The Traitors. Paul Marden: Really? Okay. Neil Connolly: So I was like, how do I truncate 14 days of somebody's life down into a two-hour experience and still deliver that same impact, that same power, that same punch?Paul Marden: Yep.Neil Connolly: But I knew from the beginning of this that it wasn't about time. There is a magic triangle when it comes to the traitors, which is time, space, atmosphere. And time was the thing that I always struggled with. I don't have a Scottish cattle show, and I don't have two weeks. No. So I'm like, 'Cool, I've got to do it in two hours.' So our format follows exactly the same format. We do a breakfast scene, then a mission, then a roundtable banishment, then there's a conclave where the traitors meet and they murder somebody. And I do that in a seven-day structure, a seven-day cycle. But it all happens within two hours around this round table.Neil Connolly: I'm the creative director for Immersive Everywhere. We're a vertically integrated structure in the sense that we take on our own venues. So we're now standing in Shorts Gardens in the middle of Covent Garden. So we've leased this building. We've got a lease that is for a number of years and we have built the show into it. But we also identify the IP, go after that ourselves, we capitalise the projects ourselves. We seek strategic partners, promoters, other people to kind of come involved in that journey. But because we're also the team that are licensing the product, we are also the producers and I'm the creative director for that company. So I developed the creative in line with while also getting the deal done. This is incredibly unusual because other producers will be like, 'Hey, I've identified this IP and I've got it.' Now I'm going to approach a creative agency and I'm going to get them to develop the product. And now I've done all of that, I'm going to find someone else to operationally put it on, or I'm going to find a venue to put it on in, and then I'm going to find my ticketing partner.  But we don't do that. We have our own ticketing platform, and we have our own database, so we mark our own shoulders.Neil Connolly: As well as other experiences too. Back, we have our own creative industry, we are the producers, we are the female workers. So we cast it, we hire all the front of house team, we run the food and beverage, we run the bars. The operations team is our operations team because they run the venue as well as the show at the same time. So that's what I mean. We're a vertically integrated structure, which means we do it, which makes us a very unusual proposition within... certainly within the UK market, possibly the world. It makes us incredibly agile as a company and makes us to be able to be adaptive and proactive and reactive to the product, to the show, to the market that we're operating in, because it's all under one roof.Neil Connolly: This show started January 24th, 2023. Right. It's very specific because I was sitting on my sofa drinking a lovely glass of Merlot and I had just watched... UK Traitors, Season One. Yep. Because it came out that Christmas. Immediately I was like, 'Oh my God, this is insane.' And then I got a text message that particular night from our head of licensing, a guy named Tom Rowe, lovely man. And he was like, Neil, I'm at a licensing event with some friends of mine and everyone's talking about this thing called Traitors. I've not watched it. Have you watched it? Sounds like it might be a good thing. And so I sat back and drank my Merlot. And about five minutes later, I text him back and I was like, Tom, get us that license.Neil Connolly: And then I sent him a bunch of other details of how the show in my head would work, both from a commercial standpoint, but also from a creative standpoint, because I'm a commercially minded creative. Right. So I instantly took out my notebook and I started writing down exactly how I thought the show was going to do, the challenges that we would face and being able to translate this into a live thing. But I literally started writing it that night. And then he watched the first episode on the train on the way home. And then he texted me the next morning and he was like, 'I love it.' What do we need to do? And I was like, 'Get us in the room.' Two days later, we were in the room with all three media who own the format globally.Paul Marden: Okay.Neil Connolly: So we sat down and then they came to see one of our other shows and they were like, 'Okay, we get it now.' And then that was like two and a half years of just building the show, getting the deal done and facing the myriad of challenges. But yeah, sometimes it just starts with the text message.Paul Marden: So they get to experience all the key parts of the TV.Neil Connolly: All the key beats. Like right now, I'm holding one of the slates. They're not chalkboard slates. Again, this is... Oh, actually, this is a good challenge. So in the TV show, they've got a piece of slate and they write on it with a chalkboard pen. This seems so innocuous and I can't believe I'm talking about this on a podcast.Neil Connolly: Slategate was like six months of my life. Not in its entirety, but it was a six month long conversation about how we do the slates correctly. Because we do... 48 shows a day, six days a week. And those slates will crack. They will bash. And they're kind of a bit health and safety standards. I was like, can't have them. Also, they write on them with chalk pens, white ink chalk pens. But in the TV show, you only do it once a night. Yeah.Paul Marden: And then you have a producer and a runner.Neil Connolly: They just clean them very, very leisurely and set them back for the next day. And I was like, no, I've got to do a whole bunch of roundtable banishments in two hours. So we talked a lot about material, about style, literal viewership, because if you take a seat at the table. Yeah. If you're sitting at the table here, you'll notice that we've got a raised bit in the middle. If I turn mine around, the other person on the other side can't see it. So I was like, 'Okay, cool.' So we had to do a whole bunch of choreography. But also, the room's quite dark. Yes. At times, atmospheric. Yeah. In that magic triangle time-space atmosphere. So anything that was darker, or even that black slate, you just couldn't read it. And then there was, and then I had to— this is the level of detail that we have to go into when we're designing this kind of stuff. I was like, 'Yeah, but I can't clean off these slates with the white ink because everyone will have to have like a wet cloth chamois. Then I've just got loads of chamois around my venue that I just don't need.' And so then we're like, 'Oh, let's use real slates with real chalk.' And I was like, 'No, because dust will get everywhere.' I'll get chalk just all over my table. It'll just ruin everything. It'll ruin the technology that's inside the table because there's lots of hidden tricks inside of it. Paul Marden: Is there really? Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Neil Connolly: There's loads of hidden tricks inside the table. So after a while, going through many different permutations, I sat down with Christian Elenis, who's my set designer and my art director. And we were, the two of us were nearly in tears because we were like, 'We need,' and this only happened like.Neil Connolly: I would say two, three weeks before we opened. We still hadn't solved how to do the slate, which is a big thing in the show. Anybody who's seen the show and loves the show knows that they want to come in, they want to write somebody's name on the slate, and they want to spell the name incorrectly.Neil Connolly: Everyone does it on purpose. But I wanted to give people that opportunity. So then eventually we sat down and we were like, Christian, Neil. And the two of us in conversation went, why don't we just get a clear piece of Perspex, back it with a light coloured vinyl. And then Christian was like, 'Ooh,' and I'll make it nice and soft and put some felt on the back of it, which is what I'm holding. And then why don't we get a black pen? And we were like, 'Yeah,' like a whiteboard marker. And then we can just write on it. And then A, I can see it from the other side of the table. Thing one achieved. Two. Every marker pen's got an eraser on the top of it. I don't know why everyone thinks this is important, but it is. That you can just rub out like that, and I'm like, 'There's no dirt, there's no mess, and I can reuse this multiple times, like dozens of times in the same show.' And I know that sounds really weird, but that's the level of design I'm going to need.Paul Marden: I was just about to say, and that is just for the chalkboard. Yeah. Now you need to multiply that. How many decisions?Neil Connolly: How many decisions in each game. But also remember that there are eight round tables in this building. Each round table seats 14 people. And we do six sessions a day. So first ones at 10 a. m. Then we do 12, 2, 4, 6, and 8 p. m. So we do 48 shows a day, six days a week.Paul Marden: I love the concept that these are shows. This is not this is not visitor attraction. This is theater repeated multiple times a day for multi audience is concurrently.Neil Connolly: And I've just spent five minutes describing a slate to you. Yeah. But like, I haven't even got— it's like the sheer amount of technology that is in the show. And again, theatrical, like, look above our heads. Yeah. You've got this ring light above every seat. It's got a pin light. There's also microphones which are picking up all the audio in the room, which again is translating to the lounge of the dead. Every single one of the round table rooms has four CCTV cameras. Can you see that one in the corner? Each one of them is 4K resolution. It's quite high spec, which is aimed at the opposite side of the table to give you the resolution in the TV. In the other room. Then you've got these video contents. This is constantly displaying secret information through the course of the show to the traitors when they're in Conclave because everyone's in blindfolds and they took them off. They get secret instructions from that. There's also a live actor in the room. A live actor who is Claudia? They're not Claudia. They're not pastiches of Claudia. They are characters that we have created and they are the host of The Traitor's Game. Right. They only exist inside this building. We never have them portrayed outside of this building in any way whatsoever.Neil Connolly: They are characters, but they live, they breathe— the game of Traitors, the world of Traitors, and the building that we have designed and constructed here. And they facilitate the game for the people. And they facilitate the game for the people. One actor to 14 people. There are no plants, even though everyone tries to tell me. Members of the public will be convinced that they are the only person that's in that show and that everyone else is a plant. And I'm like, no, because that would be insane.Neil Connolly: The only actor in the room is the host.Paul Marden: 14 people that can sit around this table. How many of them are in the same group? Are you with your friends or is it put together where there are other people that you won't know in the room? If you book together, you play together.Neil Connolly: Yes. Okay, so if you don't book 14 people... Ah, we also capped the number of tickets that you can purchase to eight. Right. So you can only purchase a maximum of eight tickets unless you do want a full table of 14, at which point you have to then purchase a VIP package because you are booking out a whole table for yourselves. The game doesn't work if there's less than 10 people at the table. So there has to be 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 people sat at a round table for the show to actually happen, for it to work. By capping the number of tickets that you book for eight, then that guarantees that strangers will be playing together. And that is the basis of strangers. Yeah, yeah. Like, you need to be sat around a table with people you know, you don't know, that you trust and you don't trust. Yeah. Fact of the matter. And do you see people turning on the others in their own group? Every single time. People think genuinely, and I love this from the public, you would think that if you're turning up as a group of eight and a group of four and a group of two, that the bigger group would just pick everybody off to make sure that someone in their group gets through to the end game.Neil Connolly: I'm sure they think that and they probably plot and plan that before they arrive on site. As soon as this game starts, gloves are off and everyone just starts going for each other. We've been open nearly two months now. I have seen, like, children murdered of their mothers.Neil Connolly: Husbands murder their wives, wives murder their husbands. I've seen, like, three generations—like, we get, because it's so intergenerational, like our lowest, the lowest age that you can play this is 12. Right. And then it's upwards. I've seen three generations of family come in and I've seen grandkids murder their own nan.Neil Connolly: Absolutely convinced that they're a traitor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%. Or they banish them. Like, it's just mental. I've also seen nans, who are traitors, murder their grandkids.Neil Connolly: Like, and this is in a room full of strangers. They're just like, 'No, I'm not going to go for Barbara, who I met two hours ago in the bar. I'm going to go for my own grandson. It's mental.'Neil Connolly: The very, very first thing that I always think about whenever I'm creating an experience or whenever I'm designing a show is I put myself in the position of 'I'm a member of the public.' I have bought a ticketNeil Connolly: What's the coolest thing that I am going to do for my money? What is my perceived value of my ticket over actually what is the value of that ticket? I wanted to give people the experience of knowing what it was like to be sitting in one of these chairs at this table and feeling their heart. The pounding in their chest and I mean, the pounding in their chest, that rush of adrenaline from doing nothing— from sitting in a chair and all you were doing was sitting in a room talking to people and your heart is going.Neil Connolly: Because you're either being accused of being a liar. And trying to defend against it. And trying to defend against it. Or you actually are lying and you're trying to whittle your way out of it. And that feeling is the most alive that you will ever feel. Not ever. Like, I'm sure they're... No, no, no. But, like, give people that opportunity and that experience, as well as, like, access to the world of traitors and the law and everything else. But also, it's like any other theme park ride. People go on roller coasters because the imminent fear of death is always there. Yeah. And you feel alive. You're like, you've got such a buzz of adrenaline. Whereas, arguably, we do exactly the same thing as roller coasters, but in a much more longer-drawn format and multiple times. Yeah. And people do feel alive. When people walk out of the show, you see them go upstairs to the bar, and they are... Yeah.Paul Marden: You've said to me already that you don't use the word 'immersive,' but you know, I'm, I'm, I'm sat. The company is called 'immersive' everywhere. I'm sat behind the scenes. Okay. I'm sat in the room and the room is hugely convincing. It's like the highest fidelity escape room type experience that I've ever sat in. It feels like I'm on set, yeah, yeah. Um, I can totally believe that, in those two hours, you can slip. I sat on a game. It was only a two-minute game at iApple, but I was being filmed by one of the team. But within 30 seconds, I'd forgotten that they were there because I was completely immersed in the game. I can believe that, sitting in here right now, you could forget where you were and what you were doing, that you were completely submerged in the reality of the land that you're in.Neil Connolly: Yeah, 100%. Like, the world does not exist beyond these worlds. And for some people, like, I have my own definition. Everyone's got a different definition of what immersive is. I've got my own definition. But... I can tell you right now, as soon as people enter this building, they're in the bar, they're kind of slowly immersed in that world because the bar is a themed bar. It's done to the same, like we designed and built that bar as well. But as soon as they start descending that spiral staircase and coming into the gameplay floors, into the show floors, they just forget the rest of the world exists. And especially when they sit down at this table, it doesn't matter. I'm sat next to you here, but you could be sat at this table with your loved one, strangers, whatever. The gloves come off and just nothing exists apart from the game that you're about to go through.Paul Marden: You've been open now for a couple of months. More success than you were anticipating, I think. So pre-sales went through the roof? Yes. So you're very happy with the results?Neil Connolly: Yeah, yeah, we were. Yeah, well, we still are.Neil Connolly: We were very confident before we'd even started building the show, like the literal structural build, because we did very well. But then that set expectations quite high because I had a lot of people that had bought tickets and I was like, 'OK, I need to put on a good show for these people. And I need to make sure that they get satisfaction relative to the tickets that they bought.' But I don't feel pressure. I do feel anxiety quite a lot. Creatively? Yeah. I mean, I meditate every day.Paul Marden: But you've created this amazing world and you're inviting people into it. And as a creative, you're opening yourself up, aren't you? People are walking into the world that you've created.Neil Connolly: Yeah, this was said to me. This is not something that I came up with myself, and I do say this really humbly, but it was something that was said to me. It was on opening day, and a bunch of my friends came to playtest the show. And they were like, 'Oh, this is your brain in a building.'Neil Connolly: And I was like, 'Yeah, I hadn't thought about that.' But yeah, it is my brain in a building. But also that's terrifying, I think, for everybody else, because I know what happens inside my brain and it's really quite chaotic.Neil Connolly: But, you know, this I am. I'm so proud of this show. Like you could not believe how proud I am of this show. But also a huge part of my job is to find people that are smarter than me at the relative thing that they do, such as the rest of my creative team. They're all so much smarter than me. My job is vision and to be able to communicate that vision clearly and effectively so that they go, 'I understand.' The amount of times that people on the creative team turn around to me and go, 'Neil, that's a completely mental idea.' If people are saying to me, 'No one's ever done that before' or 'that's not the way things are done.'Neil Connolly: Or we can do that, but we're going to have to probably invent a whole new thing. If people are saying those things to me, I know I'm doing my job correctly. And I'm not doing that to challenge myself, but everything that I approach in terms of how I build shows is not about format. It's not about blueprints. It's not like, 'Hey, I've done this before, so I'm just going to do this again because I know that's a really neat trick.' I go back to, 'I made the show because I wanted people's heart to pound in their chest while they're sitting in a chair and make them feel alive.'Paul Marden: Is that the vision that you had in your head? So you're articulating that really, really clearly. Is that the vision that you sold to everybody on, not maybe day one, but within a couple of days of talking about this? No, it was day one.Neil Connolly: It was day one. Everyone went, that's a completely mental idea. But, you know, it's my job to try and communicate that as effectively and clearly as I can. But again, I am just one man. My job is vision. And, you know, there's lighting design, sound design, art direction, there's game logic. We haven't even gotten to the technology of how this show works yet, or how this room works.Neil Connolly: Actually, I'll wander down the corner. Yeah, let's do that. But, like, there's other, like, lots of hidden tricks. Like, this is one of the games, one of the missions. In the world and the lore of the show, the round table is sacrosanct.Paul Marden: Yes.Neil Connolly: Traitors is the game. The game is in other people. I can do so many missions and there's loads of missions and they're really fun in this show. But the game is in other people. It's in the people sat on the other side of the room. But also I wanted to do a thing where people could interact directly with the set. And so I designed one of the missions to be in the round table itself.Neil Connolly: So there's a course of these moon dials, which you basically have to align through the course of it. And there are sensors built into the table so that they know when they're in the correct position. How you find out the correct position is by solving a very, very simple puzzle and then communicating effectively to a bunch of strangers that you just met.Neil Connolly: And the sensors basically read it all. And when that all gets into position, the lights react, the sound reacts, the video content reacts, the whole room reacts to you. So I wanted to give people something tangible that they can touch and they make the room react to them. Yes, it's. I mean, I've designed, I've got background in escape rooms as well, right? Um, so I've done a lot of that kind of stuff as well. So I wanted people to feel in touch, same, but like, there's more tangible props over here. Um, yeah, that is a model box of the room that we are stood in, yeah. Also, there's an exact replica of it on the other side of it. There are very subtle differences between it, and that informs one of the missions. So that is two model boxes in this roundtable room. There's one of these in every single roundtable room. So there's 16 model boxes of the show that you're stood in on the set. And again, theatre. It's a show. But it's one of the missions, because I wanted people to kind of go, 'Oh, there's a live actor in front of me.' I'm having fun. Oh, look at all these lights and all the sound. Oh, there's a model box over here. That's in theatre land and blah, blah, blah. But that is also a really expensive joke. It's a really expensive joke. And there's other, like, lots of hidden tricks.Neil Connolly: Let's go look at backstage. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.Neil Connolly: I say backstage, like how we refer to it or how I always go. I use 'I' and 'we' very interchangeably. Like right now you're on the set. Like you're on the stage. Yes. We're just wandering around a long corridor. There are round table rooms off to either side. But like, you know, there's a green room upstairs where the actors get changed, where the front of house team are, where the bar team all are. But as soon as they go out onto the show floor, they're on stage—yes, completely. We'll very quickly have a look at the gallery—yes, show control. Hi, Robbo. Do you mind if I stand in your room for the purposes of the audio? I'm talking to the technical manager, Thomas Robson. We're recording a podcast.Paul Marden: Robbo, oh yeah, okay. My mind is absolutely blown. So you've got every single room up on screen.Neil Connolly: Yeah, so that's great. There's 164 cameras—something like that. But every roundtable room has four cameras in it. Each camera is 4K resolution. So we've got cameras on all of them. We've got audio into those rooms. That's two-way, so that if show control needs to talk directly to them, they just press a button here and they can talk directly to the room itself. Mainly just like, stop misbehaving, we're watching you.Neil Connolly: We've then got cameras into all of the lounges, all of the show spaces, all the front of house, all of the bar areas, the mezzanine and back of house. And then you've got QLab running across all of the different shows. We've got backups on all of these screens. So if one... of the computers goes down, we can very quickly swap it in for a backup that's already running. We've got show control, which is, there's a company called Clockwork Dog, who, they're an amazing company. What COGS, their show control system, is doing is pulling in all of the QLab from sound, all of the QLab from lighting, and also we built our own app. to be able to run the show. So there's a whole logic and decision tree based on the decisions that the public do through the course of the game. So yes, there is a beginning, a middle, and an end in terms of our narrative beats and the narrative story of the show that we're telling people. But also that narrative can go in. Hundreds of different directions depending on the actions and the gameplay that the people do during the course of the show. So, you haven't just learned one show— you have to learn like You have to learn a world, and you have to learn a whole game.Neil Connolly: Like, there's the server, stacks, which we had to build. You had to network and cable the entire building. So we have built an entire new attraction, which didn't exist before. And also we're pulling in information from the front of house system which is also going into the show itself because again, you put your name into the iPad when you arrive on site and then you tick a box very crucially to say, 'Do you want to be selected as a trader? Yes or No.' Because in the game, it's a fundamental rule. If you say no, you cannot be selected as a traitor by the host during traitor selection. That doesn't mean you can't be recruited.Paul Marden: By the traitors later on in the game. So you could come and do this multiple times and not experience the same story because there were so many different pathways that you could go down.Neil Connolly: But also, the game is in other people. Yes. The show is sat on the opposite side of the table to you because, like, Bob and Sandra don't know each other. They'll never see each other ever again. But Bob comes again and he's now playing against Laura. Who's Laura? She's an unknown quantity. That's a whole new game. That's a whole new show. There's a whole new dynamic. That's a whole new storyline that you have to develop. And so the actors are doing an incredible job of managing all of that.Paul Marden: Thanks, Robbo. Thank you. So you've worked with some really, really impressive leading IP, Traders, Peppa Pig, Doctor Who, Great Gatsby. What challenges do you face taking things from screen to the live experience?Paul Marden: Challenges do I face? We're wandering here.Neil Connolly: So we are in... Oh, we're in the tower.Neil Connolly: Excellent. Yep, so we're now in Traitor's Tower. Good time for you to ask me the question, what challenges do I face? Things like this. We're now stood in Traitor's Tower. Paul, let me ask you the question. Without the show lights being on, so we're just stood on a set under workers, what's your opinion of the room that we're stood in?Paul Marden: Oh, it's hugely impressive. It feels like, apart from the fact you've punched the fourth wall out of the telly, it does feel like you're on set.Neil Connolly: It's a really faithful reproduction of the set. So that's kind of one of the challenges is managing the public's expectations of what they see, do and feel on site. So that I don't change the show so that people come and play the game that they're expecting to play. But making reasonable adjustments within that, because TV and live are two very, very different things. So first and foremost was making sure that we get the format right. So the game that people play, which informs the narrative of the show and the narrative structure of the show. Breakfast, mission, round table, conclave. Breakfast, mission, round table, conclave. I've designed a whole bunch of new missions that are in this, taken some inspiration from missions that people know and love from the TV shows, whether that's the UK territory or other territories around the world. And also just other stuff is just clear out of my head. So there's original content in there. paying homage and respect to the world that they've built and allowing ourselves to also play and develop and build out that world at the same time. Other challenges.Neil Connolly: This is not a cheap project. No, no. I mean, the production quality of this is beautiful. Yeah, yeah, thank you. It is stunning. When people walk in here, they're like, 'Oh my God, this is... High end.' I am in a luxury event at a very affordable price.Paul Marden: Thank you. And then we're going back upstairs again. Yes. And in the stairwell, we've got the crossed out photos of all of those that have fallen before us.Neil Connolly: No, not quite. All of the people that are in this corridor, there's about 100 photos. These are all the people who built the show.Neil Connolly: So this is David Gregory. He's the sound designer. This is Kitty, who is Immersive Everywhere's office manager. She also works in ticketing. That is Tallulah and Alba, who work in the art department. Elliot, who's our lighting designer. So all of these people are the people who brought the show to life.Paul Marden: Amazing.Neil Connolly: And we wanted to pay homage to them because some of them gave years of their lives to building the show from literally the inception that I had in 2023. Through to now and others are the people who literally spent months of their life underground in these basements building hand-building this set and so we wanted to pay homage to them so we got all of their photos we did the iconic red cross through it yeah and we stuck them all up in the corridor just because we thought it'd be a nice thing to do.Paul Marden: You're in the business of trading and experiences and that ranges from art exhibitions to touring shows. There's always going to be a challenge of balancing innovation and profitability. What is the formula? What is the magic formula?Neil Connolly: I believe, first and foremost, going back to what I was telling you earlier about us being a collaborative organisation. We are not a creative crack that has been used for the show. We are also the producers of the show. And to make my point again, I'm a commercially minded creative. So I actually sit down with the producers and go, 'Okay, cool.' There are 112 seats in the show.Paul Marden: Yep.Neil Connolly: Therefore, how many shows do we need to do per day? How many shows do we need to do per week? How many shows do we need to do per year? Therefore, let's build out a P &L. And we build a whole business plan based around that.Paul Marden: By having everybody— that you need in the team— makes it much easier to talk about that sort of stuff. It makes it much easier for you to design things with the end result in mind. You don't have a creative in a creative agency going off— feeding their creative wants without really thinking about the practicalities of delivering on it.Neil Connolly: Exactly. So you've got to think like, literally, from the very, very beginning: you've got to think about guest flow. You've got to think about throughput. You've got to think about your capacities. Then you've got to basically build out a budget that you think— how much, hey, how much really is this going to cost? Yeah. Then you build out an entire business plan and then you go and start raising the money to try and put that on. And then you find a venue. I mean, like the other magic triangle, like the traitor's magic triangle is, you know, time, space, atmosphere. That's how you do a show. Like with my producer's hat on, the other magic triangle is show, money, venue.Neil Connolly: The truth of the matter, like I make no bones about it, I can design shows till the cows come home, but I'm always going to need money to put them on and a venue to put them in. Also, I want to stress this really important. I use the words 'I' and 'we' very interchangeably.Paul Marden: It's a team effort.Neil Connolly: You can see that in that corridor. I am not a one-man band. I am the creative director of a company. I am a cog that is in that machine, and everybody is doing... We are, as a team... I cannot stress this enough. Some of the best in the business are doing what we do. And everyone is so wildly talented. And that's just us on the producing side. That's immersive everywhere, limited. Then I've got a whole other creative team. Then we've got operations. Then we've got... It's just mad. It's just mad, isn't it? This is a job. Who would have thought, when you were at school, this was an opportunity? Not my principal or my maths teacher.Neil Connolly: So, sorry, just to balance the kind of economies of scale. That was the question, wasn't it?Paul Marden: Well, we were talking about what is the formula for making that an investment, but you know, the authority here is the effort you've put in to do this feels high, but at the same time, you have to find this thing. There is a lot of investment that goes into the front.Neil Connolly: But that comes back to creatives. Caring and I'm not saying the creatives don't, but I care. I care about building businesses. Yeah, not necessarily like building my own CV, like there's so many projects that across our desks. I'll be like, 'Yeah, that'd be really fun to work on.' But do I think that I can make that a touring product? Can it be a long-running location-based entertainment sit-down product? Can it be an art shop? Like you've kind of got a balance with what do you think is just creatively cool versus what can we do as a company that is a commercially viable and financially stable product? And so all that comes through in terms of the creative, but also in terms of the activities of how we run the building, how this model realizes. Because if you think about it, let's make Phantom of the Opera run in the West End. Yes. The show is very obvious, with many casts on a room, away, fruit team away, terrace, it's a big activity. If they haven't sold half that away, they have to use the whole show and play all those people.Neil Connolly: But if they haven't sold half that away from one of my shows... I only have to activate four of my rooms, not eight of them. Therefore, I don't have to call in four actors. I don't have to call in a bunch of the other front of house team and I can scale in the operations on the back. It's an entirely scalable process. Flexible, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, 100%. But also, like, we've got eight rooms here. If we decide to take this to another territory, and that territory demands a much higher throughput, then instead of eight rooms, I can do 20 rooms, 30 rooms. As long as we know that the market is there to be able to kind of get people through it.Neil Connolly: I love this show and I'm so proud of it. The main reason why I'm proud of it is when the show finishes, let's go into one of the lounges. Have you been into one of the lounges?Paul Marden: I've had a nose around a lounge.Neil Connolly: There are different shapes and sizes. We won't go into that one. We'll go into this one down here. That one, that one. It's always such a buzz when you're stood in the bar and the shows kick out, and you see tables and tables of 14 people going up into the bar.Neil Connolly: Area and before they've even gotten a drink, they will run straight over to their friends, families, strangers, whoever they were playing with in that table of 14, and instantly be like, 'Right, I need to know everything that was going on inside your head, your heart, and your soul over the last two hours of my life because this was my experience.'Neil Connolly: And they'll just go, and they'll be like, 'And this is what I was thinking.' And then I thought it was you because you did this and you touched your nose in a weird way. And then I thought you were sending secret signals. And then everyone's like, 'No, that's not what I was doing.' I was just trying to be a normal person. And they were like, 'Well, why did you say that thing?' It sounded super weird. And they're like, 'That's just what I do.' And it's just totally mental. And then they all get a drink from the bar. And we call it the bar tab chat.Neil Connolly: It's another revenue stream.Neil Connolly: I do talk about this like it's a show. And it is a show. You've walked around, do you think it's a show? Completely. I talk to established houses all the time. Like, you know, the big theatres of the land. Organisations that are national portfolio organisations who receive a lot of Arts Council funding. The thing that they want to talk to us about all the time is new audiences. They're like, 'How do I get new audiences through my door?' What can I do? And I'm like, 'Well, firstly, make a show that people want to go and see.'Neil Connolly: Again, they're like, 'But I've got this amazing writer and he's a really big name and everyone's going to come because it's that name.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, that's wicked. That's cool.' And they can all go pay reverence to that person. That's really wonderful. Whereas when you look at the attractions landscape or the immersive theatre landscape or like anything like... Squid Game, or The Elvis, Evolution, or War of the Worlds, which has also laid reality, or any of that kind of stuff, across the landscape, it is nothing but new audiences. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is nothing but actual ticket-buying audiences.Neil Connolly: And they come from all different walks of life. And what I love is that they do come in to this experience and we hit them with this like secret theatre.Neil Connolly: And they're like, 'Oh my God.' And often it's a gateway to them being like, 'Oh, I didn't realise that.' Maybe I'll go see a Western show or maybe I will go to the National Theatre and see something. Because that's the level of archery. Because those organisations, I love them and I've worked in a few of them, but those buildings can be quite austere, even though they're open and porous, but it's still very difficult to walk through that threshold and feel a part of it.Paul Marden: Whereas coming in here, coming into an event like this, can feel like a thing that they do.Neil Connolly: Because it's the same demographic as theme park junkies. People who love going to theme parks love going to stuff like this because it's an experience, it's an otherness, it's an other nature kind of thing. Because modern audiences want to play and do, not sit and watch. But we all exist in the kind of same ecosystem. I'm not taking on the National Theatre.Paul Marden: Gosh, no. I always talk about that. I think the reason why so many attractions work together in the collaborative way that they do is they recognise that they're not competing with each other. They're competing with sitting on your backside and watching Netflix.Paul Marden: Yeah, yeah.Paul Marden: Our job for all of us is to drag people away from their screens and drag people off of their sofas to do something. And then that's the biggest challenge that we all face.Neil Connolly: I think then that kind of answers the question that you asked me earlier, which I didn't answer. And I'm very sorry.Neil Connolly: is about identifying different pieces of IP. Like, yes, we largely exist in the world of licensing IP. And how do we identify that kind of IP to be able to translate? Not just how do we do it, but like, actually, how do we identify the right thing that's going to... How do you spot the winner? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And that is one of the biggest challenges to your point of we're talking directly to people who consume arts, culture and media and technology in a slightly more passive way, whether that's just at home and watching Netflix and then bringing that to life. In a very, very different way. If you have a very clear marketing campaign that tells people what it is that they're buying and what they're expected to see or do on their particular night out, because that's what modern people really care about, what they do with their money. Yeah. And they want to have a good night out. And I'm in the business of giving people a good night out. We also happen to be murdering a lot of people in the course of the show.Neil Connolly: Still a good night out. Still a good night out. But I'm in a place where the dead sit. Yeah, exactly. Lounge of the dead. And like, you know, this is a really cool space. Oh, it's just beautiful. You know, we've got the telephone really works. There's lots of information that comes through that. The radio works, that does different things. The TV screen on the wall, that has the actual live feed into the round table room that you've just left. And there's other little puzzles and hints and tricks in this room, which means that after you've been murdered or banished and you come to the Lounge of the Dead, you're still engaged with the game to a degree. You just don't directly influence the outcome of the game. But you're still involved in it. You're still involved in it. It's super fun. Oh, and you can have a drink in here.Paul Marden: I don't let people drink in the round table. Even more important. What's this?Neil Connolly: The dolls, the creepy dolls. What this is, this is the void. Creatively speaking, this is where all the gold goes when people win or lose it. And the creepy dolls are from the TV show. Ydyn nhw'r un gwirioneddol o'r sioe? Felly, gafodd studio Lambert, sy'n gwneud y sioe tebyg, llawer o brops o'r sioe tebyg i ni eu rhoi ar y ddispleiddio yma. Felly, mae gennych chi'r Dolls Creepy o'r lles 3 yno. Rydyn ni'n mynd i fyny. Yn ôl yma, mae'r peintiwch Deathmatch.Paul Marden: Which is from season three.Neil Connolly: And they get the quill and they write the names and got the quill upstairs. We've also got over here, the cards that they used to play the death match with. Excellent.Paul Marden: So you began your career in theatre. How did that evolve into the world of immersive live experiences?Neil Connolly: Life story. I am the son of a postman and a cook. And if you haven't noticed already, I'm from Ireland. There was no theatre in our lives, my life, when I was growing up. And I stumbled into a youth theatre. It's called Kildare Youth Theatre. And the reason why I joined that is because there was a girl that I really fancied.Neil Connolly: She had just joined this youth theatre and I was like, 'Oh, I'm gonna join that as well' and that kind of opened the world of theatre for me. At the same time, I then got spotted by this guy, his name's Vijay Baton, his real name's Om, but he converted to Hare Krishnanism in the 90s. And he set up a street theatre company in Ireland. He just taught me street theatre. So he taught me stilt walk, he taught me juggling, he taught me how to build puppets. And so I spent years building puppets with him and going around Ireland doing lots of different street theatre while I was a teenager. And doing street theatre and doing my youth theatre and then kind of all of that kind of came to a head when I had to decide what I was going to do with my life. I applied to go to drama school. And I applied to two drama schools. One was Radha. Didn't get in. Didn't even get an audition. And the other one was Rose Bruford. And they took me. And the reason why they took me— I probably wasn't even that good. But on the day that I was auditioning to get into Rose Bruford was the same day as my maths exam for my final exams at school. You call them your A-levels, we call them the leaving certificate.Neil Connolly: And while all of my friends were back in Ireland doing their maths exam, I was in an audition room pretending to be a tree or the colour black.Neil Connolly: Who knows? And they kind of went, 'Well, if I fail my maths exam, I don't get into university in Ireland.' Like, it's just a blanket thing. And so I was like, 'I literally sat across the panel' and I was like, 'eggs, basket.' And they were like, 'cool.' So they let me in based off of that. So I got a classical training. Then what happened is I came out of university. I was living with two of my friends, Natalie and Joe. And we had our own little production company called The Lab Collective. And we just started making shows. In weird ways, we joined a company called Theatre Delicatessen. Let's get away from this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.Neil Connolly: So Theatre Deli was a company set up to take over disused spaces in London and convert them into art spaces.Neil Connolly: Basically legalised squatting. It's the same as like a guardianship. But we weren't living in the buildings. We were just putting on shows and we put on art shows, we put on theatre shows. We did Shakespeare for a while. We wrote our own work and we just did lots of really, really cool stuff. And I worked in music festivals, classically trained actor. So I was trying to do shows. I did a lot of devising. I also joined an improvisation group. And kind of through all that mix, like those years at Delhi, which was making these weird shows in these weird buildings, were very, very formative years for us. The Arts Council wouldn't support the kind of work that we were making. We were like, 'Cool, how do we get space?Neil Connolly: How do we get or make money to support ourselves? And what are the shows? There's the magic triangle all over again. Space, show, money. And that's your apprenticeship, I guess, that brings you to here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like, again, I make no bones about it. 10 years ago, I was selling programs on the door of the Royal Festival Hall while doing all of that stuff. So in one of the Theatre Daily buildings, we did a show called Heist, which is you break into a building and steal stuff. That's what the public do.Neil Connolly: And a bunch of us did that. I mean, it's so much fun— kind of doing it. And off the back of that, somebody else basically tried to chase down the crystal maze. And then they went away, and then they called me up and they were like, 'Hey, I've got the rights. Do you want to make the crystal maze?' And I was like, 'Yeah, sounds like fun.' So I got involved with that, did that for a while. And then, from there, this is the end of a very long story. I'm so apologised. Yeah, from there, all of those different things that I've done through the course of my life in terms of operations, designing experiences, being a creative, understanding business.Neil Connolly: Building a P&L, building a budget, talking to investors, trying to convince them to give you money. All of that stuff kind of basically came together. And over the last few years, like the wildest ride is that pre-2020.Neil Connolly: We were just a bunch of people doing a bunch of weird things, making weird shows and weird attractions in kind of different ways. And then that year happened. And I don't know what happened, but literally every single major studio, film, TV production, game designer, licensor in the world, suddenly just went— brand extensions, world extensions, and they all just started calling us. And they were like, 'Hi, I've got this thing.' Can you develop it into a thing? Because I need to extend my brand or I want to build a world and extend that for the public. And we were like, 'Yeah, okay, cool.' And we were just lucky, serendipitously, to be in the right place at the right time. To be those people that people can approach. And we're always, we're very approachable.Neil Connolly: As you can tell, I talk a lot. And, you know, so the last five years, it's just been a mad ride.Paul Marden: So look, Neil, it's been amazing. I have had the most fun. Last question for you. What's next? Are you putting your feet up now because you finished this? Or on to the next? Neil Connolly: Very much on to the next thing. So we're already in production with our new show, which is called Peppa Pig Surprise Party. And that is opening at the Metro Centre in Gateshead next year. Oh, how exciting is that? It's very exciting.Paul Marden: So quite a different demographic.Neil Connolly: The demographic for Peppa Pig is two to five year olds. It's been a really fun show to design and create. To go back to a question that you asked me very early on, there is no blueprint, there is no format. I have embraced the chaos tattooed on my arm. And always when I approach things, any new show or any new creative, I am thinking of it from a ticket buying perspective: 'I have paid my money.' What is the coolest thing that I can possibly do with that money? And so therefore, I'm now looking at families and, like, what's the coolest thing that they can do for that ticket price in the world of Peppa Pig?Paul Marden: Let's come back in the new year, once you've opened Peppa Pig, let's go to Gateshead and see that. That sounds pretty awesome to me. I reckon there's a whole new episode of Designing Worlds for two to five-year-olds that we could fill an hour on.Neil Connolly: Oh yeah, 100%. It's a totally different beast. And super fun to design.Paul Marden: Oh mate. Neil, it has been so wonderful having a wander around the inside of your crazy mind.Paul Marden: If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like it and leave a comment in your podcast app. It really does make it so much easier for other people to find us. This episode was written by Emily Burrows from Plaster, edited by Steve Folland, and produced by Sami Entwistle from Plaster and Wenalyn Dionaldo. Thanks very much. See you next week.  The 2025 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsTake the Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

Tom trained at Rose Bruford and has had an incredible career in the theatre as well as on screen. For screen he has appeared in:Starstruck 2For the BBC: Upstart Crow, The Woman in Red and Doctor WhoStar Wars Episode 7: The Force AwakensCinderella, directed by Ken BranaghMr Turner, directed by Mike Leigh, starring Timothy SpallFor theatre:Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre CompanyOliver!, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, starring Rowan AtkinsonLes Misérables, Queens Theatre playing Thenardier Matilda, RSCPinter at the PinterCyrano de Bergerac with James McAvoy, directed by Jamie LloydAmadeus, National TheatreThe Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Donmar WarehouseWaiting for Godot, playing “Lucky” at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, directed by James MacdonaldOne Man, Two Guvnors, UK Tour, West End and Broadway, playing “Alfie”Tom discusses his role in Waiting for Godot and how the play in all its elusiveness still today attracts audiences from far and wide. Considering the fact that nothing happens we talk about how the play can be interpreted in so many different ways. How each audience took something different from it than the other and how it's ambiguity makes it one of the most celebrated plays of all time. As well as his brilliantly chaotic performance as the waiter, “Alfie”, in the original cast of the hit show One Man, Two Guvnors led by James Corden. Tom talks about how they staged “Alfie's” helter-skelter actions from being hit by cricket bat to falling down a flight of stairs. All this and much more in this one, thank you Tom!Oliver GowerSpotlight Link: https://www.spotlight.com/9097-9058-5261Instagram: @goweroliverFor enquiries and requests: olliegower10@gmail.comPlease Like, Download and Subscribe ✍️Music from #InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ Track Name. Early Morning 

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, David Schaal! We chat about The Inbetweeners, being nothing like Mr. Cartwright, studying at Rose Bruford, Spotlight's application criteria, how social media is shaping the industry, TikTok, being a punk rocker, being inspired by Pinter, a corpsing problem that almost ruined David's time at Drama School, being late, auditioning for Catherine Tate, comedic inspirations, self producing, being part of a cultural phenomenon that changed a generation, David's favourite lines from The Inbetweeners, drinking bans, Greek holidays, David's new film ‘Heavenly Waters', and David tells us just how true the rumours are about a new series of The Inbetweeners.Submit your story for Stage Right or Stage Shite: https://forms.gle/1p296t4Uu1F1XVvN9Host: Ingram NobleGuest: David SchaalProducers: Heather Spiden & Ingram NobleLinks:Ingram's Instagram: @ingramnobleDavid's Instagram: @therealdavidschaalGET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE NAKED NEDS: www.thenakedneds.comPatreon: www.patreon.com/dramaschooldropout

Robert Price is a voice teacher, director, and level five advanced clinical massage therapist specialising in the voice and jaw. He trained in voice studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama before teaching and directing in many drama schools and currently serves voice users at his Vocal Massage London and at the Voice Care Centre. Robert teaches vocal massage to other teachers, osteopaths, physiotherapists, and SLTs, and he's here to help us understand how we can perform massage on ourselves and guide our clients in self-massage in the studio. KEY TAKEAWAYS Robert finds massage beneficial for stress and anxiety. He discusses how vocal massage helps shift from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state, calming the nervous system and fostering connection. Individuals should listen to their bodies and engage in self-massage with care, avoiding extremes and focusing on gentle, thoughtful touch. Robert also recommends seeking professional training for those interested in pursuing vocal massage as a practice. Robert's vocal massage techniques for stress management include gently mobilising the larynx, performing anterior neck stretches, massaging the submental region, encouraging thoughtful self-touch, using a holistic approach with whole-body techniques like Qigong, and ensuring consent-based touch. These methods promote relaxation, improve mobility, and reduce tension in the vocal area. Example Daily Routine. Morning: Start your day with a few minutes of gentle neck stretches and submental massages. Afternoon Break: Take a short break to practise deep breathing and light self-massage on your neck and shoulders. Evening: End your day with a more extended self-massage session, focusing on the entire neck and throat area, and incorporating whole-body stretches. BEST MOMENTS  "The fundamental value of massage is to move people from a sympathetic state to a parasympathetic state." "The benefits of vocal massage are subjective. It usually helps people, but quite what's happening within that is about the person." "Consent and safety are at the heart of manual therapy. The person should have agency over the touch and feel comfortable throughout the session." EPISODE RESOURCES Guest Website: Vocal Massage London : https://www.vocalmassagelondon.com Voice Care Centre : https://voicecarecentre.co.uk Vocal Massage Training : https://voicecarecentre.co.uk/vocal-massage-training/ Social Media: Instagram: @robertprice1969 Email Robert directly: robert@vocalmassagelondon.com or robertprice1869@gmail.com BAST Level 5 Singing Teacher Training Qualification BAST Book A Call Relevant Links & Mentions:  (Podcast) Singing Teachers Talk Ep.32 The Bio-Psycho-Social Model with Stephen King (Podcast) Singing Teachers Talk Ep.90 Help! I've Got a Voice Problem with Lydia Hart and  Stephen King Voice Care Centre: https://voicecarecentre.co.uk/ Stephen King at the Voice Care Centre: https://voicecarecentre.co.uk/stephen-king/ (Podcast) Singing Teachers Talk Ep.74 Understanding Manual Therapy with Walt Fritz  (Podcast) Singing Teachers Talk Ep.65 The Top Benefits of Vocal Massage with Lydia Flock  Feldenkrais Method: https://feldenkrais.com/about-the-feldenkrais-method/ Qigong Practice  ABOUT THE GUEST  Robert is a voice teacher, director, and Level 5 Advanced Clinical Massage Therapist specialising in the voice and jaw. He trained in voice studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama and has taught at RADA, LAMDA, ArtsEd, Central, East 15, Rose Bruford, and The Lir. He works at the Voice Care Centre in Soho and runs Vocal Massage London. Robert also teaches vocal massage to professionals globally. ABOUT THE PODCAST BAST Training is here to help singers gain the knowledge, skills and understanding required to be a great singing teacher. We can help you whether you are getting started or just have some knowledge gaps to fill through our courses and educational events. basttraining.com Updates from BAST Training

Do you have an agent or a manager? If you're looking for representation, it's incredibly important to find someone that aligns with your goals so they can help you get to where you want to go within Hollywood. Brian Patacca, also known as “The Representation Whisperer” helps actors get what they want without suffering. He helped 542 actors find representation (and counting!), get connected to agents or managers that have their best interest and will ultimately lead them to fulfilling their potential. His coaching clients include Tony Award-winners, Broadway stars, network Series Regulars, filmmakers, writers, and stand-up comedians. Brian has led workshops at SAG-AFTRA, universities across the globe including Northwestern, Pepperdine, PACE, Columbia College Chicago, Rose Bruford, and countless acting studios in the US and abroad. In this episode, Brian and I have a fantastic conversation about his career in Hollywood helping actors find representation. Brian has a unique perspective as the middle man between actors and agents or managers, understanding what both parties are looking for in each other. Brian talks about how his experience as a reverend impacts his work with actors, his advice for actors looking for representation, mindset tips for overcoming negative thoughts, and so much more. Tune in to Episode 53 of Hollywood Dream Maker to learn how Brian helps actors find the right representation so they can land more roles and elevate their career! In This Episode You Will Learn:About Brian's work helping actors find representation (2:31)How Brian's role as a reverend impacts his work with actors (11:10)Brian's advice for actors looking for representation (27:03)Mindset tips for overcoming negative thoughts (46:55)Brian's advice for aspiring actors (58:13) Connect with BrianInstagramFacebookWebsiteEntertainment Website - FREE WEBINARBrian Breaks Character Podcast Website Let's Connect: Manhattan Actor Studio Website See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brian Patacca helps actors get what they want without suffering. He's helped 542 actors find representation (and counting!) and is known as The Representation Whisper. His coaching clients include Tony Award-winners, Broadway stars, network Series Regulars, filmmakers, writers, and stand-up comedians. Brian has led workshops at SAG-AFTRA, universities across the globe including Northwestern, Pepperdine, PACE, Columbia College Chicago, Rose Bruford, and countless acting studios in the US and abroad. He has been a contributing expert to Backstage Magazine for over a decade. Follow Brian on Instagram @briansaysthat, check out his podcast, Brian Breaks Character, or visit www.MakeAgentsWantYou.com to watch his totally free training to help you find your perfect reps. Find Out More About Brian www.brianpatacca.com www.facebook.com/brianpataccacoach www.instagram.com/briansaysthat brianbreakscharacter.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/unemployed-actor/support

Brian Patacca helps actors get what they want without suffering. He's helped 542 actors find representation (and counting!) and is known as The Representation Whisper. His coaching clients include Tony Award-winners, Broadway stars, network Series Regulars, filmmakers, writers, and stand-up comedians. Brian has led workshops at SAG-AFTRA, universities across the globe including Northwestern, Pepperdine, PACE, Columbia College Chicago, Rose Bruford, and countless acting studios in the US and abroad. He has been a contributing expert to Backstage Magazine for over a decade. Follow Brian on Instagram @briansaysthat, check out his podcast, Brian Breaks Character, or visit www.MakeAgentsWantYou.com to watch his totally free training to help you find your perfect reps. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Brian Patacca ⌲ Website: https://brianpatacca.com/ ⌲ Website: https://makeagentswantyou.com/ ⌲ IG: https://www.instagram.com/briansaysthat/?hl=en ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ The Moving Spotlight Podcast ⌲ iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moving-spotlight/id1597207264 ⌲ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7cjqYAWSFXz2hgCHiAjy27 ⌲ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themovingspotlight ⌲ ALL: https://linktr.ee/themovingspotlight ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ #BrianSaysThat #ActressLife #ActorLife #NeedAnAgent #LAActor #NYCActor #AgentGoals #RepresentationWhisperer #AuditionMagnet #ActorOperatingSystem #Northwestern #Emmys #TVTime #iTunes #Actor #ActorsLife #Believe #Success #Inspiration #Netflix #Hulu #Amazon #HBO #AppleTV #Showtime #Acting #Artist #Theatre #Film #BragTime! #YourBestBadActing #Content #CorbinCoyle #JohnRuby #RealFIREacting #TMS_Pod --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-moving-spotlight/support

Emmy Stonelake is Ciaran's guest on this episode of 'In Lockdown With...' Emmy studied Actor-Musicianship at Rose Bruford college before beginning her career as an actor. In Summer 2021, Emmy directed pieces in the Welsh language by Sgwenwyr Ifanc Fran Wen (Fran Wen Young Writers), and is currently in Gary Owen's adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol' at the Sherman Theatre, where this episode of the podcast was recorded. Here Ciaran finds out more about Emmy and her career. 

In which we discuss Jean Benedetti; Rose Bruford and Lamda's recent NSS results and why Stanislavsky really wrote his books. Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=EKHEKXBAZBQG6¤cy_code=GBP)

Does the world of acting intrigue you? Have you wondered what training as an actor entails? or maybe you are an actor who will resonate with the wonderful conversation I have in episode 8 of Breaking Free with my former drama teacher, after twenty five years of graduating from The Guildford School of Acting.Professor Peter Barlow FRSA, has been teaching and training actors, performers, and theatre technicians for more than 30 years. A graduate of Rose Bruford, College of Speech and Drama,Peter has been responsible for representing and leading the top drama schools in the UK. His current adventure oversees the colossal Endeavour of Sharjah Performing Arts Academy as the Executive Director.In this episode, you will discover:How Peter and actor/filmmaker Gary Oldman trained together at Rose Bruford (3:33)What it was like to be a professional judge on the Olivier Awards (6:50)What led Peter to train as an actor (13:40)What happens when two actors marry (15:50)How it feels for Peter when he sees his students succeed and receive Olivier Awards (19:12)Changing old attitudes used at drama schools such as " breaking you down before building you up" (24:50)Peter describes what an amazing opportunity it has been to create and build the Sharjah performing Arts Academy (27:52)Self-taping insights (35:16)James Bond (38:52)What SPAA offers students (39:20)Resources mentioned:Royal Society of ArtsSharjah Performing Arts Academy SPAAGuildford School of ActingRose Bruford College of Speech and Drama,Connect with Peter:https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterbarlowproductionshttps://spaa.aehttps://www.facebook.com/SharjahPAA/https://www.instagram.com/sharjah_paa/Let's connect!FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInWebsiteSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Robert discusses the Meisner Technique its practise and place in the British Drama School with Dr Philippa Strandberg-Long.Philippa  has published several excellent papers on the Meisner technique : Mapping Meisner – how Stanislavski's system influenced Meisner's process and why it matters to British Drama School training today  and The reaction in counter-action: how Meisner technique and active analysis complement each other.  Which can be found here : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/20567790.2018.1437956https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20567790.2019.1576114Philippa Strandberg-Long is an acting teacher, director and researcher, originally from Stockholm, Sweden. In 1998 she moved to London to undertake the BA Acting programme at Italia Conti Academy before going on to gain experience as both an actor and director within London's theatre world. In 2008 she decided to focus on the training process itself, and has since taught Stanislavski-based acting and scene study – as well as directed productions – at many of London's drama schools. In 2011 Philippa began her service in the Italia Conti faculty, which she continued for nearly a decade. During her time at Italia Conti she co-created their Foundation course programme, whilst undertaking practical research on the Meisner technique, devising and developing a number of her own exercises along with a pedagogical foundation to underpin the technique. Philippa received her MA in Actor Training from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2012, specialising in the teaching of the Meisner technique. In 2016 Philippa was awarded a full 3-year PhD scholarship from the University of Kent to study the Meisner technique and the psychology of attention. During this time, she combined her research activities with teaching and directing, allowing her to see the practical effects of her studies and providing valuable empirical data for her research. Philippa's doctorate was awarded in early 2020, and her research has significantly furthered our understanding of the Meisner technique and its interplay with attention, self-consciousness, action-perception theory and mind-wandering. Her articles have been published in the UK, Europe and the US, and some of them in association with practitioners such as the late William Esper and the renowned Stanislavski scholar Sharon Carnicke. In 2019 and 2020 Philippa was the Course Leader and Head of Acting of Fourth Monkey's two-year actor training programme – a programme underpinned by the ethos of Meisner's principles and the concept of ‘play'. She continues to develop both her research profile and her studio practice, always putting the individual's creative potential in focus. She is currently lead acting tutor on Rose Bruford's MA in Actor and Performance Training.  Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=EKHEKXBAZBQG6¤cy_code=GBP)

Today Jade catches up with her old acting class buddy John Redman, who recounts his experience auditioning to Drama Schools. John shows that with determination and hard work you really can achieve your dreams. He shares his experience training at Rose Bruford before landing his breakout role on Londons famous West End in THE MOUSE TRAP and how it feels to tread the boards.

Today Jade catches up with her old acting class buddy John Redman, who recounts his experience auditioning to Drama Schools. John shows that with determination and hard work you really can achieve your dreams. He shares his experience training at Rose Bruford before landing his breakout role on Londons famous West End in THE MOUSE TRAP and how it feels to tread the boards.

In this special bonus episode, Alex Bingley, voice teacher, interviews Professor Nadia Kevan  about her journey and approach to integrating the Alexander Technique in to the professional training of dancers, actors and singers. Nadia Kevan  is English dancer , dance teacher , choreographer and movement teacher . She lives in Nijmegen , the Netherlands , and has been teaching at the Folkwang University in Essen , now Folkwang University of the Arts , since 1993.Kevan studied classical ballet , modern dance, dance pedagogy and voice training in England . From 1973 she was in Germany , where she danced for various theatres and worked as a freelance dancer and dance teacher in Hamburg . In the tradition of Mary Wigman and Gret Palucca , she gave her own solo dance evenings. In 1981 she came into contact with the Alexander Technique in London and then trained as a Teacher of the technique in Denmark with Karen Wentworth and Chris Stevens, which she completed in London through further training with Walter Carrington. Alex Bingley has been a voice teacher since graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2002, prior to this he had been an actor. Alex currently teaches at Rose Bruford, Arts Ed, Drama Centre London and The Italia Conti Academy of theatre arts. Prior to this Alex had taught at Lamda, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and East 15. Alex has been a student of the Alexander technique since 2002 and he encountered the Psycho-Physical Support System through Ron Murdock in 2016 . Alex uses this approach extensively together with his voice teaching and continues to be mentored by Nadia Kevan and one of Dr Chris Stevens students Stephanie Smith.  Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=EKHEKXBAZBQG6¤cy_code=GBP)

BONUS EPISODEHappy Holidays everyone! My gift to you this year is this wonderful bonus episode. Brian Patacca helps actors get what they want without suffering. He's helped 432 actors find representation (and counting!) and is the Founder of the Actors Belong Here Facebook Group where he's known as The Representation Whisper. His coaching clients include Tony Award-winners, Broadway stars, network series regulars, filmmakers, writers, and stand-up comedians. Brian has led workshops at SAG-AFTRA, universities across the globe including Northwestern, Pepperdine, PACE, Columbia College Chicago, Rose Bruford, and countless acting studios in the US and abroad. He has been a contributing expert to Backstage Magazine for over a decade. Follow Brian on Instagram @briansaysthat, or visit www.DearNewAgent.com to grab proven templates to help you get in the room with reps. Follow Emma on IG: @emma_daytonFollow the podcast on IG: @everydayactorpodContact Me: everydayactorpod@gmail.comOur theme music was brought to you by Ellysa. Take a listen to more of her music here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ellysarose

In the last episode of 2020 Elaine is flying solo for team Nasty. She is joined by Scottish Actress and fellow podcaster Scarlett Maltman. The talk all things industry, mental health, not changing your name when you marry and much more. It’s fun and Pimm’s filled episode. Scarlett Maltman Rachel is an award-winning Scottish actor, comedian and writer originally form Edinburgh. Rachel trained at Rose Bruford in London and was nominated for the Spotlight prize in 2015. Rachel’s credits include: Beats, The Party’s Just Beginning and The Stand-Up Sketch show! Twitter: @ScarlettMaltman Instagram: @ScarlettMaltman Instagram: @industrymindsuk Twitter: @IndustryMindsUk PAYPAL https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/persistentandnasty for those who can donate. A million thanks and love. Resources https://www.gofundme.com/f/black-women-in-film https://www.gofundme.com/f/bme-business-fund https://www.scottishtrans.org/support/support-groups-in-scotland/ https://www.thetrevorproject.org https://bornthisway.foundation/ https://itgetsbetter.org https://www.alerojasmine.com/ https://bespokebinny.com/ https://pelicansandparrots.com/ https://www.matuggarum.com/ https://sheniandteni.com/ https://lihabeauty.com https://ibereapparel.com/ https://blacklivesmatter.carrd.co/ https://blacklivesmatter.com/ https://m4bl.org/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd https://justiceforbreonna.org/ https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/12570/black-british-owned-businesses-to-buy-from-now-fashion-beauty-design-lifestyle https://theeverymom.com/black-history-month-books-for-kids/ https://themadmommy.com/black-owned-etsy-shops/ Join our Zoom Coffee Morning every Friday at 11am GMT, email persistentandnasty@gmail.com WeAudition offer: For 25% off your monthly subscription quote: NASTY25 Backstage Offers: Get a free 12 months Actor Subscription: join.backstage.com/persistentnasty-uk-12m-free/ Or if you've got a project to cast, you can Post Castings for free: Apply promo code PERSISTENTANDNASTY at the checkout

In today’s episode the Nasty Gals are joined by the incredible Rachel Jackson. Rachel a Scottish Actress, Comedian and Writer. This is the positivity we need at the end of 2020. Rachel’s love of the craft, belief in herself and others is infectious. She is a powerhouse and a force of nature that should be celebrated at every chance, Rachel Jackson Rachel is an award-winning Scottish actor, comedian and writer originally form Edinburgh. Rachel trained at Rose Bruford in London and was nominated for the Spotlight prize in 2015. Rachel’s credits include: Beats, The Party’s Just Beginning and The Stand-Up Sketch show! IMDB: Rachel Jackson Twitter: @racheljackson Instagram: @rjacz Periscope: @rjacz PAYPAL https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/persistentandnasty for those who can donate. A million thanks and love. Resources https://www.gofundme.com/f/black-women-in-film https://www.gofundme.com/f/bme-business-fund https://www.scottishtrans.org/support/support-groups-in-scotland/ https://www.thetrevorproject.org https://bornthisway.foundation/ https://itgetsbetter.org https://www.alerojasmine.com/ https://bespokebinny.com/ https://pelicansandparrots.com/ https://www.matuggarum.com/ https://sheniandteni.com/ https://lihabeauty.com https://ibereapparel.com/ https://blacklivesmatter.carrd.co/ https://blacklivesmatter.com/ https://m4bl.org/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd https://justiceforbreonna.org/ https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/12570/black-british-owned-businesses-to-buy-from-now-fashion-beauty-design-lifestyle https://theeverymom.com/black-history-month-books-for-kids/ https://themadmommy.com/black-owned-etsy-shops/ Join our Zoom Coffee Morning every Friday at 11am GMT, email persistentandnasty@gmail.com WeAudition offer: For 25% off your monthly subscription quote: NASTY25 Backstage Offers: Get a free 12 months Actor Subscription: join.backstage.com/persistentnasty-uk-12m-free/ Or if you've got a project to cast, you can Post Castings for free: Apply promo code PERSISTENTANDNASTY at the checkout

A surprise episode today! I was certain that my journey was over for this year but then I got an email from Rose Bruford. Their European Theatre Arts course aims to train the 'contemporary performer', that's exactly what I want. I also got some other very exciting and heart-warming news!Music: Unfair To Me - Derek Clegg (I do not own this music, usage under Creative Commons license)https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Derek_Clegg/Good_Graces/Derek_Clegg_-_Good_Graces_-_13_Unfair_To_Me_1815License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/legalcodeAdditional music from Bensound.comEdited with audacityteam.orgHosted by Buzzsprout.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/jonathanstirling)

Five days later and I'm heading for Rose Bruford. In this episode I talk about how I'm spending my time outside of drama school auditions, as well complaining about their cost and their terrible value for money. I also ponder on how I wrote so much last year, what could I have possibly rambled on about?Music: Unfair To Me - Derek Clegg (I do not own this music, usage under Creative Commons license)https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Derek_Clegg/Good_Graces/Derek_Clegg_-_Good_Graces_-_13_Unfair_To_Me_1815License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/legalcodeAdditional music from Bensound.comEdited with audacityteam.orgHosted by Buzzsprout.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/jonathanstirling)

Welcome back to VocalScope and to our Second series! Our first guest, who is also our new sponsor, is The Accompanist, Adam Bridges. Adam is a London based pianist with over 20 years of playing experience and he set up The Accompanist in 2019 to provide a bespoke accompanist and backing track service from piano to full orchestration. Having graduated from both Guildhall School of Music & Drama and London Centre of Contemporary music, his playing ability covers a wide range of genres. He has worked all around the UK and around the world performing and playing and he is a a very experienced accompanist - playing for The Royal Ballet, LAMDA, Italia Conti, Rose Bruford and many choirs. Favourite Voice Adam's favourite voice is Rufus Wainwright and he recommends we listen to Go or Go Ahead. Sponsors Discount Code VocalScope listeners can receive a fabulous 25% discount at www.theaccompanist.co.uk by using VOCALSCOPE at check out.

Bart studied theatre design at Rose Bruford whilst selling vintage clothing to support his education.  He first became aware of Angels during this time and realised that he could make a career by combining his love of men’s clothing and storytelling, leading him to apply for a trainee position.Over a six-year period he learnt all there was to know about being an in-house costumier as well as a deep understanding of the history of men’s clothing.  During this time he also had the advantage of working with the best costume teams around, thereby forging good contacts and links with the freelance industry.When he left Angels, he spent 11 years working alongside a wide variety of designers and their teams on productions including:Atonement; The Theory of Everything; One Day; RocknRolla; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Night Manager.Three years ago, he began to work on his own projects as costume designer.  He has designed two feature films Churchill and My Name is Lenny and TV work including the BBC/Netflix eight-part series Black Earth Rising and the aforementioned White Lines.https://bartholomewcariss.com/https://www.angelsbehindtheseams.com/ 

As an actor, teacher and writer, Nigel Rideout has been involved in professional theatre, film and television for the past 50 years in the UK, USA and Australia.From 1972-80, Nigel was Deputy Principal and Director of Studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). In 1981 he was invited to create the highly successful theatre department of the newly-formed Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).He has been Head of Theatre and Voice at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and Head of Voice at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Returning to Australia in 2002, Nigel set up the official archives for WAAPA as well as continuing to teach and direct at the Academy, as well as at The National Theatre Drama School in Melbourne.His many successful graduates in the UK include Jane Seymour, Martin Clunes, Nigel Planer, Amy Irving and Dame Harriet Walter. And from WAAPA: Hugh Jackman, Frances O’Connor, Dominic Purcell and Lisa McCune.Amazingly Nigel still receives annual repeat fees for a role in the first series of Dad’s Army recorded in 1968.Join us for a riveting conversation where he describes the evolution of Acting training and the emergence of WAAPA; the triumphant training ground for artists, built on the West Coast of Australia.The Stages podcast is available from iTunes, Spotify and Whooshkaa.

Our first episode! First uploaded to soundcloud on 14th May 2019! Welcome to SPEAK UP! Podcast! We are Amelia and Clara the founders of SPEAK UP! Society at Rose Bruford. In this episode we do a little introduction of ourselves and chat about theatre, school and why we hate Shakespeare. Follow us on @speakupsocietybru on Instagram for updates on our work.

Back down to London this week to have a go at Rose Bruford. I've always loved this school, maybe it's that it's just outside of London, or maybe it's the swans in the lake, it's just peaceful and beautiful. No better place to deliver a monologue about your troublesome dog. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jonathanstirling)

After graduating from Rose Bruford in 2001 Rosalie Craig joined the RSC and made her professional debut in Adrian Mitchell’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Her stage career since then has featured leading roles in both plays and musicals including the National Theatre productions of London Road, As You Like It, and Tori Amos’s The Light Princess at the National Theatre, for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance in 2013. She is currently starring in Jez Butterworth’s critically acclaimed smash hit The Ferryman at the Gielgud until 19 May, and will return to the same theatre in September to star in Marianne Elliot’s highly anticipated production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, alongside Broadway legend Patti LuPone. The new version of the show will see Craig’s character Bobbi played as a woman for the first time.

In this episode I chat with the entire crew from The Lab Collective at Rose Bruford about their immersive performance work.

JMK 2016 Award winner and The Mountaintop director Roy Alexander Weise joined us to talk about how he went from wanting to be a celebrity chef to becoming a celebrated director of Katori Hall's Olivier award-winner. Roy also discusses how he cut his teeth at Oval House, Rose Bruford and the Royal Court as well as the timeliness of sharing The Mountaintop with audiences in 2016.