Interview with James Meryk

Good afternoon Sydney! Good morning London!

Always excited to have interviews up on the blog, and I know that I say how talented and lovely each interviewee is, but you know what - it's because they genuinely are. It's not my fault. They have been lovely, sincere, inspirational, interesting, talented and encouraging thus far, and you know what, the next few are too. And they are exactly the sort of folk Theatre Stop like to speak to. And when you think about it, the sort of people you hope you will meet and work with in this industry. So I apologise for the gross overuse of 'lovely' and other positive adjectives, it will continue. (Other synonym suggestions are welcome.)

Now this prefaces the new interview with James Meryk.

Obviously he is lovely and talented. Aside from being an excellent person, he's also a recent graduate of London Studio Centre and he's currently touring this sunburnt country with Action To The Word's acclaimed stage adaptation of Anthony Burgess' novella A Clockwork Orange*. Which had a sell-out run in London's West End. Pretty good first gig. So go on, head over to the Interviews section and have a read!

*A Clockwork Orange is playing in Sydney until the 5th May. For more about the show, reasons to see it (One of these reasons is Mr James Meryk, of course) and general excitement about it all, have a look at the Shows & Reviews section.

Good Morning Sydney and Good Afternoon London!

Very excited to announce that an interview with the talented and lovely Matthew Barrow is up!

The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium, Sweet Charity at the Royal Theatre Haymarket, the first UK tours of Miss Saigon and Mary Poppins for Cameron Mackintosh, and the European tour of Fame. That's just listing a few so that you get the idea. Matthew Barrow has done some Musical Theatre stuff. Did I mention that he's currently in Merrily We Roll Along which had a sold out run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, nabbed the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Musical and is so abso-bloody-lutely brilliant that it's transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre, opening 23rd April? Well he is. So, on top of being a  talented triple threat, he was also generous in giving us his time in between finishing the run of 'Merrily' at the Chocolate Factory to the transfer at the Harold Pinter. Don't hate him.

Each interview is a pleasure, unique and exciting and Matthew's interview is a wonderful read - and this is all down to him, and sadly not to any interviewing skills on my part! It's interesting, engaging, funny and he has real insight and wisdom to share with us all - so what are you waiting for - hop over to Interviews and have a read!

Fi X

Good Morning from Sydney!

Hello all!! (Or should I say 'G'day!'?! You non-Aussies love that! Actually, we love it too, really)

This morning, the view from home. Sunshine! Sorry, couldn't resist.

Hope everyone is well! Firstly, apologies for the lull in blogging! I've just arrived in Sydney and will be spending some months here - and the last couple of weeks in London have been incredibly busy with cramming as many interviews (for Theatre Stop), shows (for me), spending time with my London family and friends, and packing. Oh, the packing. Apparently you need to be rather organised when moving out and over to another country for a while - who knew it would take so long?! Thank goodness for lovely friends who are far more efficient packers. And very calm. And bring you chocolate when you're stressed about packing. Anyway, I'm digressing severely.

So, Theatre Stop will continue while I'm in Sydney! I've a nice little backlog of interviews that took place before leaving London, so will have plenty to work on! The only real differences will be that Theatre Stop will cover things on the Sydney theatre front as well as London. In terms of reviewing shows in London, that may be slightly more difficult as I won't be there to see them - believe me, it hurts! - but I think it's a stellar chance for you lot to send in reviews of shows you loved (and perhaps unfortunately, loved less) to share with us all.

So, more exciting things coming up - but next off the bat will be an interview with the lovely and talented Matthew Barrow. Matthew is currently in rehearsal for Merrily We Roll Along* which had a sell out run at the Menier Chocolate Factory and because it's so abso-bloody-lutely brilliant was transferred to the West End and will be opening at the Harold Pinter Theatre (formerly Comedy Theatre) on April 23rd. More about Mr Barrow in the very near future!

So, thank you for your patience and support!

Happy reading!

Fi X

*Obviously I adore this production, if you haven't head me raving about it already, just you wait. Will be doing a feature on the blog soon. But if you're in London, go, watch, laugh, cry and enjoy! It's truly remarkable on all fronts and deserves all the resounding praise that's been heaped upon it.