Week Two!

Well, it’s now the end of my second week at Stage Entertainment and what another enjoyable one it’s been.  I was supposed to be moving upstairs to the production department this week but I mutually decided to stay with marketing.  With Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals opening on tour next week, my help would be much better placed here with more beneficial tasks.  I’ll move to Production next week!

My week has mainly consisted of working on the souvenir brochure for Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals Tour.  This brochure is to be produced in addition to the usual theatre programme and will contain extra editorial articles, photos and information on the show and the dancers. The first few days of my week were spent mainly proof reading and editing copy as it was coming through from the writer.  With a huge number of mistakes both in punctuation and grammar, there was a lot for me to correct, I have to say!  I was even rewriting complete paragraphs at times.  The brochure contains articles for ‘Strictly’ fans on such things as the costuming and shoes, rhinestones, how the show is put together, a typical ‘Strictly’ day as well as literature on the various dances.  Additionally, further information on the dancers not found in the programme and some fun facts will be included.  I felt I was playing a vital part in the print process especially as the material had been given to me to make presentable before being sent through for approval by the BBC.

Once the brochure started to come through from the designers, it was clear that the balance between the dancers biographies wasn’t right.  They were all of different lengths; some too long, some too short.  It then became my responsibility to edit the copy for the ones that were too long and to up-write the ones that were too short.  This involved a certain amount of research for new material.  It was great too to be liaising directly with the designer and to know that some of my work is actually going to be there for all to read.  I have to say; the final proofs for the brochure look superb, so it’ll be great to see it all in print!

I have also continued to promote all the shows and the up-and-coming ‘Nun Run’ via the social media sites.  A highlight of the week was being able to sit in on the team marketing meeting where updates were given on each production as well as discussions held on the various strategies and areas of concern regarding ticket sales and what could be done to improve these.

I have also visited the theatre on two occasions.  I was able to take a group of friends, courtesy of the producers, to see Stage’s production of Sister Act at the London Palladium, which was extremely enjoyable.  We all had a fantastic night out and the show was excellent.  The cast were great, the score memorable and the set amazing!  I loved it, although if I had to criticise, I would say the first 20 mins could be a bit faster paced and I would have liked a bigger opening.  Oh … remember that top-secret piece of information I learnt last week?  Well, it has now been announced that Simon Webb, star of boyband Blue, will be joining the cast of Sister Act when it has its cast change at the end of the May.

The other show I saw was the new David Essex musical All the Fun of the Fair.  Not the best thing I have ever seen but not the worst either.  I’m not sure what I actually thought of this looking back on it.  There was one or two numbers I recognised (being as old as I am!) and the production was OK, but on the whole this show was mainly aimed at the David Essex fans and if I’d had taken my Mum, I’d sure she’d as been singing along with the rest of them (who thought they were at some kind of a concert!).

My weekend has been spent by having a few drinks in the Canary Wharf area on Friday evening and entertaining another friend at home for a nice chilled out on Saturday evening.  Today I enjoyed exploring Greenwich and catching a cruise up the Thames.  Onwards and upwards to Week Three …

Week One!

Well, I’ve just finished my first week with Stage Entertainment UK and what an interesting week it’s been!

I have settled into where I’m living and although I’m experiencing a few language barriers with my flatemate Brunee (she’s Italian!), things with the accommodation itself aren’t too bad. Whilst she is away on a contract, I’m renting my friends room, in her flat near Canary Wharf.  Hannah and myself originally went to dance college together and later appeared in a show together in Dallas, Texas.  Through the powers of Facebook, Hannah knew I was looking for somewhere to stay during my internship and with her going off on a cruise for a few months, it seemed ideal for me to rent from her.  I have my own double en-suite room in a nice two bedroom flat in the Docklands area, just across the water from Greenwich where I am approximately a 45-50 minute commute into work.

I arrived at Stage Entertainment UK on Monday 12 April where I was greeted by my liaison, Jessica Chu (Production Assistant).  J took me on a brief tour of the offices and introduced me to the various departments, the staff and their job roles.  ‘Stage’ is situated in the heart of the London’s Theatreland, just off Oxford Street, in Soho and is made up of the top two floors in a shared building with five other companies.  On the first floor, you will find the main reception, meeting room, kitchen, accounts and marketing departments with a scattering of management personnel; whilst the top floor houses the production and press/PR staff, the big wigs and the very nice roof top terrace over-looking the surrounding skyline.

I was to join the marketing department for my first week and was therefore shown to my desk and introduced to the others in my immediate team: Katie – Marketing Assistant, Kirsty – Marketing Executive and Fiona – Head of Marketing.  Stage Entertainment’s present productions include Sister Act – The Musical (London Palladium); Hairspray (UK Tour) and Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals (UK Tour) and I was therefore asked to make myself familiar with these productions by reading through their websites and other promotional material.  Some of my main tasks this week have involved the upkeep of the social media sites for these shows as well as adding new Facebook events as the tour dates, casting and venues for Hairspray have been announced.  I have also been heavily involved in the promotion of Stage’s forthcoming event, the Nun Run (a charitable fun run to raise money for Barnardos) both through the use of the social media sites and the distribution of posters.  Plus, I have signed up to run the 4 km event myself on the May 2^nd – so stay posted for that one!  I was also asked to prepare a PowerPoint presentation showing the web statistics and usage of the Sister Act website plus prepare a spreadsheet showing the tickets on hold at each venue of the Strictly tour.  This particular task involved communicating with the various venues, in order to collect information held by the relevant box offices. A highlight to the week, was being able to sit in on the weekly marketing meeting for Sister Act, held with the marketing agency (AKA), where various marketing and ticketing strategies were discussed, plus a presentation given on the forms of digital media that could be incorporated.  I also learnt of some top secret casting, which has yet to be officially announced!

My favourite part to the week has to have been having the opportunity to attend the press night for new West End musical ‘Hair’, which has transferred from Broadway.  Although the cast was fantastic and the production great, I’m not sure if I was a big fan of the actual musical itself though.  A little random in parts and not a huge storyline!  Mind you, the invite to the after show party soon made up for it and I was slightly in awe of seeing my idol, producer Cameron Mackintosh!  Other celebrity figures we spotted included Tim Rice and Toby Anstis.

I also attended Priscilla – Queen of the Desert on Friday evening at the Palace Theatre staring Jason Donovan, which was extremely enjoyable.  A definite see and hugely spectacular!

My first weekend has consisted of exploring my surrounding area and some leisurely shopping at Canary Wharf, as well as seeing a friend for some Sunday lunch and a few drinks in the West End on what was a very beautiful, sunny afternoon.

So all in all … a very enjoyable and educational week!

Back in London!

Looking forward to starting my work placement with Stage Entertainment UK on Monday April 12th :-)

Find out what I get up to during the 6wks ahead and follow my regular posts as I join the West End producers of Sister Act, Hairspray,
High School Musical, Strictly Come Dancing - The Tour and others!