I hope you’re all keeping well, wearing masks, and working to overthrow the Tories.
Been a busy week here… I was in a live streaming show in Canada Friday night – an online show for Live Bait Theatre, a company I had the privilege of working with for 20 years, as part of Live Bait’s 3rd Annual New Works Festival.
Here’s the show… Grandma’s Bubble Trouble, written and directed by the wonderful Charlie Rhindress. I played an ageing Punk Rocker by the name of Max Libido! And I play my Uke!
And coming up on Sunday 19th July at 8pm, it’s the latest episode of my online chat show, MOCKDOWN! I have three guests from the world of Comedy, to discuss if we’ll still be laughing once the pandemic is over.
Here’s a preview…
So, I may still be isolating at home, but I’m getting out there online!
Enjoy your weekend, and please wear a mask!
Stay safe, D x
I’m currently enjoying a post-show Brewdog beer after another thoroughly enjoyable episode of Mockdown!
Lovely guests this week…
Fiona Egan and Scott Worsfold Fiona is an actress and presenter, mum of two, and co founder of the PantoEverAfter panto company. Professional actress for 25 years and been doing panto for 22 years, with the exception of one year when I had a baby. First was Marley’s Ghost a musical adaptation of Scrooge, that’s where she met Scott at Cragrats Theatre Holmfirth, which sadly no longer exists.
20 years later they decided to create their own pantomime, and hence the company was born. Workwise, it’s theatre, TV, film, corporate, touring, outdoor, voice over, like most actors you name it, they’ve done it.
They have two venues where they produce pantomime. The Viaduct theatre Halifax, home of Northern Broadsides and The Marsden Mechanics Hall, Huddersfield. www.pantoeverafter.co.uk • Twitter
Liam Gerrard
Liam is a BAFTA nominated actor who’s work includes Peterloo with Mike Leigh, Death defying Acts, Coronation St, Hollyoaks, and more. His theatre work includes a lot of Shakespeare, from Midsummer Night’s Dream at work at Sheffield Crucible to Northern Broadsides and international tours for the BSC. He appeared in the 4-hander Miss-Julie alongside Maxine Peake at the Manchester Royal Exchange. Other theatre work includes SJT, New Vic, Hull Truck, Oldham Coliseum, Soho Theatre, Edinburgh Lyceum, Traverse, Theatre by the Lake, the Dukes, Salisbury Playhouse, Nottingham Playhouse, The Lowry, Derby Playhouse and many more.
He is also a voiceover actor and has narrated over 100 audiobooks, and can be heard daily on radio / television commercials. Earlier this year he won an Earphones award for his narration of H.G. Wells anthology of short stories (volume 1) and is a 4x One Voice Award nominee, as well as an Audio and Sovas nominee.
When not performing he is a magician and magic / illusion consultant to theatre companies.
In 2018 he established the Sheffield equity branch and he is the secretary of the branch www.liamgerrard.co.uk • Twitter
Melanie Hopkins
Melanie is a Sheffield born and based professional actress, writer and theatre maker/event organiser. Described as a “one woman army”, Melanie has single-handedly set up her own event; “Sheffield Monologue Showcase (SMS),” that premiered last March, with lots of feedback of it’s success. Melanie is also known for writing for the stage with her most note-worthy piece “The Sylvia Swing” performed at the York Theatre Royal’s Take Over Festival. Two pieces of her comedy writing have since also appeared on BBC Radio’s Upload Festival during lockdown. www.melaniejhopkins.com • Twitter
The link to the recorded show is below, join us for lots of chat about theatre and pantomime – and what the future may hold for live entertainment in a post-Lockdown world.
No sooner had I started my MOCKDOWN! Sunday Livestream Podcasts, when I had to take a break last Sunday and this. But I’m delighted with the reason why… I’ve been in rehearsals.
This Sunday at 6pm (UK), I’m acting in a lovely online performance of a new play, SOUVENIR, by Matt Gurr, produced by UP ‘ERE PRODUCTIONS.
It’s a lovely play – and I have the amazing role of Iain. Here’s the synopsis…
“For the last 40 years, Iain and his closest friend Kit have taken secret weekend trips from Scotland to Soho to experience what life as out gay men could be like. Now aged 60, and in the wake of Kit’s death, Iain takes that trip alone for the first time and finds himself reliving old memories over one night that will change his life forever”
Hope you’ve all survived another week, well, let’s face if, if you’re reading this, you HAVE survived, but, of course, it may have been a bit of a shit week.
This Government-led Shitshow rolls on… excess deaths, the collapse of the economy, right wing thugs on the streets… but at least I found a socially appropriate way to unload with 3 mates over a chat.
Kurt Brookes – Head of Development at MIM Productions and the producer of the upcoming BBC Radio 4 comedy series “The Likely Dads“. He is also the creator and co-everything of the webseries “Barry Pigeon Protects“.
Marie Friend – a born & bred scouser who’s now dead posh and living in Chester. Marie has trained with many acting practitioners across Manchester over the last 6 years , she is a Broadcast Journalist , experienced in Voiceover and TV presenting… and was last seen at the Hope Mill Theatre in Welcome to Shangri La…. along with myself, and my final guest…
Robyn Moore – a London born, British actress of Belgium and Polish decent. She has over 30 years of experience in theatre, film and television… including “Family Affairs” and playing Shirley Benson in “East Enders”. She also has over 20 years of experience teaching actors and professionals in acting and performance techniques.
Hope you are all keeping well and retaining sanity during these strange, strange times.
I was delighted to help friends set up the technical side for a couple of Live Streaming shows over the last few weeks, so taught myself to use StreamYard, an amazing bit of free Chrome-based goodness that allows you to broadcast to the world.
And so decided that I too wanted to add to the self-broadcasting scene.
I hosted a lot of radio when I lived in Canada, so I love the buzz of hosting a live show, though this is all very different, clicking on the computer to add guests, sources and images…. I could do with a studio crew.
The first show went live last Sunday… there’s a link to view it on YouTube below. But if you’d like to keep up to date and receive notifications and links to future shows, please follow my actor page on Facebook, ROWE DAVID McCLELLAND. The show will air Sundays at 8pm on Facebook, and I will put them on YouTube after the event.
Here’s the show from the weekend… three lovely guests, Jo Swain – Sheffield actor, known for the Full Monty, now running Hello Velo, a super B&B/Bike hire place in the wilds of France, TV Director Neil Alderton in Manchester – if you love a TV soap, chances are he’ll have had a hand in it – and Phil Yarrow, a Northumbrian exile now living in That London. Actor, Puppeteer, Improviser and dad, with a passion for Theatre For Young Audiences.
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Many freelance artists are struggling during these Covid-19 days.
If you are able to donate a little to the EQUITY BENEVOLENT FUND, or any of the links mentioned in the show, please do.
Another streaming show you may enjoy is hosted by my lovely friend in Canada – actor, writer, director (and so much more) Charlie Rhindress. The Charlie and Heather Showairs 8pm on Sundays in Canada (that’s midnight here in the UK), so if you’re a night person, please tune in, there’s a lovely mix of chat, stories and songs. I was a guest on the show May 31st/June 1st, so check it out on the show page or below….
And finally, I’ve taken some time to update my acting showreel…. Take a look…
Greetings Dahhlings!!!
I hope this update finds you happy and healthy.
A couple of items for you… on the last post, I shared a video of me doing the opening Future Legend monologue from Bowie’s Diamond Dogs, a lyric I memorised at 16 and never forgot.
Today I have more remembered lyrics, and I’ve done a bit of a video production on this one. Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3, by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, is well lodged in my brain, and I will often rattle it off to the confusion of those around me… Until I get to the chorus and they realise what it is.
So here is my version of it. It makes me cheerful, I hope it does you during these Lockdown Days. My memory must be dodgy though, I missed some lines, should have listened to the original or checked the lyrics first!
NEXT:
Right, last time I told you about the new Barry Pigeon Protects episode, Barry Goes Viral, a special Covid-19 episode.
Happy to report it’s been selected for an online screening in the South Yorkshire Filmmakers Network Online screening event Tuesday night. Going to be a few other short films on the bill, so it’ll keep you entertained on Tuesday night.
It’s streaming online and features a Q&A, so put your very best Pajamas on, grab a glass of your favourite beverage, and see you there. Here’s the streaming link. It gets underway at 7pm.
I hope you’re all well and staying safe during this pandemic. I don’t know how it’s impacting on you, but for me, I seem unable to concentrate on computer stuff, hence the long wait since my last post. I just don’t have the willpower tou sit at a screen. I’ve had to force myself to write this today.
Similar tale with TV. I can sit to watch a show and I’m constantly pausing to check for phone updates. And I fall alseep a lot in front of the telly, despite sleeping well at night. It’s different ways of reacting to the state we live in I guess.
I’m trying to be creative, done lots of garden work, tidying, weeding, planting. I make lots of videos, dog walks, bird song, etc. More of that further down.
A couple of things I’d like to promote though… 5 years ago, I worked on a web series called Barry Pigeon Protects, all about a night security guard sharing his life via webcam. Lovely project written/directed and produced by Kurt Brookes and Andrew Birtwell.
My old mate Doug Thorp asked if I could rekindle Barry as a guest for his Broken Biscuits Online Cabaret.
I asked Kurt and Andy, and within a week we had it written, shot and edited. Due to lockdown, I shot at home with a green screen, and my old security cabin office magically appeared in editing.
Here’s Broken Biscuits Online No. 2. Barry Pigeon is the final artiste in the show… It’s well worth the watch as an alternative to the assault of information we have these days.
For those who want just a dose of Barry Pigeon, here’s the new episode….
And good new Pigeon fans, more Barry is likely to be forthcoming 🙂
I’ll update when I can.
Other bits of creativity overcome me. The opening of David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs album, the spoken track Future Legend, is something I committed to memory at age 16.
The words kept coming back to me recently, so here it is, performed as a monologue…
I have another favourite song committed to memory that I plan to make a video for. A more complicated production, but hopefully coming soon.
As mentioned earlier, I’ve been filming my daily dog walks, and sharing on my Facebook feed as Virtual Dog Walking for Shut Ins. I also post my daily Twitter Feeds… the sound of bird song captured in the park.
Happy New Year – and welcome to my first post of 2020!
Good stuff to update you with – I’m coming up on the Telly and on the Stage.
Emmerdale
I return to Emmerdale January 30 and Feb 4 as TREVOR.
Lovely character, very different to past appearances – especially my Emmerdale Elvis 🙂 and part of the big current storyline.
I’m name-checked in the Radio Times again…
I play BURT – more about him – and the show – as the production comes together.
Here’s a video trailer to whet your appetite….
And here’s more info about the play…
Cheryl’s life is anything but ordinary – living in a run-down seaside B & B (that also doubles as a swinger’s club) alongside a gambling man, a fortune teller and an elderly deviant, she would give anything for a bit of boring.
But you should be careful what you wish for.
When George turns up late one night looking for his missing wife, he brings with him a cash-filled wallet and the promise of a normal life. But this promise comes with a price – the very soul of Shangri-La and its inhabitants.
Written by BAFTA Break-through Brit Gemma Langford, Welcome to Shangri-La is a dark comedy that challenges its audience to look at their own definition of “normality” and to ask themselves “am I alright?”
Broken Biscuits are a new theatre company in Manchester championing working class voices.
Written by Gemma Langford Directed by Joel Parry Produced by Hannah Ellis Ryan of HER Productions
Poster design by Chris Ball with original artwork by Rose Sergent
