In the 'House Seats'
This podcast brings you interviews with people working in the entertainment industry discussing about all aspects of onstage performing or backstage production. Ideas as a prospective performer through to what an adjudicator, choreographer or casting director might look for when you are delivering your performance piece.
Hosted by Craig Bartley who is a performer and choreographer, who has appeared in West End and Broadway productions ranging from 42nd Street (Original cast at Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Me & My Girl (Adelphi Theatre), La Cage Aux Follies (Palladium Theatre), Mack And Mabel in concert (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Man of La Mancha (Peacock Theatre) of which he recorded the cast albums for both ‘Mack And Mabel’ and ‘Man of La Mancha’. He also spent more than two and a half years playing the part of ‘Doody’ in the hit musical ‘Grease’ where he received the Golden Quiff Award for best performance, which was presented by the late Victoria Wood.
He also appeared in two Royal Variety Performances at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane for the BBC and ITV and 'A Royal Performance' at the Adelphi Theatre.
Craig’s experience has enabled him to travel the globe extensively whilst being involved in performing, choreographing, directing and producing for the inaugural production set up for most of the World’s leading cruise lines. As well as performing, Craig has taught specialist classes at Mountview, Millenium, Urdang, Elmhurst and Red Roofs Theatre School. He was also the full-time Course Director and co-Principal of his own successful Starquest Performers College.
He still runs and teaches at Starquest Performing Arts encouraging children from two and a half to 18 to act, sing and dance.
He hopes this podcast will help and inspire existing and especially newly graduated creatives just what challenges lie in store and what the highs and lows are for people within the performing arts industry. If you like this podcast then please leave us a 5 star review on iTunes podcasts.
In the 'House Seats'
Ep 86: Deborah Laws, dancepreneur and owner of the Dance Business Lab
After running a dance school for 27 years and a franchise theatre school for 12. Deborah made a break and invested in a business coach, studied marketing, retention, business strategies in relation to the dance world, customer services, finances, planning, social media, team nurturing, leadership, systems, processes, the list goes on. She read over 30 business books, went on business retreats, attended summits, webinars you name it.
Soon she was implementing her newly learned skills and it started to pay off. She experienced wonderful growth in her businesses and turned her schools around. That is where she thought her story would end…
… but I saw friends and fellow dance bosses sharing the same struggles that she had experienced. Knowing she had the answers she found it difficult to sit back and watch them struggle. She started to share at every opportunity. Little bits of valuable information that she had learned. People started commenting “why didn’t I know this already”. Soon after she was approached not once but three times in a week from dance school principals asking to pay for my help. That is when Dance Business Lab was born and 1-1 coaching began.
Hear part of her journey with Craig on this podcast or visit her website at dancebusinesslab.com