Towpath wins Festival

Last week/weekend was the Avon Association of Drama annual One Act Play Festival. With three new plays competing amongst the nine on offer this is clearly an active area for new drama.

And the result? Well, my play, Towpath, had a good night thanks to the superb cast …

• Best Actress, Paula Luke
• Best New Play, Towpath by Robert Iles
• Overall Festival Winner

Not a bad outing

The Towpath script is available from StagePlays which is great for you as you can read it but it does mean we can’t go forward into the NDFA and AETF new play competitions.

Andrew Lloyd Webber on the lookout for a new Jesus

The new talent show will be titled Superstar and will be broadcast on ITV for the first time after Lloyd Webber parted ways with the BBC.

The man responsible for worldwide sensations such as The Phantom Of The Opera, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Cats will be holding nationwide auditions where professionals and amateurs are welcome to enter. The prize will be the lead role in new arena tour production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Lloyd Webber’s four previous talent searches have produced household names in the world of musical theatre. Former victors have won lead roles in West End productions of  The Sound Of Music, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Oliver! and The Wizard Of Oz.

The West End heavyweight commented: “Presenting a new, 2012 version of Jesus Christ Superstar for arenas is truly exciting. Some of the best performances of this show have been in rock venues and I’m thrilled to see the show return to its roots. ITV is providing the perfect platform for us to find a new, British Superstar.”

Information concerning the application process can be found on the ITV website. Announcements regarding the judging panel and an air date are yet to be made.

Phantom is touring the UK in 2012/13.

The Book of Mormon

The multi-award winning Book of Mormon looks set to come to the West End in 2013 – click on the cover to the right to get the soundtrack on Amazon (or listen to clips) but go elsewhere of you’re easily offended … actually, you might be offended even if you are not easily offended!

Personally I think that Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez have produced a masterpiece and only regret that I will have to survive on just the soundtrack for another year!

Update: Full details very soon!

UKTW vs The Panda

Ok, so I took my own advice and was patient, very patient, to see all the good things we’d done would have the desired effect on traffic and sales. Now, you might argue that we didn’t wait that long but, to be honest, it was getting difficult to see a way out. When we transferred about 70% of our traffic from UKTW to SeatChoice we saw an immediate improvement in SeatChoice traffic, but not to the extent that we’d damaged UKTW. Over the days and weeks that followed, the improvement to SeatChoice slowly fell away back to worse than previous levels and the UKTW traffic started a long slow recovery.

From this set of circumstances I formed the idea that seatchoice.com was somehow toxic in that whatever I did the overall traffic on that site never seemed to recover, indeed, any new traffic delivered to this site was pretty soon leached away somewhere else. And so, eventually, I came to the conculsion that I was flogging a dead horse (domain) and would never win. Questions asked on the Google Webmaster Forum got answers basically denying that such a thing as toxic domains might exist but I could see no other explanation.

And so I decided, after discussion with interested parties, to ditch the seatchoice.om domain and revert to uktw.co.uk which we have been running since the mid-1990s, which seems to have a great reputation and has been almost impossible to “damage”! A couple of late nights later I had a new clean design up on UKTW (moving it from a “slower than 70%” to a “faster than 68%” site!) and put in place the 301 redirects and edits to kick all the traffic from seatchoice.com to uktw.co.uk

Within a couple of days the loss of traffic on seatchoice.com was major (as expected) but the growth in traffic for uktw was even better – in other words not only did I move the traffic successfully but I picked up some new people en route! Checking some key phrases on several search engines we dropped from the SERPs for SeatChoice where we had been on pages 5 to 10 and arrived, immediately, on page 2 for UKTW … from nowhere! Now that’s impressive. Its only been 4 days or so and yet traffic is up, sales are up and, if this were to continue, the road to recovery would be visible at last! In fact, we’re already better placed for our important search phrases using UKTW than we ever achieved with SeatChoice in months of trying.

This was a hard decision but I think the right one. We are not dropping the SeatChoice brand, just making it a “service” within the UKTW listings – which is actually where it started a few years ago … perhaps we should have stuck with it that way from day 1 … live and learn.

The journey is not over yet, and we’re still deep in the woods .. but at least now I have found a small path …

Theatre Archive Databases and Searching

Recently, we moved the Arts Archive stuff back into UK Theatre Web (www.uktw.co.uk/archive)  and even more recently we moved “live” performances out of UKTW onto SeatChoice (seatchoice.com)  – all changes made with 301 redirects – thus making our world a slightly cleaner place .. if its on then its only at SeatChoice, if its ended then its only at UKTW …

Yes, those who have followed stuff here will realise that this was part of post-Panda tidying up rather than, necessarily, making things more user friendly None the less, this is what we did.

The immediate effect of the first move was, of course, Arts Archive traffic dropped to 0 and UKTW traffic climbed a bit. Befor ethe next change we let things stabilise.

The effect of the second change was that UKTW traffic immediately fell by 75% … however, despite the 301 redirect, the rise in traffic on SeatChoice was far less (that is to say, not all the people who didn’t end up on UKTW did end up on SeatChoice!) …

What has been even more interesting is that, since then, the uplift on SeatChoice has fallen away again and the drop on UKTW has started to recover …. this is not particularly logical but it is what is happening – in fact, traffic on UKTW has doubled since the change and is still climbing.

This all led me to decide to have a look around. I started at utrs.list-team.com, a small Theatre Website Chart loisting a couple of dozen UK theatre websites and their traffic. I noticed a few strange things

1. NewsOnStage.co.uk, which I also run, has shown improving traffic .. this is odd as it is unashamedly a simple RSS aggregator, i.e. there is not one single piece of original content on the site!

2. London Theatre Database traffic has started to grow again despite the fact that it says there is currently NOTHING on in London!

This second point got me to thinking about things and I did a Google search for [london theatre database] .. the results were

1. The London Theatre Database .. great

2. The British Theatre Guide mentioning London Theatre Database as at last someone has started a theatre version of iMDB well, guess what, The London Theatre Database has 5,500 archived shows, UKTW has 94,000 .. this page was last updated 2009

3.  The Theatre Trust .. lovely site

4.  The London Theatre Database trying to raise money on-line .. this appeal closed a year ago and didn’t reach its target

Then a mixture of useful sites … including one which claimed to be the largest collection of on-line performing arts info in the world (mostly Broadway and London) but it lists fewer venues in the whole world than we list in the UK and has but a fraction of our content.

So, what do I take from this? Basically two lessons …

1) I have done a really bad job over the years of promoting our archive

2) It seems that whatever I do the reputation of UKTW will recover and tat of SeatChoice will not

So… I must ponder these facts further …

Panda Pain and Anguish

Ahh well, looks like I spoke too soon.

October 14th saw another run of Panda, as far as anyone can tell, and there’s a lot of screaming and running around like headless chickens happening of the Webmaster Forum … seems like it hit a number of people hard

Like us

Yep, after a few months of slow growth we were kicked in the teeth … dropped 35% on one site overnight, dropped probably 50% across all sites … not sure how much longer I can keep this up

The Greatest Stage Actors of All Time?

The world of theatre has produced some of the finest performers in history and many acting geniuses have graced the stage. This list consists of some the greatest actors who have lived and some who are still giving outstanding performances to this day.
Laurence Olivier
Regarded by many as the greatest actor of his time, Olivier was the ultimate master of his craft. Renowned for his superb ability to play a range of Shakespearian roles he was a star of both stage and screen. The Theatre industry’s prestigious Laurence Olivier awards are named in his honour as a testament to his great contribution to the art of acting.

Michael Gambon
The RADA trained Irish actor was dubbed “the great Gambon” by fellow actor Ralph Richardson at an early stage of his career. Known to millions today for his role as professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter saga (a role in which he replaced the late Richard Harris), Gambon has been one of the consistently outstanding stars of the stage from the 1970’s onwards.

Judi Dench
One of the greatest if not the greatest female star of the stage ever Dame Judi Dench has been acting since 1957 and is still going strong today. She became a household name to millions throughout the UK for her long running role in the television sitcom As Time Goes By and her performances as M in recent James Bond films. Despite her work outside the theatre, Dench has maintained a rich career within the theatre with roles ranging from Shakespeare to cutting edge contemporary thrillers.

John Gielgud
One of a very few actors in history to have won an Oscar, Olivier, Emmy, Tony and BAFTA awards, Gielgud was a true acting genius. His career spanned for the majority of the 20th century and he has had an extremely important influence on the world of acting. Famed for his beautiful speaking voice and outstanding performances from a young age, Gielgud was one of a kind.

Alec Guinness
Known to many modern film fans as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars trilogy, Alec Guinness was already one of the greatest living actors by that stage of his career. He is very affectionately remembered by millions for both his film and stage roles as he brought a touch of sophistication and class to every role he played.

Marlon Brando
Brando exploded into the public consciousness with his animalistic portrayal as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. His use of “method acting” in this role revolutionised the world of acting both within the theatre and film. He is famed for his role as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather for which he won an Oscar but his outstanding contribution to the theatre will never be forgotten.

Kenneth Branagh
The Northern Irish born actor has had an outstanding career within the theatre and he is still only in his early 50s. He achieved huge acclaim as a young star of the stage and became a protégé in Shakespearean performances throughout the 1980’s and 90s. He continues to perform on stage and screen today and his performances are continuing to get better with age.

Daniel Day-Lewis
One of the most intense actors of all time, Daniel Day-Lewis widely regarded as one of the greatest actors alive today. He is infamous for the extreme lengths he goes to in preparation for his roles and his determination to stay in character even off the stage or set. When playing the role of Hamlet he had an emotional breakdown live on stage as he had a vision that he was talking to the ghost of his father and he has not appeared on stage since.

Despite huge competition from Hollywood and the world of the cinema the theatre is still going strong today and there is an abundance of great shows and premier actors for audiences to enjoy. You can find discount theatre tickets easily online and theatre tickets in London which will allow you to be entertained by one of the world’s truly great art forms.

What’s your list?

STAR kitemark for safer ticket purchasing

It is estimated that 10% of people in the UK have been affected by Ticket Fraud, a black industry which, online alone, is estimated to amount to around £168million per year!

With the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, the Metropolitan Police are concentrating on ticket fraud, both on-line and through more traditional routes (the street tout) but more needs to be done to make sure that users do not fall foul of the sophisticated scams out there.

To this end, STAR, the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, has launched a new kitemark to replace their old logo (see our previous BLOG entry to compare old and new) in order to give users confidence that they are buying from a safe supplier and will actually get the tickets that they pay for!

“It is the show of strength that the entertainment ticketing industry has been waiting for,” said Jonathan Brown, Secretary of STAR. “Ticket fraud is an industry-wide problem and we needed an industry-wide solution to tackle it head on.”  The kitemark is supported by major entertainment organisations such as the Concert Promoters Association, the National Arenas Association and The Society of London Theatre.

SeatChoice is operated by Dynamic Listing Ltd, an Affiliate member of STAR and we have always made it clear on our site when we are using STAR or non-STAR suppliers, including giving advice on safe use of the ticket reseller market – buy tickets safely through SteaChoice.

Why is Edinburgh the Funniest Place in the UK?

Quite simply because it is home to the biggest comedy prize in the UK: The Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

This year was as ever a huge year for comedy in Edinburgh, the Festival City was in full peacock mode; flashing its multiple festivals and discount theatre tickets available for all the locals and tourists to absorb like crinkly poncho wearing rabbits in a storm of multi-coloured firework inspired headlights. It is easily the biggest and best arts festival in the world and at its heart is a rich vein of pure comedy sniggering away behind the curtains of every beer soaked venue and champagne doused stage within the city’s ancient limits.

A Foundation for Ferociously Famous Funny Folk

The Edinburgh Comedy Awards have been in existence since 1981. It has been known as the Perrier Comedy Awards, the if.comedy Awards and now the Fosters Comedy Awards, and through all these years it has gracefully maintained its prestige and talent for unearthing supremely funny people. You might recognise past prize winners and nominees such as:

• Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery – 1981
• Sean Hughes – 1990
• Frank Skinner, Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard and Lilly Savage – 1991
• Steve Coogan, Joe Brand and Harry Hill – 1992
• Lee Evans, Phil Kay – 1993
• Alan Davies – 1994
• Tim Vine – 1995
• Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey, Rich Hall and Al Murray – 1996
• Al Murray, Graham Norton and Johnny Vegas – 1997
• Ed Byrne, Peter Kay, Al Murray and The Mighty Boosh – 1998
• Al Murray and Ross Noble – 1999
• Rich Hall, Lee Mack and Dave Gorman – 2000
• Jimmy Carr – 2002
• Flight of the Conchords – 2003
• Tim Minchin – 2005
• David O’Doherty, Rhod Gilbert, Sarah Millican and Russel Kane – 2008
• Russel Kane – 2009 + 2010

As you probably recognise at least 90% you can see how the Edinburgh Comedy Awards are a funnel through which the funniest folk on the face of the planet have been directed into the global television spotlight.  Lee Evans for instance won the award in 1993 and has gone on to enjoy a global comedy career, has become a regular face in Hollywood movies and is currently selling out his tour with theatre tickets in London available if you’re quick…

So who won in 2011?

Well my money was on Nick Helm, due to the fact he had already picked up an award for the best joke of the festival…he looked like a shoe in.

But the eventual winner was Adam Riches for his show: ‘Bring me the Head of Adam Riches’. His ever bellowing style was a hit as he encouraged audience members to embarrass and injure themselves for his, his victim’s and everyone else’s amusement with enjoyable, if unsophisticated success. Here’s a video of him in action (Warning: some bad language and adult themes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcRnTzEvErY

“But what was the funniest joke of the festival?” I hear you ask…

“I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”

Edinburgh will always be every comedian’s Mecca. You should visit.

Using Social Media to Keep Your Theatre Buzz Going

Social media has been highlighted in the news recently thanks to its part in being used to organise the riots in England and in particular in London. Two men have even been handed 4 year sentences just for talking about starting a riot on Facebook. This shows just how powerful a medium it has become.

What does this have to do with theatres?

Theatre for many people is seen as the grand old entertainment medium that is being left behind by cinema, but the billions of pounds spend on London theatre tickets each year would clearly show that this is not the case.

One thing theatres are starting to do better though is to interact with their audiences via social media. Many of the major theatres such as Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Apollo, National Theatre, Barbican and Royal Opera House all have some kind of social media presence.

Here’s why:

Facebook

Facebook has about 750 million users and rising. People spend more time online on Facebook than they do doing anything else. By ‘liking’ or ‘friending’ your favourite theatre or theatre company it is possible to get up to the minute information about what is going on. Theatres can use this to build an online personality and provoke conversations about their shows that keep people coming back for more. Also it is possible for people to ‘check-in’ at the venue to tell their Facebook friends that they are there. It is not uncommon for theatres to offer exclusive offers for tickets through their Facebook page too. Certainly could be worth your time.

Twitter

Twitter is a micro-blogging universe where people can post short comments that are sent out to everyone that has chosen to ‘follow’ them, meaning that they have decided that they want to receive these comments. Similarly to Facebook this provides an excellent way to stay in touch with what is going on at your favourite venue or even as a means to compare theatre tickets – @seatchoice

YouTube

YouTube needs no introduction. This is one of the best ways to discover new shows and acts that you may be interested in. Want to see what the 25^th Anniversary Les Miserables looks like? Just type it into YouTube and see. Many theatres are now posting footage of a recent or upcoming production to garner ever more interest through social sources.

Blogs

There are literally thousands of blogs around which offer you interesting and valuable information, along with news, reviews, recommendations and interviews with the casts and crews, as well as clips from recent performances to whet your appetite to go and buy a ticket for yourself. Check out theatre’s own blogs, or critics and review blogs for analysis and recommendations.

StumbleUpon

In a recent data release by online stats calculator ‘statcounter.com’, StumbleUpon has become the number one social source for sharing news and videos online, knocking Facebook off its top perch. It is also currently the no.1 social referrer of traffic in the US. StumbleUpon is designed to allow you to share links or videos etc. as you ‘stumble’ around the web. It is not so big in the UK yet but it may be worth checking out for receiving recommendations in the future.

Conclusion …

Modern theatre is embracing social media in a big way. How do you use social media to interact with your favourite theatres?

SeatChoice on Facebook

SeatChoice on Twitter

SeatChoice/UKTW Android Application!