UPDATE FROM NODA HOUSE

"Now available from NODA is a new series of six pantomimes from the writers Geoffrey Rundle & Keith Marsden. There will be a feature on them in the next issue of Noda National News"
 
"Due for imminent release, is the first NODA Education & Training DVD - 'Success with Wigs' Presented by Derek Easton & Gary Curtis, this is a fascinating insight into the world of wigs, beards & moustaches. Filmed in High Definition, this DVD will teach you all there is to know about Wigs"

                                  NODA’s got talent

Fancy winning five grand, yes £5,000, towards a production of an exciting feel-good musical? That’s the amount up for grabs in a new competition launched by the writers of Below Stairs, the feel-good toe-tapping show that’s had six successful productions in as many years.

The aim is to find a group keen to stage the musical in 2009 or 2010, helped by the upfront cash. With luck, running the competition and mounting the winning production should raise the show’s nationwide profile so that prospective audiences will become more aware, so lessening the danger of that perennial problem – a shortage of bums on seats. And the bonus is that the ultimate beneficiaries will be Cancer Research UK Ltd, since each production of the show is royalty-free in exchange for raising some funds for the charity.

Entry is simple. Just send for the lib and score – which costs a mere £10 plus £1.50 postage – choose a scene or two and submit a video or DVD. It couldn’t be simpler. There’s no need to create a pukka set or hire costumes. Entries will be judged by a panel of four and the winning amateur musical company notified and announced no more than 28 days after the closing date of 28 February 2009.

Composer Alan Lewis has an American benefactor to thank for enabling the competition – which was partly prompted by TV programmes such as those to find a Maria, a Joseph and a Nancy – to be held. He admits that he’d had the competition idea for some time but it wasn’t until the unexpected gift arrived that it could become a reality. Writer Trevor Pilling says "We are looking forward to promoting Below Stairs in this way. We hope the £5k will tempt a good few – and a few good! – societies but we realise that the larger the proposed venue the smaller this sum will be of the total budget. Knowing the high levels achieved by NODA member companies, we expect the ‘audition’ pieces to be of good quality but naturally we reserve the right to withhold the prize if not enough societies enter or if none achieves a good enough standard."

Full information may be obtained by emailing bestmusical@btinternet.com. Explains Alan "The ‘bestmusical’ address is not a conceit but is made up from the first two letters of Below and Stairs".

                                       Actors Wanted

Oak Tree Films - an independent, UK based film company - is producing a short film I Love You in Manchester from Saturday 23rd to Monday 25th August.

They are looking for a teenage male actor to play a 15 year old protagonist.

Synopsis: I Love You is a charming tale of Dean a 15 year old boy who overcomes his inhibitions and, with a little help from his mum and dad, pushes himself to go on a date; the date being his natural mother. Paid work: three day shoot at £220, plus expenses (travel etc). Film credit and copy of completed film included.
 
They are also looking for:
• Female 40 something - natural mother in café. 1 day shoot
• Female 40 something - adoptive mum in house. 1 day shoot
• Male 40 something - adoptive dad in house. Half day shoot
• Male or Female 25 - 55 year old Florist. Half day shoot
• Female 15-18 girl on street. Half day shoot
• Male 16-18 boy behind counter in café. Half day shoot

Contact graham@oaktreefilms.com with your CV, (if applicable) details of chaperone (if actor aged under 16), details of licence (if applicable - e.g. open licence with local authority, no licence etc - only if actor aged under 16).
Auditions will take place at the beginning of August in Manchester.

  MOZART SINGING COMPETITION FOR SINGERS UNDER 35

The Jack Donnelly Memorial
Prize Fund: £6,000
including at least £1,500 reserved for singers under 25

Auditions by CD: Entries close 8th December 2008
For more details go to www.nationalmozart.com

         4Talent Awards Looking for Creative Under-30s

deadline: 29 August 2008
Channel 4 is scouring the country for the UK’s most exciting young creative talent for the 4Talent Awards 2008. Categories include:

• Short Documentary (screen)
• Dramatic Writing (stage and screen)
• Dramatic Performance (stage, film & TV)
• Directing (film & TV)
• Comedy Writing (stage, film & TV)
• Comedy Performance (stage, film & TV)
• Music
• Animation
• Photography

And several more. All entrants must be under 30 on 31/12/2008 and both your completed online form and any posted supporting materials must be received by 5pm on Friday 29 August 2008. To find out more go to www.4talentmagazine.com/awards

  Northern Rock Foundation Culture programme reopens

area: North East

The Northern Rock Foundation has reopened its grants programme for high-quality and high-profile culture and heritage projects in North East England and Cumbria. The programme will be worth £2 million in 2008. Northern Rock Foundation is now seeking applications to support performing arts, contemporary craft, design and new media, museum and heritage exhibitions, festivals and collaborations as well as professional training for people working in these areas.

The Foundation plans to invest in a wide range of imaginative and ambitious work, and to support the region's creative talent. Alongside Culture and Heritage, the Foundation's priorities for grants in 2008 are: services for people with mental health problems, people with learning disabilities, older people and carers; one-to-one help for young people at risk, homeless people, substance misusers and groups that face prejudice and discrimination; reducing the incidence and impact of domestic and sexual violence, abuse and hate crimes.

For more information please visit: www.nr-foundation.org.uk

          Our Creative Talent: the voluntary and amateur
                                          arts in England

Treading the boards, crafting a short story or performing a show-stopping tune are just some of the ways that nearly 6 million English people participate in the arts, according to a new study.

The results from ‘Our Creative Talent: the voluntary and amateur arts in England’ show music is one of people’s biggest passions with more than 11,220 groups across England, followed by theatre with 5,380 groups and dance with 3,040 groups.

The report says:

• there are 49,140 groups across the country - ranging from orchestras and book clubs to lace-making and dance - with a total of 5.9 million members
• an additional 3.5 million people volunteer as extras or helpers – for example raising funds or rigging lighting – bringing the total involvement to 9.4 million people
• voluntary arts generated a total income of £543 million in 2006/07.

Speaking at last weeks 'Our Creative Talent' national conference run in partnership with Voluntary Arts England, Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said:

'For too long there’s been a stereotype of amateur arts in England which is clearly long out of date. This research is a landmark - the first of its kind. It shows the sheer size and significance of the voluntary and amateur arts sector. Far from being a poor relation to the professional arts, the sector sustains cultural traditions, encourages innovation, helps develop new audiences, promotes vibrant and inclusive communities and supports the professional sector.

'Voluntary arts groups account for an estimated one fifth of all arts engagement in England. Groups are often deep rooted in the local community and we need to make sure that we recognise and support the enthusiasm and talent that is on our doorsteps.'

Download 'Our Creative Talent: the voluntary and amateur arts in England'

                   New releases from Nick Hern Books

NEW PLAYS

SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR
by Luigi Pirandello in a new version by Rupert Goold & Ben Power

Pirandello’s classic play updated for the twenty-first century by the team
behind Headlong’s acclaimed Faustus.

World Premiere: Minerva Theatre, Chichester, 27 Jun–23 Aug,
directed by Rupert Goold

£8.99 - Script available now

THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES
by Joanna Murray-Smith

A deliciously wicked comedy about a feminist author held hostage by a
young student, premiering in the West End with Eileen Atkins.

UK Premiere: Vaudeville Theatre, West End, 10 Jul–4 Oct,
directed by Roger Michell

£8.99 - Script available now

TEN TINY TOES
by Esther Wilson

An uncompromising account of the heartbreaking choices faced by
the families of soldiers serving in foreign conflicts.

World Premiere: Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, in association with
Shared Experience, 13 Jun–5 Jul,
directed by Polly Teale

For further information and review copies…
Contact Robin Booth, marketing manager
robin@nickhernbooks.demon.co.uk or 020 8749 4953

NEW BOOK

THEATRE WRITINGS
by Kenneth Tynan
selected & edited by Dominic Shellard
foreword by Tom Stoppard

“The next best thing to having been there”
The best of Tynan’s theatre criticism published in paperback by Nick Hern Books

£9.99 paperback
Publication date: 28 August 2008

‘You can open this book on almost any page and come across a phrase or a
vignette which is the next best thing to having been there’
Tom Stoppard, from his Foreword

Book Launch at the British Library, 8 Sept, 7pm
as part of ‘The Golden Generation’ Conference:
New Light on British Theatre 1945–68

For further information and review copies…
Contact Robin Booth, marketing manager
robin@nickhernbooks.demon.co.uk or 020 8749 4953