The StageLync Podcast

Episode 134 – Production at Disney with David Stewart

In this episode we are joined by David Stewart, talking all things production in entertainment. David Stewart holds multiple roles within Disney Live Entertainment Global, such as Producer, Creative Development, Content, and Inclusive Strategies. David's produced works at Disney include: Magic Kingdom’s 50th Anniversary spectacular Disney Enchantment, Beacons of Magic, Remount of Happily Ever After, NBA and MLS sports ‘bubbles’, DJ’s Ready, Set, Party Time!, Wonderful World of Animation and Joyful!. D-Stew has worked for the National Association of Black Journalists, the Guthrie Theater, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Wisconsin. He has been a Stage Manager for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, AEA stage manager for Madison Repertory Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, St. Louis MUNY, Kansas City Starlight Outdoor Musicals, The Little Theatre on the Square and Vienna Austria’s English Theatre. D-Stew is a member of USITT, Chair EDI committee, board of directors, co-founder Gateway Program. D-Stew is also the founder of Production on Deck, a production search and consulting firm.
https://www.productionondeck.com/
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 133 – Visual design with Lina Younes

Lina Younes is a Palestinian Lebanese visual designer based in New York working in theatre, film, animation, and installations. She creates worlds with one eye shut and an index finger as her wand. While studying for her MFA in design from NYU/Tisch, she enjoyed controlling traffic, mapping the skies, imagining the birds and inhabitants of the world in plays, dances, operas, and films. Lina's work is about freezing moments, replaying them, changing scenarios, playing out consequences, and then repeating. Lina has a great love and a great weakness: soap bubbles.
https://www.linayounes.com/about
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 132 – Performance design with Maureen Freedman

In this episode we are joined by Maureen Freedman, talking all things performance design. A South African designer for performance, Maureen has worked with production teams in the US and abroad creating spaces and crafting characters for theatre, object theatre, opera and dance. Some notable work includes The Exalted at BAM with Carl Hancock-Rux and Theo Belckmann, Anne Bogart, Freedman's directing credits include Collider Classroom with Dr. Christopher Emdin at Lincoln Theatre Studio, The Wolves at the Window by Toby Davis for Brits off Broadway, and several collaborations with Yael Rasooly including The House by the Lake (Israel & touring), Silence Makes Perfect (UK) and upcoming Burning Blue in Norway. Maureen is a Linbury Prize finalist, Cheek by Jowl young Professional alum, NYFA IAP fellow and in May this year she and her team presented their winning design for Orfeo ed Euridice in Opera America’s L. B. Tobin Director-Designer award for 2021-22.
https://www.maureenfreedman.com/
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 131 – Acrobatic performance with Elisa Tauro

In this episode we are joined by Elisa Tauro, talking all things acrobatic and performance. Elisa is currently performing in Las Vegas with one of Cirque du Soleil’s most prestigious shows, “O”. As a competitive gymnast and trampolinist, Elisa’s talent was recognised at a young age and she became the first competitor to move from club to National level competitions, skipping provincials completely. At the age of 6, she tried the flying trapeze for the first time and immediately fell in love. 
Elisa has had the opportunity to live and perform all over the world including the United States, Europe and Dubai. She speaks multiple languages, and in addition to performing, Elisa is an avid snowboarder, water-skier and also a lover of food - she started a YouTube channel cooking and baking with her mother during the pandemic.
@elisa_tauro
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 130 – Costume design with Jelena Antanasijevic

In this episode we are joined by Jelena Antanasijevic, talking all things costume design. Jelena is a New York-based costume designer and educator. For the last fourteen years, she has designed costumes for over thirty theater, film, and TV productions in the United States and her homeland, Serbia. Her costume design work has been awarded and exhibited multiple times.
Jelena has worked in every role in the costume design field: costume designer and assistant, costume design and construction teacher and mentor, illustrator, costume shop manager, stitcher, first hand, draper, embroiderer, craft artisan, costume painter, and distresser, dyer, dresser, and wardrobe supervisor for theater, opera, dance, TV, and film. This experience enabled her to form a distinctive outlook on what it takes to put on production from a costume perspective.
In New York City, Jelena mastered her craftsmanship skills through working as a craft artisan and costume maker for some of the best NYC costume shops and studios like Parsons Meares, John Kristiansen, Mio Design Studio, Jeff Fender, and Ballet Hispánico. She created, embellished, distressed and hand-painted costumes and accessories for numerous Broadway, off-Broadway, Disney, and HBO productions (The Deuce). 
Jelena’s defining wardrobe experience encompasses dressing Metropolitan Opera singers and dancers and wardrobe-supervising the TV Series ‘Empires of Excess’ on History Channel. She is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor & Costume Supervisor at Pace University at Dyson College of Arts and Sciences in New York City. 
https://www.jelenaantanasijevic.com/about
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 129 – 2 year anniversary with Anna Tompkins

Anna Tompkins is an Acrobatic Rigger, Rope Access, and Automation Technician, originally from the United States. She was our first guest on our debut episode back in 2020. Since then, and at the time of this recording, we have released over 120 episodes. Anna Tompkins rejoins us to catch up on what's been happening in the arts and entertainment world in the last two years.
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 128 – Musical theatre with Ariana Schneider

On this episode we are joined by Ariana Schneider to talk about writing and recording a musical in Australia. Ariana Schneider has been involved in Music and Theatre for many, many years. She ran a very successful singing and drama studio from which students were accepted into the prestigious institutions of The Sydney Con, NIDA, WAPA, Victoria College of the Arts and Queensland Conservatorium. Ariana also taught music and drama in many of the schools in her area as well as writing a mini play and a musical for the students to perform. 
She is currently in the final stages of completing the recording process of a musical she wrote called "CRYSTAL DREAMING". Ariana wrote the script, lyrics and music to its 22 songs and worked with a producer/arranger from a professional recording studio - Turn Around Music (Peter Stevenson) who created fabulous orchestration. 
The musical was first performed in 2016 with a fully staged production in Ariana's home town of Taree, in which 32 performers including 14 children took part. The whole town supported the project and they played to 3 full houses. A film was made of the production.
Never having been fully satisfied with the script, Ariana used the lockdown time to take a course in Play Writing with the TheaterMakers Studio in New York and also received dramaturgical support from Eric Webb. This support allowed her to do a rewrite of the original score and script.
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 127 – Changing careers and the Performing Arts with Franchesca Wong

On this episode, we are joined by Franchesca Wong, talking all about changing careers and entering the performing arts as a young adult. Franchesca is a Canadian-born Chinese actress and corporate role player based in Hong Kong. Raised in both Canada and Hong Kong, Franchesca graduated from the University of Calgary - Haskayne School of Business with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2012. She worked as a Business Development Officer for two years in Hong Kong. She then returned to follow her passion in drama and studied Acting at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She received multiple scholarships, as well as Outstanding Student Award during her studies.
After graduation, she was an actor-in-residence at We Draman Group (HK) in 2020-21 and she has performed in multiple stage, TV, film and voice-over productions. Apart from acting, she has been an MC for multiple events and has great passion for drama education. She has taught drama at different institutions including the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and local schools in Hong Kong. Outside of work, Franchesca is an adventurer and outdoor lover, she engages in all types of hiking, scuba diving, travelling and yet to discover adventures.
@franchesca_wong
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 126 – battleROYAL 2 with Brendan Shelper and Judith Hoch

In this episode, we are joined once again by the CEOs of battleROYAL Berlin, Brendan Shelper and Judith Hoch, following Esch 2022. battleROYAL is an entertainment company based in Berlin. They are a studio of bold creatives, strategists and event professionals working between the domains of culture and commerce. Technology and innovation are defining parts of their work and process. Founded in 2011, battleROYAL Berlin has staged some of the largest sport and cultural events throughout Europe and Middle East such as the European Capital of Cultures Aarhus 2017 and Esch2022, and have worked for several Fortune 500 firms, including BMW, Porsche and American Express. battleROYAL Berlin regularly publishes articles, sharing insights on their work and practices. You can find a selection on our Theatre Art Life website as well. 
Brendan Shelper is an executive creative director with 20+ years of experience in the culture, event, and entertainment industry, and founder of battleROYAL Berlin. Working at the intersection of creative strategy and emerging technologies, Brendan envisions compelling ways to bring large-scale activations to life. His roots stem from physical theatre, major cultural ceremonies, and Olympic openings.
Judith Hoch is a business and culture manager, with 15+ years of experience in the performing arts, entertainment and events sector. As the former COO of battleROYAL, Judith set the operational framework for the team, making sure that each project got the people and budget it required. She led major international productions, overseeing team structures, budgets, and processes. Appointed as Co-CEO in 2022, she is joining co-founder and Co-CEO Brendan Shelper as strategic lead of the company.
https://esch2022.lu/en/ https://battleroyal.berlin
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.

Episode 125 – Dance with Bengt Jörgen

In this episode we are joined by Bengt Jörgen, talking all things dance. Bengt Jörgen is a co-founder of Canada’s Ballet Jörgen, and serves as its Artistic Director and CEO. In 1992, his artistic vision led to the formation of a partnership with George Brown College in Toronto, where he is the Artistic Director of the full-time dance program. Bengt strongly believes in classical ballet as a powerful language and foundation to engage contemporary audiences with dance. He is committed to ensuring ballet is relevant to, and has a place in the life of Canadians living in communities from coast-to-coast. Bengt shares about his work bringing dance to all kind of communities, large and small, urban and rural, across Canada. 
https://canadasballetjorgen.ca/#
We want to hear from YOU and provide a forum where you can put in requests for future episodes. What are you interested in listening to? Please fill out the form for future guest suggestions here and if you have suggestions or requests for future themes and topics, let us know here!
@theatreartlife
Thanks to David Zieher who composed our music.