Date: May 28th
Time: 19.00

VENUE: Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8EP. 3 HOURS: 7pm-10pm Places: 7 Please note there are also places available for 20 GBP, these are open to those who do not get up and sing and are available on the main workshops list titled: Musical Theatre Audition Masterclass (non-singing). The Ambassador Theatre Group is the largest theatre group in the West End as well as being one of the country's foremost theatre producers. They have been behind some of the most successful and innovative productions in Britain and internationally. Head of Casting, Neil Rutherford, will work with just 7 Actors' Guild members on their audition-song technique for musical theatre. There is also the opportunity for members to be part of the workshop without getting up to sing. Both those who sing and those who don't will be involved as Neil leads a practical workshop on what makes a good musical theatre audition, what casting directors and creative teams are looking for and exactly how the audition and casting process works. A must for all professional actors who work, or who are looking to work, in musical theatre. Participants are asked to prepare two contrasting numbers from different periods of musical theatre (a pop song against a Rogers and Hammerstein for example). Please bring sheet music for the pianist with you. Neil is Head of Casting for the Ambassador Theatre Group - the largest owner/operator of theatres in the UK. Before becoming a casting director, Neil Rutherford was an actor with West End credits including A Judgement in Stone at the Lyric, June Moon at the Vaudeville , Oliver at Sadlers Wells, City of Angels at the Prince of Wales , Aspects of Love at the Prince of Wales , Fiddler On The Roof at the London Palladium opposite Topol, Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre, Annie at the Victoria Palace, Romeo and Juliet at the Donmar Warehouse, as well as regional, TV and film roles. After a brief spell as Production Associate at the English National Opera, Neil became Head of Casting for The Ambassador Theatre Group. His numerous casting credits have included The Misanthrope staring Keira Knightley and Damien Lewis, Bart Sher's award winning production of South Pacific; Spamalot; Legally Blonde; Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard; Into The Woods for the Royal Opera House, several international productions of the 50th Anniversary production of West Side Story; Guys and Dolls starring Ewan McGregor and Patrick Swayze, also for Australia; The Three Sisters starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Marianne Dreams at the Almeida, several productions of Noises Off directed by Jeremy Sams and several more productions of The Rocky Horror Show starring Michael Aspel, Christopher Biggins, Russ Abbott and Clive Mantle. Neil takes audition masterclasses throughout world and has released an auditioning technique DVD through Think of Everything. Neil has also been an audition panalist and advisor to Channel Four, BBC, ITV, The BBC Performing Arts Scholarships, Spotlight Actors Publications, and drama schools throughout the UK.