Episodes
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We're back!
Welcome to Season 3 of WEMC Talks - we're very excited about all that 2023 has in store.
Hello new choir members (and listeners!), we're very glad to have you here.
We kick off the new season with our Meet the Team segment focusing on all things Aryn. They are one of our original Manchester members and now Charlie's Angels, as well as quickly becoming a resident Disney expert (and pin collector).
We then catch up with original Manchester MD George Strickland about his career to date and numerous exciting projects he has on at the moment - he's on the West End right now, which is super exciting!
Lastly we chat this term's amazing repertoire in WEMC Loves and have a swift debrief about Olly and Katie's trip to see Wicked at the end of January - suffice to say, Lucie Jones made quite the impression as Elphaba.
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter @wemctalks
We hope you enjoy the show.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Katie and Olly reflect on an eventful and enjoyable Autumn term, with contributions from choir members via WEMC Loves
We get to know new angels Chintu Bhatt and Lucy Mills with the return of Meet the Team
Then it's an update from choir member Hannah Doyle about life onboard a cruise ship as part of the entertainment and performance team
We scratch the surface of a really exciting Spring term - but more of that to come in Season 3 of WEMC Talks in the new year
We hope you have had an amazing Christmas and wish you all a very Happy New Year
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Missing episodes?
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Katie & Olly have an informative and enormously entertaining chat with a true Sondheim connoisseur, Tim McArthur - who is also a legend of the pantomime scene and an esteemed host of choir favourite, Overtures.
The conversation covers all things Sondheim, the arts in education, mental health and a healthy dose of festive frivolity to finish.
Released on Christmas Eve as the penultimate episode of 2022, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, Katie and Olly were joined by the fabulously talented and entertaining Show Director of DisneyLand Paris, Emanuel Lenormand.
We discuss Emanuel's long career with Disney and some of the highlights, along with behind the scenes details that make the park the most magical place on earth.
More importantly, we discover his favourite Disney films, songs, heroes and above all, villains.
Many of our choir members will have had the opportunity to work with Emanuel and the Disney Performing Arts team already, but after listening to this, we expect many more will want to perform on one of his stages in 2023 and beyond.
No WEMC Loves this time, but Olly and Katie realise that there is a glaring omission from a previous poll that they promise to atone for.
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Katie and Olly are joined by the wonderful Jennifer Tierney who is currently in the West End smash show, Come From Away.
We chat to her about her early career and journey to being in CFA, as well as going into detail about how she manages to be cover for all the female roles in the show - she is the first person to achieve this feat, which just adds to the wonderment!
Our WEMC Loves section simply had to be about Come From Away, so we find out what makes it so special for our members and how many times they have been to see it - spoiler alert, there are some super fans
Katie and Olly also have a Disney Debrief and tally up the all important number of rides that they have now been on... there is a clear winner, but good progress has been made by one of your co-hosts... finally.
If you're new to the choir and the podcast, make sure to follow us on @wemctalks on Twitter and Instagram for more updates from the podcast team.
And if you're entirely new to WEMC, than make sure to follow us on:
TikTok - @westendmusicalchoir
Instagram - @westendmusicalchoir
Twitter - @westendmchoir
If you want to try the choir out or join, please visit www.westendmusicalchoir.com or email [email protected]
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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As part of a special episode marking World Mental Health Day, Katie and Olly sit down and talk with our King's Cross MD James Cleeve about his work in music therapy. It's a thought provoking and moving discussion, so we hope you enjoy it and find it informative.
Katie and Olly recently managed to go and see Dear Evan Hansen in the West End, which they discuss with the lens of mental health - trying to avoid too many spoilers for those of you haven't seen it yet - and their passion for a genuinely special show.
Lastly, we asked you for your WEMC Loves contributions about 'how/why choir helps with your mental health', which was a lovely segment to record with lots of personal responses from our listeners.
If you would like to find out more about Music Therapy in particular, please see the below for links to the organisations James referenced in the episode:
https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/about-us/
and
https://www.bamt.org/music-therapy/what-is-music-therapy
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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We are kicking off the 2022 Autumn term with a serious bang!
Katie and Olly are absolutely delighted to have a chat with veritable West End star Nikki Bentley!
We have a joyous chat with Nikki covering aspects of her early career, her parts in Mamma Mia and Wicked on the West End as well as other career highs - and lows - that are fascinating to hear about; along with some tips and tricks for choir members to use when getting ready to perform at shows.
We also cover some of her inspirations, role models, dream duet partners and Miscast options too - along with Disney, Queen, ABBA and Yacht Rock... as we said, it was a super fun chat!
For WEMC Loves we decided to expand the Miscast discussion we had with Nikki to see which roles our members would select, and some of their favourite examples of MCC's Miscasting videos online - we'll be sharing links to these on our Twitter channel.
If you're new to the choir and the podcast, make sure to follow us on @wemctalks on Twitter and Instagram for more updates from the podcast team.
And if you're entirely new to WEMC, than make sure to follow us on:
TikTok - @westendmusicalchoir
Instagram - @westendmusicalchoir
Twitter - @westendmchoir
If you want to try the choir out or join, please visit www.westendmusicalchoir.com or email [email protected]
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Katie and Olly are joined by long time WEMC MD James Cleeve to discuss his brand new show "Oh yes I am!" which is opening at the legendary King's Head Theatre in Islington, 11th and 12th September 2022
In this interview, we cover James' involvement with WEMC - particularly at Kings Cross and with Disney - before finding out more about his most recent project.
Even if you listen to this after the show dates, it's a great listen as James talks about the creative process involved and the fact that this is only the start of the journey for this show. We also discover James is a massive Sondheim fan, so we want to have him back on the podcast to talk about that with some other friends of the show in 2023.
We'll be posting links to tickets for WEMC members to be able to go and see the show on our new social channels - @wemctalks on Instagram and Twitter (make sure you're following us on those to keep up to date with all things podcast)
You can listen to WEMC Talks on Spotify as always, but we are excited to announce that we are now available on Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, as well as Audible and web browser players - search WEMC Talks wherever you get your podcasts! (we've been waiting to be able to use that line!)
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The culmination of Katie G and Maxine going rogue in Edinburgh, this second part of the special Fringe series features WEMC members Margaux and Anna discussing their favourite parts of the festival - which features some 'unforgettable' shows and drunk Shakespeare, to name but a few highlights.
Olly is left even more jealous by not being able to get to Edinburgh as Katie & Maxine flex their networking muscles by getting more of the Choir of Man cast to come and talk on the pod. Not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR of the guys joined our clearly delighted hosts for a fantastic chat in the first part of the episode.
Adam, Aled, Conor and Dave were on top form discussing a range of topics from: their earliest experiences of music/choir, troubles and prejudices they faced along the way, getting into Choir of Man, highlights from being in the cast, favourite songs as well as some wonderfully eloquent and meaningful discourse on mental health.
It was a real pleasure to hear from all our guests over this two part special, and we hope you agree.
In exciting news, we have new social media handles as the podcast is doing so well - thanks for your support!
They have gone live, so please follow @wemctalks on Twitter and Instagram for all your WEMC podcast needs
We're also very excited about being able to share the podcast on other services very soon too... so stay tuned for that and new ways to listen.
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this special Edinburgh Fringe Festival episode, Olly is left bewildered and bereft back in London while Maxine 'kidnaps' Katie G to go to the 2022 Edinburgh fringe.
They assured him it was for professional reasons (as well as a nice trip together) and let's just say that they overachieved, big time.
In this opening episode, they first meet up with WEMC veteran and ex Angel Charlie Coombes to discuss all things Fringe.
Charlie C is a veritable expert and she shares her favourite moments in Edinburgh over the years and some of her best tips and tricks to have an amazing trip to the festival - involving an Excel spreadsheet, of course.
In the second half, we are really pleased to announce a surprise guest!
Maxine and Katie G went to see Choir of Man on their first night, loved it and immediately messaged the guys about potentially coming on to the podcast.
Brilliantly, the talented and charming Daniel Len (@daniel_len_music) said YES and joined the girls for an in person chat about all things Choir of Man and his journey to the bright lights of the Edinburgh and London stages.
And if you like that... you're in luck as we have the second part of this special episode coming very soon, crammed with even more Fringe'y goodness.
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Katie and Olly talk with WEMC veteran Mark Hunter about his involvement with choir - including Angel'ing - and how it has given him the confidence to get involved with amateur dramatics over the last few years.
He also shares with us a brilliant list of shows that he has seen over the years and the varied geographical locations he has seen them in.
Not to mention some great anecdotes featuring some of the most notable names on the West End!
All of this prompted us to ask a double barrelled WEMC Loves question about Mark's potential show tally and where our members have been to outside the UK to see musical theatre shows - you'll see that they are a well travelled bunch!
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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For the middle of your choir summer holiday we have made sure to have extra content for you to listen to until it's the start of the Autumn Term!
We speak with our wonderful MD Ashley Jacobs about all manner of things, but namely his love of ABBA, his barbershop quartet and show tune sea shanties - trust us, they're a thing and you're gonna love them.
Katie and Olly go through your responses to our latest WEMC Loves question/request, which features term/year highlights from choir and some shout outs for fellow members.
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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On this episode we have the final instalment of our Meet the Team segment - for now - where we chat with WEMC veterans Maxine Haher and Lyn Whiston about their time with choir and how they ended up as Production/Social Angel and Choir Leader respectively.
We also spoke with the wonderful Jack Gregson about his recent run in 'The Producers', which was a real treat and covered all kinds of topics from musical theatre dream roles, Adam Sandler movies, to the fledgling Daniel Craig Casting Agency... and some gentle bonhomie from Jack and Olly to Katie about songs featuring Canada...
Katie and Olly talk through the results of this edition's WEMC Loves question 'What would be your dream role in any musical'? - which feature some great answers and a very clear winner from the choir members.
Lastly, Maxine talks about the upcoming WEMC Winter Ball and there's even some bonus content at the end of the episode for you to enjoy, seeing as it's the summer break and all that jazz!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The second half of our bumper episode on Disney - you all know it's a firm favourite of WEMC!
The star of our show, the wonderful Lauren van Kempen tells us all about the many (many) strings to her bow, including our workshops with her in London and Paris.
A veritable tale of two cities, from an American in Paris.
To round off the Disney bonanza, we find out the answers to our WEMC Loves question - Who is your favourite Disney Princess?
The answers are wide-ranging and we loved them, so thank you for sending them in.
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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There was so much Disney to talk about that we couldn't fit it all into one episode!
So, we've made it into two parts, with this first one being an extended version of our regular Meet the Team segment.
We speak with Angels Vicki Astbury & Katie Lou Dunkerley about their WEMC history and then delve into their deep knowledge and love of all things Disney.
The second part of this Disney Princess episode will be out in a few days time, where we speak with an amazing MD and find out the responses to our WEMC Loves question.
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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On a Platinum Jubilee extended episode, Katie and Olly reminisce about their London meet up, particularly all things Canadian-music-legend related.
We have a chat with freshest angels, Matt Fortune and Amy Kimberlin - discussing favourite musicals, what they get up to when not choir'ing and most importantly the Elizabeth Line...
Then our main chat is with Kevin Lent and his journey into musical theatre production and his involvement with the 2022 national tour of Disney's Beauty & the Beast.
Lastly, we find out which songs from Beauty & the Beast WEMC Loves the most; it's fair to say, it's a choir favourite Disney production.
And as a special long bank holiday treat, there's a little bit of bonus material at the end of the episode...!
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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This month, Katie and Olly get to know a little more about Angels Amelia and Molly - and realise they all share an adoration of West End leading ladies and real life Disney Princesses - as well as discussing the exciting (and undoubtedly eclectic) summer term repertoire.
They also circle back to discuss which Easter bank holiday musical films WEMC Loves; along with sharing details about Mental Health Awareness Week and the Concert for Ukraine hosted by friend of the choir, Kieran Brown.
Lastly, it's revealed that Katie and Olly are finally going to meet in person - we know, we're as dumbfounded as you are that they haven't properly met IRL...!
We hope you enjoy the show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Katie and Olly discuss the Disney Performing Arts WEMC trip as well as the choir's favourite park rides.
We meet our lovely Manchester Angels, Em and Lou.
And we talk all things Kinky Boots with Enrico.
We hope you enjoy it.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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On this episode of WEMC Talks, we're introducing new hosts of the choir podcast, talking about your favourite love songs in musical theatre and chatting with some experts about how West End Musical Choir creates its amazing repertoire.
Katie and Olly are joined by Choir Founder Charlie Morrison and the creative maestro that is Ben Dovey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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It's Pride Month!!! Get your glitter out and listen to the fabulous Ness, Ollie and Jana talk about what Pride means to them, why it's important, and how to be an ally.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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