Paul Tabone chats about The Artist Lab’s BROADWAY & WEST END EXPERIENCE

The Artists Lab’s Broadway & West End Experience is a five-day intensive program for aspiring music theatre performers aged from 12 to 35. In this intensive from 14-18 April, performers will not only gain a deep understanding and invaluable knowledge of the industry but will also gain an insight into the Creative Team’s perspective, and hear and understand what it is they truly look for when you enter the casting or audition room!

Founded by Paul Tabone and Simone Sault, The Artists Lab aims to fill a much needed gap in theatre education – how to navigate the international industry. In their upcoming workshop, young artists will have the opportunity to work with a wide selection of Internationally renowned actors, theatre directors, musical directors, dance coaches, conductors and casting directors including Simon Phillips (director of Priscilla Queen of The Desert, Love Never Dies, The Phantom of The Opera), Guy Simpson (Australia’s leading musical director), Tyrone White (Producer, Opera Australia), Marina Prior, and casting teams from the West End, and many more! Because of the high demand, The Artists Lab are extendeding audition submissions to April 1st – all details can be found on The Artists Lab website.

Paul is an experienced Opera and Music Theatre performer. Most recently, he reprised the role of Piangi in Opera Australia’s new production of The Phantom of the Opera, a role he has played to critical acclaim both in Australia and on the West End. Dubbed as “Australia’s own Bocelli”, Paul has also solidified himself as a premiere vocal coach, and is one of the last remaining practitioners of the Melocchi Technique globally. He is absolutely thrilled to be moving his skills into a teachable space, and sharing them with the next generation of theatrical talent during these workshops.

How did you come up with the idea for The Artists Lab?

Paul: So, Simone and I have both worked in London for many years – I still actually live in London, and Simone bases herself between London and Australia depending on work. One thing that we’re passionate about is detailed and honest education that comes from experience in the real world, and what we’re finding a lot more these days is that there’s a lot of teachers giving advice to young Australian performers that have actually haven’t been as fortunate as we have throughout our performing careers, both in the UK and US. What we are trying to create and facilitate is a space where we can help young Australian artists grow and enable them to reach their actual full potential for the international stage.

What can participants expect from The Broadway & West End Experience?

Paul: We’ve got all of these people from all over the world who are going to give their own personal account for these workshop opportunities. You’ve got the casting team from London, for example. who’re going to tell you what it’s like in London They’re going to tell you what they expect to see in a room. The competition has to be fierce, you know? We want to provide a platform to all these young people that is a honest and open way in a very supportive environment, and to teach them how to be the absolute best on an international scale. The majority of people that are going to come to this workshop are going to come because they want to get in front of these people, but they also want to know the truth about where they are at on an international level. We’re going to be there to support them through that process, make sure that they are as much prepared for the international stage as they can be by the end of the five day course, but also meeting all of these amazing people. So there’s so many different facets here that we’re trying to instill in all these young artists.

What does the future look like for The Artists Lab?

Paul: We’ve already had an exceptional response with the Sydney workshop. We are going to open it up to Melbourne, and we will be doing a Brisbane one following that as well. So we’ll be doing three. We are confirming the cast for Melbourne, and a majority of the people involved now are all wanting to be involved in the future. They all find it just equally as important as we do. So we’re looking forward to that. And the people that we have listed there are just some of who’s now on board. It’s going to be jam packed, and really good value for money, which is something we wanted to provide.

What sets this workshop apart from other performing arts courses?

Paul: Relevant experience. The two words that are most important. Relevant experience is what we what we need as young artists at university when we’re studying. We need to know what the goal is. As well as being a performer I am a singing teacher, and for the last 15 years I’ve studied a technique in Italy called the “Melocchi” Technique – I’m one of only three living people who can facilitate lessons in that technique, so that’s my kind of plus to bring back to The Artists Lab. But the world is very different, even from when I started 15 years ago, it’s a whole different ballpark. I think you’ll find, in Australia especially, is that a lot of our institutions are old fashioned – people who were working once, some of them being academics that actually have, perhaps, very little first-hand experience in performing or as an actual performer across the globe. You know, something that has really changed is etiquette. Times have changed. It’s very different now. So we’ve got people coming in who are actually doing whole seminars on behind the scenes workplace and theatre etiquette. How to behave, how to properly address people, establishing rules of contact, an intimacy coach – this information is something I was never told anything about, and we believe it’s really important for these young artists. And on top of that, the knowledge of how to survive eight shows a week!

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Applications for The Broadway & West End Workshop are open until April 1st

For details and more information, visit the www.theartistslab.com.au/workshops