Robert Emery talks to Willemijn Verkaik, the singer and actress best known for her stage role in Wicked and singing the voice of Elsa for the German and Dutch versions of Disney's Frozen. Willemijn talks about how she keeps on top form, her experience of playing Elphaba on Broadway, the West-End, in Germany and in the Netherlands, and how her stage confidence doesn't always translate to real life.
Easter has inspired some of the greatest works in classical music. First of all let’s get the whole religion thing out of the way; YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE RELIGIOUS TO ENJOY THIS MUSIC! Right. Now I’ve said that, in my humble option, here are five incredible Easter pieces you need to listen to before the boulder is moved for the 1986th time…
In this special episode of the ‘Backstage with Robert Emery’ podcast, RDCE takes you through what a Musical Director actually does; and it involves a lot more than arm waving...
Discussing everything from conducting technique through to some scary real life stories in theatre; he covers it all with the odd funny story along the way.
I am often asked what it's like to be a musician, and with respect, that's almost as broad as asking what it's like to be a human. I'm pretty confident that a day in the life of Robert Emery will be radically different from Puff Diddly, or Simon Cattle; yet we are all musicians, allegedly. So if the making of music is the only thing that connects us, what is it like to be this musician?
In part one, we covered my standard day almost up until the start of the show. I’ve made sure the now infamous ‘click’ is working, and now after all my preflight checks, my podium phone rings. Read on to find out who is on the other end of the line…
Working in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant is the culinary equivalent to a jukebox musical. When you are eating your white truffle and gold pizza, you know full well that the King of TV bleeps didn't actually cook it; but it's his name above the door, and that's probably the reason you chose that establishment over the independent restaurant next door. So when you go to see Bat out of Hell, you shouldn't expect Meatloaf to be acting, singing and dancing, nor it's creator Jim Steinman conducting the band. No. That bit is my job.