THERE has been praise for CODS and Julian Stoneman following the first relaxed “in conversation” on-line interview of celebrities from the entertainment industry which are being held on a weekly basis.

The first “A Chance To Meet” was with Kim Gavin, the Award winning British choreographer, director and former Royal Ballet dancer.

He was the creative director of the London Olympics closing ceremony and is the Artistic Director for "Take That".

The hour-long “in conversation”, held on Monday, November 9, was well-attended.

Some of those who listened in and asked questions have said how much they enjoyed the free event and said they hoped to listen in on future discussions where Julian Stoneman interviews some of his friends in the entertainment industry about their lives and how they started out in theatre, tv and film.

There are a wide variety of famous and award winning guests on the list – theatre and film stars, creative directors and lighting designers, set and costume designers, choreographers and producers – so there is something for everyone interested in this sector.

Julian was a former member of CODS way back in his teenage days. He went to Landscore School, and was then a student at Queen Elizabeth’s School.  ?CODS is delighted to say that he is now an Honorary Life Friend of the Society and a Patron of the Crediton Heart project.

He has extensive experience of the world of Theatre and Theatrical Events and is always very enthusiastic about sharing his experience, his knowledge and his connections with the Crediton community.

DANIELLE STEERS

His next interview will take place on Monday, November 16 and will be with West End and Broadway actress Danielle Steers.

Danielle Steers is a professional stage actress and performer who is famous for her performance in the award wining production of Bat Out of Hell the musical and Six the Musical. Her outstanding work gave her immense exposure, leading to her accumulating over 19,000 followers on her Instagram account.

She is an alto, mezzo-soprano, skilled in tap, jazz, contemporary and ballet dancing. She realised her knack for singing when she was around 9-10 years old. She was singing in front of the mirror in her room, and her mother called out to her, asking her to go to bed and turn off the radio.

Her theatre credits include The Bodyguard (West End Original Production, 2012) where she performed as a swing; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Aldwych Theatre, 2015) where she was an ensemble; Bat Out of Hell (Original Production at London Coliseum, 2017) where she portrayed the character of Zahara; Bat Out of Hell (West End Return Engagement, 2018) as Zahara; SIX (West End Return Engagement, 2019) where she played Catherine Parr; Sweet Charity (Donmar Warehouse, 2019), and Bat Out of Hell (NY City Center Production, 2019) where she played the role of Zahara once again.

JON BAUSOR

The interview on November 23 will be with multi-award winning international stage designer and creative director Jon Bausor.

Jon is a multi-award winning international stage designer and creative director.

He designed the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and the kinetic sculpture to light the flame for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

He completed a Music Degree at Oxford University before retraining on the Motley Theatre Design Course in 2000. Since then he has designed extensively in dance, opera and theatre for companies worldwide. He is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (2012 - present day).

His work is known for its large-scale visual impact and transformational concepts with strong dramaturgical narratives. From kinetic post-apocalyptic sets for musicals such as Bat Out of Hell - (London/Germany/New York) to a circus themed box of tricks for The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic/Trafalgar Studios - Winner, Best Design at the UK Theatre awards), a crashed Boeing-737 for Lord of the Flies (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), to audience interactive design for Tree created by Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah (Manchester International Festival/Young Vic).

Jon serves on the committee for the Linbury Prize for Stage Design, is designer advocate on sustainability for SiPA and a founder member of the collective SceneChange.

Anyone and everyone is invited watch and listen over dinner, a cup tea or even a glass of wine!

Tickets to attend are free and the only thing you will need is access to a computer, laptop or tablet, as the talks will be hosted on the well-known platform Zoom. 

To join in on the "Chance To Meet", just go to: www.codsonline.com and click on the link at the bottom of the front page.

Information on each guest and the date of the talks are included on the page; just click on the button for the event date you’re interested in and you will be directed to the instructions on how to sign up!

And one lucky person will gain a gift from the host Julian; just sign up and attend all chats, and a random generator at the end of the season will choose the winner (eligible to over 18s only). 

So please do join CODS for what will be an amazing opportunity to meet each of these incredibly talented people and listen to some of their stories.