New Acting Blog Created for the faint hearted

Started a new blog to follow the acting exploits. Some of the roles are not for the young, or faint hearted, hence the need to seperate it from this blog. There are a few comedy roles too, that I can mention on here. 'Dutch Courage' will soon be edited and available to watch.

In the next few weeks I'll be filming ads to promote the Cardiff Half Marathon. Very funny, Cleese-like performances. My audition piece (dialogue written by me too) is available to watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnQsWcJGb7o
More performance clips here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaAHGqKCO90


Patiently waited for my 'Casualty' moment on BBC1 last night. Filmed on Porthcawl beach, several hours trying to get kites to fly and then discovered that the kite had a bigger role than me :o(. Just as I was coming into view one of the main cast moved their ice-cream cone and blocked me out. Ah well, means they can use me again soon.

Above is one of the less scary stills from my role as Boris Blackburn in 'The Circle of Dark Fire'. To find out more about it visit http://stephenlurveyactor.blogspot.co.uk/

Congratulations to Ma & Pa on their 60th Wedding Anniversary, celebrated in March.

Best wishes to family and friends about to go on tour: Dane and the boys from '5th Story' for their upcoming Big Reunion Tour http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/The-Big-Reunion-tickets/artist/1832968 & Dermot and fellow cast with 'Annie Get Your Gun' http://www.anniegetyourgunthemusical.com/index.php?p=cast-creative

Have fun everyone. Things are moving fast, I'll try to keep you up to date more frequently.

catch ya soon

Steve (TAS)

Lets go Fly a Kite (well, more like try and fly a kite)

It's been a while (where have I heard that before). Busy, busy, busy. After identifying flaws in my stage performances and a dreadful 'Britain's Got Talent' audition, I decided on some one to one workshops with a professional performer/producer/director. Everything they listed as a 'Do Not!' was something 'I DID!' at the audition. Hindsight is a very wonderful thing. But the BGT8 staff were all very helpful, polite and courteous which was a nice surprise after hearing of the moans from those unsuccessful in the past. With that volume of people to deal with, some are going to be hanging around a while.Great experience, even if it was a series of painful lessons learned.
The audition and workshops were well worth the investment of time and money, and it's surprising what you can actually do when you try new things out. In fairness there are not many opportunities to have improv sessions in the guise of one of your own characters, except in these sorts of workshops. Confidence building and a great way to fine tune audition pieces. Pity I didn't have the training first...DOH!
Been working on location for a couple of TV programmes as an Extra (or Supporting Artist if you want to sound more important). I was an idiot with a kite on Porthcawl beach for 'Casualty' a few weeks back (nearly ended up in casualty after the stunt kite hit me in the face at a fair old mph - no doubt the only bit of me they edit in). Should be shown in March 2014. And yes, I did eventually manage to keep it up for a  satisfactory length, of time, thank you very much.
Good experience: nice people to work with and for. Couldn't get cold as the kite had a mind of its own, so avoidance tactics were essential (aka diving for cover). A sprint down the beach to retrieve the kite's 12-15ft tail (avoiding continuity problems) got the blood pumping too, to fight off the chilly breeze.
A bit of work a couple of weeks earlier as well for 'Gwaith Cartref,'' an S4C production. Again, very enjoyable and a great experience, playing an 'oggling letch' in a club whilst one of the cast was belly dancing. One good point was, that if you did something wrong and somebody was not happy with you, you couldn't understand a bloody word they were shouting at you :o)
2014 should be exciting, plenty of opportunities to audition for, using the pieces from the workshops. Looking forward to them now rather than being daunted.
If I don't manage to write another piece before Crimbo, let me wish you all a great Xmas break and a fantastic 2014.

More exciting times ahead people.

Regards
Lurv

The Thrill of Love

No, I haven't bought a new mirror. It's the title of a play (Wot I'm acting in). Only just over two weeks of rehearsals to go and then The Cardiff Players http://www.cardiffplayers.org/ can wow the audience with their production of Amanda Whittington's fantastic play. No pressure, Amanda's only coming along to see us perform on one of the four nights, from 9th-12th October. We'll do her proud.

The trailers that Mr Lance Eggleton has produced are setting a very high level of anticipation. Three are now available to view on youtube, the latest being this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrg8wTVLop8

Make sure you don't miss this Welsh Premiere of the play, that only finished a run in London in May this year. Tickets available from http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/search/searchEvent.asp?event_id=41806

Good practice then to help out the NHS a week ago in training their staff in dealing with scenarios involving palliative care. It was a great experience and good practice too for TV work, as you had to imagine being one to one with the GP or nurse and forget about the 5 people watching from positions roughly where cameras could be on set/location. No script, just keywords and symptoms to bring into a consultation as a patient, or concerned family member of a patient. Six scenarios to act out, so a traumatic day, and to finish I had rehearsals and was partly responsible for a woman receiving the death sentence. A deserved beer that night.

'Stats & Pats' (Office of National Statistics and Intellectual Property Office AmDram group) had a read through last week for the charity pantomime (co written with Mr Eggleton and Miss Hayley Moseley). 'Big Bother in Little Panto Land' will try to repeat last year's success with 'Santa Gets the Sack' in raising funds to help pay for a Newport Veterans and OAPs Xmas lunch and variety performance. If we exceed or even just match last year it will be worth every effort. Who knows, maybe someone else trying out acting will have a similar experience to my own and find themselves on stage time and time again. Be warned, applause is addictive.

The books 'Spectre Antiques' and 'Spector's Revenge' continue to spread worldwide. Maybe I can find time to write the third in the series during 2014.

That holiday in Lanzarote seems a lot further in the past than a mere month. Very beautiful island: nice hotels, beaches, people and food (and drink).

Now, let's have another practice of my lines.

Have fun people. I hope to see you at 'The Thrill...' Exciting times ahead.

regards
Lurve

From Panto & Santa to Shakespeare in 6 months - 'On no you didn't', 'Oh yes I did'

Hola! Good morrow! A'right Butt!

After Googling 'Aivis the Burvis' and realising that people wanted to know its translation into Korean, Japanese, German and Spanish, I thought it was about time to add to the dormant blog since Nov 2012.

So what's happened since then?

It is only now, whilst writing this, that I realise myself just how much has been achieved.

In December the funds raised by the Pantomime (Wot I wrote) for the Newport OAPs and veterans Xmas lunch at the ONS, helped to reduce some of our very special guests to tears of joy. The work of Mrs Liz Buttigieg and her volunteers was an amazing example of kindness and charity and filled the heart with warmth and the sensation of real achievement.

In January, fueled by the success above, a new writing team gathered to create the Panto script for 2013. It is absolutely hilarious and has raised the bar. With new organisations on site, it's a great opportunity to mix and build friendships. But, they still don't realise just how good this script is (I'm an international author FFS). If they miss out they'll kick themselves in the not too distant future.

February, I checked out the Cardiff Players, after hearing lots of good things about the amazing play 'Glorious', which was to go on to win awards for the brilliant performances by Ms Bella Kemble and Mr Peter Stickler at the Glammies - see  http://www.cardiffplayers.org/join.html . '39 Steps' performed by the Concept Players won the award for best play, and I hear it was fantastic. Congratulations to all those nominated for an award in a very tough competition http://www.glamorgandrama.org/glammies/12-13/glammies12-13.htm

I was so impressed by the quality of the performances by the cast and the technical teams in Welsh AmDram that I joined the Cardiff Players troupe. Soon I was back on stage for the hugely impressive Fringe show, that flowed around 'Albert' the One Act play that won the regional competition and then narrowly lost out to the fantastic A Little Box of Oblivion  performance by Solva ADS, at the Welsh final http://www.dramawales.org.uk/pages/festivals/walesfinalfestival.html (Congratulations to them). Playing 3 very different characters in 3 sketches really instilled confidence and whetted my appetite. Bring on Shakespeare...a bit of a leap in six months from Santa in a Panto.

Don Pedro in 'Much Ado About Nothing' was a challenging but hugely satisfying role, when done. The cast was strong and performances throughout 'nailed'. There is nothing amateur about this lot except for not being paid. As could be said about RATS (Rhiwbina Amateur Theatrical Society), who performed 'Blood Brothers' to a standard that any professional theatre would be proud of.

No sooner was 'Much ado...' done, than the next project began. 'The Thrill of Love' was going to be given a miss...until I read the script and had a chat to the Technical Director. The Ruth Ellis story is extremely haunting and atmospheric. The audience will be open mouthed and stunned by this incredibly powerful play and the images created on stage.  I had to at least read for the part, or I'd kick myself, these incredible opportunities don't come around very often...and I got the part of Inspector Jack Gale. Who would believe that playing Santa for charity could lead to this. Doing good things for good people for a good cause has its rewards.

All of the above has meant postponing a few writing projects, but hey, it's my life so I'll do what I want when it suits, thank you very much.

Very talented artists are about to show their work at 'The Gate Arts Centre' in Cardiff at the end of Aug-Oct 2013. This diverse collection of art will be very well worth a visit if you have the opportunity. I've seen a lot of this stuff in the flesh, so to speak, and it is fabulous.  Enjoy, I might even see you there - http://www.thegate.org.uk/event/6-artists-6-visions/

I will attempt to keep posting at least once a month (I said that last year ;o) ), but I would encourage you to keep up to date on 'The thrill of Love' via the very talented Mr Lance Eggleton's excellent blog http://searchforruth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/2-august-2013-yield-to-night.html

What you can see from above is that if you try new things, you find out that you have a lot of unrecognised or unappreciated talents....not least by yourself. So try a few new things people, who knows where it could lead.

Whatever it is you try, have fun.

Best wishes
Lurv

Santamime

Hi all

My first and second performance as Santa is over in my Pantomime 'Santa Get's the Sack'. It was nerve wrecking and satisfying in equal quantities. Saw one of the bravest performances ever, from our robot. She was shaking like a leaf before, during and after the performances. Stuck it out for the team. great effort Claire. Dialogue next for you.
More performances demanded for the adult/staff version and all for a good cause too. Very proud here people, an attack of the Cheshire Cat :o). OAPs charity performance to go nearer Xmas to finish off a great year.
Copies of 'Spectre Antiques' & 'Spector's Revenge' flying off the shelves too which will help get them to screen. Hopefully 2014 will be a bumper year for Lurvey.
Spent time in mid wales at the Metropole Hotel Llandrindod Wells. Pampered in the spa and enjoyed the six course taster menu. The lamb main course was the pick of a very tasty six courses.
'Le Chauffeur' adult horror is the next project, under the pen name of Stefan Yevrul. A chance to vent some anger and hatred in a positive way :o)
All looks good for 2013 and beyond. For those feeling down, keep going my friends because you never know when things will turn in your favour.

Happy Days!



The Lurv

Busy, busy, busy...

Hi all
You must have thought I'd lost my PC. It's been a while.
A tough quarter of a year. The new book, the sequel to 'Spectre Antiques', has been released. It's a pacier read than the the first and quite a bit crazier. 'Spector's Revenge' be its title LINK. Work on the 3rd episode in the series will begin after Jan 2013.
Before then its time for the pantomime ('what I wrote') 'Santa Get's the Sack'. A minimum of 3 performances before Xmas. Rehearsals began 4 weeks ago.
Prior to completing some projects and starting others I took time to spectate at a few sporting events at the Millennium Stadium. Team GBs game in the Olympic football quarter-final was fantastic. The atmosphere and noise was incredible. Wrong result, especially as I already had tickets for the Bronze Medal match. But the Japanese and South Korean supporters made a decent noise for that game.
Took in the Speedway Grand Prix too. Another great atmosphere and the noise of the bikes was matched by the air horns in their thousands. If you've not been before, try it out next year, well worth experiencing.
I hope to have some news about taking the books to screen next blog. Lots to learn about turning text into a performance. Early rehearsals with the pantomime troupe have already taught me a lot about using the stage, props and delivery.It's not just hamming it up...but you do have to do that too.
But I'll finish on a sporting note:
We have all enjoyed great sporting achievements at the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, the Tour de France and just last week with the Ryder Cup team. Congratulations to them all.
Sometimes, however, we are reminded of the price sportsmen and women pay in their pursuit of trophies, medals or just pure love for their chosen sport. Best wishes go to Jason Howells of Neath RFC, after his most serious of neck injuries. Good luck for the best possible news after tomorrow's MRI scan.
Take care all

Lurv

Man overboard but never over bored

 Well what a month that was. Busy, busy, busy...

Panto first draft done and feedback very positive. 3 versions to create for performances in Nov/Dec.

I made a good attempt at drowning and looking a right numpty. Note to self: White water rafting does tend to be more enjoyable above the water. Smashed my hip on the man-made boulders, got tangled up in the rescue rope, nearly garroted a young lady in a kayak as the tension tightened (in more ways than one). But all good fun and no broken bones. http://www.ciww.com/ be the place to check it out.

Had my first deep muscle sports massage this morning, since the incident. No mercy shown. I can best describe it by reminding you all of the scene in Alien when the eponymous monster burst forth from John Hurt's (and it certainly did) chest.

Re-working the last chapter of 'Spector's Revenge',and the rest is with the new proof reader. The first book had a few errors, so if you've got a copy hold on to it as only genuine first editions will have them. Could be a collector's item of the future.

Over the next couple of weeks I shall be working with the talented writer/photographer and short film maker Mr Lance Eggleton and turning a humorous rhyme about an inept Olympic athlete into a short comedy animation...it's what youtube was invented for. Recent performances of the work went down extremely well so let's see if we can get thousands of likes when the images are added and it goes live. 

Catch up soon people.
regards
Lurv