Hi Neil, how are you doing today? Thanks so much for chatting to Stage to Page! Would you mind introducing yourself to our readers and telling us how you first got into the theatre industry?

I grew up in a small town in regional Australia. But for a town with a population of 10,000 people, we had an incredible theatre that seated 530 audience members.  I basically grew up in that theatre. My parents both volunteered there, and I was involved in youth theatre groups, did school musicals and community shows there - and saw EVERYTHING that toured through the theatre professionally. After finishing high school, I moved to Brisbane for university, but ended up performing in four or five shows a year. After three years, I moved to Sydney to pursue acting.  But at the same time, I also kind of fell into working for one of Australia's biggest theatre producers - and the rest is history :)

Your show, The Empire Strips Back: A Burlesque Parody is having its London premiere at Riverside Studios from 2nd May. Can you tell us about the production?

The show started in the smallest way - in a tiny bar in Sydney that was run by the creators of the show, Russall S Beattie and Craig Ridgwell. From there it has just grown and grown into what it has become.  The show is a combination of comedy, dance, sexiness - and the iconic characters from the original Star Wars movies set in parody costumes and circumstances. Throw in some alcohol, amazing lighting and incredible props...what more could the nerds of the world want??

The show has already been extended until August due to its popularity. Has the production's popularity around the world surprised you? And how excited are you to finally bring it to the UK?

David and I inherited a show from the creators that had played numerous tours around Australia and had also done two tours of the USA. However, at that time, the show basically played just one or two performances in each city before moving on. We started in San Francisco trying a model where we let the show sit down for longer, and generate word of mouth and return audiences. And luckily, that is a model that has worked. I am not surprised by its popularity - I have produced a lot of shows....but it is not very often that I have heard audiences laugh and scream as much as The Empire Strips Back audiences do. And I believe that if you can make an audience have that much of a good time...then it will probably be successful.  Now it has played in over 40 cities across the USA as well as Mexico City, Paris...and we are about to open in London and Las Vegas simultaneously!

If you had to describe the show in three words, what would they be? 

Funny, sexy, ridiculous!

My blog is called Stage to Page. But if you could turn any book, from page to stage, what would it be and why?  

I have so many - and it would be giving away too many secrets to name them all.  But one book that I would still love to adapt for the stage as a play is The Body by Stephen King....which is better known as Stand By Me because of the film adaptation

And finally, why should people book tickets to The Empire Strips Back: A Burlesque Parody?  

If you love comedy, Star Wars, sexy dancers, alcohol and great merchandise...then you should book tickets. The feedback that we always receive is that The Empire Strips Back defies expectations. Audiences sometimes have no idea what they are going to see - and they are shocked by the scale of the props and costumes, the brilliance of the dancers, the amazing lighting...and generally just how much fun they have in a theatre! The show is more funny, more sexy and more off-the-wall than most people can imagine.

You can book tickets to The Empire Strips Back, here.