This is a working title. The term Maestro:Diva is used to convey talent, regardless of age. The show explores the nuts and bolts of "talent" interacting with a "learning-curve" audience.

 A TV ARTS SERIES FOR BBC2

The names figured below conjure up the words STAR, GENIUS, MAESTRO,DIVA.
 
Catherine Zeta Jones                 Paul Whitehouse                Lee Evans
Alun Francis                               Bryn Terfel                        Helen McCrory
Anthony Hopkins                          Billy Connolly                    Adam Clayton
Jeff Goldblum                              Ben Elton                           David Milch
Eve Myles                                    Kenneth Branagh              Matthew Rhys
Charlotte Church                         Ken Loach                        Paul Whitehouse

It is true they all have celebrity in common; many are world renowned names; all are highly respected in their profession; all are known to have reached the top and stayed there. A large percentage of those in the above list are Welsh, no easy feat in a competitive and fickle business.  It is agreed by everyone that what they all have is a highly nurtured gift and a capacity for hard work, a quality often ignored by the mass media whose prime objectives are to entertain its audience with gossip and innuendo.

TALENT is a much-misused word; it is more than a God given gift; it requires more than the recognition of those gifts in a school or on the playing field by an enthusiastic teacher. It is a journey which the wannabe MAESTRO:DIVA decides upon; a journey that is more than hours spent sweating and studying, remembering lines, figuring out motivation, and timing; it is more than this. It is a journey wherein the emotional, physical and psychological skills of our budding star will be tested as harshly as his or her gifts will be challenged and refined; until the master becomes a teacher.

When Hopkins plays Hannibal or Terfel is Don Quixote they may be entertaining us but they are also teaching us about the arts, how a part might be played, how the Muse may be reached, how the devil may be challenged with a smile or a word or a dance of the feet. TALENT inspires us all to live and love more beautifully, but we know so little about that talent. Why was Zeta Jones so brilliant in ZORRO, Kenneth Branagh so convincing as Henry V? What is that journey that makes a student into a star? Sadly, STARS will tell you they often have little opportunity to pass on their accumulated insights and knowledge to their fellow peers; and rarely to an audience of students and wannabes. MAESTRO:DIVA plans to alter that. It will ask them to tell you, the audience, to teach you, what is their secret of their success?

Each week a small invited audience (20 max.) will attempt to discover what lies at the heart of their Maestro:Diva’s performance by being able to put questions directly to them in a supportive and creatively challenging atmosphere.   The aim of the programme is to inspire, educate and entertain as we discover what makes these stars tick and gain real insight into how they express, explore and practise their art.  The programme will have the appearance of spontaneity, and of course this will be the case in the broadcast tape, however the Maestro:Diva will be formally directed and the show carefully structured

Much energy will go into ensuring that the audience is comprised of genuine fans who have their own talent and ambitions but want to learn from the Maestro or Diva in question. The aim is to be as inclusive as possible, with a real mix of class, race and sex - anyone who is passionate about performance.   As we are concentrating on maestros and divas currently at the height of their powers and the object is to nurture and encourage, the audiences may in some cases be younger but this won’t detract from the appeal of the programme for the older audience.

Each programme will be distinctively presented or “directed” by Karl Francis matching Mark Cousin's creativity and energy – and possibly some Anne Robinson bluntness.  He will ensure that each subject is developed fully, moving the action fluidly along whilst ensuring that we experience the full range of the artist’s ability and that the core issues raised by the audience are explored.   The aim is to provide an intellectually stimulating and artistically gratifying insight into the work and character of each of the Maestro/Divas in question.  In every respect this is an educationally driven arts programme, which will reveal the hard work, as well as the talent, which are required to turn a skilled person into a star.   

The Maestros and Divas in question are mostly youthful and this will be reflected in the look of the show.  However, intimacy and content will not be sacrificed for the sake of a gratuitous “style” - the intention is that the venue will be more akin to “Central Perk” than any standard theatre.

PROGRAMME FORMAT MAESTRO:DIVA will run for thirty minutes with the open ended potential for sixty-minute specials. Each STAR will lead his or her show in their own distinctive style with Karl Francis directing to ensure that as full a performance as possible is obtained. Clips from the STAR's shows will be used to guide the proceedings and lend a level of reference and entertainment; each audience will be specifically chosen and questions will be rehearsed and used to the best possible advantage of the show – whilst ensuring a live and spontaneous feel to the action. Anecdotal stories from the star may well be forthcoming to add humour, self-reflection and pace. However biographical information will be avoided; the show is interested in the skills of the star not his or her social and sexual life. Creative conflict in the creation of a role will provide enough intelligent debate and fun. One show might run like this; Titles intro Humorous introduction by Karl Francis Maestro or Diva (in this case an actor) enters, meets the audience. Karl Francis kicks off the discussion with M/D. He then draws the audience into the conversation, probing M/D further as the questions require. Introduction of possible "student" for the M/D to work with e.g. a piano player, an actress, a series writer. Camera techniques will emphasise the intimacy and spontaneity of the session, i.e. hand held NYPD style realism, big close ups. KF will suggest practical set ups as and when these will help to illustrate the points being made, for example M/D's insights on different acting techniques, i.e. the difference between comedy acting for cinema, television and theatre may be illustrated by his directing a member of the audience and / or performing scenes him with the aid of a camera and projector set up in the studio. Clips from performances will be available to illustrate points as they are made. The teaching role of M/D should now be established and there will be more rehearsed examples with M/D acting with members of the audience. KF may improvise directing M/D in a scene to show how actor and director can work together for the best effect on screen (a clip might be shown). M/D improves the performances of his students. The audience may be tough; penetrating questions Emotional pressures show. M/D responds. Anecdotal stories fed in from external source based on a one to one with KF in an exterior location. Clips from latest film. KF draws M/D out more. Gets specific. Intimacy achieved Show ends Titles.