Success Through Persistence & Perpetual Motion

How does one go from being unknown in the entertainment business to the very top of the regional theatre business?

Needless to say, there are enough cliched answers on the internet ether to drown a sea of entrepreneurs, some of whom might take online classes, read books and listen to podcasts. And many will talk the talk but never walk the walk to make their dreams into a reality.

So, I’m happy to tell you about Mike Lee Taylor, because he is someone who actually walked the walk step by step in a forty-year journey that started with him being a comic and a singer, an experience he eventually turned into a family business with his son James, that sells millions worth of theatre tickets each year.

One of the most interesting and satisfying parts is that Mike and James are nice down-to-earth guys, the kind of guys you would be happy to meet at the pub for a chat and a laugh. The father-and-son-run company is called ENTERTAINERS (entertainers.co.uk). Located in Essex on Canvey Island where they have evolved over a forty-year period they have become the powerhouse of regional theatre in the U.K.

Entertainers specialise in tribute shows that are booked in theatres in small towns and hamlets throughout the country, as well as overseas where local people want a theatrical experience at prices they can afford. As the entertainment director for Butlins Holiday Camps way back in the day, Mike Taylor had a keen eye for what customers wanted, and came up with the idea of packaging tribute shows for Butlins and then extended the idea and offered his shows to local theatres. At first, it was a struggle because the local theatres weren’t really interested in tribute shows until Mike proved to them that he could consistently deliver quality shows that people would come out to see. Learning as he went along, he eventually built up a catalogue of shows including the hits from Motown, Queen, Elton John, Abba, the

Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Tom Jones, Disco Classics and more.I had the opportunity to attend one of his shows a few years ago and was gobsmacked by the level of professionalism as well as the marketing efficiency that the show displayed. Now a couple of years later, Mike is still expanding the company with his son James who is at the helm and running the day-to-day business; which now includes a fleet of articulated lorries and vans as well as purpose-built production facilities that includes a recording studio, rehearsal room, sound stage and costume rooms; all to produce their constant stream of shows that they have played around the country at any given time. They are even geared up to train young people how to operate sound, lights and other stagecraft so they will have a ready supply of technicians as they continue to grow.

World Equal Magbook recently met up with Mike's son James Lee Taylor to talk about how he got into the business and transformed the growth of the company which now consistently employs over 100 people.

Teddy Hayes: James how did you get started in the entertainment business?

James lee Taylor: I got started right here. I’m from Canvey Island, I went to school here. At 13, I started doing children’s parties, D-J’ing. A guy called Muhammed used to work with me and drive me to gigs and help me set up. I’d DJ at children’s parties and went by the name Just James. I played for £150 a night. I’d have £100 and give him £50. And then when I was 17, I could drive myself. I got my little Mercedes sprinter van, and I’d go and do a full set up on my own, doing everything from weddings, to bar mitzvahs to the local social club, playing Engelbert Humperdinck and songs that any 17-year-old shouldn’t know. But they were 60th birthday parties and anniversaries, so that’s what I did. I then got a job at West Ham Football Club. I was there from 17 to 22, doing all their players’ parties and function suites. They had a hotel and function suite in the building, so during Christmas, I’d literally move into the hotel in

November and DJ every day for seven days a week for four weeks. So I learned about music and I learned about how to move an audience and what songs go together and how that all works. From there, I then went on to all sorts of celebrity parties. Then, I got a job in Cannes at the Martinez Hotel. And met people there and was flown all around the world, to Boston, to Australia, to Moscow, DJing, doing sort of high-end parties. Getting paid from £150 to sometimes £10,000 a night.

So, at the same time as doing that, I was modelling. I remember when I was 16, I was on a set as an extra on The Bill. There were two buses, one for the extras where I was meant to be and one for the actors. I’ve always been quite industrious so I snuck onto the actors’ bus. There was this guy called Scott Maslen, one of the actors in it, and I asked him how I get cracking in this business. And he gave me some ideas and some people to go and see. I went and saw them all, Select Talent Agency, Models One and Storm and they all said no.

I then joined a smaller one, called Bookings and the owner really loved and nurtured me and we grew. I was with him for five years but then he retired and I joined Select, the biggest one, again one that had said no at the start, and did modelling for everyone, from Calvin Klein underwear to Tesco. I had a good modelling career. At about 25, I wanted to become an actor. Obviously, growing up with my dad as a comedian, and seeing him on stage all the time, it was in my blood to perform.

We rehearsed for a month straight. I loved it. It was the first sort of theatre I had ever done. We opened, did one night and then it was closed down because the producer didn’t get the rights from the writer. Everyone had flown out the owner of the First Model agency, my dad, they flew out to see it and then it didn’t go. But the writer and producer liked me and then they cast me in their next show called Tesla, about Nikola Tesla. Again, I got the lead role. We opened off-Broadway and did a month-long run on Theatre 18, St Marks Place in New York.

Teddy Hayes: Yeah, I know it very well, on 14th Street.

James Lee Taylor: Yes. So, it was great and all was going really well. From there, I moved to Los Angeles. I thought, why not? and rolled the dice again. I got an agent. I went up for Christian Grey. I got in the final round for that. I actually had (the actress) Sheridan Smith help me to read the lines as she was a friend and I got quite close to getting it. I didn’t get it though. So, there I was in LA, and you know the hustle and bustle of learnings things, the stretch of your day; I’d do yoga between 10 and 11, American accent from 12 till 1, I’d do the movement from 3 till 4. It’s every day.

Teddy Hayes: I didn’t know your dad was a comedian.

James Lee Taylor: Oh yeah, so I’d always go and watch him as a two-year-old. He used to do comedy and sing Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet. He set up a whole studio with a little karaoke machine. When I wanted to act I moved to New York. I went to Lee Strasberg Acting School. And then I auditioned for a play. And I got the lead role in a play called The Tiger about Stockholm Syndrome.

That was my education in acting. Being from Canvey Island these things were unheard of it. And it really taught me a lot. And I had some success; I landed a lead role in a TV show called Being Mary Jane with Gabrielle Union. I played her boyfriend in Atlanta. And then obviously, you’re only as good as your last thing.

Teddy Hayes: Yeah, that’s L.A. alright.

James Lee Taylor: Obviously, with the acting, you work backwards with that, you’re seeing yourself, why you do the things you do. I subsequently learned during Covid that I have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which fires me up. I had a tough time with bullying at school. And it really, I guess it forces you in different ways. For me, my whole thing was “I’ll show you”. And it fired me like a rocket, so everything I’ve ever set my mind to, I’m like “You don’t think I can do it? Okay, I’ll show you”.

So, I did the TV show, and then I was auditioning for Days of Our Lives. It was a five-year deal. It was like a few hundred thousand pounds. It would have been lifechanging. And I went through the first round and there was like one bloke in a room and then three, four, five, ten. I got to the final auditions and there were eight guys and me up for it and they really tried to test you to your limits. So, they give you like 17 pages of dialogue that you’re forced to learn for the next day. And with ADHD, it’s a curse and also a gift. So, I learned this stuff. I arrived and they put the eight guys into their own rooms in the studio in Burbank to get ready for the show. They said go and get ready and in a short while two girl actresses on the show will come and read with you, run lines with you before you go on the set. That really is the finishing touches to get you ready to go. So, I'm waiting and waiting and waiting. And then no one calls my name. So, I inquire - what happened? And I find out they flipped the order and I was eighth. And then they flipped the order backwards again and I was first. So, from finding out that I wasn’t going to get to read yet and then suddenly to “James you’re on, stand there and action”! And I started and I fumbled and I blocked. I said I’m so sorry. Can I go again? No. Next. It destroyed me. After that, in every audition I went into, every movie, and I was getting big rooms with big casting directors but I kept choking to the point where I couldn’t do it. My agent dropped me, and wouldn’t take my calls anymore. I was a mess. It completely broke me down. My dad said to come back home. So, I did. I moved back and joined the company.

Teddy Hayes: So that was like a blessing in disguise?

James Lee Taylor: Everything happens for a reason. So, I moved back home to London, to Essex, and no one ever called for me, but I had a job in the company. I grew up with it and I knew how to market things. I knew from my life experiences and from watching my dad, being a DJ, how to make music and how to brand stuff and market stuff, how it should look, feel, and smell.

So, I started building that. And then there was an audition coming through from my English agent who had stayed with me, and was very loyal to me, to play James Bothwell in a show in Spain called Queens. I didn’t want to do it but my current girlfriend at the time, kept on going on for me to do it, so I did it. I got the lead role playing James Bothwell. So, I flew to Spain. I learned to horse ride, I learned to sword fight. We shot this thing for six months. It was just like, oh, wow, okay, we’re back. And then we finished filming it, but then the guy didn’t pay us. The funding fell out. It went out in Spanish, dubbed in Spanish and wasn’t shown on BBC like it was meant to be.

So, after that, I said that’s enough. Then I really focused on doing this, what I do now. Around that time, George Michael passed away and I started devising a show called Fast Love which then went on to be one of the biggest tribute shows in the world, it was in 28 countries. It sold a million tickets worldwide. Then it was on to my next show which was Lost in Music, my big disco show. We’ve got The Rocket Man show based on the music of Elton John, and I’ve just built a new one, a glam rock show called Don’t Stop Believing.

So, I turned our family business from four staff into 50 staff. We are now doing 1,600 shows this year. I’ve obviously diversified a fair bit. Now I’ve got our normal musical tribute shows where there’s a genre or a specific person. I’ve also now got a show called Cirque: The Greatest Show which is a family content show and it’s selling out everywhere. Last year, we had a good year. Obviously, Covid was awful. Covid was desolate. But last year, we sold 500,000 tickets. It’s just April this year, and we’ve already sold 335,000 tickets.

I’ve got a new show which is premiering tonight. It’s in the west end of London at the Adelphi, called The Makings of a Murderer with David Swindle who was a former detective who found Peter Tobin, the serial killer and it’s a show about how he did that. So, we’re really firing away now. We now employ 500 people a week. We’re on track to sell a million tickets this year. Pretty good for a father-and-son business from Canvey Island.

Teddy Hayes: Because England is not that big, you can get the shows out everywhere.

James Lee Taylor: Right, and, I drive everywhere. I’ve done 20,000 miles in the last 10 months. We’re the backbone of English theatre. I mean in most venues I do between 5 and 20 shows. There’s a theatre in Sunderland called the Sunderland Fire Station and it opened 18 months ago, I’m doing 53 shows in there. So, it’s all come to life. And then now, it really has gone full circle. One night in October, I woke up and I had an idea for a ghost show called, “Do You Believe in Ghosts?” It’s about ghosts in theatres. It opens a month today. It’s got 200 dates in every theatre around the country. And then we are in the West End at the Adelphi for the West End premiere of Halloween. And we’re in talks to put it in the West End full-time next year.

Teddy Hayes: This is great because I’ve always been a big believer in people taking something and making it their own and then moving it around. And this is exactly what your company is doing. In fact, you’re the first company that I’ve seen do that. And you can do that in England because theatre is so entrenched in the culture.

James Lee Taylor: Yes, theatre is a release, particularly in these times. You know people are not always going to see the heavy shows at the moment. They want some light relief. So we go to every pocket and corner of the country and we give people a night out to escape and to let their hair down and to relive their memories, for an affordable price. I have an army of people behind me. The speed, again, my ADHD, I can turn something around as my Ghosts show very quickly. I thought of it and in the following week I had a hundred dates, the next week I had 200 dates. When I get an idea for something, like a rocket ship my ADHD propels it like no other.

Teddy Hayes: Because you have a wide vision, where would you like to see yourself in five years?

James Lee Taylor: I didn’t know seven months ago, I’d have a West End show, now I do. I’m opening one tonight as a one-off and I really have high hopes to be a West End producer full-time, you know, but still not forgetting my roots. Getting back to my Dad, he built the business and was and still is my inspiration for doing all that I’m doing now. We’re from a working-class family, my dad was once a bus driver and grew up with seven kids in a threebedroom house. Now no one’s selling more tickets than us. With 330,000 in four months, no one. I’m very thankful to my dad. My dad taught me everything. Even when I was 16 he gave me money to take the train to London and he encouraged me to follow my dreams.

Teddy Hayes: About your new show, The Makings of Murderer, is it a musical?

James Lee Taylor:It’s a one-hander with the spoken word. I produced it. I love all my babies, so I go around, I go see them all, three nights a week all around the country, from the top of Scotland to the bottom of Cornwall, supporting my teams. And even today, Lost In Music just got to Perth, on its Australian tour. I never see them all, but I’m really proud of them and I care and that’s what translates, that why again, we’re out there. But the Ghost one is the one I’m most excited about at the moment. It’s co-created by myself and Julian Watford. And yeah, it’s going to be special, and we’re opening it up in Bedford on the 18th of May. published in 1920 by that doyenne of mystery fiction and one of the founding members of The Detection Club Agatha Christie.

Everything happens for a reason. So, I moved back home to London, to Essex, and no one ever called for me, but I had a job in the company. I grew up with it and I knew how to market things. I knew from my life experiences and from watching my dad, being a DJ, how to make music and how to brand stuff and market stuff, how it should look, feel, and smell.

Teddy Hayes: I’m looking forward to seeing it and thank you so much for your time.

James Lee Taylor: My pleasure!

My copy (which I still have floating around somewhere) was one of the famous Penguin green paperbacks. Any discerning reader of the genre will no doubt recognise the fact that it was also the book that introduced readers to her most famous character the Belgian Detective Hercule

To be fair I do have to admit that like most other children I did read other books, but most of my reading was always and continues to be within the genre. I read all the classics including Sherlock Holmes, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, and other Golden Age books but my reading tastes did change. I can’t remember exactly when, but I do remember what caused the change. It changed after I read Raymond Chandler’s 1950 essay The Simple Art of Murder. I was intrigued and as I had made my way through most of the classics it was in hindsight a great introduction to why I should read noir books.

Nowadays I do get asked who my favourite author is and if I have a favourite book. My response to that is are we talking about living authors or just authors in general? If we are just talking about authors in general, then I can easily say that my all-time favourite author is Raymond Chandler, and my favourite book is Farewell My Lovely. I know that Farewell My Lovely is not considered to be his best, but it is my favourite. A close second is The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.

If we are talking about authors still writing, then that is a bit more difficult. My taste is quite eclectic, and I do not have a firm favourite. I do however have authors whose books automatically move to the top of my TBR (to be read) pile when they have a new book coming out. These authors include (and are not restricted to) James Lee Burke, Val McDermid, Michael Connelly, Megan Abbott, John Connolly, Sarah Paretsky, S A Cosby, J D Robb, Lee Child, Laura Lippman, Walter Mosley, Donna Leon, Gregg Hurwitz, Lindsey Davis, Andrew Taylor, Denise Mina, Dennis Lehane, Louise Penny, Robert Crais, James Ellroy and Attica Locke to name a few. And yes, I am aware that I read predominately male authors and US authors. The other question I often get asked is whether my day job has anything to do with my love of the genre. My answer to that is no. I just happen to work with some very senior judges and have been working with members of the judiciary for at least twenty-years now. My love of the genre predates my working with senior members of the judiciary. Also, none of the judges that I work for and continue to work for hear criminal cases. They have either worked in the Family Division or the Court of Appeal and currently at the Supreme Court.

I started becoming involved in reviewing books and interviewing authors in a rather round about fashion. Many years ago, there was a bookshop in Covent Garden called Crime in Store. I became very good friends with Thalia Proctor who worked there, and she also had an influence on my reading as well. Thalia was the one who introduced me to so many new authors especially US authors such as Harlan

Coben, Laura Lippman, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane and Dana Stabenow to name a few. If I am not mistaken, Crime in Store hosted Harlan Coben’s first book launch for his first standalone novel Play Dead in 1990. I was introduced to Mike Stotter at the event by Thalia. Mike Stotter at the time was the editor of Shots Magazine and we started talking about crime books. Before the end of the evening Mike asked me if I would like to do some reviews from the Magazine to which I said yes and that is how I started reviewing and doing interviews. Over the years things have moved on. The Magazine went online and then a blog was also started. Now, Mike Stotter looks after the website, and I have taken over the blog which is called Shotsmag Confidential. Unlike some other blogs that solely post book reviews on Shotsmag Confidential you can find information about forthcoming crime fiction events, Calls for Papers, results of crime fiction related book awards, a roundup of what infrequent criminal splattering’s or news. In fact, anything as long it is related to the genre. This also includes films and television news. My involvement with the crime fiction community has evolved and has continued to do so. I have taken on several roles. I was a judge and subsequently became the Chair of the CWA (Crime Writers Association) Short Story Dagger panel for nearly 10 years. I am currently one of the judges for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and I am also a CWA Committee Member. I currently the Chair the HWA (Historical Writers Association) judging panel for the Debut Crown, and I am currently doing my second stint as a judge for the Ngaio Marsh Awards (New Zealand). I have also found myself not only moderating and chairing panels at various crime fiction events over the years including CrimeFest, Hull Noir Capital Crime (where I also sit on the Advisory Board), Bloody Scotland, Deal Noir, Bouchercon and Bay Tales but I have also been involved with helping select winners for publishers who have had competitions for authors of colour. I was also the Chair of the Bloody Scotland Mcllvanney Prize and a Judge for the Mo Siewcharran Prize both in 2022.

I have also given papers at several academic conferences as well. I have given papers at St Hilda’s Crime and Mystery Weekend, the Queen’s of Crime Conference which took place at the University of London School of Advanced Study and the Lee Child Symposium which took place in March 2022 at the University of East Anglia where I gave a paper on 75 Years of Thriller Writing. The symposium was arranged to celebrate the donation by Lee Child of all his papers to the University.

I have also taken part in a talk on Eric Ambler as part of Bodies From the Library, which was held at the British Library, Fatal Shore part of Shoreham Wordfest (October 2022), The Golden Age of Crime (Bournemouth 2022), Edelweiss - Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem (October 2022) Left Coast Crime (2006). I have also jointly edited an anthology Bodies in the Bookshop (2014) with author L C Tyler and was a contributor for the two volume British Crime Writing: An Encyclopaedia (2008)

One of the other frequent questions that I get asked is when I am I going to write my own novel? Let me start by saying I have an enormous respect for authors and whilst I like doing research, I am not likely to write a novel. Why may you ask?

The reason is that my reading taste is too eclectic, and my thought process is too academic. Would I write about the genre? That is a possibility. I am as Barry Forshaw (the author of such Pocket Essential Guides as Euro Noir, Historical Noir, Brit Noir, Nordic Noir and Crime Fiction: A Readers Guide) his unofficial researcher. It is something that I enjoy doing. One of the joys of what I call my crime fiction life is getting to hangout with the crime fiction community. It has brought me a lot of joy. In 2018 I was Fan Guest of honour at Bouchercon in St Petersburg, Florida. For those who have never heard of Bouchercon it is the biggest crime fiction conference that is held every year in the United States. However, each year it is held in a different place. In 2018 I was also awarded as a member of the Shotsmag Ezine the CWA Red Herrings Award. This award is given to someone who has given generously of their time and expertise, benefiting not only the CWA but the wider crime-writing community.

The very first time that I attended St Hilda’s Crime and Mystery Weekend, I found myself staying up to the small hours with Val McDermid amongst others. My very first interview with Laura Lippman was at Harrogate Crime Festival in 2004.

During Covid I found myself moderating several panels online as well amongst them a panel on Narrative Voices in Crime Fiction as part of Malice Domestic.

As part of Black History month in 2022 I organised and moderated an event at Gray’s Inn with several black crime writers where we talked about Black Crime Fiction on a Modern World. Even though I have said that my involvement in the genre does not have any connection with the day job, this was an event that did tangentially involve my day job. I was asked if I could organise and moderate this panel by Baroness Hale of Richmond. For the few that know what my day job has been about then you will recognise the name. Baroness Hale was the President of the Supreme Court from 2017 until 2020 and I was her PA. I have been a judge for Killing It: The Killer Readers Competition for Undiscovered Writers which was launched by Harper Fiction which encouraged submissions from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic writers with an aim to support crime writers who are looking to take the next steps in their writing career. I am also currently a judge for Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers Crime and Thriller Prize. So, what is it about this genre that draws me to it so much? I am not sure that I can put it into words. I love the different stories one can read, the fact that you can read a crime novel that can make you laugh out loud one book and the next book could be incredibly dark and bloody. There was a reason why I decided to do my Master’s degree dissertation on Crime Fiction as Social Documents. I always say that if you want a good grounding in social history then read a crime novel.

Ayo Onatade February 2023