Life back up North

Two important events happened on Sunday.  Firstly it was the Lancashire Rally of the Young Farmers. This was held at a farm in the Wigan area and was attended by over 200 young farmers competing in a number of events from Flower arranging to stock judging. I was there as Mother Eveson was judging the 'Can't Cook, Won't Cook Competition'. They all had an hour to cook a main and dessert from scratch using camping stoves and they are marked on areas such as taste, presentation, creativity and health and safety . It was won by Richard Seed of Chipping YFC with his Chicken Pasta and Lemon Cheesecake. He got excellent marks for his safety as he had even brought a fire blanket. 

Secondly, and probably more importantly, it was the AGM of the Dinkling Green Party Development and Steering Committee. This was held at Sister's abode and followed an excellent meal of Tai Green Curry and Eton Mess. Big decisions were made regarding Music, catering, toilet facilities, possible themes and events. This year could be very exciting and this blog could be just the place to hear the news first......

Bloody Cinderella

Sunday will be the last performance of Bloody Cinderella. How has it gone? Have I enjoyed it? Has it made me want to act again?.....

Before Bloody Cinderella (BC) it had been 3 years since I had acted on stage. I had done some  film work in that time but stage is a different beast altogether. It is also the first and possible last musical I will ever get asked to do.

 In all it has been a great challenge. I have already written about the recording of the album but I have saved writing about the rehearsals and shows till now. 

I was asked to do the show by Kevin Short who I worked for  5 years ago acting in a one man show in Arundel. He is a great actor, singer, songwriter and has been a sort of mentor in my career. He cast me in my first professional show and got me my first agent. He is also incredibly constructive and patient........What you do know when you work with Kevin is that  it will be frenetic, slightly mad and you will be surrounded by interesting characters. This show has been no different.

Death' costume

All the cast have been great to work with but two people deserve a mention. The infamous Georgina Baillie and the legendary Peter Straker. 

Straker is a musical theatre legend who seems to know everyone in the 'business'. He and Kevin have known each other 35 years and it is fascinating seeing them work together. The trust and understanding they have is brilliant to experience.   Straker played  Nell, the other ugly sister and it is fair to say we make a very odd couple. Apart from being talented he has endearing character which leads everyone he meets him to round after him. This in no way a criticism and everyone seems perfectly happy to do it so why not. Lastly on Straker is that he has a phenomenal voice..And I mean fantastic.......... this is a blessing and a curse when you have to duet with him. 

So, Georgina.

The rehearsal period for this show was 3 rehearsals of 2 hours each. Terrifyingly short. She turned up to the first...and the second. Not the third. Not only did she not turn up to the third she dropped out altogether 2 days before the opening night. We still don't really know why but that is irrelevant...it is dastardly thing to do. Especially when you are playing Cinderella in a show called Bloody Cinderella. 

Kevin rang me on the Thursday before the opening Saturday to tell me the news and, without any hint of irony, told me 'the show must go on!'. His brilliant solution was not to replace her with another actor but to play the part himself (as well as his narration role) ..a master stroke. 

The knock on from was this was that we spent the technical rehearsal re blocking and altering the show as we went. This then led to our first full run through of our show being the opening show....I have genuinely had nightmares in the past about this sort of situation.

The opening night went well despite all the challenges but I did cane Kevin across the hands due to mistiming on both our parts. It must have hurt like hell but like a true pro he didn't yelp or punch me. 

Kevin and Straker going for a paddle

 The night after we performed in the cabaret lounge of the Royal Hotel in Bognor Regis. It is a family run business owned by the grandfather who had a tendency to shout 'alright big guy!' and playfully punch me with great force. This was fine was when I could see him coming but slightly more problematic when I was eating breakfast and he would sneak up behind me, belt me and I would send cutlery and sausage flying across the dining room. 


I had a number of friends who kindly came to the subsequent shows and I really appreciated it. Playing in front of your friends always adds a  certain pressure but I have always enjoyed it.                    


The show certainly developed as it went along and I believe it has the makings of being a really good show. We will see what Kevin wants to do with it next.


So how has it been for me? Well, It has been great to do something I really enjoy. I had forgotten how much I enjoy entertaining and how much it has been a thread throughout my life so far. I think if you have been an actor (or other type of creative) it will never really leave you. Rather it just lies dormant while you get on with other things in your life waiting to be used when needed and reminding you of what you are good at. 

Chalets in Felpham 

Rehearsal in the Cabaret Lounge of the Royal Hotel, Bognor Regis

Ciao

The 11:30 Virgin pendaleno, London to Glasgow. Calling at Wigan Northwestern,.Warrington Bank Quay and Preston.
I have left London.

72a James Lane

4 years. Found by Tom. Lived in by 7. Terrible shower  Great sofa. Emptied and cleaned for the last time today. Fin.

Terrible upkeep of this Blog

So what Have I been up to I hear you cry.....


Work
I have left.....all part of the life changing thing that is this move. I have made some great friends there and it has been an interesting 4 years. I did have fantastic leaving drinks before I left and the leaving presents I got were so incredibly thoughtful including a personlaised darts shirt. My kind colleague Laura also made me a Bad Thing cake that tasted as good as it looked. I am now unemployed......

The Royal Wedding 

H had the genius idea (one of many) of us all having a mobile street party dressed as royals from throughout the ages. I decided on Richard III, hunch back and all and even went as far as to learn the 'Now is the winter of our discontent' speech. We started our day by watching the wedding with 150,000 other people in Hyde Park and then pub crawled our way to Cleaver Square in Kennington. It is no exaggeration to say that we had our photo taken 200 times including a set up one by the News of the World. The bastards didn't print it though. We are also did TV interviews for 4 foreign news channels. We  There was mixed tolerance in the group for the attention....I personally loved it.  

The ceremony went well.

Home

Spent a few days up North at home. Didn't do anything in particular except hang around with my sister and my Niece and Nephew. They are walking around and that is just chaos. My sister is has the patience of Jobe and is fantastic with them. We took them into the local town and I pushed them around the supermarket as my sister shopped. If you pause near a shelf for a second the whole lot is coming off. The other highlight was having an outside bath at the farm. My sister and Bro in law have an old iron bath under a huge tree at the bottom of their garden. You fill it up, light a fire under it and 30 mins later bobs your uncle. It was very  relaxing  and the kind of nonsense I can't get up to in Leytonstone. I loved it.

H's Birthday

BBQ on a roof terrace with great views over London. Sam's red hot jerk chicken. Fantastic Company. Then Punk to finish it off.