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5th
March 2009: Hello everybody
and a great big, fat fabulous
2009 to you all !
At last I have PROPER time to be
able to write another missive,
without too much interruption.
I’ve been at Campus R. Soles
for 3 days now, getting my house
in order, literally, and
remembering what is in what
cupboard etc. The great bonus
about returning from a few months
away is one can view things
again. I.E. “I’ve never
really liked that” or
“Is this still here ?”
so one can extricate things
without feeling too sentimental.
 CINDERELLA
in Swansea was a really luvly,
fulfilling experience. Warm,
appreciative people. I must have
been stopped in the High Street a
dozen times a day with people
wanting to see how I liked their
town and did I want to come for
tea ? And not just be
salt-of-the-earth mother’s
and granny’s. There were a
few petrol heads and bikers I
took a shine to !
But the stage prevailed so I had
to forego lava bread and cookies.
Speaking of traditional food, I
couldn’t quite get orgasmic
over Welsh cakes. I found them to
be a mixture of scone and
tea-cake, which in itself is not
unappetising just doughy. I even
tried them with jam, which only
slightly enhanced the experience.
Anyway enough of culinary chit
chat.
The panto proved to be hugely
popular and a great success, to
everyone’s delight: the
producers, council, theatre staff
and performers all benefited from
the experience. Theatre
management, especially, are
always happy to have a show make
money, but panto is particularly
important as good takings can be
a tremendous help in funding the
forthcoming season’s events.
Chris Jarvis, Buttons and the
director as well, was a superb
asset. We had a real rapport and
his desire for a good story,
swiftly told, matched my own -
I’m chuffed to say that in 6
weeks I only saw three children
go to the toilet ! Well, you
can’t be doing with a show
that is 2 hours 35 minutes long.
Panto is not Les Miz. Our social
life was fab and on the doorstep.
I can highly recommend a bar with
music called THE LOFT. It’s
not a club as such but there is
space to shake your booty. A
luvly guy called Steve owns it
and so far it is immaculate,
having only been open around five
weeks. Also, there is a main
street dedicated to fun and good
times - Vine Street. Fab
restaurants, bars, discos - one
of my favourites being Flares, a
franchised club specialising in
70’s and 80’s sounds.
You have got to have something
you can move to, invent your own
choreography. We ended the season
with a fab party in a club called
OCEANA. Well it consisted of
several large rooms, each
containing it’s own disco,
but differently themed. Highly
recommended. I was particularly
impressed with the VIP room. Even
if you were performing in
Swansea, if you were not invited
by the management you
couldn’t get entry. I like
that idea. So many profile people
assume it’s their
‘right’ to be admitted
everywhere so it’s very
refreshing to have that policy.
 Anyway, I
shall now turn my attention to
the much loved and extremely
popular 60’s musical SHOUT.
As many of you may know, this
started life off-Broadway and was
brought to my attention by the
British producer Mark Goucher. I
was in luvly Malvern, being
horrible to the dwarfs - in
character, I hastily add - when I
was sent a CD containing all
these memorable 60’s songs
but not much of a script. I was
immediately taken with the
arrangements and got very
excited, especially when the
wardrobe mistress, Chris, who was
not prone to verbal
‘whoops’ became very
animated. Needless to say, I
accepted the job only to discover
A LOT OF WORK was needed to
finalise the script. A million
congratulations to everyone who
was involved. It turned out to be
a huge success. I’ll never
forget our opening night at the
Churchill Theatre, Bromley.
Although we felt we had a good
product, as all performers like
to think - out of loyalty to the
sweat, tears and sheer physical
and mental output over a
rehearsal period demands. One
never knows how a show is going
to be realistically received
until it has had it’s first
outing. Claire Sweeney - a great
girl - and I looked at each other
with tears of joy as every member
of the audience stood and
cheered, whistled and shouted for
‘more’. I felt liked
Madonna without her basques.
We had a really fabulous tour. We
went to so many places, venues
new to me sometimes and ones we
returned to with luvly memories
of past shows. The girls in the
show were truly fab, with a great
work ethic and talent. I have to
say it was one of the most
enjoyable jobs of my career - 35
years this year - so that gives
you some idea of how I rate the
show. To be able to go onstage
eight times a week and enjoy
every second brings untold job
satisfaction and can only benefit
the audience. It was gratifying
to see people of all ages, able
and unabled, all appreciating the
performance in their own way. Oh
dear, pass the Kleenex !
Also, another fab bonus is that
I’ve met many great people
who have become friends that in
every town I visited I was able
to make contact. I’m lucky
in that my pals aren’t all
in London so when I’m
touring we get to meet up. With
the best intentions, I’m
sure none of us have all the time
to specifically visit every
friend we have on a regular
basis, especially New Zealand, so
to be able to say hello even
twice a year is a real bonus.
Shona, Donna and I, the SHOUT
girls, did a gig at the Palladium
for the Air Force, remembering
our brave warriors from World War
Two. What a privilege. Prince
Michael of Kent is the Patron and
he is hot ! I can see what his
wife sees in him. He’s
handsome, has a luvly smile, very
well groomed - he should be a
Cruft’s entrant, and
he’s very funny.
TO BE CONTINUED… |
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