Hi everyone,
You all doing ok??? Hope so! This week is a bit of a blur in my head at the moment so i'm quite looking forward to thinking back over it and reminding myself exactly what I have been up to! Last Thursday seems like a lifetime ago!
This blog is going to be coming to you from the dressing room again this evening and i'll be writing it in the breaks I have during the show. I tried to get ready super quick today so I could use as much time as possible before the show to write, however in my haste I managed to cut my face to shreds whilst shaving! Seriously, I have four bits of blue tissue paper stuck to my blood ridden neck at the moment - attractive eh? So i am writing this before doing my make up instead, whilst hoping my wounds will heal within the next 10 minutes!
I don't enjoy shaving everyday - I'm sure all you guys who are reading this will agree that daily shaving is really harsh on the skin. Ouch! - give me stubble anytime… O.K so I know all you ladies reading this are now saying "Mark stop being such a wimp, at least you don't have to deal with shaving everywhere else, childbirth and PMT blah blah blah" well my response is "whatever girls - let me have a moment here and give me some sympathy please" - ha :-)
Right back to blogging….
I just wrote that and had to stop as I had my five minute call so had to get ready - I have now just come off stage having just finished what I do in act one! - Just so you can picture how this blog is being constructed today! I'm gonna finish this before act two now… I like a challenge!
So last Thursday after completing the blog and heading into town I more or less just went straight to work and had to continue working on the press launch for West End In Wales which is booking up so fast now! (www.westendinwales.com if you're interested!), then after the show I headed home, feeling very tired after a long day at the office (literally on this occasion) and then doing the show so headed straight to bed…. after a bowl of cereal! I am addicted to late night cereal - always have been always will be - anything that tastes healthy I love it!!! Weird?!
Friday I had a lovely lunch with my accountant who I hadn't seen for a long time and we put the world to rights and sorted out anything we needed to discuss! So I had the remainder of the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine which London has been blessed with rather a lot recently! I did a bit of shopping for opening night gifts for my friend Haley as she took over in the role of 'Meg' in Love Never Dies on Monday night! I LOVE buying presents for people! -actually prefer it to receiving them! Especially if they are thoughtful gifts for good friends! Then I headed for a swim and then sat in Starbucks to do a bit more work on my laptop before heading into the theatre! By the time I sat on the train home on Friday evening (the end of a very busy yet productive week) I was tired of checking my 'to-do' list that I just put my diary away and though 'I need a drink', which doesn't happen very often with me - So I got home had some great food and a large glass of port and it felt like a good beginning to a great weekend - which it certainly was!
Between my two shows on Saturday I met my wonderful friend Caroline who I worked with on Wicked three years ago when we were both in the ensemble! Hadn't seen her properly for about 18 months since I went on tour so it was amazing to catch up! Loving the food in Giraffe restaurant too! So nice!
After the show on Saturday evening, I had a couple of friends over to stay at my flat to have too much food, a few drinks and a lot of laughs which was lovely! We woke Sunday and went to a really nice cafe near-by for brunch, I had Salmon & scrambled eggs and it was so tasty! All this talk of food is making me hungry and reminding me of when I first started these blogs back in September when I seemed to be obsessed with talking about food! I LOVE EATING!!!
Then we went to another coffee shop for tea and carrot cake! Carrot cake and Banoffee pie are my favourite deserts!!!…Yup tummy's rumbling now!
So Sunday was just a lovely average Sunday, until……
DANCING ON ICE!!! Yes what a night it was! I am friends with Laura and Colin who are in the competition and who I genuinely believe deserve to win the competition - not because I'm being a supportive friend but because they are SO damn good! If you have been watching you'll know exactly what I mean! They're brilliant and two down to earth lovely people!
Thank you to all of you who got behind them (and me after reading my tweets 'please vote Laura & Colin') and voted so much! They were top of the leader board and made it through safely to next week! They are so happy to be in the competition and they know that so many of the Wicked fans have started voting for them since I have been Tweeting about them so they asked me to say how much they appreciate it!
My friend Wayne came with me and we arrived the studios and I saw Laura's lovely family and had a catch up - then we headed into the studio were I was very tempted to get behind the judges desk and refuse to move! A few question were asked vis twitter about the studio so thought i'd answer them on here - The studio is of course smaller than it looks on T.V because telly always makes things look bigger! It is warm in there, not cold, even though there's ice! And I believe Nicole Scherzinger (spelling?) was singing live! There's your answers!
The atmosphere was electric! Philip and Holly are so good to watch. Having done some presenting work I learnt so much by observing how they worked so well as a partnership - so completely in control! So yeah we were basically just screaming for Laura and Colin the whole time as were a lot of the audience - it's not surprising we had so much enthusiasm though as they hand out free jam doughnuts during the breaks to keep everyone's sugar levels up - cos you're there for a good few hours!
So I had to go do act two - I failed my challenge! This is my last break of the show now! After the result show of Dancing On Ice we headed to the bar for a few drinks and to chat to folks then Wayne and I drove home! A great night! I want to be an ice skater!!! Ha.
Monday I did some work in the morning then did a good old session at the gym before taking Haley her opening night gifts to the Adeplhi theatre! She loved them - they were all silly little gist really from Brad to Janet (Our Rocky Horror characters) expressing to her that Love never dies, even though we split up. Haha
She apparently had a great first night! Can't wait to see it!
Tuesday morning i went to a funeral which was very sad and I was proud of my friends who had lost someone dear to them in the way they handled it all that morning! life really s too short and sometimes it takes something like that to make you appreciate life even! It did me, and I am a very positive person anyway.
So when I got back to London I treated myself to a bit of retail therapy and went for a swim before work.
After Tuesday night's show, we, as a cast performed a gig at a member's bar called Soho House in central London to raise money for charity! It was a very successful night and I had a great time - really enjoyed myself!
Yesterday I had a nice lay in which never happens for me so it was a rare novelty. Then headed in to do two shows and I had friends watching both which is always nice! I had a movie night with a friend last night which was just perfect after a two show day!
Which brings us to today I believe! Had a lovely day! Met a couple of mates for a bit of Nandos chicken lunch then popped to the gym before work again! Love it!
SO that was my week folks! Been some really cool things happened and I've really enjoyed it!
I'm off to bow now! Finish off in a mo! :-)
So I am now half way to my best friend's house on the train - this Blog seems to have taken over my life this evening haha!
I just want to mention how wonderful it is to come out of stage door after a show and chat to people who have come to get anything signed or to get pictures! Still amazes me how far people come to see the show! I also want to mention one fan in particular. Paula McCann I'm talking about you! Paula saw Oklahoma in November when we were in Derry in Northern Ireland and has since become my biggest fan - I might suggest her name becomes Paula McFan! Amazing gifts and cards and the time invested is overwhelming! Great to finally meet you tonight Paula!
Right enough typing! These blogs need to start getting shorter! ha.
I am heading to have pancakes with my best friend as I missed out on Tuesday - Sh-boom!
Keep smiling folks 'cause life is blooming marvellous!
Til next time
Mark
I've not proof read this so I hope it makes sense!!!
