BLOG 50!!! (WOW) START SPREADING THE NEWS.....

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday

So I'm starting this weeks blog on the tube into London. I'm making my way over to Heathrow airport to fly out to New York. Would you like me to say that again? Ok… i'm flying to NEW YORK CITY in about 3 hours. So this blog will probably be written on a variety of public transport and will I'm sure be posted when i'm sat in the departure lounge. 

Before I left home this morning, I was watching a bit of Beyonce's Glastonbury performance. Did you see it? The woman amazes me everytime I watch her. I can't wait to see her live sometime soon.

Also, last night, after I finished work I met my friends Charlotte and Haley to go for a couple of drinks to celebrate me finally having some time off from all the different work. And we were at one of our favourite restaurants and when I went to the restroom I, noticed that Chris Colfer was sat with some people in the corner. If you don't know him, he plays the gay character in Glee who sang single ladies (amongst other things). Now I don't watch glee that often but I think he's brilliant, so I went to introduce myself. They were sat with their body guard so I politely apologised for interrupting their evening but wanted to say hello and when I told them I'm working in Wicked playing Fiyero we then had a lovely little chat. It was actually suggested that Chris and I swap cities as he wants to live in London and i want to live in New york (which is where i'm headed now, oh sorry, did I say that already?) Random little tale there for you that I thought many of you would be interested to hear as I know you're massive Glee fans!

So... what a busy week it's been. Are you noticing a pattern here? I am! Every week is a blooming busy week eh?!!!

Last Friday morning I had a 10am meeting with my manager and my friend Nathan as we're all working on a development project for my summer school West End In Wales (Westendniwales.com) and I have to admit, I found it a bit of a challenge waking up to get into town by 10am. My basic rule with London is that I leave an hour to get anywhere because public transport can either take 30 mins or three times that depending on if there's a bit of snow on the line, or wind, or sun, or leaves or a person or even an ant I'm sure! Not that I'm saying it's unreliable. Uh-hum!!!

So it was a very productive couple of hours in the meeting  then I headed to do a couple of hours in the gym before meeting my friend Haley. She plays Meg in Love Never Dies (the sequel to Phantom of The Opera) and the producers announced last week that it will now be playing it's final London performance on August 27th, so if you haven't seen it, and want to, you better be quick. I'm going next Wednesday once I'm back from New York… did I mention I am going to……alright Evans…. SHUT UP!!! So I spent the afternoon with Haley before heading to work. 

By the time I got half way through the show I officially crashed! My energy levels plummeted, my voice felt tired and it became a lot harder. I think the main reason for this was because I knew I wasn't heading straight home after the show. I was going to do a gig at the Jermyn Street Theatre with my friend Scott Alan who is a composer who's written a song for my album. By the time I got to the venue I was hot and sweaty from rushing there and then the heat of the theatre just hit me. For those reading this who were in the audience, you obviously know what i'm talking about. There was no air con in the theatre and the lights were really hot so I don't think there was a single person who didn't exit that night a complete sweaty mess! I performed the song from my album, 'Until Then' and it was the first time I'd performed it live and the first time Scott heard me sing his song (and we had't even rehearsed). It was a nice night and then once it was done I had 15 minutes to run and get my last train home and so I was more sweat than human by the time I jumped in the shower at home! Ha. - I'm portraying myself to be a filthy sweaty dirty boy aren't I. Ha. Believe me I'm not. I'm pretty OCD when it comes to personal hygiene and to be honest I can't bare it when people around me have bad hygiene. Speaking of which the woman sat next to me on this tube train has really long hair which keeps brushing my arm and it doesn't smell too clean - by the way lady, if you're reading this over my shoulder, then stop being so nosey! Ha

I'm now on my third underground train of the journey. This one takes me directly to Heathrow! Sh-boom!!!

So after a really good night's sleep on Friday, I woke Saturday feeling refreshed and ready for the two show day. All I ever need for my voice to work properly is as close to 8 hours sleep as possible and litres upon litres of water.

Oh this tube train has just gone through Hammersmith which is where I had to travel every day when I played Troy Bolton in High School Musical Live On Stage, 3 years ago (when I had more hope of looking like a teenager). That was an incredible 9 week job and I have very fond memories. I made some amazing friends from that too, including Becca who I'm staying with in New York. How our lives have changed in three years! Can't wait to see her.

So after the show on Saturday I had a quick beverage in the pub with Zoe who plays Nessarose in the show and Ben who plays Boq. I adore them both and they're lovely to work with and great in the show! Ben and I are officially known between ourselves as Fatman and Blobbin. Not because we're fat, but we both like cake and biscuits and Percy Pigs!

Sunday morning I was up at 6.20am to head to Wales to do the first TV appearance for my Album promotion. I'm saying no more - just watch the VLOG - 

http://vimeo.com/25795745 (just copy and paste this link into your search bar and it'll work!)

So Monday morning I was woken up by my beautiful nieces and had breakfast with them before heading to get the train back to London where there were no cows causing delays but we were 30 mins late because the sun made the tracks hot! See what I mean about London transport?!

Once I arrived i managed to fit in a swim before work. The show was great on Monday and then I headed home to sleep as much as possible before waking up to tackle the biggest 'to-do' list in a long while. I basically wanted to ensure that I had tied up everything I needed to work wise, home wise, friend wise, before I finished work Wednesday night so that I could switch off in NYC and enjoy myself. So I got the bulk of it done leaving just a few things left that I could squeeze into wednesday morning then I headed to the gym for an hour with my personal trainer. Then had another swim before work again. 

After Tuesday's show I went home to pack my bags. Woke yesterday morning (Wednesday) and continued packing. I then did a photo shoot for 'The Stroke Association' which is a great charity. They are promoting a charity bike ride so wanted me to be the face of it to get some publicity going - so I just popped on a T-Shirt and posed with a bike for them!

Then I quickly popped into a couple of clothes shops to pick up a few last minute holiday bits, collected my U.S dollars and headed to work for two shows.

Which brings me up to date with telling you about last night's encounter with Chris Colfer! 

I'm unsure weather or not I'll be doing a video blog for next week. I have to force myself to switch off from everything while I'm away because a). I need to and b). I drastically hit the ground running work wise when I get back -  filming two full days for the TV documentary amongst many other things so if I randomly feel inspired to film stuff I might but I'm sure you'll forgive me for saying that this break away for me has to indeed be a break! I'll still write my blog though of course.

Can I just say also, that when I was writing blog number 32 or 33 or something, I remember thinking 'I wonder what I should do for Blog 50, should it be something different' - And how bizarre that today is blog 50 and Evans here is flying to New York City!!!

I'll be online at least once a day so keep your tweets and Facebook messages coming and I look forward to telling you ALL about my week in New York!

Love your lives please people. I had a couple of lovely fan letters yesterday which both said that my positivity inspires them to live happy lives and to always try to keep positive. That meant so much to me and I am touched that I can have that affect on people. Life really is too short, so lets embrace each day and bloody enjoy it!

Keep smiling

Sh-boom

Mark

PS - Just finished this on a wobbly train that's about to arrive Heathrow so I'll proof read and post it from the departure lounge. I depart at 2pm and I'm due to arrive at NYC JKF airport at 9.40pm UK time where you can all think of me and sing the New york theme tune - "dum dum duh dah dum, dum dum duh dah dum, dum dum duh dah dum, bum, start spreading the news….." OK I need to shut up, I'm too excited!!!

BLOG 49!!! Britain's next top model look out!!!

Hi everyone, 

Happy Thursday. Hope you're all well.

I have just been to Westfield shopping centre (again) but this time it was to return some of the items we didn't end up using for Monday's album photo shoot - although I did buy a few new things with some of the money I got back. Tee hee!!! So I thought I'd start writing this weeks blog whilst sat on the tube. I'm heading for a quick swim before going into work for a rehearsal with our musical supervisor who's here from New York. Speaking of which, next Thursday, guess who's flying to New York?…..Yup…ME! It was quite a last minute thing and i booked it last week so I will try and post a blog next Thursday from Heathrow airport before getting on my flight! ULTIMATE SH-BOOM!!!

So it has, yet again been a very busy week.

Last Friday I met a friend who I hadn't seen for ages for a catch up before heading into London Town (said in a cockney accent Landun taaaaan) for a rehearsal for a new musical I have been asked to be involved with. It's called My Land's Shore and it is written in the English language by fellow Welshies, based on Welsh history and so they wanted West End artistes who were Welsh to be involved from the beginning. It's very patriotic and I am delighted to be associated with it but it's also broadly accessible and I believe, providing they manage it in the right way it should deserve global success from what I've heard of the music so far. We were rehearsing for a demo which I'll be recording in August (about 4 songs) alongside John Owen Jones, Francesca Jackson, Jon Williams and many others, then next summer we will record a fully orchestrated full album of the entire musical after we workshop it for a couple of weeks. So it is great to be involved with something at such an early stage and of course, you know me, anything that has a Welsh connection is always a bonus!

So after the rehearsal I went shopping for a few extra bits for the photo shoot before having a good work out at the gym and then work. 

Friday night I got to bed as soon as I could once I got home as I was up at 7am on Saturday morning to teach a 3 hour workshop before the matinee. It made Saturday seem like the longest day that ever existed but it was a good workshop.

The matinee was good and then in between the shows I joined some of the girls for a sainsbury's shopping trip and we bought a feast of nice healthy food, which ultimately resulted in me eating far too much which made Saturday night's show VERY hard work! Still enjoyed it though!

I'm now sat in my dressing room, post swim and rehearsal (just so you know!) I'm also eating a chicken caesar salad and it is goooooood! (Again, just so you know!) anyway........I digress....

So Sunday I woke up and had deliberately not planned anything to do all day, as it was my first day off in ages what with recording my album etc. This was such a novelty for me. Literally forcing myself to do nothing for a day. My friends were calling to invite me out and I was literally saying "I'll see how I feel later" and i didn't answer the phone to anything work related all day and didn't check my emails because my life is ruled by my schedule and diary and so I thought it would do me good to experience doing nothing! I went through the day hour by hour being spontaneous whilst being lazy - what i mean by that is that i at one point decided to pop to the cafe to buy some cake! Isn't that exciting?! Pah! I made myself lovely food and also enjoyed a walk in the local park in the evening and snoozed on the sofa. It was a treat! 

HOWEVER….The next morning when I had to wake up at 7am to get ready to head across London for my album shoot I literally felt like I had the flu. My whole body was aching and I was sweaty but cold and it hurt to stand in the shower but then I didn't have the energy to get out of it once I was in….proper 'feeling sorry for myself' man flu!!! Ha. 

So I did what I do best and made a decision that it wasn't going to get the better of me and started thinking positive. Clearly, me giving by body and mind 'a rest' on Sunday was more a case of me giving it the opportunity to go into shut down mode! I took a couple of flu tablets and a large Berocca drink and then the rest of the day turned out like this……(watch the VLOG)

http://vimeo.com/25485446 (Just copy and paste this if the embeded video doesn't work for you!)

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/25485446?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;autoplay=1" width="398" height="224" frameborder="0"></iframe>

So that was the photo shoot. I was exhausted once i got to work. It's hard work being a poser for the day! 

I slept really well on Monday night and woke ready to head into London for a meeting which ended up being very productive and very exciting. Now, I apologise because I feel like I'm always doing that thing were I tell you something but then say 'I can't give any details yet'…and it annoys me when people do that too, but it really is out of my hands most of the time, and I have to keep everything confidential until things actually happen. The only reason I mention the meetings at all is because my blog is very much 'a log of what i've been up to'. I've also learnt through experience that a lot of things in the entertainment industry fall through at various stages so until I'm certain things are going to happen I won't ever announce anything to you. But I shall asap!

After that I was very motivated which was good as I had a personal trainer session at the gym. We couldn't understand why my wrists started hurting at one point when I was lifting weights and then my PT asked me what I'd been up to in the last couple of days and I suddenly realised that it was because I'd lugged the majority of my bloody wardrobe from one side of London to the other on public transport the day before for the shoot! Didn't stop me ploughing on though!

Then it was show time!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I woke early to sort out all of the clothes after the shoot. A lot of them needed washing, or ironing, or returning to the stores as we didn't wear them. So I needed to get that done as I'm a bit of an OCD tidy guy and couldn't bare the lack of organisation in my flat!

Then i headed in to do two shows. After last night's show I went to meet my good friend Ashleigh (who's duetting with me on my album - check out that VLOG from the studio if you haven't seen it) and my friend Scott Alan who I'm sure a lot of you know of. He's a composer from New york (did i mention I'll be going there next week? Oh I did? Well, guess what, i'll tell you again - I'M GOING TO NEW YORK CITY NEXT WEEK!!!) Anyway…. Scott is over for a few days and so it was great to meet up with him and Ash and we were also with our friend Stuart Matthew Price. 

Scott wrote a song for my album called 'Until Then' and it will actually be the first thing I ever perform from my album live as i'm joining him for a very intimate concert for just 70 people after the show this Friday night at the Jermyn Street Theatre which I'm really looking forward to. it'll be Scott and I and 4 others very informally sitting near the piano singing and chatting and having fun! The evening sold out within 4 minutes of going on sale…and i quote from Scott last night "I'm like the Take That of Jermyn Street"

I'm also doing a Welsh language T.V show in North Wales on Sunday where I'll be singing a couple of songs from the album and next week's VLOG will be about that day and what I get up to. I'm thrilled so many of you are enjoying my VLOGS. I started them so that I could keep you 'in the loop' with the preparation for my album amongst other things especially as i do so much work in Wales - I like to show what I can so you see what work I actually do!

So the end of this week is when the album promoting through gigs and appearances officially begins. We have some more great things coming up so keep your eyes peeled.

By the way….DO YOU WANT A FREE DOWNLOAD? This was launched last night. You get an exclusive picture of me from Monday's shoot and a track (which is not on my album) if you simply pop your email address in. We can also then in future send you information on what I'm up to and possibly more free stuff too! So what you waiting for? Copy and paste this into your search bar now and you'll see the FREE download!

http://onstagenow.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post.html

So that brings me up to date to today really doesn't it. Been a busy week but this next one is going to be even busier! Bring it on!

Thanks so much for reading and for your continued support, (and tweets, and Facebook comments, and cards, and gifts, and letters to stage door) 

I really am full to the brim with gratitude for the three important 'F's in my life - Family, Friends and Fans. I know that sounds really cheesy but I actually mean it! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great week guys! Love your lives and keep smiling.

Massive SH-BOOM heading at ya

Mark :)

BLOG 48!!! Completed the album! Sh-boom!

Hey Everyone,

Happy Thursday. Hope you're all well and happy.

I watched some friends in Legally Blonde The Musical this afternoon and I just can't stop singing those songs - the music is great in the show and then when you leave, it gets stuck in your head and it gets a bit annoying! Ha. So I'm hoping that by writing this it'll distract me from it. It's a great show and my friend Nicola Brazil who was playing Elle Woods today did a cracking job! We were in Wicked together 3 years ago where I used to lift her above above my head 8 times a week!!!

So it's been another pretty manic week. Last Friday I woke at my mate Sally's house as I'd stayed there and then headed into central London to do a good 2 hours in the gym before meeting my pal Haley for a some nice food at my favourite place 'Bills' before I left her to head to work to do the show.

After the show I stayed at another mate's house to chill out before a manic weekend. So after breakfast Saturday morning I packed a bag full of food for the journey back to Wales (for the second time) which was to happen after the evening show. Both Saturday shows were good fun - I did yet again enjoy the benefits of a little energy drink to get me through. You'll see which drink I have on this weeks video blog (VLOG) as it makes a little appearance. 

Now this weeks VLOG will not be posted until tomorrow (Friday) because i am currently sat in my dressing room where the internet gets very temperamental sometimes and refuses to work so I can't upload the video here because it takes a long time and with an inconsistent internet connection it's just not worth the bother. So it will be uploaded over night and then posted tomorrow morning! Something to look forward to. I'm actually really enjoying editing these VLOGS. I'm trying to find enough time to suss out what everything does editing wise on my computer and I'm happy with this week's - there's a little funny tale from Caernarfon which I tell in it. So look out on Twitter and Facebook tomorrow when I post it.

Anyway, so after the show Saturday night I got in the car outside the theatre where my driver, bless him, was grabbing 40 winks while he waited - Couldn't imagine having to drive 5 hours from North Wales to wait in London for 30 minutes and then drive 5 hours back - Those of you who have just finished your exams will know that that is 10 hours of driving! :)

We luckily only stopped once for a bathroom break and I stocked the driver up with lots of sweets and sugar so I trusted that he would get me there safely while I just had a lovely old sleep on the back seat - listening to lots of new music.

I am loving some of the music I've recently downloaded. Simon Curtis, Hurts, Katy B, J-Lo, Lady Gaga and snippets of Beyonce's new album. My life would be so dull without music. That's the main thing I'd miss if I had to go on something like 'Big Brother' or 'I'm A Celebrity' is music. I'd end up annoying everyone involved in the programme by singing ALL THE TIME! 

Music add's so much to life don't you think??? I mean, think of a film without the soundtrack, it would be a lot less effective and would be rather dull - well I think the same could be said about life! It certainly makes my life a much better!!!

So I arrived the hotel in Caernarfon at about 3.30am on Sunday and managed to sleep quite well, then woke at 10am and attempted to eat my Travelodge speciality known as 'Breakfast In A Bag' - sounds delicious doesn't it?. You're right, it sounds disgusting and indeed it was. A plastic looking croissant and a sachet of rancid jam, a stodgy greasy muffin, a 'Rumblers' cereal pot with warm milk and a bottle of orange juice. I went to Morrisons afterwards to buy proper food! Then i got picked up and taken to the studio which i won't write about now as you'll see everything in the VLOG when it is posted. 

My family arrived halfway through the days recording and so once I was finished, at about 8pm we all headed home to have a great big Fish and Chips take away and I also ate LOTS of biscuits and chocolate!!! Ahhhhh home comforts! (Actually it's just nice to eat food that your Mum and Dad have paid for eh?!) ha

Monday morning I woke up at 8am to make sure I got to see my nieces before the eldest had to go to school. I can't explain how much I LOVE them! So much so that I want to squish them! Looking forward to having kids of my own

After snoozing for about an hour on the sofa with my sister's youngest who celebrated her third birthday last week (I bought her the most amazing pink frilly sequinned 'Tangled' Disney dress with matching sequinned shoes because she love party dresses!) Mum and I visited my brother's girlfriend and their two little girls while he was in work. The youngest is only one and she hasn't gotten used to Uncle Mark the 6ft 2 giant who visits every few weeks so she kept her distance and simply stared at me. Love it!

Then Mum, aka Taxi, dropped me off at the train station so I could head back to london in time to fit in 50 lengths of the pool before work!

Tuesday was a very good day because I went shopping with my stylist,  Kat, for the album photo shoot which is next week! Westfield shopping mall is just incredible. The designer village seemed to have everything we wanted and more. We fell in love with a shop called 'The Kooples'. Neither of us had been in there before so I reckon it's relatively new - have you heard of it? They're clothing is beautifully made and such good style and quality and they had a sale on! Brilliant!

Just can't wait to get the gear on and be a poser for a day - Kat has a great eye for fashion and the photographers do so much amazing work and have great ideas and locations for my shoot together with a fab hair and make up stylist so hopefully it'll be a good day. I'll probably do next week's video blog on the photo shoot as I've realised that, the way it's happened, every blog so far has been me in a recording studio somewhere so as there's no plans to record for a while now it'll be a refreshing change to see something different I reckon.

Anyway, after shopping till we could shop no more, I lugged all the bags to the theatre and headed to the gym to meet my personal trainer who got me, and I quote from today's Legally Blonde trip, 'Whipped into shape'" big time! I'm still aching and I'm going again tomorrow!!!

Then it was a good show Tuesday before heading home to rest before a busy Wednesday.

Wednesday morning I came into town early before the two shows because I was performing alongside some of the cast from Wicked at an event held in Cardinal Place in Victoria called 'West End Live'  which the city council fund to promote theatre and give the public the opportunity to enjoy some of what London's West End has to offer, free of charge.

The main West End Live event is in Trafalgar Square this weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) where every show will perform at least one number. It's great for any theatre lovers so head down there. It's COMPLETELY free. Don't worry if you can't make it - most of the official videos get posted online. I'm not performing this weekend though as I'll be doing the show.

Then I had friends watching both shows yesterday (Wednesday) and after the show I went to stay at my mate Dom's house who I did Rocky Horror with, for a glass of wine and some pasta over a catch up and a good laugh. 

He's in Legally Blonde too so when he went into the theatre today I spent a couple of extra hours looking for more clothes that we need for the photo shoot. Then I watched the matinee which as I said was good and then came to work where I am now sat, in the interval of the show about to wrap this week's blog up.

Hope you've enjoyed reading it. I still cannot announce gigs for the album just yet but I will very soon I promise.

Thanks for all your constant support. You're all amazing! Sh-boom!

Every week I notice that lots of you on Twitter keep tweeting saying "Has @MarkHEvans posted this weeks blog yet? I think I may have missed it" - well here's a simple answer, just click on the little 'FOLLOW'  button in the corner of the blog page and then you should get updates overtime there's a new post. Go on….do it……now………while you remember! I sound like my mother.

Enjoy your week and get in touch. @MarkHEvans or my Facebook fanpage is MarkEvansPage

Love your lives please! Thanks 

Sh-boom!

Mark

PS - Still singing bloody Legally Blonde songs. 'Omigod You Guys!'

PPS - If you like my blogs then please Retweet or Post them on your Facebook! :) 

BLOG 47!!! Week one in the recording studio!!!

Hey Everyone. 

Happy Thursday.

I hope you're all well.

I am sat in my dressing room, starting this weeks blog a little later than I normally would as I decided to have a 'day off' type day and went to the theatre with Ben Stott who plays Boq in Wicked to watch Betty Blue Eyes which is a musical that opened at the Novello Theatre in the West End a few weeks back. We enjoyed it and my friend Hollie who is in it playing a bratty 12 year old was very very good! Love seeing friends do a good job in shows!

So what a busy week it's been.

Let me chat you through the manic 7 days that seem to have flown by since the last edition of my blog.

Friday I woke and went for breakfast to a cute little local cafe with a friend of mine and then headed home to work a bit more on the songs for my album. 

During last week i had started to get a bit anxious about the recording of my album to be honest, because I felt slightly pressured to get it all recorded within such a tight schedule that I was a little worried weather or not my voice would hold out. 9 hours singing is pretty intense eh?!

Hang on… the microwave just pinged with my dinner - and i just need to tell you that I'm multitasking like a demon right now, typing, and at the same time I'm literally shovelling food into my face like the kids from Oliver do with the porridge looking stuff - and…. I'm just gonna put it out there…..I make a mean bolognese! 

Anyway….

So I felt a little better after rehearsing the songs on Friday so I went to meet my mate Haley to enjoy a couple of hours with her walking around London in the amazing sunshine that we had. Very hot!!!

Then I left Haley so I could fit in a good old swim before work. I have been wearing my aqua mitts recently when i swim which increase the resistance in the pool and i must tell you…my man boobs have been aching a considerable amount more since I've been wearing them so they obviously work. Look out…soon I'll have boobs as big as Katie Price!!!

Actually….now,  I can't believe I'm telling you this, but, I was very over weight when I was in high school - because I ate chocolate bars for breakfast every day whilst waiting for the school bus, and I was bullied pretty badly, and one of the names I was called was 'Milk Mark' because…..wait for it…… they said I had boobs!!! Please laugh at this and don't feel sorry for me because I think it's hilarious!!!

I didn't really let it bug me at the time either because I wasn't really aware of the fact that I was over weight. But I was a proper little chunk! For your information, I was probably a 'C' cup! :)

Anyway, my mind seems to have an even bigger tendency to wonder than normal tonight eh?! I really am a type what i think sort of guy. So…….

After Friday night's show I headed straight home to pack for the busy weekend ahead.

Saturday morning I tried to chill before work but then decided to head in so I could do a little food shop so that Ashleigh (who was coming to record my duet with me) and I had snacks for the long journey.

The two shows on Saturday were great. I've discovered a great new naturally caffeinated drink, which I can't remember the name of, but my goodness it really gave me a boost for the Saturday double show day. I'll find out the name and recommend it next time. I made sure i packed a couple of them for the weekends recording work incase I started flagging and needed a pick me up - I very rarely drink energy drinks because once when I was in Rocky Horror, i drank a can of 'Relentless' in the interval of one show and then during my solo song I started having extreme heart palpitations and it really stressed me out so I'm glad that I've found and 'all natural' drink that serves the same purpose.

The journey up to Caernarfon in North West Wales begun at 10.30pm Saturday evening, with Ashleigh and I getting into the car the record label had provided for us to head up there and immediately the laughing and the fun began. The driver departed and Ashleigh still couldn't find her seatbelt socket so she said 'Listen if you don't want me on the album just tell me, you don't need to subtly sit me in the ejector seat so you can fire me out somewhere on the M1' 

Ashleigh had bought a couple of cans of mojitos for us to drink and I was so glad she did because it really relaxed me. 

We had a good catch up in the car. Had to stop a couple of times 'cos Evans here nearly wet himself! Then once we'd been travelling a good 3 hours we decided to get some sleep. I had bought both of us some travel pillows so we could rest our heads and the giggles started again as we were trying to blow them up. Basically, I just couldn't do it! Hilarious.

We got some shut eye and then the next thing I woke up and Ashleigh was heavy breathing with the window open - I thought she'd gone into labor but she was just feeling a little travel sick because we'd reached the dark, long, winding roads taking us through the hills of Wales. She said to me 'If I squeeze your arm can you tell the driver in Welsh to stop please so I can be sick' - what she didn't realise was that the Welsh word for 'stop' is 'stop' so she would have been fine just just say it instead of creating a code arm squeeze. But luckily that wasn't a problem.

We arrived the hotel having been on the road nearly 5 hours and then got a good sleep before waking up and getting ready to hit the studio for the first day of recording my debut album. I won't say any more - just watch this…..

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24887934?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;autoplay=1" width="398" height="224" frameborder="0"></iframe>

If you don't see the video embedded in the blog (as some of you have been having problems with previous blogs) then cope and paste the link below!

http://vimeo.com/24887934

So that was the weekend. I really am so pleased with how it went and the fact that we're so ahead means that I'm only recording for one day this coming weekend (Sunday) and my family are coming down to the studios to watch and see how it all works and that means that because I won't be needed in the studio monday morning ,fingers crossed, I will be able to go home with my folks and do that amazing thing known as 'sleeping in your own bed at your mum and dad's house'. I can't wait to see my family.

So after the show Monday night I went home and had a great sleep and then woke up with no definite plans which was nice after such a manic weekend so I headed into town to spend a good couple of hours in the gym and pool and steam room and then had a quick sun bed to give my skin a bit of vitamin E and to make me look slightly less dead. Then I had a meeting and catch up with my manager to discuss all the different projects i have going on and the stuff that's coming up, which I'll hopefully be able to tell you all about by next weeks blog (gigs and album launches etc) so it was good to chat to her about it all.

I woke Wednesday morning before the two shows and had a general tidy of the flat because my friend holly was coming to stay and she'd never seen my place. Then I headed into work. During the show I was told by the stage door keeper that I had a delivery arrive at stage door so I told him I'd see what it was after the matinee. Well I forgot to check after the matinee as I was rushing out to have a meeting with my manager and the amazing photographers who are working on my album photo shoot and all the publicity shots etc. Check the photographers out online - Snooty Fox Images. I'm so excited and they both really get me and what I picture the album looking like and i have a photo shoot soon to get it all sorted asap ready for the August 1st album release.

So after the meeting I headed back to the theatre a bit excited after a very productive meeting and then I remembered about this 'delivery' at stage door. I went to check and no word of a lie, there was the most amazing carrot cake waiting there for me. It had been delivered direct from my favourite cake shop, The Hummingbird Bakery in London and it was a whole cake, not a slice…a whole cake. I opened the card and realised it had very generously been sent from a very dedicated fan of mine and it was apparently to 'keep my energy levels up' during all the recording work. How kind!

Well you should have seen Ben's Stott's face when I went into his room parading this beautifully iced full sized carrot cake in front of him. We decided we'd be a couple of granddads and wait until the interval to have a cup of tea and a piece of cake. It was amazing! It's still not all gone either - Sh-boom!!!

After last night's show I met my friend Hollie who I did High School Musical with about 3 years ago - she played Kelsi Nielson the pianist and did a wonderful job of it too. We hadn't had a good catch up in a while so we picked up lots of nice nibbles and headed straight back to my flat to listen to good music and chat for hours and drink lovely wine. We also fitted in a Skype conversation with our friend Becca in New York so all in all it was a perfect night.

On the subject of music I have two recommendations for you. A lot of you know i don't have any specific taste in music styles I kind of like all types. So my friend Aaron who I'm now calling my music guru recommended a guy called Simon Curtis. If you google him online, you'll get a link to download his album FOR FREE!!! It's called '8 bit heart' and it's cool electro pop music and that guy is immensely talented. 

Also my friend Caryl who wrote the kids TV show I did, 'Marcaroni' has a daughter named Greta who is only 16 and is currently sitting her GCSE exams but just before Christmas she started teaching herself the guitar and started song writing. Now, 6 months later she's great and has some beautiful songs. She's got a real Laura Marling sound (if you know who that is) and I would really recommend you visit Greta Isaac's myspace page and check out her music because she's going to do really well and I always find it exciting to discover someone when they are still 'undiscovered' in a main stream way. Let's support young British talent folks! Here's the link to her page - please click 'LIKE'

http://www.myspace.com/gretaisaacmusic

So Hollie and i woke this morning, had some breakfast then she needed to head into work while I met Ben for some lunch before watching Betty Blue Eyes. It was a great show and well worth a visit. Kylie Minogue is the voice of the pig in the end. Ha. Random.

After the show Ben and I decided we would go and sit with Julie who plays Madame Morrible in Wicked and we all drank tea and ate carrot cake in her dressing room and had a nice chat whilst she did her make up. She's a wonderful woman and a joy to work with. 

Which more or less bring us to now. I am currently sat on the train to my best friend Sal's house as I finish this up. 

A good few of you have asked on Twitter if I am singing at West End Live. I am not doing the Trafalgar Square stage as it's just our greeny Rachel Tucker wowing the crowds there but i'll be doing West End Live in Cardinal Place in Victoria before the matinee next Wednesday 15th June. So come along, most of the cast will be there and we'll be performing a few songs from the show. Well worth a visit. I believe it's at 12.30pm so perfect timing for you all to then grab some lunch before coming in to watch the matinee. See you there :)

Right I think that's enough typing for one day. I will of course be filming week two in the recording studio for the next video blog. 

Thanks for reading and as ever, thanks for supporting Mevans in all I do!

Until next time, love your lives and live your lives.

Sh-boom

Mark

BLOG 46!!! ALBUM DUET REVEAL AND MORE!!!

Hello hello, 

Happy Thursday everyone.

I'm sat in my dressing room having just been for a swim….however, I was happily swimming along in the pool, all alone, thinking "how nice that there's no one but me here" and I was proudly sporting my new aqua mitts (webbed gloves to make your swim more of an upper body work out) and I'd nearly finished my 7th length when an announcement came booming over the speakers "Attention all members, attention all members, please be advised that the pool is closed today for cleaning, I repeat, this afternoon the pool is closed for cleaning"

Well Evans here jumped straight out cos I had already noticed a peculiar drain like smell in there. Also….there was no need for her to announce 'attention ALL members' because i was the only bloomin' member in there! She should have announced 'Oy, you with the webbed hands, get the bloody hell out the pool else you'll stink!' - Where were the warning signs??? I'm not psychic! 

I scrubbed myself in the shower and went to do some sit ups in the steam room instead! Ha.

I would've usually been quite disappointed about not being able to complete my work out but this afternoon I had the honour of presenting an award, along with Louise Dearman who i play opposite in the show, at the Life After Stroke Awards which were so inspirational and although i am a very positive person in general, things like that always make you re-evaluate your life don't they?, so the pool incident just made me laugh more than anything and I felt grateful that I could even manage to swim those 7 lengths.

The event today was held at Claridges Hotel in central London which is a beautiful place and the organisation of the awards was superb! I was collected from my flat this morning and driven to the hotel where I met Louise, then we were introduced to Michelle who we were presenting the award to, who I'll write more about in a moment, then we did some press interviews and posed for lots of photographs with the press photographers then we mingled during the champagne reception (wishing we could take advantage of the gallons of champagne available - alas we were professional) chatting to lots of wonderful people who work for the charity and who had various reasons for being there today, before we all sat in the main dining area to enjoy a delicious three course meal courtesy of Mr Gordon Ramsey's restaurant at Claridges. We were listening to see if we could hear him shouting and swearing in the kitchen but alas we could not. If your reading this Gordon mate, thanks for the grub it was smashing! :)

Now we were asked to present the Carer Award to Michelle Gifford from Northern Ireland who had come down to London with her two lovely friends to accept her well deserved award.

All three watched Wicked yesterday and it was only after the show that Michelle (who loves musicals) found out that her award today would be presented to her by Louise and myself.

Michelle married her husband Stephen 5 years ago and two years into their marriage Stephen suffered his first bleed which was in 2008. He then in 2009 suffered another, and then a third bleed in 2010. After the first stroke, Michelle became completely devoted to Stephen as a carer, offering him the emotional support he requires and she is dedicated to assisting him in his life after stroke. When we met Michelle today and discovered all she has sacrificed in her own life so she can be so committed to Stephen, we were so touched and inspired and she was just one of eleven award winners today who thoroughly deserved the praise and recognition they received for their courage, commitment and bravery. A truly incredible afternoon and it was a real honour to be asked to present the award.

So…. what have i been up to this week???

Well, last Thursday I was rehearsing the duet for my album….AND…..If you want to find out who wrote the song and who i'm singing with then watch this exclusive video blog where all will be revealed!….

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So that's who I'm taking to Wales with me this weekend to start recording! Hurrah!

After the show on Thursday night, I went to stay at a friends house to chill. The only way I can ever really relax is by staying with a friend and chilling at their house because if I'm at home in my flat I just always have so many things to keep me busy and I never have a moment to stop so I decided to chill there for most of Friday too. After we went for lunch I came into town and headed into the gym for a good old work out.

After Friday's show i went home to do some editing on the video you will have just watched then I got to sleep.

Saturday morning, I woke and had a quick clean around my flat as my friend Aimee was arriving from North Wales to stay with me for the weekend (it was her wedding I went to about 5 weeks ago…remember?!).

So once she arrived and we had an hours catch up, she came into work with me and during my matinee she just sat in my dressing room while I did the show (she's done that for so many shows I've worked on!) - she watched TV!!! Then we had lovely food in between shows before she watched the evening show! She saw the show twice when I was in it three years ago in the ensemble but this was the first time she'd seen my Fiyero and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself. 

We headed straight home to chill afterwards with healthy nibbles and my friend Aaron came over to join us watching Mrs Doubtfire - what a classic film that is!!! Robin Williams is a genius!!!

Sunday morning Aimee and I had a nice breakfast then headed to East London so I could show her around the cool, trendy. non touristy parts of London that I like to go to, so we spent most of the afternoon in Spitalfields Market in Shoreditch and had massages and then a lovely lunch in Las Iguanas brazilian restaurant! Very yummy!

We then headed to meet our friend Gareth in Covent Garden. He is also from North Wales and teaches for me on the summer school I run (WestEndInWales.com) and he is currently working at the Royal Opera House on two operas! One Covent Garden Opera clearly just isn't enough for some people!!!

We then met a few friends for a drink to celebrate my friend Caroline's birthday in central London but we were tired so after a couple of bevies Aimee and I headed home, had a nice stroll from the train to my flat in the sunset then settled in our pyjamas with some nice home-made pasta I cooked and we watched 'Hitch' - the movie where Will Smith plays a professional matchmaker of love -  it is a great film - very funny! 

How many of us feel like we need someone like Hitch in our lives? Hands up if you agree……..ok you can ALL put your hands down now! Ha ;)

Monday morning i tormented Aimee for keeping me awake by snoring…..then we went to sit in Starbucks in Covent Garden to have a business meeting about West End In Wales for a few hours (she is my assistant on it) - we have some amazing plans for this year's course. Lots of new additions and changes, so if anybody reading this is coming along - you're in for a treat!

Then we met a couple of friends who we know from North Wales who were in London before Aimee went home and I went to the gym before work….but it was closed…haha damn bank holiday!!!

So Tuesday was the day for the gym. I woke and did my productive stuff I needed to get done, emails, food shop, cooking, cleaning, then worked my tush off at the gym for a good two hours before heading in to do the show!

I FELL OVER WORSE THAN ANYONE HAS EVER FALLEN OVER ON STAGE! Tuesday night, I was exiting the stage as Fiyero after having a heated discussion with Glinda in Act Two, and to end that scene I run up some stairs and, no word of a lie, I misjudged one of the steps and fell so badly that I struggled to get myself up again. I apparently looked like I was in the splits with my stupidly long legs sprawled on the stairs and to try and lift myself back up off the steps I was tearing off bits of the twigs and vines that are part of the scenery and then as soon as i managed to haul myself off the stage and was out of the audience's sight, I just burst into fits of laughter. The audience even laughed out loud when it happened, it was hilarious! Louise and the rest of the cast who had to simply carry on with the show on stage handled themselves very well - I don't know if I could have carried on having just seen someone fall over in such a spectacular way! 

It's a good job I'm the sort of person who likes to laugh at himself in those sorts of situations else I'd be hanging my head in shame! Ha. Good times!!!

I am trying my best to have some chill out time this week because I don't have a single day off now for about 5 weeks so I am making sure I rest….but only a little - I'm one of those people who is fine while they keep going and then everything shuts down upon having a break-  so for these 5 weeks I'm gonna plough on through like a trojan and just grab little bits of 'me time' when I can!

I've spent a lot of time this week rehearsing the songs and music for my album. I cannot believe I start recording it this weekend. I'm travelling up with the person i'm duetting with after the show on Saturday night, the car will collect us at 10.30pm immediately after the show and drive us to North Wales ready for us to record all day Sunday. I'll then head back to London on Monday to do the show Monday night.

The rough tracks I've been sent of just the rhythm section (guitars, piano, bass and drums) are already exciting me. I cannot wait to hear the finished product! We're in discussions about launches and concerts and gigs etc so of course you people who support everything I do will be the first to know about anything I'm up to!

So then…..yesterday (Wednesday) I woke and more or less came straight into work. I was very tired after my gym mania the day before but enjoyed the shows none the less. I met a friend after the matinee for a coffee - actually, i don't drink coffee but i always say  "Fancy a coffee?" does anybody else do that? - I had an iced frappuccino! Lovely.

Then went home to relax last night and get a good night's sleep so that I could get up to enjoy today's wonderful event  - The Awards.

So there we have it - another week in my life!

I'm about to get ready for warm up and then I'll try and do something with my newly cut hair!  - I have to get it cut at work so that the hair/wig department can keep control of my appearance to play the role - Whenever I have my haircut I look about 10 years younger though, so I have to style it a certain way so I don't end up looking like a 6 ft 2 twelve year old in pants that are simply too tight on stage! Haha.

I shall be tweeting and filming like a demon this weekend to create some good footage of the album recording so you can all feel as involved as possible! 

Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading and with all the talk of the Life After Stroke Awards within this blog I think you'll agree that life is most certainly for living, so please make sure you all do exactly that.

Lots of love heading your way :)

Sh-Boom!!!

Mark