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
