Morning Everyone,
Happy Thursday.
Hope you're all doing well today and have had a good week since my last Blog. It's A level results day today right?! Good luck to all of you who are waiting to hear.
Last Thursday I was right in the thick of it with my summer school West End In Wales.
On that day we started piecing the show together and it was a very exciting day seeing everything that was to be in the showcase come together but by the end of the day we realised we still had a lot of work to do to get the showcase to the standard set in previous years. We ended the day by heading home to reschedule the friday so we could utilise all the possible time that we had and then we went out for our staff meal.
Every year on the Thursday night of the summer school, I organise a night out for everyone who works for me on the course and my mum came along too so there were 9 of us, and it was one of the most fun nights out I'd had in a long time. The whole group I had working on the course this year were amazingly talented and great teachers but more importantly from a sanity point of view, they were a real laugh to be around. Sally and Drew who are two good friends of mine were both staying at my parents farm with me too so that was lovely. Mum did all the cooking and really looked after us - she really is amazing, and then we just had lots of time to work on the summer school but we also had lots of time for chatting and relaxing and almost turning ourselves inside out from laughing so much. Good times!
So the Thursday night was fab. There was lots of wine consumed but I felt fresh as a daisy on Friday morning and it was a very successful day with two great dress rehearsals of the showcase and everyone was in good stead for the last day of the course on Saturday.
Friday nights are always late during the West End In Wales week as we have to print off, sign and laminate a certificate for every student, fine tune everything with the technical running order and then battle it out between us over who we think deserves one of the awards during the presentation. We handed out 13 awards for various different achievements after the show case on the Saturday.
So I woke Saturday morning after about 4 hours sleep and we headed to the venue to rally up the students and get them geared up for a fab performance and that it was. They did two shows and they were excellent in both. I always feel so proud. When I look at all the young people in front of me giving it so much on the stage and seeing their passion really reminds me of how I used to be at that age and I feel so lucky to have carved out a career for myself in this difficult industry and feel lucky to be working in such an exciting art form….not that it hasn't come without ridiculous amounts of hard work mind!
I presented the awards and certificates after the second showcase and then it took us about an hour to do the get out from the venue and head back to my folks' farm (The Ranch).
My film crew for the T.V documentary were filming me on the first and last day of the summer school, and on the last day they were asking lots of questions about why I set up the course, and what memories does it bring back and how it makes me feel seeing my business venture thrive now that it's in it's 5th year, and i actually got pretty emotional….(probably just 'cause I'd only slept for 4 hours the night before and I was drained of everything within) - but I have never felt as passionate about anything as I do West End In Wales and it is very important to me to try and help young aspiring performers and to try and inspire them to do what they want instead of feeling they need to 'fit in' with what's 'normal'!
Saturday night, all the staff (apart from Sally who went to Spain and Manon who had work to do) came up to The Ranch along with all of my family, so there were about 24 people in total and I provided a chinese banquet for everyone - by that I mean I ordered in from a lovely place nearby….I certainly didn't cook chinese food myself for 24 people after a week of West End In Wales.
It was really good food and we had been given many thank you gifts from the students in alcohol form (champagne, asti, wine etc etc) which was devoured entirely by the end of the night so the atmosphere was lovely!
During the evening, the weather was so nice and the location of the farm is so unbelievably picturesque that I decided to take Drew and Gareth who'd been teaching for me, on my Dad's quad bike up and around some of the hills. As Drew said, it's like your continuously driving through a beautiful painting. I love being from North Wales and from the Vale of Clwyd particularly.
We then took the bike in the field so Drew and Gareth could both have a go at driving it. It was really funny and we laughed a lot, particularly as I accidentally put my hand in a load of cow s**t! Hahaha! Nothing like being on the farm!
It wasn't too late a night. It ended in watching the amazing film 'Mona Lisa Smile' which has some of the best cinematography ever. Really great film. It was a wonderful last night of the summer school week.
Sunday morning Drew, Gareth and I got an early train back to London then I popped home to sort a few things out and have a little hour to myself to think over the manic week I'd just had then I set off into town to watch a show called 'Dames At Sea' which Drew (from the summer school) has choreographed and my friend Gemma Sutton is playing the lead in it. We played opposite each other as Curly and Laurey in Oklahoma last year. She was wonderful on Sunday, she's so talented and certainly was the star of the show. I really enjoyed it all and Drew's work on it was fantastic. He is going to be the next big thing as far as choreographers are concerned I guarantee! I would put money on him being the most in demand choreographer around in no more than 5 years time! Just you wait and see!
Had a good few wines after the show then headed home for a good sleep! I was well and truly drained. Seriously didn't have a drop of energy left in me.
Woke monday morning and headed over to see my friend Haley as I hadn't seen her for a good catch up for a couple of weeks then I went to do a ballet class at Pineapple Dance Studios. Yes…you heard me….A BALLET CLASS!!! I have been meaning to get back to do some technical classes for some time now and I have a little more time for myself and what I want to do over the next 4 weeks so I am getting back into training, which I believe is very important if you want to be the best you possibly can be. So it was my first ballet class in 6 years and it was great! I'm actually going to another one this morning. Contemporary ballet. Can't wait. Then I have a photo shoot and interviews etc all afternoon for a big magazine feature which I'm unsure if I'm to talk about but you'll see it eventually - so today is busy, which is why this blog is uploaded so early.
After the class on Monday I met my manager to touch base on all we need to do for different things and she could tell I'd had a long week cos she was like "you need some sugar!" haha. I think it was more the ballet that sapped my energy though.
It was weird getting back to work on monday night. I think because I'd been so busy, I hadn't had a moment to think about the show at all, so it actually felt like I'd been away about a month and not just a week. The lights seemed really bright, the sound seemed really loud and it was just generally quite bizarre. I also fell over in the opening AGAIN…which made my day 'cause it was hilarious. I love being able to laugh at myself when things go wrong!
It was lovely to get back to work though. I was definitely refreshed after the week off and also very inspired after spending a week with young people who are desperate to be doing what we as a company here are doing every day which is working on a west end stage, and it filled me with gratitude, and for those of you who have read The Secret which is the book I adore, you'll know that the feeling of gratitude and love puts you in a very positive frame of mind
Then with that positive mindset I went to stay with my mate Haley and her lovely sitter Gem which was great.
Woke Tuesday and had a very lazy morning before heading into have a training session with my personal trainer then a deep stretch session then a swim before getting my hair cut at work and then did the show.
Got home on Tuesday night and there was a CD waiting for my in my mail which contained 11 of the 12 tracks on my album and they were all in the right order and so I decided to play them on my T.V so the sound was really good and I just sat there and listened through what is nearly my entire album and it felt incredible. After all the hard work I've put into it, it is all worth it. I specifically picked songs that would create a variety of music styles when people listen to the entire album from beginning to end and last night it proved to me that I have made the right decision to do that because it definitely kept me really interested all the way through, so when you all hear it for the first time I really hope you're going to love it - it really is very personal and each song is on there for a definite reason which will all be revealed within the CD inlay!
I woke yesterday morning (Wednesday) and played the album loud again whilst I got ready to head out to meet me friend Dom who's in Legally Blonde the musical and about to start We Will Rock You rehearsals, and we had a good catch up over brunch. Then after the matinee I met my mate Joe who was Will Parker in Oklahoma and we had dinner. He and his friend David (who is also an actor) have a board game they've devised and had manufactured last year, which is brilliant. They worked on it for a long time and launched it late last year. It has sold thousands of copies and has been picked up by some fantastic retail companies and is also available from their website www.gameforfame.co.uk! 'Game For Fame' is such a laugh, we played it on tour and had such fun. Highly recommended if you like games or if you want to buy someone a really cool and original present! Check it out!!!
After the show last night I came home to chill and get a good nights sleep so I was ready for my dance class this morning. I've had a good breakfast to get me going and I'm really looking forward to it.
And finally………… I have an announcement to make. My album is officially going to be available to buy on……… MONDAY OCTOBER 17th. So get yourselves ready cos I really think you'll like it. We have decided to release it slightly later for a couple of reasons which you'll find out soon enough. But for now, just know that you will be able to download it and buy it in CD form on October 17th……..And for all of you wonderful people who keep tweeting me about the album, I'll start the countdown on your behalf…..it will be out in officially 60 days from today!
And that brings me to the end of this week's blog. I hope you enjoyed it. Whilst your reading it, picture me sweating my rear end off in a ballet class. Just call me Billy!
Keep smiling folks, because everything about life is indeed wonderful!!!
Sh-boom!
Mark
PS - Newsletter is in the process of creation and will be released VERY soon so if you haven't already, then sign up to the mailing list on the left hand side of this blog!
