Blog 63!!! Wedding Fayres & Birthday Parties!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday. 

Hope you've all had a good week. Mine's been great. After I posted last week's blog I went to get my laptop fixed and the good news was that they didn't need to send it away and they fixed it there and then. I was so relieved. 

After being in the Apple store I met my friend Nathan who designed my website for West End In Wales. He has now taught me how to update everything myself so everything can be done much more regularly. So check it out. www.WestEndInWales.com - since last week there have been a few video interviews added, lots of tips and tricks for aspiring performers with advice on various aspects of theatre. There will soon be a huge section on stage management and all the 'behind the scenes' jobs that happen in theatre for all those who are interested in working in this industry but not on the stage. 

The idea behind the website is that everything posted on there is interactive so please feel free to leave comments and if there's certain information you want to know, get on there, drop us a comment, leave it with us and we'll get the information to you if it's not already somewhere on the site.

After my little technology wizkid lesson with Nathan I hit the recording studio to lay down an exclusive acoustic version of one of my album  tracks which will be available to download soon! Watch this space!!!

The show was great on Thursday night but I was tired after a long day of running around and needed my bed by the time I got home.

Friday was a full day of working on things to upload onto the www.WestEndInWales.com site -  I really enjoyed trying things out and working out for myself how to do it all. I really hope you young performers find the site helpful, it's going to continue to evolve and grow week on week! 

I headed straight to work from home which is a real novelty for me as I'm usually rushing around doing things in London before work, so by the time the show finished on Friday, I felt like it was too early to just go back home again having only been away 4 hours. Ha. I did go straight home though!

I was so looking forward to the weekend. It was to be my last Sunday off, and infect last day off in general for 10 weeks (until I finish my run in Wicked on December 10th) and there was nothing I wanted more than to spend it with my best friend Sally.

So after two great shows on Saturday I quickly legged it out of the theatre to get the earliest train possible, only to discover that they couldn't find the driver, so I got on another train and guess what, they couldn't find that driver either. I mean seriously folks, if any of you reading this have a passion for becoming a train driver, I'd definitely say it's a good career choice as there clearly aren't enough of them knocking about. I felt like doing the whole "Is there a doctor in the house" line but changing it to "is there a driver in the station". Anyway, I eventually got to Sally's parents house (her parents were away) and it was just her and I and her friend Mel. It was lovely. The whole weekend was basically an opportunity for us to start discussing things for Sally's wedding and Hen Party etc - I am Sally's chief Bridesman - like a bridesmaid….without the frock!!! She's having three gals and three guys and it's gonna be amazing. 

It was lovely to catch up over some nice food once I arrived her folks place on Saturday night. 

We woke Sunday morning, had a nice breakfast before heading to what can only be described as the most stunning wedding location ever. It was not a normal bridal fair we were going to, it was an invite only event for people who have booked to get married there, just so you can see examples of how things can look, table layouts, floral arrangements, the hotel rooms, and meet possible photographers  and cake decorators and even magicians (random).  It was a really nice chilled out event where the three of us were just sauntering around drinking champagne and being mischievous taking pictures in stupid poses and so on…I'm sure you can imagine Mevans here acting the fool in this stunning 5 star hotel where the England Rugby team go to use the spa facilities! Ha. Good times. 

We headed back to Sally's flat afterwards just the two of us in the evening to crash, watching the X-Factor and a couple of films. This was amazing as Sally does a lot of teaching during the day and I obviously work evenings most of the week and so to have some time to chill out all day together was great. We watched 'The Devil Wears Prada' as it was on the T.V-  I'd never seen it before, it's such a great film eh? I think Meryl Streep is an absolute legend anyway but in that role she was just perfect. Loved it.

On Monday Sal was teaching early so I headed to the gym for a run and a swim then met my friend Tim to watch 'Crazy Stupid Love' at the cinema, which is the new film starring Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell. We loved it. It's a great movie and I'd definitely recommend it for a laugh.

Tim and I had a good catch up afterwards and then I headed back to the gym (for a second time that day) to have a session with my personal trainer. My goodness it was hard. I finished it feeling really unwell. I couldn't move from being sat in the changing room afterwards. I think the main reason was because my body has adjusted so much to my new diet, that on Sunday, Sal and I had a few things that I'd cut out  from my daily dietary routine, so between that and two work outs in one day my body decided to let me know that it hates me. I seriously thought I wasn't going to be able to get through the show, but I had to force myself to think positive (as always) and I didn't let it get the better of me, I pushed my way through the physical warm up before the show, had some food and luckily by the time the show started I was feeling ok. Wasn't nice, and there's proof that the body can be quite a fragile thing when treated badly! 

I headed home after Monday night's show to get an early night because Tuesday was to be a busy day.

I woke Tuesday morning to get some work done on my laptop, then dropped off some things in my dressing room before heading to the National Theatre to watch my friend Craige in a play called 'The Kitchen'. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. I went with Zoe who plays Nessarose in Wicked and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so cleverly directed, staged and choreographed. The whole cast basically had to go to cookery school to learn how to chop and whisk and cook as professional chefs would so that they were doing all the actions properly, but the ingenious thing was, that they were doing it all without food. So it was just all the kitchen manic drama that you might see on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare's but beautifully executed without any food being there at all! Very different piece of excellent theatre and wonderfully acted and well worth seeing!

Zoe and I then headed to work to eat before the show. Tuesday night's performance of WICKED was very special as it was officially 5 years to the day since the original London cast opened the show. In the audience we had lots of fans, family, friends and most importantly, lots of the principal actors from previous casts along the years came back to watch and were each introduced individually onto the stage at the end of the show to take a bow. The whole show finished with a massive explosion from 4 confetti canons and hundred of Wicked balloons fell from the ceiling. Then of course there was a party. It was lovely to catch up with some familiar faces especially as the majority of the principals from when I was in the show 3 years ago had come along so it was lovely to see them. At the party there were lots of press photos and videos which you'll all see soon enough I'm sure and we had an amazing 5th Birthday cake which was all chocolate with green and brown shapes made of icing on top and we were all drinking green champagne - I was very paranoid that for all the press photos I would have green teeth from the drink, and then people would think that the kiss I do with Elphaba had gone a little far, so much so that her make up had stained my pearly whites. Hahahaha.

It was a great event and I was very proud to be a part of it. I cannot wait to to be invited back in another 5 years time to enjoy other actors performing these incredible roles at the 10th Anniversary of Wicked. It is most certainly going to be here for years to come!

I woke yesterday morning (Wednesday) rather early to head to meet my Mum and Auntie from Euston train station as they had both come down for a day out, to visit me and to watch the show. We had a few hours to kill before I needed to head to work so we walked from Euston to Covent Garden as it was amazing weather with not a cloud in the sky. I took them to one of my favourite restaurant/cafes 'Bills' and we had a nice lunch before walking to Victoria to the theatre via Trafalgar Square, St. James Park and Buckingham Palace. They both loved it and just kept making comparisons to how things are "so different to North Wales" ha - And I tell you what, trying to get them to stretch their little legs to walk at a moderate pace to ensure I wasn't late for work was a pretty big task. They kept stopping to look at the most random things. I loved seeing them.

They watched the matinee and then we went for some more food afterwards before I plonked them in a taxi to Euston and then I did the evening show. Next time I see my Mum will be at the album launch party. Woohoo.

Last night I went to 'West End Bowling' which is an evening were different shows compete against each other in their teams to see who'll win the evening's competition. It was great fun and nice to hang out with a few of the guys from work after the show instead of having to rush off all the time. I had a great night.

It was actually held in the building where my album launch party is going to be - but the party is in a separate private suite, and I cannot wait to see all of you lovely people who have already booked your tickets for a corker of an afternoon. We have some great things planned. If you haven't bought your £10 tickets yet and want to then use this link:

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/132843

Another thing folks - my debut album is out in just over two weeks - I can't quite believe it. Next week I am being sent the first copy. I can't wait to have it in my hands after all the hard work. Tomorrow I shall be sending out a newsletter to everyone on the mailing list and in it, will be a video of the entire album making process which I've put together - kind of like my first ever pop video - It has brought back some amazing memories of this year for me just by editing it and looking back over all the footage i've filmed. If you are not signed up to the mailing list then simply enter you email address in the black box on the left hand side of this page (click on 'Get It Now'). We will also be sending some other FREE things your way soon so SIGN UP!!! Woohoo!!!

Well that brings me up to date doesn't it really. It's been a great week  and I've had a lot of fun. Remember to check out www.WestEndInWales.com website and spread the word. I want to help as many young performers as possible.

Thanks for reading folks.

Keep smiling and love your lives.

SH-BOOM!!!

Mark

PS every week I see people on Twitter saying things like "Does anyone know if Mark Evans' Blog is out today yet?" -
If you click the word 'follow' at the top of this page now, then you will always know when I post a new one! Sh-boom!

BLOG 62!!! HAPPY BLOG-IVERSARY!!!

Morning everyone,

Happy Thursday.

How you all doing? I'm good. I am writing this early today as I have to take my computer into the genius bar at the apple store because it's had some problems for some time now and I haven't ever had the opportunity where I have a week that I feel I can manage without my laptop whilst it's being repaired, but I realised last week that I only have 2 months left on the warranty so need to get it sorted else I'll just forget. So I'll be back to my old slow laptop for about a week from today. Boo!

It's been a fun week actually. Last Thursday after I wrote my blog I just headed into London to meet Gemma who I work with in Wicked for a coffee and then had a quick meeting. While I was sat with Gemma, my friend Amy walked past who I haven't seen for too long and she said that her boyfriend, who's also my friend, Craige was outside chatting to our friend Brendan. Now this was weird because, myself, Amy, Craige and Brendan worked on Spamalot together 4 years ago and we got on so well that we would meet for a coffee an hour before starting work most days, and then we were all swings or standbys in that job so we would then just be able to sit and chat during the show most of the time because we were seldom needed on stage, so we were inseparable - Now the last time the four of us were together was about 18 months ago when the three of them came to watch me in Oklahoma! - so for the four of us to randomly just be at the same place at the same time was amazing! It put me in a very good mood. Love them so much.

After that, Gemma and I walked to work and the show on Thursday was good.

My friend Dom came to stay on Thursday night and it was nice to have a good catch up. We both had to be up early on Friday morning, him for We Will Rock You rehearsals and me for a meeting. I left slightly earlier than him, but then because my journey was royally messed up because of the trains, I ended up heading back a few stops to get on the same train as him anyway. Now because of all the rushing about, I accidentally left a bag on the train. I hadn't noticed until I got to just outside the venue of my meeting and then it hit me that my dance gear was in there, the sheet music to about 10 of my most used audition songs, a cheque book and my favourite jeans and a couple of other bits and pieces. So that was a pretty naff start to the day but hey ho, worse things can happen. 

After that I went to rehearse in North London for a T.V gig I had on Sunday. My friend Aaron was choreographing for me again, cos he's great, and he and 3 other lads were dancing for me. So we rehearsed for a couple of hours, then I had to shop for an outfit for the T.V show before working out at the gym and then heading to work. 

The show was good on Friday night. I was tired after a long day though so headed straight home afterwards.

I woke Saturday morning and packed my case for the trip to South Wales the next day so I wouldn't have to do it after work, then I headed to pick up a couple more bits of shopping for me and the dancers for the weekend.

After the matinee I had some music to learn with my Musical Director and then Paul and I (paul who's in Wicked was dancing for me on Sunday) had a cheeky rehearsal of the choreography before getting ready for the evening show.

I was straight home after work and got to bed as soon as possible as we had a very early start the next day to head down to Bridgend near Cardiff to do the Rhydian Show - he's the classical singer off the X-Factor a few years back who has the white/blonde hair. Well he has a new series on S4C so I was his guest doing a couple of album tracks and a duet with him. All part of my album promotion. I shall let you all know when it will be aired (November I think) but for now, check out my VLOG to see how we got on:

http://vimeo.com/29402087

Sunday night we all ended up chatting for a few hours in the hotel before getting to sleep as Paul and I were getting an early train back to London on monday morning. We woke to go for breakfast and I felt fresh as a daisy but Paul on the other hand was a little hung over to say the least., HAHAHA!

We slept most of the train journey back to London and then I had about 3 hours to kill before a meeting, so I headed for a swim and a steam which was needed after the busy weekend. After my meeting I met my friend Gareth who teaches for me on West End In Wales. We had a good catch up and walked from the Southbank to Trafalgar Square, then down the Mall past Buckingham Palace to end up in Victoria in time for work. It's walks like that that make me love living in London. I think all Londoners have a tendency to take this amazing city for granted sometimes. 

I had some friends watching the show and they gave me a lift home afterwards which was good as I had a big suitcase full of outfits from the weekend, so didn't fancy lugging it on the train.

Tuesday I had an office day all day. Literally sat at my laptop and worked on the Album Launch and the T.V Special.

I am thrilled to reveal that the incredibly talented Ashleigh Gray is going to be at my album launch on October 16th to perform the duet written especially for us and my album by the wonderful Michael Bruce. This will I'm sure be the only time we ever perform this duet live (because it's really hard to breath when we sing it, haha) So if you're an Ashleigh Gray fan and are coming to the launch, you're getting an extra little treat! 

We will also be holding the ultimate bowling contest where she will be the captain of one team and I will be the captain of the other and it whichever team gets the highest over all score wins! Sh-boom!!!

If you want tickets for the album launch then use this link. They're £10 for a whole afternoon of major P.A.R.T.Y!!! If you're coming, i'll look forward to seeing you there.

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/132843

Also my T.V special 'An Evening With Mark Evans' which is on November 13th (Sunday) in Cardiff now has a system set up for tickets. All you have to do to get your FREE ticket, is email steffan.watkins@boomerang.co.uk - and yes you heard me, all the tickets are absolutely FREE FREE FREE!!! I insisted that they didn't charge for the tickets so that i can ensure all my wonderful supporters can come along and be an amazing audience! So what are you waiting for? Sign up for tickets, it is so easy to get to and from Cardiff too, public transport is great, very regular trains, and if you want any help just ask Steffan who will liaise with you via the email address above. Seriously, any questions at all, just ask him. 

The show is Welsh but I'll be speaking in English a lot when we're not rolling and chatting to you all in the audience and we'll do a lot of audience participation. I'd love you to be there to share with me what will be one of the highlights of my entire career - my first EVER T.V show! Sh-boom!

So after I finished sorting loads of stuff out in my 'office day' I headed to work to do the show. After work I came straight home and hopped into bed to catch up on the weekend's X-Factor and I have to say, considering most of the auditions they showed on Saturday night were the Cardiff auditions, I don't think Wales can be known as the land of song anymore - more like the land of WRONG! My goodness there were some dreadful people, and I know that it's all just in the way that it's edited and manipulated but I thought it was horrendous. Tulisa, one of the judges finally said what I've been wondering for years - "I don't understand why one of your family or friends haven't told you that you seriously can't sing" - You always get like 15 people backstage supporting these embarrassingly bad singers - do they not have ears??? 

I woke up yesterday morning and  have to tell you that since being on my new diet that I mentioned in last week's blog, I have been eating this wheat and gluten free porridge (pure porridge oats) with oat milk instead of proper dairy and I LOVE IT!!! It's perfect everytime. Just felt the need to share that with you incase you fancy giving it a go! Whack a bit of honey on top and it goes down a treat.

After the matinee yesterday, one of the management came to chat to us all about the plans for this years WICKED DAY which is going to be on October 30th - if you're a Wicked fan, be there, that's all I'm saying.

I headed home last night after the show as I have a busy day today. I am taking my laptop in as I mentioned, then meeting my friend Nathan so he can teach me how to run the West End In Wales website myself so I can finally upload all the stuff I've been collecting and preparing for it. 

Then I'm hitting Dean Street studios in Soho to record an acoustic version of one of my album tracks. Woohoo. Looking forward to it. Then i'll be heading to work.

NOW THEN………This blog you're reading right now, marks an exact year since my first ever blog back in September 2010 when I was touring with Oklahoma! and was writing from my digs in Cheltenham which was a lovely little cottage in the countryside. I decided to write my blog very much on a whim, after watching the Meryl Streep film Julie&Julia. I wasn't sure how long i'd keep it up and am so proud of myself for doing a whole year. I have never kept a diary or anything before this so I am delighted to be celebrating my BLOG-IVERSARY! The main reason I keep writing is because of the feedback I get from you all who read it weekly. So to mark the occasion I tweeted and facebooked asking for you to give me topics to discuss. So below I have picked 5 topics from some of you on Twitter and Facebook to write about, I mean it's only right that my anniversary blog should be the longest ever right??? haha I have cramp in my fingers and wrists already!

@amy1989hope asked : What's changed over the past year? 

I am older and wiser. I find, with every year I just learn so much from the various jobs I do and life experiences I have and actually find this really useful as an actor because drawing on life experience when acting something is excellent because you have a much broader knowledge to invest into a character - That's why I always try and be brave and give everything and anything a go - within reason of course! ;)

@karlpiekaert asked: What have you learned about yourself through writing the blogs?

I've learned that I am even more disciplined than I originally knew. I'll be honest, there have been times when I have thought "oh god i really don't know if  I can make the effort to write the blog this week" because it takes a good hour and a half at least nowadays - but I now know that once I start writing I can't stop and it's very therapeutic. I have always been told that the best way to clear a cluttered head is to write things down, so every Thursday I feel like I acknowledge everything i've been up to and enjoy looking back on it, then I post the blog and that's my focus quickly changed onto the week ahead!

@Shum65 asked: What are your personal favourite moments over the past year?

I have had an incredible year this year. Highlights would be, getting asked to play Fiyero in Wicked, creating and playing the title role in the kids T.V show Marcaroni. Having the chance to be home with my family  for 10 whole days over last Christmas. Recording a pilot for my own radio show. Recording my debut album. My debut single getting to number 5 in the itunes world music charts, my friend Aimee's wedding. West End In Wales summer school. My holiday to New York. Filming the T.V documentary. Finding my manager and starting to work with her. Most importantly I've loved meeting all the people I have met this year, be it new friends, colleagues, fans, I love that within my life and my career I have the opportunity to constantly be meeting new people - Who knows who I'll meet next week or next year or in ten years - that really excites me! 

@nannyt24 asked: Where do you hope to be in 10 years time and what projects would you like to work on in the years leading up to it?

I get asked these sorts of questions a lot and I always say that as long as I'm enjoying what I'm doing and I'm happy then I don't really care where I am or what work I'm doing. Having said that, I obviously have ambition and I picture myself doing things that I've yet to do - A small handful of those things are, originating a theatre roll, screen acting, I want to work in New York, I want my business WEST END IN WALES to have developed in many ways so I can help even more talented youngsters to perform and do what they enjoy. I want to release more records. I want to have lots more work things happening in Wales - but all these are just tiny fractions of life and as I said, if I'm happy then nothing else matters. In ten years, I would like to be writing that I have no regrets and no 'what if's' - I live my life positively and so I can't imagine I'll feel anything but content!

@saz008 asked: What sports have you tried/liked?

When I was at school we had to basically do everything, which I never really appreciated, I like to have choice and options so I can make my own decisions because I'm very independent and always have been, but hey that's part of the downside of being at school right?, you are always told what to do! The things I enjoyed most were all the athletics stuff for sports day and any racket sports. Outside of school I used to do athletics, swimming, badminton, tennis, and of course all my dance training. Nowadays I do a lot of swimming and the gym and dance classes. I want to learn to ice skate and ride horses and will hopefully do that soon!  I love learning any new skills. 

So I think that's about enough typing for this week and i'm sure it's taken you a long while to read it. I want to take this moment, during the day of my BLOG-IVERSARY to sincerely and genuinely thank you all for reading this and all the other blogs I've posted and for your continued support in all I do and in me in general! You're all amazing! Who knows where I'll be when I am writing my second year Blog-iversary?! 

Keep loving your lives folks!

SH-BOOM!!!

Mark 

BLOG 61!!! Fresh and reenergised!!!

Morning Everyone,

Happy Thursday. 

Hope you're all having a great week. I feel good after a week off from the show last week. Last time I blogged I was heading to meet my friend Haley to watch The Inbetweeners movie and we were both a bit disappointed to be honest. We thought it was going to be funnier than it was and we both decided we much prefer the series. Glad we saw it though. After that we went for a cheeky cocktail at 'The Experimental Cocktail Bar' in china town which is really cool, before heading for dinner to an amazing restaurant on Wardour Street called Inamo. It's a thai restaurant which has interactive tables. Each table has a projector on the ceiling above it and the corner of your table has a little mouse pad (like a computer) so you basically scan the menu and play games and place your order etc just by clicking what is like a computer screen on the entire face of the table. It's such a great idea and definitely worth a visit cos the food is superb too.

Good job I enjoyed a big meal on that night because on Friday my whole dietary life was to change. Ha. I have, for some time now, been wanting to have a session of colonic hydrotherapy, which is where they calmly filter water into your bowels and massage your stomach to remove any unwanted waste - did I describe that in a pleasant enough way? I could do it a lot more bluntly but it doesn't sound very nice. I had heard that by getting it done you feel invigorated, re-balanced and reenergised which sounded perfect for me. I arrived at 10am and had a 30 minute consultation which is where the two wonderful staff of this private, very quiet treatment centre give you a thorough analysis of your diet and what you should and shouldn't eat. I went in and explained that I have a very busy lifestyle and although I consider myself a healthy eater, I can quite often feel sluggish and a little run down and I would like as much help from my diet to be on top form as possible because the next 3 months are busier than ever for me. So I am now wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, red meat free (apart from once a week), very limited alcohol and no carbonated beverages. I do not advise any of you to try this yourselves as it is what has been specifically advised to me personally for my needs and has nothing to do with weight or body shape.

I then had the 1 hour treatment, which feels odd but is also oddly satisfying, and then they give you more advice on how to manage the new diet. They told me I'd feel tired for the rest of the day because it flushes a lot of the nutrients out of your body, but that in a day or two I'd feel the benefits.

I then headed straight to have a fitness facial at Nickel the men's health spa in Covent Garden which consists of an hours face and neck massage, deep steam clean, pore cleansing and moisturising. I was really annoyed, cos I was really relaxed and loving it (apart from the painful bit where they clear out your pores-ouch) and then for the last 15 minutes I really needed a wee, but didn't want to tell the girl doing the facial and also I couldn't open my eyes because of all the product on my face and I couldn't have found the loo even if she'd have told me where to go.  So I just had to concentrate and focus to make sure I held it in. haha. I clearly drink too much water!

My body felt like it needed a break after all the treatments of the morning, so I decided to jump on a train and head to Wales for the weekend, because although I'd had time off from work, I'd been mainly trying to fit in seeing friends and shows and doing different things in London that I was almost feeling more tired than when I am working on the show. I also never get the chance to be home in Wales without having to do some sort of work so it was blissful. Friday night I relaxed at home and played my guitar and watched TV and did nothing more than that. Saturday I went shopping with my sister for nice food and then chilled with my wonderful nieces before babysitting for my brother's girls at night, by that point I'd really started to chill out and then I woke up on Sunday morning and my goodness that colonic must have kicked in because I felt so energised and positive and alert. My mum woke me up to say "I'm going to work but I've arranged for someone to pick me up so that you can have my car for the day" - well that just put me in an even better mood! I got up and had a breakfast of fruit (cos that's about all I can have, ha) then i drove to visit my Nanna and had a catch up, I then went to pick up my friend Aimee and we headed to Sainsbury's cos I decided I wanted to have a party for my family, so I text them all inviting them to my Mum and Dad's for a buffet, so bought loads of lovely food (of which I was allowed about 20%) and then Aimee and I went back to my folks place to prepare it all.

The evening was spent with the whole family laughing and chatting and eating and we also had a bouncy castle in the garden which my brother had bought for my nieces birthday the weekend before. Well we were in hysterics doing competitions to see who could jump over the wall of the castle from the outside! My stomach hurt from laughing.

What an incredible weekend! Loved it! I'm now looking forward to Christmas with my family. Good times!!!

I drove Aimee home on Sunday evening and by feeling that amazing independence one feels in a car I decided I want one……so if any fans would like to buy me a silver convertible Audi TT then I'd be very grateful. Ha. I'm just kidding. Can you imagine getting a gift like that at stage door, there is no way I could except it. What could I say? "Erm….thank you"………… VRRROOOOMMMMMM (Picture Mevans driving away with his princely Fiyero hair blowing in the wind) hahaha.

But I am considering buying one, maybe in the new year.

Monday I chilled with my sister and brother before heading to the station to return to London feeling well and truly refreshed from a week off work and a weekend in paradise! I popped to do a good hour in the gym before heading to the theatre. It was lovely to see everyone. When you see people in a show every day, it seems so much longer than just a week when you take a holiday. I don't really ever enjoy the first show back after a break away because the 'routine' feel has kind of disappeared a little so i was glad to get Monday night out of the way and head home to my flat.

I woke Tuesday morning and had  a meeting in London and then did lots of work on my laptop before heading to the gym then doing a press interview at work. The show was good on Tuesday night.

I woke yesterday morning and went to do a big food shop, trying to stock up on everything I am actually allowed to eat. I think one of the reasons there are so many over-weight people in the world is because it costs so much more to eat healthily than to just buy junk food doesn't it?! I bought half as much as usual but it cost more than i usually pay! Bad times! 

After the matinee I worked on an idea for couple of things that I shall be doing in December once I finish Wicked. I will be announcing it in a couple of weeks and then after the evening show last night we all headed out for a birthday party for Tommy in our cast. It's called Rockaoke, some of our ensemble boys sang incredibly. We seriously have so much talent within the company which you forget when you see people just doing the same thing night after night. Amazing voices! It was great but i couldn't stay late as I have a meeting later on today so needed to get to bed, boo! It was good for us all to go out though because it was announced yesterday who the new cast will be from December so it's great for us because we know we now have 12 weeks left as a company and we are all going to make the most of it and have a great time! 

And that brings me up to date doesn't it?!?! So…….. I would highly recommend colonic hydrotherapy (to people over the age of 18) because it has definitely done me the world of good, so much so that I have booked another three sessions to use whenever I want over the next 12 months. My body is in much better condition now!

Tomorrow I'm going to be announcing a little competition on Twitter so keep an eye out for it! 

Who's coming to my album launch? How many days until the release?…….you tell me…..@MarkHEvans

Big love to you all and thanks for reading and for your constant support.

Keep smiling

SH-BOOM!!!

Mark

PS I'm about to attempt making my first home made soup! Wish me luck!

BLOG 60!!! ENJOYING MY STAYCATION!!!

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday.

Hope you're all having a great week. I certainly am. I have taken this week off work to have a holiday, and I decided that for my holiday I would just stay in London and chill out. For this reason this blog will probably be a little shorter than others because i have been cramming as much into my week as possible and am heading to meet my friend Haley this afternoon to go to the cinema to watch The Inbetweeners Movie. Can't wait.

So last Thursday I spent the whole day working on stuff in my flat (boring paper work etc) that I needed to get done to make sure i had nothing to do but have fun on my week off. I managed to get the majority of stuff on my to-do list sorted before heading in to do the show.

Friday morning I headed into have a meeting with my manager and the producers of the TV special in November which made me VERY excited. We seriously have some great ideas and it's going to be a cracking show. I'm already enjoying working on the songs etc and we've not even confirmed everything yet - still can't quite believe I have my own TV special! Good times!!!

There is however one major thing you all need to know - THE DATE HAS CHANGED!!! I decided to make the decision to change the studio filming date from Monday November 14th which I originally announced (many times) in my video blog - It will now be filmed on SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13TH - As I said this was my decision. Reasons being that it is more convenient for the people involved with the programme to work on a show that finishes on a Sunday instead of dipping into the beginning of the next week, but most importantly I feel that by making it within the weekend, more of you will have the opportunity to be in the audience. We will be announcing within the next two weeks how to get your tickets (WHICH ARE FREE) for the show and as soon as it's up you'll be the first to know. But save the new date AN EVENING WITH MARK EVANS - NOVEMBER 13TH in Cardiff. I can't wait and look forward to seeing lots of you there. We will by the way be doing a section where the audience ask me questions so get your thinking caps on - I want the most challenging questions EVER!!!

So it was a very productive meeting on Friday. I then went for a swim to clear my head and have a little time to think. 100 lengths later I was chilled out and popped into work for a haircut before doing the show.

On Saturday I met some folks I know from Wales for a quick cuppa before heading in for two shows. I did a lot of guitar playing after the matinee and then after the evening performance I went to the pub with a few of the lads from the show. This was a real novelty. I used to pop next door for a drink quite often near the beginning of the contract but for the last 5 months I have been way too busy to have much of a social life, so it was a good way to start my week off by having a few beers. I then headed home and had to get a train to a station which was about a mile away from where I live (because it was late and my last train had gone) I was texting whilst walking and no word of a lie, I walked into three branches along the way home - literally, picture Mevans here, strolling along with my bag on my back and my guitar lugged on one shoulder, texting away, then all of a sudden SMACK I walk into a branch, right in my face. And what's worse is that it happened again - TWICE! I was laughing out loud at myself. Clearly a little intoxicated! Oops! :)

Sunday, I woke up and had a lazy morning then I made a very last minute decision to go and watch my friend Hannah Waddingham who plays the Wicked Witch in the Wizard Of Oz, as it was her last performance. She was excellent. What a talented woman. 

After the show I headed to have some tapas and sangria with my flat mate Nathan aka Fish (that's what we call each other. It started with a YouTube video entitled 'Get A Job Fish' - search it, you'll howl with laughter!)

Then Sunday evening i went to support the Theatre MAD charity event, West End Bares which is basically a load of West End Performers dancing, stripping and baring all in a very classy and well executed way to raise money for a great cause. It was a brilliant night, which was perfectly hosted by Gok Wan and Sheridan Smith. It was really fun.

Monday I chilled out in the morning then headed to my friend Sally's house for afternoon tea, how quaint. Then in the evening, she and I met my friend Tim to go and watch the fringe production of PARADE which he'd choreographed. It's playing at The Southwark Playhouse and it was one of the best things I'd seen in a long time. Excellent performances. Laura Pitt Pulford who plays Luceille was just absolutely heartbreaking and had a amazing voice - she really was sensational!

Highly recommend that show, it's on until September 17th.

Tuesday I woke and headed into have a vocal massage again, which did me the world of good as I'm not singing all week so my voice has well and truly had the chance to rest. After that I met my friend Matt and we decided to be tourists for the day so we did an open top bus tour of the city which was excellent - funny though as the tour guide asked the few of us on the bus at the beginning for the journey "where are you all from?" - there were some from Australia, Scotland, America and I said 'I've lived in London for 9 years' He laughed. I have been meaning to do one of those tours for ages and I now feel I have a better understanding of London because of it, and it's actually really relaxing just driving around the city. We then had a pub lunch before getting a boat back along the Thames and we went to have a good few cocktails before meeting my friend Haley and Matt's mate Chloe to go and watch ROCK OF AGES which started it's previews last week. I have a lot of good friends in the show and they were ALL brilliant. Oliver Tompsett who plays Drew is incredible. We're good mates since I understudied him in WCKED the last time I was in the show and he's written a couple of great tracks for my album. The show is one of the best nights out you could ever want in London. Do yourselves a favour and see it. Take a group of mates, and go party in the theatre! Let me know what you think.

After a good catch up with my mates afterwards I headed home!

Yesterday morning I sorted out my flat a little and then went to meet my manager and the producer of my album to discuss all the promotional work we're lining up for the release and everything that's happening after that.

If you haven't booked your tickets to the ALBUM LAUNCH BOWLING PARTY then either visit my website www.MarkEvansOnline.co.uk or copy and paste this link into your search bar http://eepurl.com/fDga6

I can't wait to see you all there! All about the P.A.R.T.Y!!! Sh-boom!!!

Really looking forward to promoting the album and there's lots of stuff lined up to keep my ridiculously busy after I leave WICKED on December 10th too. NO REST FOR THE WICKED (To the tune of 'no one mourns the wicked')

I then met my mate Caroline last night for a beverage before heading together to watch our friend Ashleigh Gray in BETWIXED at the Trafalgar  Studios. She was brilliant, she plays a German disembodied head (she's basically in a box with only her head showing) - it was one of the most genius, stupidly ridiculous and hilarious shows i've had the pleasure of watching. I'd tell you to go see it but they only have 4 shows left as they finish on Saturday so I doubt you'd get tickets. I really enjoyed it. Ashleigh sang a duet on my album and I am about to send the track to her to listen to for the first time. Yikes!!! 

After watching the show we all went for a good laugh and catch up over drinks until the early hours.

This morning was the first time I haven't set an alarm in longer than I can remember and it was amazing. I woke at 11.30am feeling full of life and energy. Woohoo!

And that brings us back to the present. I clearly lied when i said this blog wasn't going to be as long but hey it's been a busy week and once i start talking I can't stop. I'm gonna cram in 15 minutes on the guitar before heading into town. Hope you're all well and happy. Get in touch on Facebook and Twitter!

Keep loving your lives folks cos it's blooming marvellous!

Keep smiling

Sh-boom!!!

Mark

BLOG 59!!! Festival Fun!!!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday,

Hope you're having a good day so far and have had a good week since my last blog.

The last edition was posted just before I left for my contemporary ballet class at Pineapple dance studios. I had a great class and it felt so good to really sweat out any stresses and leave the class feeling calm and focused. I did the class with my friend Charlotte who is also in Wicked and we worked together on Rocky Horror too. It's always nice to have company in a class.

After doing that I headed to meet my friends Gemma and Nick who I work with in the show for a quick bite to eat before watching Crazy For You which is currently playing at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. We had been so lucky with the weather. When I was heading into class that morning the rain was pouring from the sky but by the time we headed to the park to watch the show it was glorious sunshine, which makes a difference because as you may have gathered, the 'Open Air Theatre' doesn't have a roof! 

I thoroughly enjoyed the show and highly recommend it. The cast were fantastic on the whole and it was great to see two genuine triple threats playing Bobby & Polly. Stephen Mear's choreography is always so fantastic. It was a great afternoon.

I then headed to work and was actually quite tired after a long day so when i headed home i hit the hay immediately as Friday was to be a busy day too!

Friday morning I was up at the crack of dawn to run a few errands before heading to a dance studio in Covent Garden to rehearse with the boys who were dancing for me on Sunday at the Gwyl Gobaith / Festival Of Hope in North Wales on Sunday. My friend Aaron Renfree was choreographing the routine and we had a two hour rehearsal and what he did was great. We had good fun working on it. My manager came to put her seal of approval on the set at the end of the rehearsal and then she and I headed to check out a venue for a certain little something something we have planned for a little album launch which you will find out about TOMORROW! I can't wait to announce it and for you all to get excited about it. It's gonna be really different and really cool.

After that we went for a meeting together over lunch before i gave myself an hour to shop for some outfits for some performances I have coming up on T.V and gigs and appearances in the near future. I then headed to Her Majesty's Theatre where Phantom of The Opera is playing, to rehearse the duet for Sunday which I was singing with John Owen Jones, who's currently playing The Phantom. We sang through it once and chatted the rest of the time. It was a lovely song called 'River In The Rain' from the show Big River.

After that rehearsal I went to work and by the time the show was finished I was absolutely shattered. What a busy day. Very productive though and very exciting.

Saturday morning I packed my outfits for the weekend and for the gig to make sure that by the time i finished work and got home Saturday night I could just flop into bed which is exactly what I did after a good two show day.

So Sunday morning….I woke up feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep…if only I knew what was in store for me that day I might not have been so calm…brace yourselves for this next bit because I'm going to reveal every detail because it was so outrageous!!!

I had arranged that I would meet the boys who were dancing for me at 9.45am in Euston which gave us 30 minutes to get some breakfast and get on the train. The train we were aiming for was scheduled to leave at 10.15 which would have ensured us getting to the venue with not  a minute to spare in time for a sound check and rehearsal on stage. Well….because Virgin Trains announced some very last minute changes to the time table, in other words they just cancelled lots of trains, they were severely over booked on every train so unless you had a seat reservation they would't let you on - they were literally stood there on the platform linking arms between station staff and British Transport Police. So there were hundreds of us who watched the 10.15 train leave without us. 

So we checked our iphones for the next train which would've been an hour later but that was one of the ones they'd cancelled. So we decided we'd get a train an hour later than that to Wolverhampton because at least that was half way to where we needed to be for the gig. Oh no…we couldn't get on that one without a reservation either. They announced that nobody was going to be able to board ANY train without a reservation, however you have to book a reservation at least 3 hours in advance so we joined the queue hoping to get a train at 2.30pm which would have got us to the venue just in time to walk straight on stage without any rehearsal. We weren't able to do that either and Sophie Evans who was also billed to perform on Sunday was in Euston in the same situation. It seemed hopeless, so the management of the festival called and said "we have booked an Addison Lee private car which will be there to pick all six of you up in 20 minutes and bring you to North Wales" - So that's how we got there. The car cost £580 to get us there and that money had to come out of the charity fund which the festival was raising money for in the first place. I was absolutely appalled at what a dreadful service Virgin Trains provided. Regardless of whether or not you make a reservation they still charge in excess of £70 per ticket to travel with them so why did we have to get a car?! 

I don't mind paying for good service, but no service at all other than extreme lack of public communication is unacceptable and if we don't get the money refunded to the charity after the letter I have sent to Virgin Trains, then I shall be contacting Richard Branson himself to inform him of what happened and how much money was literally wasted on a private car!

Anyway….I don't like to moan but needed to point that out! Being a positive person surrounded by mates who were up for having a great weekend, we had to laugh at the situation and the car journey was great fun. We had a wonderful driver who managed to get us there in 4.5 hours, so we arrived at 5pm, 3 hours later than scheduled and ended up having to sound check and rehearse on stage with a lot of the audience already arrived and watching - but hey, they got two shows for the price of one!

It unfortunately poured down with rain a good few times but there were about 2000 people in the crowd and we had a great time. Watch this week's VLOG for an insight into the fun - 

http://vimeo.com/28436368

So after watching that you kind of get the picture of the entire weekend! It was great!

So after Monday night's show I headed straight home to crash, because I was tired with a capital T!!! Slept well and after sorting a few things out on Tuesday morning, I headed into central London for a neck massage because i had really bad head aches because of tension in my neck and a little woman with demon thumbs and elbows relieved a lot of that built up tension which was a big help.

I then met Zoe and Charlotte from the show to head to the cinema to watch….dum dum duuuuum - ONE DAY!!! This is the film adaptation of the book i've been harping on about for so long now, since I read it. The book is incredible and I have so much admiration for the author, and I was a little nervous about the movie living up to the book, however, as soon as I read in the opening titles that the screenplay was also written by the same guy, David Nicholls then I knew it'd be great. 

There has been a lot of criticism about Anne Hathaway's northern British accent in it. Well this is my opinion in response to the negativity - When a book is adapted into a film people automatically assume it will not be as good as the book and go in to the picture house actually wanting to criticise almost - where as, if you just appreciate it as something completely different you're not setting yourself up for disappointment, so as far as Anne Hathaway's accent was concerned - I didn't have a problem with it at all. The character of Emma Morley is from Leeds, studied in Edinburgh, moved to London then lived in Paris so she kind of had a general British accent with the odd northern twang on a few vowels here and there which was very believable! I am very much a proud Welsh man but I don't have a strong Welsh accent at all! Mine is neutral - as was hers! Anyway, I waffled on a bit there, but basically i loved the film and highly recommend it to you all! If you see it I hope you enjoy it!

After that I headed to work and enjoyed the show before heading home.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday) I headed into town early before the matinee for a vocal massage. Some of you on Twitter asked me to explain what a vocal massage is. It's basically a way to release tension in the neck to re-set the larynx/voice box to where it should be naturally. So it involves a lot of painful manipulation of the muscles down the side of the neck and the root of the tongue and the jaw and then manipulation to the throat to lower the larynx to it's natural set position. It is a painful and very uncomfortable half hour but it makes singing and talking so much easier and is an excellent form of maintenance for people who use their voices a lot. Hope that explains it clearly enough! 

So the two shows were really lovely to sing because my voice felt really relaxed. After the matinee I had a brutal body massage to iron out lots of built up lactic acid in my muscles. I know what you're all thinking right now, I had a lot of massages this week, ha. Not one of them was pleasurable let me tell you. I tend to do that, let myself get to a certain point then just get painfully put back together again. I am very bruised as i type this this morning, but it's good. 

I have a week off from work next week. Now you all know that i love my job, but I am so excited to have a week off to chill out. I was originally going to be heading somewhere hot abroad, but i have decided to have a holiday in London instead. I have told my agent and my manager that other than one planned two hour meeting I am not working AT ALL for the whole of next week. I am going to be a tourist and do things i never do and eat lots, drink what I like, enjoy friends, see shows, go to the movies, read, play guitar and generally have fun and relax and i cannot wait!!!

And that's the reason I have had all the re-setting of my physical form this week so that next week I can give myself some time to rest!

After last night's show i came home and finished off my VLOG before bed! 

And that brings me up to date with this morning. I now have a lot to get on with today to make sure i don't have anything on a 'to-do' list for next week! I'm doing NOTHING but enjoying myself next week!!!

I hope you've had a great week. Thanks for reading my blog. 

Just a reminder - tomorrow there will be an official exclusive announcement about my album launch! Just wait till you hear what we have in store for you guys. I'll give you a hint - P.A.R.T.why? Cos I gotta!!!

Keep loving your loves and smiling

Sh-boom!

Mark