Wednesday 16 November 2011

BLOG 70!!! Life is for living!!!

Hey Everyone,

How you doing? Happy WEDNESDAY!!! This Blog is being issued a day early this week as I'm writing it on the train home to Wales. I've just left Euston and I'm not performing tonight or tomorrow as I need to be home for family matters.

This week has indeed been a rollercoaster. I was off work from Thursday until last night (Tuesday) in preparation for my TV show which was on Sunday.
So last Thursday I had a vocal massage to release the throat tension before doing  a press interview and then heading for my follow up appointment at the colonic hydrotherapy clinic (if you don't know what that is, read my blog from about 2 months ago and I tell you all about the first time I had it done!) - Then I went to the theatre to watch a matinee performance before heading home to chill out and sort the last few things out for my TV show.

Friday morning I left London to head to Cardiff and arrived there just after lunch time. I was taken straight on the set of my show which really excited me and suddenly made it all seem very real. (There will be a good few pictures from the weekend in the next newsletter) I had been feeling a bit out of the loop with it all whilst in London but then when i arrived the studio I was thrown in at the deep end. We started sound checking with the amazing band and I got a bit panicky because it was so loud and the arrangements were so busy that i really couldn't hear myself at all which made me worried that I was going to lose my voice and not be able to sustain everything over the weekend. I think that was probably just a little insecurity seeping out of me as it was my first ever Mark Evans TV Show. 
I had as early a night as possible on Friday night in the lovely hotel but I woke every hour at least with a different song going round in my head and kept feeling a little anxious.

Saturday morning I decided to stop trying to sleep and woke to clear my head by heading to the pool at about 7.15am. I did 70 lengths and then sat in the Jacuzzi before Dewi (my 12 year old TV show guest) with his little sister and brother came into the pool area and we all swam together before my stomach decided to campaign against the swimming and decided to tell my brain that I should eat a slap up breakfast. The hotel breakfasts were great during my stay there - why is it that although all the food is free, you can't eat anymore than normal? I get really annoyed by that. I want to just keep eating all the time! :)

After breakfast I went to the gym for an hour before starting dance rehearsals with Ashley Wallen the choreographer (who had just landed that morning from NYC and was driven straight from the airport to Cardiff) and the 8 amazing dancers. We finished the rehearsing by 5pm so my manager and I popped to the TV centre to check out the set and my costumes again before driving into Cardiff Bay for some great dim sum and thai food. It was lovely for us to be out together and not be discussing work for a change.

I wanted to get as early a night as possible before the big day on Sunday.

I slept a little better on Saturday night but was still rather tired when I woke up. I had to have a word with myself and work out exactly how I was going to pace myself to get through the day. It actually turned out to be a very chilled out rehearsal day and everything just happened really easily. i felt really confident. I really knew my lyrics and all the choreography and was really enjoying myself.

By the time our dress rehearsal had finished my audience had started to arrive and I got really excited. I was so grateful to people for traveling from all over to be there. I had people there from North Wales, England, London, Northern Ireland and even Germany. I was delighted and they were a lovely audience. I was geared up and raring to go come 7.30pm and I couldn't have been happier with how it all went. I can't wait for you all to see it when it will be on TV in the new year. The whole programme had real variety running through it and the studio audience seemed to really enjoy it.

By the time the show finished I was exhausted. I was overwhelmed too - my first ever TV show! I had 85 people working on it, some of which had been preparing for 5 months for it so I was very honoured to work with the entire crew and was grateful to everyone that there was not one single ego in the studio at all. Everyone was equal and everyone had mutual respect for each other which created a perfect happy working environment and a great atmosphere! 

So after the show I had drinks with friends, family and people who were watching the show then I had a bottle of champers in my hotel room with a mate and my brother and sister. 

I woke up on monday and the four of us who'd had champagne the night before met for breakfast and then got a taxi into central Cardiff to look around some of the shops. My friend and I had one of those Fish Spa things, where you dip your feet in a pool of little fish who nibble the hard and dead skin from your feet which is apparently good to make you have soft skin on your feet. I don't know that I've ever experienced a more weird feeling. It was so tickley and we were sat in the middle of the St David's Shopping Centre in Cardiff squealing like little girls cos it was so weird. I got used to it though and ended up enjoying the last 3/4 of my 20 minute session.

Then my brother and sister got the train home and I went to the St David's Hotel and Spa in the bay in Cardiff! It is a gorgeous hotel and I was upgraded to an executive sweet with complimentary breakfast. I also had an hour's hot stone massage. Wow they're good eh? I'm sure you're agreeing with me if you've ever had one - if you haven't, try it. you'll love it! So relaxing!

Then I had a chill out night with room service food and DVDs. Good end to a busy weekend.

I woke Tuesday morning (yesterday) and after a lovely hotel breakfast I headed on the train back to London to do some recording work for the Welsh Language radio  - Radio Cymru. The show is called 'Cyfle Cothi' (Cothi's Opportunity) hosted by the beautiful Welsh classical soprano Shan Cothi. I was mentoring a 20 year old guy named Luke and it was a recorded singing lesson which involved him singing to me and me giving him critique and at the end the session challenging him with the offer to sing in a huge Welsh concert opposite some of the biggest names in Music and Musical Theatre.
it was a great afternoon and I enjoyed  working on some radio stuff again.

It was lovely to get back to Wicked last night. By the end of this week there will only be 3 weeks left which is crazy. I am ready for new challenges but have loved playing this roll and being a part of such a great company.

After the show I headed home to unpack my stuff and sort my flat / life out a little before trying to get a good night's sleep. 
I had a bit of a lay in this morning before packing a few clothes for Wales and heading in to do the matinee. 

I am feeling very tired on this train home now, but I think a lot of it is just exhaustion after the weekend and feeling quite emotionally drained.

That's all I'm going to write for this week folks. I would like to remind you that having the opportunity to live a life on this earth is incredible - I mean think about it. Can you imagine if we never had this chance - so think of it as exactly that, a chance, and you only get one! 
If you don't live it, you'll regret it. Please treasure everyone and every moment because when you lose someone close to you it hits you really hard. Life is for living and love is for giving - if you live and give you'll reap the rewards by enjoying an incredible life! 

Keep smiling folks. Thanks for all your support as always

SH-BOOM!!!

Mark