Hey Everyone,
Happy Thursday, Happy Blog day, Happy Good day! (Let's make it a good one!)
I have had a testing week this week but managed to turn it into a rather satisfying week.
Basically after I wrote last week's blog I performed the matinee performance of Ghost and by the end of it my voice was not up to doing another one. It was nothing serious, it's just sometimes with a role as vocally demanding as Sam in Ghost the voice can become weak and slightly over-worked and fatigued, and it's not the sort of role you can play properly unless your voice is in good form so I was unable to do the evening show and went home with a bag full of chocolate and peanut M&M's to drown my sorrows. I hate being off work - for those of you who regularly read my blog, you'll all know that I'm a workaholic which means that when I have to miss work I get very easily frustrated, especially when I feel absolutely fine. The problem is when you have a hoarse voice, is that it means that the vocal chords are slightly inflamed which you can't feel, it's not painful, it's not a visual thing like a bruise or a swollen area - you just sound half human, half barking dog (and that's a dog with laryngitis mind!) So I actually feel like a fraud when I have to miss work 'cause I feel fine - however I also know that the only way to get better is to keep absolutely silent and let the inflammation go down so that the vocal folds are able to meet naturally again without forcing them.
So after a silent night on Thursday I woke on Friday determined to get back to work so I kept quiet until midday started a vocal warm up in the shower (steam helps) then I went for a vocal massage with my physio, and then went for a swim and a steam at the gym before heading in to work. I had to really struggle through the show Friday night which meant I then signed myself off for the weekend to recover. That meant a long old silent Saturday and Sunday.
So……I decided to be productive whilst being off work and feeling absolutely fine. I did a few bits of DIY I've been trying to get round to for a while and then cleaned the flat from top to bottom. I then did a big food shop before undergoing the daunting and mammoth task of working through all of my accounts and tax information to send off to my accountant.
Being self employed means that you have to do an annual self assessment tax procedure, because we don't get taxed at source when we get paid like you do if you work PAYE (Pay As You Earn). Basically at the end of every tax year I have to provide my accountant with all bank statements, invoices, payslips, phone bills, etc as well as sort through every receipt from anything I've bought through the entire year (yup I keep every single receipt in date order in little envelopes for each month so it's easier to sort them at the end of the year) - By doing this the accountant can sort through it all so the actor can claim any money back from things we've spent on that go towards our business (which is us, as a product) i.e theatre tickets which class as research or certain clothing for rehearsals etc.
It all sounds complicated and admittedly this is probably a boring topic to write about in a blog but I wanted to just write a little about it as it furthers the information I wrote in my Musical Theatre Blog that was mailed out to everyone on my mailing list let week.
If you missed it - check it out here…..
http://www.westendinwales.co.uk/?p=1035
The blog was sent out on Saturday morning and received an incredible response - I'm really delighted that so many people found the information so valuable and that you enjoyed reading it!
So basically my tax work took me 7 hours on Saturday (with a little break to watch 'The Voice' on T.V which I'll mention shortly!) and then a further 7.5 hours on Sunday too. I enjoy it in a weird way because it's quite nice to do some office work for a change which is obviously so different to performing - however by the time I'd finished I was massively relieved, baring in mind that the end of the tax year is April 5th and I had completed mine by April 2nd (3 days before I should even start it - such a swat!)
I had to go for a walk to get some air afterwards because I had a throbbing headache from staring at figures and a computer screen for so long. I went for a long walk around my area and then headed home for some nice food and I watched a great film called 'Patagonia' which was written and directed by Marc Evans. It was divided between the Welsh, English and Spanish languages brilliantly with subtitles and it made me feel very patriotic (even more so than usual). I would highly recommend it, beautifully shot images of Patagonia and Wales with great acting and in my opinion a very good script. If you watch it, or have already seen it, let me know what you think on Twitter @MarkHEvans
So as I mentioned earlier, on Saturday night I watched 'The Voice' on BBC1 which I think is a great programme. However what really annoyed me was some of the comments I was reading on some online social media about a few of the people auditioning, mainly musical theatre actress Kerry Ellis who I'm sure most of you know has a list as long as my arm of fantastic leading lady roles in some of the most successful musical ever to be in the West End and on Broadway.
Yes, Kerry is a hugely successful and well established professional, and the problem a lot of people seemed to have was that she shouldn't be auditioning for something like 'The Voice' having had so much success already.
Now let me just say this - I am an extremely passionate, ambitious person who works hard and I am always striving to better myself and challenge myself. I can safely say that at no point in my career will I rest on my laurels and be satisfied. In my opinion a successful person in this industry who has longevity to their career is only successful because they never lose the passion and drive and want for success. I consider myself a well established performer and professional, but playing Sam Wheat in Ghost The Musical is in no way going to be the highlight of my career once I retire, it certainly is at this moment without a doubt and I love it and am very grateful to have this opportunity, but as soon as you start limiting yourself to where you can go, what you can do and who you can be then you're restricting yourself to be able to fully achieve what is possible in this one life that you have on this incredible earth!
So why shouldn't Kerry Ellis audition for 'The Voice' - she wanted the opportunity to work with the incredible international artists on the panel and invest in a broader audience worldwide, the fact that she chose to do that on a public reality show was very brave and I sincerely commend her for having the balls to go for it and it goes without saying that she sang the bajesus out of the song she performed.
So Monday morning I woke and awaited the arrival of my best friend from Wales Aimee and her husband who were coming to stay with me and watch me in the show - baring in mind I hadn't spoken for the entire weekend so by the time they arrived I started talking to them and decided my voice was still too weak to get through the show which was disappointing as it meant that they ended up not seeing Ghost (Aimee has already seen it and will come again but her husband probably won't be able to due to work). They went into central London for the day whilst I went to wander around local areas to register with estate agents as I'm wanting to buy a second property. It was amazing sunshine and it did my voice some good to gradually start talking again to the estate agents to try and get some strength back in the old chords.
Monday evening Aimee and her husband came back from central town and we just chilled in front of the T.V and I was silently looking into car insurance online all night (which is boring and dull) as I'm probably going to buy a little run around car to use when I'm house hunting and to get to and from Wales when I need to.
After a good night's sleep I woke on Tuesday determined to head back to work that night and my voice was a little less fragile feeling, so I had a good breakfast before my guests headed back to Wales and I headed to have physio and then a steam before going to work and I'm pleased to say that the show was great. I was absolutely fine again and it felt amazing to be back there with everyone playing that role! I love my job!
Wednesday, (yesterday) I woke and did some work on my laptop before heading for a doctor's appointment then to the gym before viewing a little car in Central London that I'm gonna buy and then heading to my weekly guitar lesson at work. The show last night was great!
That brings me to today! I'm heading for physio this morning then a cheeky double show day! BRING IT ON!!!
Thanks for reading as usual.
Have a great week! - That's an order, so do as you're told!!!
BELIEVE!
Sh-boom!!!
Mark
