BLOG 54!!! Big news!!!

Morning everyone

Happy Thursday

Hope you're all feeling good today and have had a good week.

I have been C.R.A.Z.Y this week. My head has nearly gone pop on numerous occasions but it's great.

So last Thursday my friend Sally and i had a lovely lunch in 'Bills' restaurant in Covent Garden before watching the matinee of GHOST the musical. It is a fantastic show and i highly recommend you see it if you can. It will be around for quite some time I'm sure. It's so different to anything else about at the moment. It's based on the film of the same name starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg and the casting in this production is very good all round. The special effects are incredible and the design of the entire piece is incredibly inventive and original and unique. One thing I particularly appreciated was that the sound was nice and loud. I see so much theatre nowadays where you can tell the sound designer and director have tried to achieve a 'natural' sound to the piece they've created but that quite often means you can't hear what the actors are saying - but with GHOST, from the moment the first crescendo of the overture starts you get that electric feeling surging through your body - and to me, theatre is all about being drawn in and taken on a journey and GHOST certainly does that.

Afterwards I headed to work and felt very inspired after watching such good theatre. It's always great when you watch something good (like all the stuff I saw recently on Broadway) knowing you can then go and be a part of a great show like WICKED. Love it!

I lay in bed on Thursday night thinking (as i often do). What I was thinking in my head was that I want to be challenged and learn something new. I am very happy with all the incredible stuff that's happening in my career at the moment but I feel I am constantly drawing from and using the skills I have already and want to learn something new. 

So I made a decision!!!

Friday morning I woke up and called my agent and told him, "I am going into town to buy a guitar and I'm going to teach myself to play and next year you will write on the  'special skills' part of my CV (or resume for you people reading this across the pond) that I play guitar!"

So I got on the train, popped to interview my friend Craige Els who's working at The National Theatre (I'll tell you why I'm 'interviewing' in a mo), then had a few phone calls to make before heading to a music shop in central London to say "Hello, I want to play the guitar, so can I buy one please". I came away with a decent acoustic guitar and I had a guitar bag thrown in for free. So I have been teaching myself some chords from a sheet I printed off but once my summer school is done in two weeks I'm booking in for a few guitar lessons to make sure I get the basics down without developing bad habits. The guy in the music shop who was very helpful, told me I should aim to do just 15 minutes a day to see an improvement.

It blooming' hurts though eh? I never really realised you have to press the strings quite so hard - but i'm developing the calluses on my fingers good and proper which then means I won't feel the pain as much.

If any of you play guitar and have some songs for beginners chord charts you think'll be good for me, then please tweet me a link or Facebook me. Cheers.

I then went to the gym to do a good work out and ended up in the big studio (because it was empty) doing loads of dance stuff to keep on top of my technique. I don't ever have time to head to class anymore so try and do it myself when I can although I will be heading back to class and to the actors centre come September to be challenged and do new stuff.

So friday was a very productive day. 

Saturday morning I woke to do some work before meeting my friend Aimee from Wales who is also my assistant for WEST END IN WALES. She had come to stay for a couple of days so we could really knuckle down on the final preparations for what is going to be a great summer school! She sat in my dressing room during both shows on Saturday and when I had any time during the show I'd head to work on things with her. 

Saturday night we both went out to meet some of my friends for drinks to celebrate the birthday of my mate Dom who played Rocky when I did the Rocky Horror Show. I had a fun night and actually when I arrived home Aimee and I realised that I was actually quite drunk which doesn't happen very often - picture me, dropping my keys then picking them up but banging my head on the way up to stand straight and then whilst trying to walk up three flights of stairs I fell twice (only cos I was carrying Aimee's heavy luggage) - so I had a little less control than usual. Ha. It was a great night which ended in a pint of water and cheese on toast! Yum.

Sunday morning we woke and practically worked for 7 hours solid on the summer school before heading to another friend from the Rocky Horror cast's birthday. Nathan who played Eddie/Dr.Scott and his girlfriend were celebrating at a really cool bowling/snooker/karaoke/bar/diner place in central London which was brilliant.

Really enjoyed it and then Aimee and I headed home for pizza, tea, biscuits and a film! We watched (well when I say 'we' I mean 'I' because Aimee slept from 5 minutes into it) 'Sweet Sixteen' which is an independent British film which is really hardcore with violence and drugs and a really gritty story - I thought it was great and the acting and direction were fantastic. Love seeing original British stuff produced well!

Monday we woke to continue working on the summer school for about 5 hours and then Aimee headed to get the train back to Wales whilst I had a quick swim before work! 

Spent a lot of the show strumming my guitar, with a good 8 seconds in between chords for me to put my fingers in the right places. Ha. But I'm enjoying it.

Had to get an early night Monday as Tuesday was an early rise and a long busy day. I headed down to Cardiff with my manager for a meeting for a big new exciting project, which……I can finally tell you about - so watch this weeks VLOG where i will reveal all and - there is a good opportunity for fans to get involved too!

Once I got back from Cardiff I did an hour in the gym before heading in to work to do the show. I was intending on doing some work on the 30 minute train ride home but my laptop battery ran out, my iphone battery ran out and I had no pen in my filofax, so I sat and continued reading the book I'm currently enjoying, 'The Power'. It's put me in a great place in my head which really helps me handle all this juggling of work I'm doing and helps me keep calm and positive!

Wednesday (yesterday) I woke and did a good 3 hours work on the summer school before heading into do two shows and I played as much guitar as I could. I'm getting better. I'll be playing songs in a couple of weeks.

So I mentioned an interview I did with a friend earlier. Basically for 5 years I've been running my summer school in North Wales to help anyone who had a passion for musical theatre and acting to feel they have a better understanding of how the industry works. Now to celebrate it's 5th anniversary I have been working with a friend of mine, Nathan, who's an incredible web-designer to launch a new website for young aspiring performers and anyone who wants to work in theatre. It will be launched the week of the summer school and will be the same address that currently exists www.westendinwales.com 

It is going to be a database for all kinds of musical theatre, west end and theatre information. Whether it be lists of colleges and schools, or theatre reviews or theatre history or interviews with people from all departments and work types of the industry, West End in Wales will be providing free information not only to the people of Wales and my summer school but for all people world wide! We have been working hard on this for months and the website is looking incredible. It will have more and more added to it once the launch has happened but as of August 8th take a look at www.westendinwales.com

And that my dears brings us to today where I am happily posting this before heading into London to buy lots of sheet music for the summer school and I might just have to buy a couple of 'Guitar for beginners' books for myself. Ha!

My single is out on Monday!!!!!!! Adre'n Ol: The Journey Home I'd be ever so grateful if you were to buy it - if you do, I sincerely hope you enjoy it!!!

Get in touch, @MarkHEvans. 

Love your lives and be happy!

Thanks for reading

SH-BOOM!!!

PS - Here's the link for you to copy and paste and watch my blog of announcements -  http://vimeo.com/26985694

BLOG 53! In sickness and in health!!!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday.

I am spending a lovely day with my bestie Sally today. We're gonna have a nice breakfast and then go and see GHOST the musical. I have my tissues ready for a good cry! Ha. 

So it's been a funny old week really. Very different to how I had planned it because low and behold, Evans here got a stinking cold over the weekend and that messed up lots of plans. 

So I'll start by taking you back, as I do, way way back…… to last Thursday (which does seem a long time ago actually). I had posted my blog early as I was heading into work to have a rehearsal with the choreographer of WICKED, Wayne Cilento and then a rehearsal with our director Joe Mantello. Now I deliberately arrived a little early as I knew Wayne was working on a lot of stuff with the ensemble of the company and I love watching Wayne's rehearsals because he's amazing! And when I say amazing, that is possibly the biggest understatement ever. His physicality is incredible and when you see him bust out even two moves from the show you see exactly how he wants it to look and he's completely inspiring. It kind of made me want to dance all the ensemble choreography I used to dance way back when three years ago!

Then, we rehearsed my first number, Dancing Through Life just to tighten up a few things and I'll be honest, it felt lovely to be wearing clothes that are easy to move in - Anyone who has seen the show will know which trousers I mean when I talk about the 'tight pants'. Basically Fiyero rocks up to this new school wearing light coloured riding jodhpurs which are literally skin tight, so to be in some baggy jogging bottoms for the rehearsal was great! I really enjoyed working on it. Then I had an hours break so did some work in my dressing room on WEST END IN WALES the summer school I run in North Wales before heading to have a notes/rehearsal session with our incredibly talented director Joe.

When a show runs as long as WICKED has done (we celebrate 5 years in September) it is good to have sessions with the director every now and then to get the focus and intention in the right place. I have to admit, even after an hour of hearing him talk and asking him questions and suggesting things to discuss, I felt I had a whole new, fresh view of who Fiyero is in my head and that was an incredible feeling because I have so many new ideas now and when working opposite actors as good  and as trustworthy as Rachel Tucker and Louise Dearman then it's so easy to try different things with a character and know that whatever happens there will always be a truth on stage which is the only thing needed to keep a performance fresh, alive and exciting when you're a part of a long run of a show, as we are.

So Thursday night's show was wonderful. I had a cracking time and was actually sorry to see the Americans go. The WICKED creative team, no matter which department, have a unique way of filling you with all the knowledge you need to play the characters and tell the story in the way that they want, because they've invested so much in setting this show up initially in the very early stages and the workshops, and that's the exact reason it is standing the test of time and will continue to be around globally for many many years to come!

I LOVE MY JOB! 

So Friday morning I woke and knuckled down doing lots of work on the summer school. I was uninspired thinking of what numbers to include in the end of week showcase that the students perform and so I did what I always do when I need inspiration - look on YouTube, at the performances from the Tony Awards over the years! My god there are some incredible shows and incredible talent on this planet and watching things like that make me rejoice that I work in the entertainment industry and can be a part of that whole lifestyle and be able to do what I love for a living!

So basically - if you're coming to WEST END IN WALES two weeks on Monday, you are in for a treat because Evans here is gonna be dragging every ounce of talent you have inside of you out and letting it be seen on the stage! INSPIRED.COM! hahaha

I was a little stressed heading into town on Friday afternoon, as on the train I made a list in my head of all the stuff I need to get done for all the different projects I have going on and it was a little overwhelming, even for me! So I knew what I needed to do….call my mother! She is usually the one who hears any moaning, worrying or negativity that occasionally emerges from within me. She is amazing and I have so much to thank her for.

After a good chat with mother Evans, I hit the gym and then had to do some filming at WICKED which I think will possibly be a part of the next Ozmopolitan newsletter, so if you ain't signed up to the monthly newsletter for all things Wicked, visit the website and you simply get it emailed to you monthly.

Talking of which, if you type your email address into the little black box on the left of this blog which says Mailing List & Download then you'll receive a free song and all news updates on what I'm up to and there might just be another little free download heading your way soon too…. ;)

Then I went to do Friday night's show which was good before heading to stay with my mate Sally - (who i'm with now) because we were both doing some teaching on Saturday morning together.

Before heading to bed I could feel a real sore throat starting so drank lots of water, then when I woke up early Saturday morning, I couldn't speak. I went along to the place we were teaching but Sally did all the talking for me and I just tried to gradually warm my voice up for the matinee. 

The two shows were hard work on Saturday. When you feel under the weather it's the only time the job becomes really difficult - It's part of your responsibility as an actor to not let the audience know you're not well - it was a hard day.

And so that unfortunately resulted in me having to pull out of doing the Magic FM open air concert that I told you about in my last BLOG because I knew all I needed was to rest my voice, not talk, dose myself up and get better for the show Monday night. And so that's exactly what happened for me on Sunday. I reckon I boiled my kettle about 30 times during the day so that I was constantly steaming my throat. I had many remedy suggestions for colds from my faithful Twitter followers so did a huge food shop and ate great food all day!

I have to admit, I was shocked at how quickly I got better because by Saturday night I felt like death! 

Monday was a day of working on summer school stuff and then i had a meeting with my agent for a couple of hours before heading into work.

The audiences for WICKED astound me. The show is selling better than it ever has done which is amazing considering it's been going so long. I tried to get a ticket for a friend this week - just one ticket and there wasn't a single seat available at all - that is the case for most shows. It's incredible to perform to nearly 2500 people every show - And to all you fans who keep coming back, we think your'e bloody brilliant! The end!

So Tuesday I had a great day working even more on the summer school as well as a few other things, then I met my friend Haley for a quick catch up before heading to the gym and then to work! 

Now I have some exciting news on my album which I have decided to tell you about in this weeks Video Blog (VLOG) - I was originally going to VLOG from the Magic FM gig so because that didn't happen for me, I didn't want to not put a VLOG out so take a look! Excited to be able to tell you finally!

So Wednesday morning (yesterday) I headed into the theatre early to film an interview for a Welsh T.V show called WEDI 7 which is a magazine style programme with all news and recent stories, it's part of the new CD promotion. Lots more of that sort of thing coming up! 

Then after the matinee I met Sally and her parents for food before they came in to watch the evening show and then we all travelled back to Sally's together which is where I stayed last night and obviously why I am here this morning! 

So that's this week. Was a bit dreary being ill but you know me, I have a knack of turning everything into a positive and I made a very speedy recovery so I reckon it was better to get ill this week than during West End In Wales or the weeks I'm promoting my CDs.

Keep smiling and if you need a little help to think positive, I recommend the book THE SECRET by Rhonda Byrne which I've probably mentioned in a blog in the past, but I've also started reading the sequel which is called THE POWER! I like it!

Love your lives and love yourselves cause you are brilliant!

Sh-boom!!!

Mark

COPY AND PASTE FOR MY VLOG: http://vimeo.com/26712269

BLOG 52!!! A WEEK TO RECOVER!!!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday.

How are you all? 

So this week has primarily been focused on recovering after my week in New York. I had an incredible time there but as soon as I came back I just hit the ground running with work.

I spent the entire day last Thursday with the camera crew of the T.V documentary that's being filmed on me all this year (which is currently looking to be aired between Christmas and New Year, but not confirmed!) We were filming in and around the theatre and I was interviewed for a good few hours about my whole life really and it ended up feeling a bit like therapy. They just kept the camera rolling and other than asking a few specific questions, I basically just talked, and at one point I got pretty emotional. I never give myself much time to stop and look back at different things I've done or things I've been through and it was hard at moments but great to talk, and I think the crew were happy that they caught it on camera! Ha!

We finished at 5pm and so I went to have a swim to try and get back into shape after New York!!!

Then during Thursday evening they filmed my sections of Wicked which is the only footage that will ever have been filmed of our cast (even more reason to watch the documentary when it's on!) and that was a weird feeling, because after having a week away from the show, coming back to it, for me personally, I find I have to concentrate more to slot back in, because people's characters naturally evolve slightly over a long contract and I can even see a difference coming back after just one week away - which is great because you feel refreshed from a break and the show feels like new! But knowing there were cameras filming the show, and filming me specifically, after a week of burgers, pizzas and many a margarita, made me slightly more anxious - but I never let things like that effect what I do on stage and was happy with the performance on Thursday night as were the T.V crew.

After the show I was exhausted (between the filmed therapy and the show haha) so I headed home and passed out in my bed. Next morning it was an early rise again to sort a few things out before heading into central London to do more filming. They wanted general footage of me around the busy streets of London and just stocking up on general 'me' footage which becomes quite tedious at times, standing near different things, and walking around different areas, but it was good to get it done and we got some great stuff in the can. 

We were outside the houses of parliament and they were filming me in amongst the tourist and all of a sudden I heard an almighty scream of my name from a group of women who I'd have normally ignored (because people start acting weird as soon as they see a camera so I'm used to it) but I saw one of them out of the corner of my eye and I realised I knew them. Basically the reason the camera crew had specifically come down for those two days last week was because there was a group of 11 people from my village where I grew up in North Wales, booked in to see the show on Friday night so they wanted to be able to film them too. Well, they didn't know what I was doing or where I would be during the day, but low and behold, it was them that happened to spot me next to Big Ben and were calling my name. Hilarious! So I had a quick ten minute catch up with them before finishing up our last bit of filming.

I headed to the gym for a run and a swim and then to work. After they watched the show I did some filming with them and then a bit more by myself and by the time I went to meet them in the pub, they'd bought a few jugs of Pimms - so I thought it would be rude not to have a couple of glasses! - There is no taste more summery than a cold glass of Pimms with fresh fruit eh??? (anyone under 18 you're not allowed to have an opinion on that!) Even if it's raining outside it's a proper summer drink!

I had to leave them mid catch up after a couple of beverages to get my train but it was lovely to see them all and great to catch up. One of them was my first ever girlfriend Angharad - we were a VERY SERIOUS and happy couple when we were 5 years old!……She's happily married now! Ha.

Saturday morning I set my alarm for 9.30 to get a few bits and bobs done before heading in for the matinee, but I actually fell back to sleep and didn't wake up until 11.20! So unlike me. It was definitely the jet lag catching up with me. Most of Friday and Saturday I'd actually been feeling rather sick (like motion sickness) and I asked my loyal Twitter followers if feeling queazy can be caused by jet lag and according to a lot of you it really does. It's not nice. I just made sure I drank lots of water and ate really healthy food - basically just getting back to my normal self after 6 days of crazy NYC activities! 

I went to meet my sister and her friend as they were arriving London to go and watch Take That at Wembley on Saturday night. So I met them at Euston, showed them  a nice restaurant for them to have lunch at, took their bags off them and headed to the theatre.

The two shows on Saturday were good and after the show I met my sister and friend and they'd had a great time at Take That. I'm sure some of you reading this saw it too? Did Robbie Williams get naked during your performance too???……….I'm just kidding - she never mentioned that but I just wanted to make you feel you might have missed out on something hahaha. 

They were both exhausted so we headed home for nice nibbles and a cup of tea before bed!

When we woke I took them to Euston for their 11am train and then headed home to knuckle down with working on my summer school West End In Wales which begins in just over 3 weeks. It's going to be a good one. We've got some great ideas and it'll be a fun week for all.

In the evening I met my mate for a sunday roast and then the film Marley And Me was on the T.V which we watched - for any dog lover it is a very very sad film. 

So all in all it was a nice Sunday.

I woke on Monday and continued working on the summer school before heading into London to return some items of clothing I bought for New york that I didn't end up wearing. I put my sensible head on and told myself "Mevans, you ain't gonna wear 'em, so go get your money back" - so I did.

Then I finally had time to get back in the gym properly, I did over two hours on an all over work out and then had a steam. My body was killing me, then as I was leaving the gym I bumped into my Personal Trainer who said "are you all rested ready for tomorrow?" "WHAT?" I replied - I had completely forgotten that I'd scheduled in a training session with him the next day too. My muscles hate me right now!

Monday night we had Gemma Atkins on as Elphaba in the show. She's the understudy who played it once about 2 months ago. This was her scheduled performance and she had invited lots of people to watch and she did a great job. We were at college together 7 years ago and there we were playing opposite each other in Wicked. She was fab!

After the show I headed straight home and after a bowl of cereal (or two) I got to sleep!

Tuesday was much the same really, continued working on things at my flat before heading into town and then I had the dreaded PT session at the gym, which actually ended up being great. I did a good old warm up and ended up being shocked at myself as my trainer got me to press the heaviest dumbbells in the whole gym and I managed it fine! It's all about mind over matter - which works for me with lots of things outside of training too! Think positive and so much is possible!

We had our director Joe Mantello in watching the show on Tuesday night (he's the one I saw acting in 'The Normal Heart' on broadway who is PHENOMENAL!) - So it was good to see him. We have a session this afternoon working on the show with him and our choreographer Wayne Cilento - which is why this edition of the blog is being posted early.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday) I had a meeting with my manager and a Welsh T.V producer to discuss a very exciting project which is in the early stages at the moment but more or less all confirmed, and when it is - you'll be the first to know what it is. 

After that we did the matinee and then in between shows I had a meeting with the clothing stylist for the Magic FM concert I'm doing this Sunday. Is anyone coming? Elton John is headlining and people like The Lighthouse Family, Rumor, The Overtones (Sh-Boom!), The Pierces and Wonderland will also be performing. Rachel, Louise and I will be singing a few songs from WICKED. It'll be a great day! 22,000 people are gonna be in the crowd. If you're gonna be one of them, let me know on twitter! :)

So we picked out a cool outfit for me to wear and then I did the evening show and then headed home. 

There are always so many lovely people at stage door after the show. Really enjoy meeting them (or meeting YOU if you're one of them!) - last night there was a big group in from Texas and they were such nice people. 

So that more or less brings me to today, where I'm sat next to my desk writing this before heading into work to rehearse with one of the most talented actor/directors and choreographer I've ever met - Life is good!!!

I hope you're all well. Get in touch. @MarkHEvans on twitter.

I haven't done a VLOG this week because i didn't think me going to the gym would be very interesting to film! Ha.

Love your lives folks and smile!

Sh-boom!!!

Mark

BLOG 51 - Adventures In The Big Apple

Hi Everyone,

So I have a confession to make. I have decided to write my blog early this week. It is Tuesday evening in New York City and I have just got on the subway to JFK airport to head home. I've been told that it is over an hours journey so instead of siting here like a lemon I thought I'd start writing this weeks blog.

I have had an incredible time here in NYC. It is the third time in 18 months that I have visited and I genuinely feel very much at home in the city now. It's on my to-do list to work here at some point because I love this city! I didn't feel I needed to do any touristy stuff this time as I made the effort to see and do everything I wanted to on my last two trips here. So since arriving on Thursday evening I have just enjoyed seeing friends, watching shows and eating and drinking (LOTS OF EATING AND DRINKING!!!!)

The flight over here was slightly delayed but I didn't really mind as I was enjoying lots of free drinks and the films on the plane. I was originally sat next to what I can only describe as the noisiest kids I have ever seen -until a kind air-stewardess moved me, so I ended up with extra leg room and three seats to myself. Thank you very much! 

The films I watched began with Disney's 'Tangled' as it's my nieces' favourite film and I wanted to see it so we can chat about it when I see them next- I loved it! Then I watched '127 Hours'. I enjoyed it but found it a bit boring at times. I then watched 'Due Date' which is I thought was hilarious. And then I only had 90 minutes of the flight remaining after having a snooze so I looked through the documentary list and saw 'Justin Bieber - Never Say Never' which is a documentary style film about how he became so famous and where it all began. And so I decided to watch it because I knew I wouldn't be bothered if i couldn't finish it by touch down. I actually found it really interesting how he was a very talented young lad who was very musical and then thanks to the internet and YouTube he became an over night success. There's a reason why I'm telling you that I watched it…..(stay tuned….haha)

Once I touched down, I was the first person to step off the plane, the first person through customs and the first person to get my baggage - what a great way to start a holiday eh? I jumped in a taxi and headed straight to the Helen Hayes Theatre near Times Square where one of my best friends Becca is playing the lead in 'Rock Of Ages' so that I could drop off my stuff and squeeze her so hard that she was close to death. I haven't seen her since last September! 

I dropped my luggage with her before meeting my friend Tara, who is also over there from the UK working at the moment, and we had a couple of margaritas and then went to sit in our seats to watch the show. I saw Rock Of Ages the first time I went to NY but I wanted to see Becca in it. Tara and I were sat there in the auditorium and the show was about to start and then we heard a rustling as some late comers were ushered into the seats behind us. I glanced back and who do you think it was???……..It was Justin Bieber! He was there with his girlfriend and a couple of others. How weird is that?! Two hours prior to that moment I was learning all about his life by watching the in-flight entertainment and then all of a sudden he's sat behind us! I thought at first that everyone had celebrity spotted ME as they turned around to take pictures and then I noticed it was bloody Bieber! Ha.

The show was amazing and I was so proud of Becca. Rock Of Ages opens in London early September and some of my good friends are part of a great cast line up so I highly recommend you go see it for a fun night out.

After the show, we went with some of the cast for drinks and then back to Becca's apartment where I was staying. By the time I got to bed I realised because of the time difference it was actually 6am on my body clock so I was more than ready for a sleep!

On Friday my friend Josh (who lives with Becca) was celebrating his birthday so I treated them both to brunch before Becca and I went to stroll around down town Manhattan and enjoy being able to talk in person as oppose to using the internet!

Jeez this subway train is wobbly!…..

She headed to her show at about 7 and I had booked tickets to go see a play called 'The Normal Heart'. It is written by Larry Kramer and the subject matter is when the AIDS epidemic first hit in New York City and every character is based on a real person from the period and everything that happens within the play really did happen. It was absolutely heart breaking. I'm not really a cryer when it comes to shows or films but my god I was blubbing like a baby. Joe Mantello leads and incredible cast who's performances are flawless, each and everyone of them are utterly inspiring. Joe Mantello is the director of WICKED and it's his first time returning to the stage as an actor in 15 years. He is heading over to London to work with us on the show next week and I cannot wait. What a talented man.

After the show I met Becca and grabbed some pizza and then just went back to her apartment because I was really affected and moved by the play so didn't have much personality to be out partying.

Saturday morning I left Becca (because she had two shows) and walked all the way from her place which is on 125th street (way uptown) and strolled along the Hudson River on the west coast until I reached midtown 42nd street! That was a looooooong walk, but stunning!

I grabbed a bite before going to watch 'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' which is a new revival of the classic musical and this production starts Daniel Radcliffe and John Laraquette. (spelling???). I LOVED this show. It is everything you want of a broadway musical and who knew that Harry Potter would be such an awesome musical theatre performer. I have not seen a performance like his in a musical in a long time. He has more energy than anyone I've EVER seen. Seriously! I had tears in my eyes at one point because it inspired me so much. Daniel Radcliffe thoroughly deserved the insane audience reaction he got during his bow. YouTube what they did at the Tony Awards if you want a taster.

I then met Becca and her work mates for dinner before watching 'Catch Me If You Can' the new musical starring Norbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit - both of whom have played Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway. Norbert originated the role so I was looking forward to seeing him. I really enjoyed it. It's cleverly put together (based on a true story which was also made into a film of the same title a few years back starring Leonardo DiCaprio). The music and choreography was great and everyones performances were fab. 

I've just sat down to continue writing after making my way through customs here. Everyone always warns me that the security here at JFK is really strict so I always leave plenty of time. I literally just walked straight through every part of security chatting to all the polite airport staff - it wasn't like that at Heathrow - miserable buggers! Anyway, it's a bit rubbish that I now have 2 hours to kill in the departure lounge.

So…After watching Catch Me If You Can I met my friend Scott (who I've mentioned before - he's written a song for my album). He knew a few people in the show so we went back stage to have some drinks with some of the cast and then went out to a couple of bars. My friend Tara happened to bump into us at one bar and she was there with the cast of HAIR who she worked with when it came over and played the West End last year. I LOVED that show and it was great to hang with some of the cast.

The next day,  Becca and I went for brunch to Cafe Lalo which is featured in the film 'You've Got Mail'. It's really cute and has amazing food. Then I met one of her friends, Sam, while she went to do her two shows and he and I went to watch 'Anything Goes' which he sorted free tickets for which was nice. I enjoyed it and the cast were fantastic especially Sutton Foster as Reno and the choreography was fab -  but I realised as I watched it that I just don't really care for the show that much. Cole Porter's music is of course wonderful but I personally feel the show is a bit pointless. I don't enjoy theatre where you don't really feel anything for the characters or the story.

Afterwards I had the best night just hanging with friends, meeting new people, eating, drinking, and laughing until my stomach nearly exploded. Really fun night.

Monday was July 4th which is of course the biggest American holiday of the year - Independence Day. Becca and I walked along the Hudson into midtown to meet my friends in Central park before we headed to a BBQ where I met lots of lovely people and I was really pleased because Daniel Radcliffe was there with some of the people from his show and I had wanted to congratulate him on a great performance so we had a nice chat. He was enjoying chatting to someone British. What a lovely humble guy!

Becca and I then went to meet my friend Paul and a few of his buddies down at the SouthStreet Seaport. Paul works in Tourism and every time I visit he's so kind, he organises free trips and tours for me and he sorted for us all to go on an evening river cruise around the island and over to the statue of liberty before heading up the Hudson to have the perfect spot to watch the famous fireworks. It was an incredible night. They provided food and we had beers and watched the sunset before it got dark enough to begin the most unbelievable firework display I've ever seen. It lasted well over half an hour and they were so spectacular. There were so many boats lined up full of people watching and when it was done each boat honked their horn loudly and everyone was cheering and clepping- it was incredible moment, and the atmosphere was immense! Once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Then Becca and I met a few friends for drinks before heading to have my last sleep at her apartment.

Copy and paste this into your search bar to watch a short VLOG I made on our July 4th - 

http://vimeo.com/26086177

I woke this morning and Becca had an audition so I left her to get on with things and enjoyed wondering central park for about 4 hours  - I'm actually pretty sunburnt as it was about 30 degrees here today without a cloud in the sky! Beautiful

Then before leaving I met a lovely friend for dinner and frozen yoghurt before picking my luggage up from Becca's theatre and bidding her farewell and heading here! Which kind of wraps up my time in New York City.

I will land at 9.30am UK time. I will be losing 5 hours of my life tonight because of the time difference, ha!

I'll head home to do my laundry - oh how American of me - sorry, my washing, hehe, then I'm gonna make the most of having one more day off before heading back to the show on Thursday. So I am finally going to get to watch my friend Haley in Love Never Dies and I'm just gonna chill in London for the day. 

This week has been the perfect tonic. I needed to get away from having to juggle all the different work things I have going on in my life and I feel certainly refreshed. Which is a good job as all day Thursday and Friday I have the camera crew following me around for the T.V documentary which they're filming about me this year. Gonna be pretty jet-lagged by the weekend. I'm returning to the show very inspired by broadway and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, even if I am about 17 stone heavier!!! 

Thanks for reading about my little NYC expedition. It's been nice writing this, thinking back over what I've done and that's why I love my blog. Can't wait to read them back in years to come. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be in a position to write an autobiography - these blogs'll come in handy eh?! - I'm adding an autobiography to my to-do list! Ha.

Hope you've all had a great week! I'll be back to tweeting fully by the time you read this.

Keep loving your lives. Smiling and laughing is the way forward! 

Get in touch on twitter - @MarkHEvans

Sh-boom

Mark

ps - the pilots of our plane have just boarded so if this never gets posted and I don't make it back…blame them! Sorry that's a bad joke but that is very much my sense of humour! Teehee!