Blog 89!!! Friends, sunshine and a suspected stress fracture!

Hey Everyone,

Happy Thursday.

Hope you've all had a fun week in the sun (providing it's sunny where you are, if not, hard luck!!!). I've really enjoyed this week, lots of catching up with friends and lots of fun times.

So last Thursday was a painful day - literally! I landed a little funny in one of the physical parts of the show and I bruised my knee and hurt my foot pretty severely. It was during the matinee which meant that the evening performance was very uncomfortable and involved me hobbling around like 'Wonky Donkey' - Lots of you won't remember what that is but Ant & Dec the T.V presenters used to present SM:TV Live every Saturday morning years ago and there was a game show on it called Wonky Donkey and they had a stuffed donkey which only had one leg - well that's what I was like in Thursday night's show! (perhaps a slight exaggeration!) Basically the whole of the ball of my right foot was black and swollen. I hobbled home after the evening show and made sure I used plenty of Arnica cream to sooth the swelling and bruising. I woke early the next day as I had a meeting and then I headed straight to my physio so he could check my leg out - by the way whenever I type physio my spell check changes it to psychic, really random but very apt for Ghost! 

He took me straight to get assessed by a chiropractor who checked it out and said if the swelling doesn't subside in a couple of days that I would need an X-Ray as she said it was a suspected stress fracture! Just what you need to hear a couple of hours before you go to perform the same part of the show that caused the injury in the first place. But luckily I have been very careful since and it's on the mend and I can almost walk normally again. 

For my opening night of Ghost a friend of mine gave my a voucher for a place called Thai Square Spa in London. It was for a purifying hand detox "to aid my damaged hands from putting them through solid doors 8 times a week" - a very sweet idea!!! So after my physio session I headed to have the treatment. It was amazing. They worked my hands, my arms, my face and my head and it was one of the most relaxing things I've ever experienced. It was suppose to be a 45 minute treatment but for some reason the guy must have decided to carry on because I fell fast asleep during it, and then I woke up, had the chinese herbal tea he gave me as part of the detox and then I looked art the clock and I had been in there an hour and 26 minutes - which left me with 4 minutes to get across central London, grab food and get to my guitar lesson! Needless to day I was  a good 10 minutes late! So much for a relaxing detox - I was a sweaty mess once i'd hobbled my way from the spa to the theatre!

I had a great guitar lesson. Funnily enough for the last couple of weeks I have been working on 'Here Comes The Sun' which happens to be the first single off my good friend Louise Dearman's album. That CD is gonna be amazing so make sure you get a copy when it's out! Her album launch is on May 13th! Get your tickets if there are any left.

Surprise surprise I'm sitting on the train and there is a woman making really weird noises with her throat. She sounds like a frog going ribbet ribbet - Why do I ALWAYS end up sitting near them on the train, particularly when I'm writing my blog?!?!?! 

Saturday morning I woke early to fit in 50 lengths of the pool before work and then headed in to have two good shows. I met with a friend who I haven't seen for some time after the matinee and then went to the pub with the cast after the evening show to celebrate the arrival of the weekend! It was a lovely day full of socialising!

Sunday was a great day. I didn't have ANY plans so I woke up and went for a walk to see my friend Aaron who has a really cute black Jack Russell puppy which we took for a long walk in the sunshine and grabbed some lunch too. I then returned home to have a couple more friends come over for a coffee and they brought Carrot Cake! And then in the late afternoon I had another friend head over for T.V and pizza! Good times! It was really nice not having to stick to a busy day or a schedule!

Monday morning I woke to do some household chores and then headed to the gym before meeting my buddy Paul who I worked with in Wicked last year. It was great to see him and then I met up with another 5 people from the Wicked company, Michelle, Jackie, Charlotte, Gemma from the cast and James who works in the wardrobe department. We used to get together in between shows every matinee day to eat chicken - we were known as 'Chicken Club'. So Monday afternoon was our chicken club reunion which involved grabbing some food and then wandering down to Trafalgar Square to sit in the sunshine! It was great to see them all and laugh lots!

This weather has been amazing eh? I'm loving it - although it's probably the only summer we will get. Haha. 

Tuesday I had to work on quite a few office things at home and then I did a TV interview in my dressing room about the show before meeting my friend Lucie from my college days (we've also worked together lots since then too!). We sat in the sunshine with an iced tea reminiscing over good times and catching up good and proper! I then hit the gym for a good hour before heading to work to do the show. I was really tired after Tuesday night's show so headed straight home as soon as I possibly could!

Wednesday (yesterday morning) I got up and was going to chill all day until my rehearsal at work at 3pm. But then my personal trainer text me saying "everyone is cancelling their session today (because of the sun) so I have a free slot if you fancy it" - so of course, Mevans here went to the gym! My PT had lots of time so we did an hour and twenty minutes which was tough and then I carried on a little longer before having a swim. I then headed to my rehearsal which was only 45 minutes long and then the majority of the cast went to sit in the sun which was amazing! Love working with this company!

I then went to meet my best friend and her fiance and her mum for some food before they watched the evening show! It was lovely having them in the audience. 

I'm now finishing this up whilst typing in my dressing room as I got off the train to have a quick steam at the gym before meeting my 'brother from another mother' Ben Stott for a quick catch up as I've not seen him for a while. We worked together on Wicked and had dressing rooms next door to each other so I miss seeing him every day but this morning was nice, just being able to chill and catch up in the blazing sunshine! Then I came into work to do a quick photograph for an online ticket company who are celebrating the fact they've sold over £1,000,000 worth of Ghost tickets! - And that's just one company. Proves how popular the show is eh?! Ghost celebrated it's 1st Birthday yesterday. It's a whole year since the first performance in Manchester last March, and the show has recently been nominated for 5 Olivier awards including Best New Musical. All of the above makes me feel very happy, proud and privileged to be part of such a successful production! 

I'm now finishing this up in the interval of the matinee so that I can head out to get some sun once the show's come down. I'll post it later this evening!

Tomorrow I am releasing a blog that is very unique. Basically, for the past few years I have always been asked the question 'what advice would you give to people who want to follow in your footsteps?' from so many aspiring performers. So the blog I am sending out tomorrow is about 3 pages long, full of all the advice I could possibly think of for how to make the most out of your training and how to be prepared to work in this industry which can, the majority of the time be very tough and competitive! 

If you are a student, or have a child who is in training or know someone who is in training then make sure you sign up to the mailing list on the link below or on the news page of my website so that you receive the blog tomorrow! I am only sending it out to the people on the mailing list at first so make sure you're email address is on there! I have had it proof read by 3 separate people who consider it very valuable and inspiring advice! It's one of those 'trust me I've been there, seen it, bought the T-Shirt and learnt from some mistakes" type things so I hope you find it helpful!

Here is the sign up link: http://t.opsp.in/1BYNh

Have a great week folks! 

Keep positive and as always - believe!

Sh-Boom!!!

Mark

Blog 88!!! Topless photos and a Mother's Day surprise!

Hey Everyone,

Happy Thursday,

How are you all feeling? I'm starting this week's blog sitting on my bed. For the past two hours there has been a chain saw making a hell of a racket and sounds like he's cutting the Amazon rain forest down right outside my window which is not the sort of sleep you need before a double show day. Now that my alarm has gone off to actually wake up, of course the noise had stopped! Grrrrrrr. Never mind!!!

It's been a good week including a trip home to see Mother Evans for mother's day which was great.

So last Friday I woke early to head into central London to meet my sister and two brothers and their other halves to have breakfast and do a bit of sauntering around London and shopping before they left to head back to North Wales in the early afternoon. It was great to spend time with them away from our local area in Wales. Time always goes by too quickly though.

After they left me I headed to my dressing room to finish up the invitations for my best friend's Hen Party and then posted them all before I went to a physio session. (The blooming chainsaw has just started up again by the way!) My physiotherapist/osteopath is amazing. He knows my body so well by now that I can just walk in and he knows what he needs to do to 'fix' me just by looking at me. I told him I was feeling really tired that day, probably from entertaining my family after a two show day the night before and he said 'well my appointment after you has just cancelled so I'll get rid of your aches and pains and then you can just relax' - He finished the painful stuff where he put my body back together and then gave me a 20 minute back massage, during which I'm pretty sure I was snoring. I then headed to sit in the steam room to relax a bit more before heading to work. It took me a while to crank up the energy during warm up but by the time it came to doing the show I was fine! 

Saturday morning I woke and packed my stuff ready for my trip to Wales on Sunday so that I wouldn't have to do it after work late that night, then I  did a cheeky 50 lengths of the swimming pool before the two shows.

Really enjoyed the shows on Saturday, especially the evening performance. The audience were on fire, it was an amazing atmosphere! Great way to finish the week.

After that I headed home and had a nice chilled out evening before dropping off to sleep. 

I woke on Sunday morning at 6.15am which I would usually feel was too early on my day off but I didn't care because I left the house and the sun was shining and I was really looking forward to seeing my family in Wales and surprising my mum by secretly being home for Mother's Day! I arrived on the train about 11.30am and my brother in law picked me up with my two nieces who I adore. They ran towards me on the platform and I picked them up and could have literally popped them like helium balloons I squished them so hard. I miss them so much when I'm away! All four of us went to Pizza Hut for lunch and then spent a good hour in the park before heading home. My mum works with my sister (at the restaurant where I used to work too) on a Sunday and so they don't finish until about 3.30pm So I was at my sister's house, then when she arrived home it meant that mum had gone home too so I called her on the phone pretending that I was in London. She was saying things like "oh the weather is beautiful here, I'm just looking out over the hills and it looks stunning" my reply was "yeah, it's really nice here too" - little did she know that I was clearly looking over the same view from my sister's house as it's only half a mile away.

The big plan was that my sister had arranged for my Mum & Dad to head to them by 5pm for a chinese take away and then a little while later the whole family would descend on them to wish her a happy mother's day. So when she arrived, I was hiding in the bathroom and my eldest niece who is 6 said to her "I want to show you something in the lounge please" so my mum followed her and was ready to make a big fuss out of whatever her granddaughter had to show her, but couldn't see anything once she'd gone into the lounge, then my niece said "turn around" and I was stood behind her with flowers and chocolates…..and……..she cried!!! Woohoo! Successful mother's day surprise when you reduce them to tears! 

We had a really nice night, all the family together with a HUGE chinese banquet which we devoured and then we relaxed watching a bit of T.V and chatting. It was the perfect evening. I did however eat far too much considering I was doing a fitness photo shoot for a magazine two days after that which involved me wearing a little less than usual. But hey, I didn't care, I was having fun so I continued to shovel flapjacks and cheesecake into my face, washed down with a couple of rose wines! Woop woop!

The dog woke me up by barking at the sheep on Monday morning - that's how I know I'm home. It was closely followed by the cows mooing as if they have been told "ok mrs, you have just one last chance to moo and then you will be silent for the rest of your life" so they do it with the most conviction EVER! Painful mooing!!! 

I didn't complain in the slightest though. It felt like heaven to be home and I felt sad that it was for less than 24 hours!

My sister took me to Rhyl train station only to discover that there were problems on the line, so to prevent me having to get a replacement coach to Chester she drove me there herself, which I was very grateful for and enjoyed, as it meant we had another hour to chat just the two of us! Good times! My sister is one of my best friends and I miss her a lot!

I arrived back in London and headed straight to the gym to do my own workout for an hour before meeting my new personal trainer to do another hour long workout with him. I finished at 6pm feeling drained and was onstage doing physical warm up by 6.15pm with everyone calling me 'Arnie' because my muscles hadn't had time to deflate from being pumped up yet. Everyone was laughing at me because I always look twice my size when I leave the gym. Haha.

I had a couple of friends watching the show on Monday so had a very quick drink with them afterwards before heading to my friend Wayne's house for a late night haircut. It was good to catch up whilst having my ears lowered and then I managed to get my last train back home to get my beauty sleep before the photo shoot the next day.

The photo shoot and interview was for the fitness section of Attitude magazine which is called 'Active' so it was all about my fitness and my gym routine, training schedule and how to balance it all whilst doing a show like Ghost playing the lead role. So as you can imagine I felt the need to get to the gym before the photo shoot. So I woke early Tuesday and headed to do an hours workout before heading over to meet the crew from Attitude in a studio in east London. It was a really fun shoot and the photographer was great. It was really nice to do a photo shoot wearing sports gear and really comfortable clothing (and on occasion not much of it!) and I was pleased with the pictures we decided to use afterwards for my issue which will be out in May apparently.

After that I went for some food with a friend before doing the show. I was a little achey to say the least in Tuesday night's show after all the working out in preparation for my shoot, but it was worth it.

Thank you to all of you who got in touch saying very lovely things about the couple of sneaky shots I posted on my twitter account. Lots of people have asked for work out or diet advice and I am very flattered but, as I believe I may have written in a blog long, long ago, I don't feel I am qualified to offer training or diet advice but the one thing I will say (which I also told the magazine) is that it takes a certain amount of motivation to get started at the gym or with a diet and then it really doesn't take long before the habit kicks in and it becomes enjoyable - especially when you start noticing the results and seeing differences in your shape in a positive way. It gets addictive and in my opinion it's a pretty healthy thing to get addicted to!

Wednesday (yesterday) I had a swim in the morning and then headed to watch The Woman In Black at the cinema (starring Daniel Radcliffe). I really enjoyed it and thought it was beautifully shot and well acted but I do prefer the stage production. I thought the play, when I saw it many moons ago was one of the most terrifying things I'd ever witnessed and for live theatre to have that affect on you is amazing - I would highly recommend the play, more so than the film!

And that more or less brings me up to date with today. I had a swim after my train journey in today and so I'm now wrapping this up from my dressing room. "Ladies and gentlemen this is your act one beginners call"…..and on that note! Farewell! 

Have a great week and thank as always for reading and for your support. - Anyone who has sent fan mail in, please know that I read it all and appreciate it all and am awaiting some production cards of myself so I can sign them and reply to you all.

Keep smiling and as always BELIEVE!!!

Sh-boom!!!

Mark

Blog 87!!! The dentist, a party and a peculiar massage!!!

Hey Everyone,

How you doing? Happy Thursday.

I am writing this whilst feeling excited for the day ahead. Basically every Christmas my brothers, my sister and I don't give each other presents, we decided a few years back that we should all save our money and spend it on some quality time together instead. Last year they came to stay with me in my apartment in Cardiff whilst I was filming Marcaroni and this year they're coming to stay in London and watch me in Ghost! Well folks, today is the day that happens! They're watching the show tonight and then we'll be hitting the town for food and drinks! Can not wait! I've not been home since before new year and it feels a lot longer than that too! So Mevans is a happy chappy today!

It's been a great week. Friday I got up nice and early to go the dentist. I tell you, this woman (my dentist) the last two times I've had a check up was a right moody old swear word - but this time she was lovely……I was trying to figure out why - "maybe she got lucky last night?", "Maybe she won some money on a scratch card?", "Maybe she lost 4 pound at weight watchers this week?" I couldn't work it out. Until she finished my appointment and as I was walking out the door she said "Thanks for coming in Mr Evans, nice to see you" I replied "erm….yes, you too…" and then she said "and well done in Ghost, I loved the show" BOOM there it was, the reason why she was nice to me! So folks if your dentist is a bitch the answer is - play the lead in a west end show that she intends on watching and she'll change her personality! Simple! 

After the dentist I was running around town doing some shopping. I needed to buy gifts for one of our cast members, Jenny Fitzpatrick. She has written the film PAY BACK SEASON which is in cinemas nationwide now and I organised a cast outing for 26 of us to go and watch it on Friday afternoon, the day of it't release. I had also done a secret collection to get money from everyone at work to buy her a congratulations gift, which is what I was running around getting. 

I finished shopping and then popped for a quick 30 lengths of the pool before meeting the gang at the cinema.

I cannot tell you how proud we all were of Jenny after watching the film. We were all obviously going to support her regardless of the standard of the film, but I was SO relieved to genuinely think the film was fantastic. She has a real talent for writing and this is a massive success considering it's her first time writing a movie. 

So after the company warm up on stage that day, I did a big old presentation for Jenny  - a big flower bouquet and all her gifts and finally we presented her with an Oscar Award (which you can buy near our theatre) for 'Best Screen Writer'. She was extremely overwhelmed and got quite emotional. We have a wonderful cast and company at Ghost and it's times like that which make you grateful for the opportunity to work with a team of great people.

Saturday I had two good shows before having a few drinks at the pub (getting to be a Saturday night regular thing now - and I like it) then I headed to meet a friend for an end of run party of the show he'd been a part of. We had a great night and then I headed home to a nice cosy bed to watch my TV Special 'NOSON YNG NGHWMNI MARK EVANS' on S4C catch up. Thanks to everyone of you who got in touch to say that you'd watched the programme and enjoyed it. I was overwhelmed by the response and the producers of the programme where happy with it, the ratings were good and my management were really pleased - a success all round which proves that hard work and a lot of effort really do make a difference. I cannot thank you enough for your support as always. If you're reading this, you are following what I'm up to and supporting me and my career, for which I'm very grateful. 

If you want to watch it (with subtitles) just copy & paste this link into your search bar and press 'S' in the bottom right corner for English subtitles.

http://www.s4c.co.uk/clic/e_level2.shtml?programme_id=501583961

After watching it I fell asleep and didn't set my alarm. BLISS!!!!

Sunday I went to check out a new cafe which has opened near me, It has amazing interior decor and the food was pretty good but the service was a bit shoddy! Good to see it though. After that I dId a bit of a food shop, had a little snooze and then headed out to a glamorous birthday party for my friend Wayne who was celebrating turning 30. It was a great night in a fab venue in East London and I enjoyed catching up with lots of people I hadn't seen for some time. He had loads of people there because he is quite simply a wonderful friend to everyone! 

Monday I woke and did lots of research work for my friend Sally's Hen Party and went to check out a few possible venues before confirming it all and starting to work on invites etc - god help me if I ever get married, organising a wedding will completely take over my life! 

The show on Monday night was good and afterwards I headed home to watch a couple of episodes of Brothers & Sisters before nodding off! 

Tuesday Was a busy day (aren't they all???) I woke early and got to the gym by 11.30 and didn't leave until 3pm (more than 3 hours) I did a complete all over body workout and then finished with a one to one private pilates session with an instructor, which was amazing. At the end of a long session it was a great way to stretch. It was the pilates with all the clever machines which make you feel like your being drawn, as in 'hung, drawn and quartered'! It was a really great productive day of fitness.

After that I had countless conversations with my manager and agent about a few things we have in the pipeline and then I got some food and headed to work. The audiences are great at the show at the moment. Really responsive. Great crowds! Sometimes we get audiences who get so traumatised by the emotional story that they just sit quietly and hide behind a tissue or hanky pretending they're not a big snotty mess! 

Yesterday (Wednesday) I headed into town in the morning to meet my agent and check out their new offices (very nice) and then I did some writing on my laptop before meeting a mate of mine to go and use up a voucher I had bought from living social which is an online discount site that emails you special offers and deals for a variety of things, from half price horse riding to two for one romantic meals and even holidays abroad. So this time last year I bought a one hour full body hot stone massage for two people at less than half price to use at the 'Purity Spa' which is in the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane (area of loads of expensive really nice hotels). Well I noticed it ran out soon so booked it and then took my mate with me. 

We were really looking forward to a whole afternoon of pampering and we took our swim shorts with us as we thought with a name like 'Purity Spa' it must have an amazing pool with relaxation facilities. WELL…….. we arrive and walk through the beautiful lobby of the Hilton Hotel and take the elevator down to the spa. IT WAS HORRENDOUS!!! All the staff were wearing shocking pink uniforms and their hair tied back in a messy attempt to keep it off their faces, it was like a scene from The Only Way Is Essex!!! So we are signed in to this dingy little place and get told to go and sit in the waiting area "araaaahnd the cahwnah" - Picture this, two blokes, sitting on a tiny sofa in the midst of pink middle aged women getting their pedicures done and talking about menstrual problems and the menopause, and then the tiniest little lady comes out and says 'Mr Evans?' I say yes and she tells us both to come in.

So we suddenly realise that we're both in the same treatment room which made us really laugh. We walked in and it was just two beds shoved into a room that wasn't even as big as my bathroom, with pink towels resting on them. It was hilarious. So we both had to just strip to our pants while they waited outside, then they opened the door to come back in, and the gaggle of women who were sat enjoying their pedicures outside got a good eyeful of 'Mr Evans' and his sidekick laying in their pants on a couple of wobbly massage tables! To top it all off, the massage was just rubbish. Now, I am a big old 6ft 2 broad fella and it I'll be honest, this little ladies hand could barely dent my skin. It was like my youngest niece (who is 2) trying her best to tickle Uncle Mark but actually just poking me gently. The hot stones were nice and I did manage to unwind a little but the moral of this story is to a) never use Purity Spa at the Hilton, and b) be really cautious of exactly what your paying for when you book things via the online discount sites like Groupon or Living Social etc.

After we came out of the hotel I had a few errands to run before having a swim and a steam and then a good guitar lesson with my teacher Andy.

The show last night was great and I quickly saw a friend from college afterwards as he'd watched it for the first time. It's always good to see people I trained with. If you're a student at the moment, take my advice, make the most of having your friends around you all the time because there will come a day when you won't see them for weeks, months and sometimes years. Life passes us by so quickly so we must embrace every moment.

And on that note, I'm gonna wrap this one up. There are a few exciting things coming up for me to reveal soon and I can't wait. One of which is that my website markevansonline.co.uk has undergone a complete revamp and new look and will be revealed tomorrow morning for the very first time! It has exclusive news, and new pages and brand new pictures which have NEVER before been shown - I hadn't even seen some of them myself!

Love you're lives folks and love this week! Especially Sunday 'cause it's Mother's Day! My Mum rocks my world!!! 

Keep smiling!

Believe

Sh-boom

Mark

Blog 86!!! Busy week and a straddle for Gabby!!!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday.

Holy Moly what a week it's been - manic beyond belief but as always it's been a good one.

Last Friday I needed it to be as much of a chill out day as possible so I woke and tidied up my flat and had a little rearrange of some furniture, as I'd bought a new cabinet for my lounge that was delivered last week, then headed into London to the sister branch of my gym as it has a spa and as a gym member, I get a discount so I went to enjoy a relaxing facial. When you work in theatre and have to wear make up 8 times a week it really does start to take it's tole on your skin - it's more than just the natural looking make up that girls wear, and if you don't look after your skin properly it really shows! Gone are the days of me being able to pass for 16 years old like I could when I played Troy Bolton in High School Musical 4 years ago - I was 22 at the time! I look closer to 116 years old nowadays (or at least that's how I feel a lot of the time!) So the facial did me the world of good - I think I was actually snoring a little when I dropped off into a sleep, how embarrassing! I booked myself a follow up session for a few weeks time and I can't wait. 

After that, I popped to have some nice healthy food before heading to work for a guitar lesson. The show Friday night was good but I was certainly ready for the weekend.

I woke Saturday morning and had a nice breakfast to kick start the day and then headed into town for work. Saturday's two shows were great. After the matinee I just bought some food and chilled in a coffee shop reading a book and then after the evening show I had a few drinks at the pub with friends and then headed home to watch a couple of Brothers & Sisters episodes with some home made chilli - YUM!!!

Sunday was a great day, I had a really long lay in bed in the morning and then after some food I headed to watch the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta 'Patience' at the Union Theatre. It's a great show which finishes it's run this weekend. It has a completely male cast, so all the female roles are played by men who sing in falsetto soprano - it was very impressive and it had been very well directed and beautifully choreographed and had a very strong cast. I would advise you to get a ticket but it sold out after a couple of days of them being open! I like to support the productions at the Union Theatre, they have a good selection of stuff usually!

Afterwards I headed to spend the evening at my best friends house. It was a lovely night with nice food, wine and good conversation! She did however produce a DVD of a film I have never seen all the way through. It was LAKE PLACID 3……. which was the first film I ever acted in, playing the role of Brett, a bit of a wimp who secretly hires a hunter guide to follow his girlfriend Ellie to the woods next to a Lake Placid, where she has gone on a long weekend away with a couple of mates and her tutor (who Brett doesn't trust). Once they get to the lake they realise that there is an infestation of massive killer crocodiles and it becomes a fight for survival, and by the end of the film Brett becomes a lot more heroic………but then a crocodile eats him alive!!! I would never usually ruin the end of a film for anyone but this film is SO BADLY WRITTEN that I would never suggest putting anyone through watching it! We watched it right through and we laughed…..ALOT!!! 

After a good night's sleep I woke at Sally''s house and we headed into Laine Theatre Arts which is where Sal teaches musical theatre and I sat and observed her class of first years for half an hour before getting the train into London. I have decided that I am going to write a one off special addition of my blog following my visit to the college as I want to give people a real insight into what it's really like in the big wide world after you've graduated and what I personally feel you need to focus on whilst training. I'm not too sure when I'm going to have this blog finished or posted but I will be starting to work on it soon!

I then went straight to the gym for a meeting with my new Personal Trainer who is excellent. We chatted for 45 minutes and he did a really good assessment of my body and what we both feel I should work on and then he took the information away and is drawing up a plan for me! Can't wait!

I then worked out for a couple of hours. including a gyrotonic pilates session which stretched me more than I've ever been stretched in my life so I felt a couple of inches taller as I exited the gym. I then went to the recording studio to do a bit of singing for a new project which will be announced soon and then I had a meeting with my manager.

I got to work feeling pretty tired but motivated after a very productive day and I was very happy to have Siobhan back on the show feeling well again!

Tuesday I woke and headed to have a 3rd treatment of colonic hydrotherapy which I have blogged about before and then went to the gym before having a singing lesson in which I was singing some of the Sam stuff from the show whilst rolling around on the carpet! It was fun and silly as it sounds it actually really helped! - Shame i can't roll around the stage. Don't think the director would be best pleased! 

I then had a rehearsal on stage before I went to sit with a coffee doing more research for my best friends Hen Party which I'm organising!

Yet again I have a nosey bloke sitting next to me on my train right now who insists on reading what I'm writing. And this bloke needs a shower too! STOP READING!

This is the second time this has happened to me, two weeks on the trot now! Are we generally a nosey race? A nosey species? A nosey nation? A nosey world? Whatever the case, It does my nut in!………He's just got off the train! Bye bye nosey dude!!!

After Tuesday night's show I headed home for an early night before a very busy Wednesday!

I woke Yesterday morning (Wednesday) and after breakfast got in a car to the studios to be a guest on 'Live With Gabby' on Channel 5 with Gabby Logan.

I was tired in the car so fell asleep and then my driver woke me up telling me I'd arrived and I had no idea where in London I was. I had to go on the maps app on my iphone once I was indoors to figure put where I'd been dropped off. It was Kensington area but as far as I was concerned I could've been in North, South, East or West London, or even blooming Blackpool - I had clearly been in  deep sleep. Really bizarre feeling 'cause I'm always in control of where I am and what I'm doing - I kind of have to as I'm always so busy!

The TV show was fun. Siobhan and I were challenged to make something out of plasticine (as in the pottery scene from Ghost) I just made a bowl and then she told us we had 30 seconds left so thought "I better keep going" so I tore a bit off, rolled it out, made a handle and it became a tea cup! Whilst I was doing this, Gabby, the host, straddled me and was nuzzling my neck (the way Patrick Swayze did to Demi Moore in the film). This caused a bit of a stir on twitter! I enjoyed the nuzzling! No complaints from me Gabby! Then she announced time was up - I presented my teacup to her on a 'Live With Gabby' coaster and turned to see that Siobhan had created a puffer fish. A PUFFER FISH!!!! How random can you get. We discussed afterwards that it did infact look more like female genitalia than a puffer fish but either way it was funny and we had a good giggle!

I then got a car to the gym  for a couple of hours before heading back to the recording studio to finish up a bit of work on this new project! I got SO excited and was very inspired by it and then really enjoyed last night's show which was the perfect end to a great day!

I woke this morning to a lovely text from my physio who said he had shifted a few appointments around to fit me in for a vocal massage today before the matinee, which is where I'm heading now!  Should make these two shows considerably easier! 

There's a woman humming on the train. Not quietly….LOUDLY. As in the way she would do as if she were sat here next to Simon Cowell and there was a chance he'd snap her up and give her an international recording contract like Susan Boyle because he had never heard humming like it! Lady…..hush up!!!

I've just finished the matinee and now Im off to buy some cinema tickets. There is a film out tomorrow called PAY BACK SEASON which was written by one of our cast members Jenny Fitzpatrick who plays one of Oda Mae's sisters in the Seance Parlour! She is extremely talented and I decided it would be good for us to show our support as a company and I have organised a group outing for tomorrow so I'm off to buy 24 tickets for the film for the afternoon showing tomorrow. Can't wait. Go and see it folks and spread the word to all of your mates! The story sounds great and it's had a really good response since the premier on Tuesday.

Final thought of this blog is just a reminder that this Saturday night at 8pm on S4C which is available on Sky and online, my T.V show is broadcast for the first time. AN AUDIENCE WITH MARK EVANS / NOSON YNG NGHWMNI MARK EVANS, which I filmed and blogged about last November. It's got singing, dancing, chatting, audience questions to me and I host the entire programme. It's a real coincidence too that it's very Ghost linked without me realising it. It was Choreographed by Ashley Wallen the choreographer of Ghost, my special guest was Rebecca Trehearn who is now understudying Molly in the show (we also went to high school together in Wales) and one of the amazing dancers I had was Craig Stein who is now playing our Subway Ghost. None of us knew at the time that we were going to be working together! Small world! And a blooming good world!!!

Love your lives folks!

Keep smiling, work hard and commit to everything you do and above all, try to love yourselves! 

Keep believing 

Sh-boom!

Mark

Blog 85! Press Night, St David's Day & A Whole Lot Of Nandos Chicken!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday, but more importantly…..HAPPY ST DAVID'S DAY!!! I am wearing my Welsh Rugby shirt (EVANS 1) - with pride today (thanks Team Evans for buying it for me!) I'm heading into town before these two shows to try and find some Welsh Cakes to take in for the company. It's stunning weather this morning. Good day ahead I can tell!!!

It's been a really good week since my last blog including a great press night for Ghost.

So last Friday was a busy day. I got up and did lots of office work at home before heading for a good gym session. I then went to view two hotels which I was considering for my friends Hen party which i'm organising. I'm sorting a very civilised affair without the trashy vail, L plates and Dildos. Just lots of champagne, good company in a nice location….which I'm yet to find. Neither of those hotels where what I had in mind so they were a bit disappointing. 

After that I had to head into the theatre to rehearse with one of our new ensemble members Scott who was on for his understudy role of the Subway Ghost for the first time, and because it was their first week he hadn't had any chance to run through anything properly so we spent an hour on things and then I met my friend Gareth who worked for me a few times at West End In Wales, and we had some nice food before i headed back to the theatre to do the show. Scott did and amazing job as the Subway Ghost, really strong performance. The new cast are so incredibly talented, all of the swings were on in their first week of being in the job (which is rare) and they all did an amazing job!

Friday night I headed home and was really in need of sleep! Saturday was a really great day. I felt full of energy and ready for two shows. I always find that if I have a productive morning and I accomplish lots of little errands and chores it sets me up really well for the rest of the day - do you find that? It's weird, the busier I seem to be the more extra things I can get done, it's all about the frame of mind you're in I suppose.

After the matinee Siobhan and I went to Nandos for some chicken. We both wanted a simple chicken in pitta bread, however Siobhan had one of those loyalty cards where after 3 stamps you get a free 1/4 chicken, after 6 you get a 1/2 chicken and with a full house of stamps you get a free whole chicken. So I went to the counter and this was the conversation between myself and the lady serving me:

ME: "Hiya, I have this card but we don't want a whole chicken so could we maybe just use it to get some money off our 2 chicken in Pitta?" 

LADY: "No it has to be whole chicken"

ME:"Ok but we don't want that much meat, we won't eat it all"

LADY: "Has to be whole chicken"

ME: "Ok well how about you do one chicken in pitta for my friend and I'll just use the card to get a free quarter chicken then?"

LADY: "No, has to be whole chicken"

ME: "But surely it makes more financial sense for you to let me have LESS chicken than what I'm entitled to? No?"

LADY: "No sir, has to be whole chicken"

ME: "Ok then I'll have half a chicken then, how about that - maybe you could have the other half for your tea?"

LADY: "A whole chicken sir, has to be whole chicken!"

ME: "Well then I'll have a whole chicken please."

LADY "Which spice?" …………

I won't lie to you, i did finish the whole chicken and left looking like a heavily pregnant lady, but how silly is that? You want a quarter of you free prize but you have to take the whole thing!

Anyway…..back to life outside of Nandos -  Saturday night it was really nice to have a few drinks at the pub with the cast and then I headed home for way too much cereal - yet again I looked like a woman who's waters could break any minute! The return of Milk Mark and his moobs!

Sunday was lovely I had a lay in and then headed into watch a couple of really quirky pieces of theatre as part of the Old Vic Tunnels theatre festival which was held for the last three and a half weeks in the tunnels and offices underneath Waterloo station. We saw a half hour play which was a two hander which we enjoyed and then went into an interactive play which lasted an hour, which was basically a members club/pub set that the audience just sat in on as if they were just at their local. Then the three actors just acted around us and whenever a member of the audience used one of the interactive pieces of set, for example put on the juxe box or potted a snooker ball or rang the bar bell or pressed the button on the condom machine the whole place would go into flashback mode where images would project onto screens and the three actors would go into some scripted dialogue revealing bits of their past which assisted the return of the memory of one character who suffered from amnesia. It was a really interesting and very quirky piece of theatre and I really enjoyed it. We then went for a nice dinner and then I headed home to watch the film 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' which I thought was great. Tilda Swinton is a great actress.

Monday I woke and had a nice chilled morning watching the first couple of episodes of the second season of Brothers & Sisters and then I headed into the gym before checking out another hotel for my friends Hen Party and then popping into the theatre to rehearse with Rebecca who is the new understudy for Molly because she was on for the first time for Monday night's show.

There is a guy who's just sat to my right on this train who thinks it's ok to read this over my shoulder which really winds me up, so….. to you, dear man, let's avoid any confrontation and just let this be the last thing you read. ok?! Now turn your nosey head away!  Many thanks!!!

After rehearsing with Rebecca I had a meeting with my website designer who is completely reworking my website which will be launched in a couple of weeks - new pictures, new look and new information and material. Looking forward to that being done!

Rebecca was great in the show on Monday night. You would never have known it was her first time in the role. It was a pretty special night because she and I went to the same secondary school in North Wales (many moons ago) and she was also my special guest on my 'An Audience With Mark' programme which we filmed in November and is shown on T.V a week on Saturday (March 10th) - so it was lovely to play opposite a fellow welsh speaking Welshie!!! Although of course I missed my bunny Siobhan too!

I got home Monday night and cooked a massive pot of chilli and then worked on some office stuff for WEST END IN WALES until 3.15am.

Tuesday was a majorly productive day. Got lots of stuff done and found time for a swim and physio session before heading to the theatre for press night!

I had to lay down for half hour before warming up because I had bad stomach cramps which were bringing me out in sweats - just what you need before performing the show for an invited audience of media people and industry professionals.

The show went really well. The atmosphere was amazing and the audience were great! After the show finished, Siobhan and I went into my dressing room and just hugged and laughed constantly for about a minute because we both felt so pleased and happy to be playing these amazing roles! 

The party afterwards was great. To be honest I don't usually enjoy those sorts of events where you end up having to talk to a load of people you don't know, about a load of rubbish you don't wanna be talking about, but Tuesday's party was great. Had a few glasses of champagne and chatted to some great people and the night ended with a nice bit of food in soho before heading home for a good night's sleep!!!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I was a little tired after a manic day the day before but headed in to town in the afternoon for a meeting about an exciting project that's in the pipeline which is Ghost related and I can't wait to tell you all about it soon.

Siobhan was still unwell yesterday and I think getting through the press night performance whilst still feeling under the weather was too much so Rebecca was on again last night for her second show. Again she did a great job. Want my bunny to get well though!!! My whole dynamic changes at work without Siobhan being there! Weird! Still bloody love it though!!!

Which brings me to right now - just getting off the train to find some Welsh Cakes……

So I got off the train to find some Welsh Cakes but failed miserably. I tried a Sainsburys, a Tesco and two M&S' and there were none to be found! Gutted. So I decided to buy the entire company some Colin The Caterpillar chocolate rolls and they can just think of Wales while they eat them! Good times!!!

CYMRU AM BYTH!!!

Have a good week. Thanks for reading! Keep believing!!!

Sh-boom!

Mark

Blog 84! Showers, Pancakes And Cast Change!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday! Hope you're all well and happy and have had a great week since my last blog.

I am feeling nice and spritely this morning heading into work for two shows. It has been a busy old week but a very good one.

Last Friday I woke and decided to head straight to the gym to have a swim and then shower before rehearsals, so I jumped out of bed, wolfed down some porridge and headed to the train station, only to find that the trains were (ONCE AGAIN!!!) delayed and cancelled! I get so impatient with it all nowadays because it's happening more and more. I kind of miss the days when I used to work at the restaurant with my Mum and Sister in North Wales when I was a teenager because it only took about 5 minutes in the car to travel just over a mile to get there! It's such an ordeal to get anywhere in London. (Rant over)

So I had to get a bus, having not showered I felt like I was doing the walk of shame (on a bus home after a night out, when everyone else is going to work!)

I ended up being too late to go for a swim and too late to eat before work and, yes, you guessed it, too late to shower before the physical warm up! - Now don't get me wrong, I had showered after work the night before but I'm just a bit of a clean freak and like to think that if you rubbed your index finger on me I would squeak - like the washed up dinner plates on the old Fairy Liquid adverts! So indeed, Squeaky clean, I was not. The resident director came up to me after the warm up and went to hug me and I said, "don't touch me I haven't showered" and he froze in his tracks with a disgusted look on his face! 

Needless to say, I headed straight to my dressing room to shower before the rehearsal started.

It was a full run through of the show for the new cast members. It was really fun because whenever we were doing scenes on stage that didn't involve anyone new, we were just having fun with it and everyone was putting me off by delivering all of their dialogue lines looking directly at me - which is REALLY alien and very bizarre, because (incase you haven't seen the show) from the moment I get shot, I am then a ghost (hence the title) that no one can see unless they too are a Ghost, so I really wasn't used to making eye contact with people! It was funny as hell!

After the rehearsal I went for a swim, well I had to right?, before doing the evening show! 

Saturday morning I had a tidy up of my flat ready for the arrival of my Mum & Sister who were arriving Monday and then I headed in to do the last two shows with the original cast. It was a great day.

I woke on Sunday nice and early and went to my local cafe for a nice breakfast before popping to see my good friend Wayne for a catch up and for him to cut my hair! Then I walked home (a couple of miles) to get ready for the What's On Stage Awards concert at the Prince Of Wales Theatre. It was really nice to  get dressed up for an event that celebrates theatre. I met everyone who'd been invited from the Ghost company at the Haymarket Hotel for some champagne beforehand (my first alcoholic drink in 5 weeks!) and then we headed to the event! 

I have to just take this opportunity to tell you how privileged I feel to have met and spent time with the writer of both Ghost the movie and Ghost The Musical, Bruce Joel Rubin last week. He is an incredible man who's full of wisdom and amazing tales and stories and is certainly one of the kindest and most generous people I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with.

I tried to point out to him just how wonderful I thought the story of Ghost is and how privileged I feel to have been given the responsibility of telling this story to West End audiences night after night! He was way too humble and modest to take the compliment but I meant it with so much sincerity! I think he's a genius!

So the night was a huge success. Ghost won 3 awards, for best lighting, best set design (which I collected on Rob Howell's behalf) and Richard Fleeshman had flown back from New York to collect his well deserved award for Best Actor in a musical. 

I then went out for some food with a couple of good mates before getting a car home. I love being driven through London at night. When you drive over the bridge across the Thames River and past all the beautiful buildings it always makes me think of how lucky I am to be happily living and working in London and also makes me think of how different my life is now to when I was living in Wales up to the age of 16! You can never predict the future folks, much as you might like to or try to, so just let that feeling of an unknown future excite you to your core and it will make every day as good as it possibly can be! That's how I try to live my life anyway and please forgive me if you feel I'm preaching at you but sometimes people need a little nudge to remember that life is good!

I woke on Monday and raced around town buying a few little treats for the cast for opening night gifts because it was the first performance for the new 2012/2013 company then I headed in for the final dress rehearsal. Two shows on a Monday felt odd let me tell you.

After the dress rehearsal, Siobhan and I had a photo session and then I met my Mum and Sister for some food before they watched the show for the first.

The show went well and all the new guys did a great job. My Mum and Sister loved it and we all had a couple of drinks in the reception afterwards before getting a car home and chatting over some healthy nibbles.

Tuesday they left to head back to Wales in the morning and I had a bit of a lazy morning watching Brothers And Sisters - because I'd slept on the lounge floor the night before which wasn't the best night's sleep I've ever had. Then in the afternoon I did a couple of hours at the gym before the show. I had a fair few pancakes after the show which was really nice then slept like a baby! 

Wednesday (yesterday) was a good day. I met up with Ben & Zoe who I worked with on Wicked, and it was really great to see them and catch up properly over lunch! I then went to the gym for a couple of hours before my guitar lesson. 

Last night's show was great and then I headed to a friends house for lots of nice food and watched some fun video clips of when we worked together etc,

Which brings me to today, ready and raring to go with two shows! Bring it on. 

Tomorrow at 1pm there is a new newsletter being sent out to everyone on my mailing list. Don't miss it, it includes all my holiday dates where I shall not be performing in Ghost! Sign up here if you're not already on the mailing list - 

http://t.opsp.in/1AJaP

Have a great week people and remember try and be positive whenever possible, I find it makes life easier!

Believe

Sh-boom

Mark 

Blog 83! Can't believe I've written 83 of these! (Just Saying!)

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday

How has your week been?…….. No seriously, I want  you to answer me. Have you had a good week? (Cue readers vocal response here)

Good well I have had a good week too since last Thursday!

Last Friday I met up with my good friend Ashleigh (who duetted on my album) and it was lovely to catch up with her! We always have such a laugh! I love going round to her home too cos it's like mine, ridiculously OCD as far as things being tidy and her cleanliness etc! 

After that I got a train into town then walked a couple of miles across London to the rehearsal studio to run the show with the new cast of GHOST! It was a really fun afternoon. One of the new ensemble boys, Scott had popped to the loo and we were all waiting for him so that we could start act two, so we decided we'd all run into the room next door and hide so he came back to a massive empty studio. The room next door which we were hiding in had glass doors so we were all peeping through to see his reaction! It was priceless! This little prank proved that we have a great group of people who are really gonna enjoy working together and it's gonna be a fun year!

The new cast of the show open this Monday evening (February 20th). We will be sad to say goodbye to some of the original cast who leave the production this Saturday. It's been a manic year for them between rehearsing in london then taking the show to Manchester to tech it, preview it, open it and run for 2 months, then return to London for more rehearsals, another tech period, another preview period and then finally opening in London - months after the first day they met. So it has been a year of full on hard work for the entire company and Ghost the musical has become a huge success and a lot of that is down to the extremely talented original cast. Those who are leaving will be missed and I wish them all the very best of luck for the future!

I am typing this on the train at the moment on the way into town. There's a young lad and his dad who just sat down opposite me and they are discussing going swimming with the boys friends Theo and Myles but he can't pronounce his 'th' sound so his friend's name has become Feo! Cute! 

Aaaaanyway……

Saturday morning I got up to make some food and was planning on going for a swim before the 2 shows but London transport decided it wasn't to be by cancelling all the trains into London.

So I went straight in to work and after the matinee I met 4 of my friends from Wales and we had some food before two of them, Aimee and Carys watched the evening show. Aimee and I headed home in a taxi after that and chilled with a movie and a cup of tea with some toast! Isn't that what everyone does on a Saturday night? Tea and toast? ROCK AND ROLL!!! 

Sunday morning we had a lovely lay in before going for a long walk to Dulwich which I love. It has lots of cool shops and cafes and restaurants. We wondered around a bit before sitting in a pub to watch Wales kick ass in the rugby! Good times! It was a great game! 

Sunday evening I cooked a lovely dinner for us and then watched a bit of Dancing On Ice. I have to admit, I get a little bored with it at the moment. Do you? There's still too many of them in it and the programme is too long in my opinion. Get rid of the not so good ones and let's make it exciting to watch. My friend Matt Evers and his partner Jorgie clearly deserve to win it! She's incredible.

We then watched a bit more TV - including a programme called The Wedding Proposal. Did you see it? I only watched it because they were showing bits of Ghost on it. It's basically a programme following 4 men who decided to propose to their girlfriends in original and extravagant ways. One of which was a bloke coming on stage at the end of Ghost in a costume and bowed with the cast before Andrew Langtree who plays Carl announced to the audience that there was in fact a new person on stage and that he was there to speak directly to one special member of the audience - his girlfriend, who had just watched the performance of the show. Needless to say she said yes and it was edited very well - I thought and was very romantic! They only looked about 14 years old though. haha. Nice idea.

Monday we woke and met a friend of mine for brunch then Aimee headed back to the green green grass of home in North Wales and I for some reason thought it would be a good idea to do 3 whole hours in the gym! I mean seriously, I am a nuttier!!! I felt great afterwards but I tell you what, by Tuesday all I wanted to do was sleep ALL DAY!!! And there was no chance of that happening cos it was a busy day.

(I had to stop typing on the train as it arrived at my stop so I am now in my dressing room, having swam 30 lengths of the pool, had a steam and sauna and then warm up on stage and I've just had about a litre of protein shake with rice milk so I am now bloated and feel like I have swallowed an entire aquarium. Loads of liquid swishing round my belly! Bleurgh!)

Anyway, as I was saying, Tuesday was a very busy day. Siobhan and I had to be at the Mayfair hotel in Central London by 1.30 to run through and sound check our set for a gig we were doing there after the show on Tuesday night. We then got driven to the theatre to rehearse with the new cast before I had a guitar lesson and then the show. Crazy times.

After the show finished we had about 20 minutes to shower and get dressed up before our car arrived to take us to the hotel.

Basically the gig was in aid of the Prince's Trust. We were singing 4 songs from Ghost and giving them a taster of what the show has to offer. We arrived the hotel and about 15 minutes later were introduced onto the little stage to perform to a 50:50 ratio of rich people and celebrities, along the lines of JLS, Arlene Phillips, Faye Tozer, Sam Kane, Linda Lusardi etc etc. You can decide if they're A list or some other letter, way down the alphabet !!! Tee hee!

Anyway we sang and got out of there as soon as possible as it had been a long day and we needed sleep. (I did nab about 6 smoked salmon sandwiches in a napkin for my journey home though! Yum) 

Wednesday (yesterday) I had a lovely day I did 50 lengths of the pool before a physio session and then spent the afternoon with my best friend and her fiance so that we could shop for a suit for me and the other two brides men for their wedding. I'm the man of honour. So there will be three brides maids and three brides men! It's gonna be great. The outfits we picked were in the first shop we went into so the rest of the afternoon we just chilled out which was lovely.

I had some friends watching the show last night so I went to stay with them to catch up before a rise and shine this morning to fit in 30 lengths of the pool before warm up for today's two shows.

So that brings me to here right now (wasn't being stagey but that does happen to be the title of our opening song of Ghost!) (*Cue singing)

I just finished the matinee then popped out to sign a few things at stage door and now I'm gonna tuck into my food and enjoy an episode of Brothers and Sisters, which I am loving! 

Have a great week everyone.

If you're coming to see Ghost I hope you enjoy it!

Keep in touch on Twitter and Facebook folks. Love hearing from you all. Some tweets recently have really been making me laugh.

Love your lives & believe

Sh-boom!

Mark