London to Belgrade

April was a rather varied month (for me!) with a mixture of work and pleasure. The Matilda auditions (for the tour, at least) reached their conclusion, with news of who will be heading out on the production’s 2nd UK tour due later this summer. The first Sunday of April was a real delight as we got some of the Come From Away band back together and took over a pub in London with a session of trad music and suitable refreshments.

I had some down time over Easter, spending some of it socialising around London. A group of us have got into pub quizzes, and I won two weeks on the trot at different pubs! We’re trying out yet another one next week. My parents came down as my mum had a voucher (from me) to use to watch ABBA Voyage. It was the same day as The Boat Races, so I convinced my parents to come watch a bit of the race before hot-footing it across a busy London to make it in time (only just!) for the show. It is quite the spectacle and does really need to be seen to be believed! My sister also came to London. As she had a milestone birthday last month I treated her for a day to cocktails, a gourmet-themed treasure hunt and tickets to Titanique, which was brilliantly funny.

After the social whirling, I took some time back in Cheshire during Easter proper for a bit of a reset and a sort-out (trying to clear the garage and attic of stuff I have hoarded at my parents!) but also managed to pop into Manchester to see the new musical A Knight’s Tale, as I have friends working on the music side. It’s a proper fun night out that really doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the band sounded like they were having FAR too much fun!

Back in London, I became a little bit too obsessed with an Easter Egg hunt that had popped up across the capital. With eggs placed in most of the big central locations, it was a good excuse to head out and stretch the legs. And yes, of course, I found them all! You needn’t have asked.

April culminated in a rather unique hop across continental Europe to play on Phantom of the Opera in Belgrade, Serbia, as part of its world tour. I last played these keyboard parts in 2013, but thankfully the muscle memory just about started to work back into my body by the time I was walking into the Sava Center.

The stunning weather experienced in the UK at the end of April was equalled in Belgrade, thankfully, and I managed a little exploration of the city during my brief two-day stint there. I found the locals to be very friendly, and there’s a beautiful Roman fort up on the hillside where the Sava and Danube rivers meet. I hope to return someday!

May has a similar feel, with more social events, more Matilda auditions (this time for the West End production), and more adventures across Europe, this time to join the Chicago world tour in Sofia, Bulgaria! Bring it all on.