TELLY!

A change is as good as a rest, right? A few months ago we were informed that our show was going to be performing on Britain’s Got Talent, with the catch being that it would be happening in the middle of our scheduled holiday. Usefully, though, we had a whole fortnight off from performances, with BGT requiring just a three-day process from final rehearsals (we had of course been preparing our performance over the past few months on the road) to transmission, so I certainly made sure I made the most of my time away from the show either side of it.

The TV spot - you’ll know if you saw it - was a smashing success. There were various elements out of our control that could have derailed the whole show, but the crew at Hammersmith’s Apollo clearly revel in the challenge of Live TV, so with hindsight there was obviously nothing to worry about…! But the adrenaline was certainly flowing through our touring company. We’re all very used to starting a show as close to 7:30pm as we can, preparing everything for hours beforehand, only starting once everyone (including the audience) are ready. This is of course not the case with television, where things are put in place mere seconds before the red light on the camera flashes on, the track starts, and off you go - see you at the finish! My job as part of the actual performance was to conduct/cue the soloists just out of sight, so for the opening of Revolting Children I actually had to stand on the centre of the stage, in front of 2,500 people, as Bruce was filmed with them in the background for his opening solo! Both of us used IEMs to listen to the track, but I conducted as a fallback in case there were any issues. Similarly, I had a seat reserved in the audience (next to Simon Cowell’s son!) from where I could cue Bruce & Matilda for their solos in When I Grow Up. Everyone, from the judges through to the producers, seemed very pleased with the final result, and the company absolutely earned their break.

Matilda does Blue Peter

And that wasn’t the only TV spot that weekend. The night before the BBC showed our performance created specially for Blue Peter that we recorded a few weeks back when we were in Manchester (where the programme is based). This again was well-received, with much praise from the TV crew, and YES I did get a Blue Peter badge! A childhood ambition achieved after never receiving one for organising a Bring & Buy sale many, many years ago. The nice thing about both spots going out so close to each other was that every single member of our children’s cast were able to feature at some point, along with our adult ensemble and even some of our fabulous understudies.

As for the tour, after successful visits from our VIP creatives in Southampton, signing off on the great work being done every night, the aforementioned holiday has been well underway. We restart performances next week at Bristol’s Hippodrome, where focus also turns to our new cast of children who will join us for rehearsals ahead of their first appearances at Birmingham’s Hippodrome later this summer.

The cast change has actually been underway for a few weeks now, so again some of my holiday was used to drop in & see how they were getting on. We have brought on board a specialist creative team for these rehearsals, allowing the resident creatives to stay with the tour when necessary. Jodie Oliver-Howar is our wonderful Children’s MD for this, reprising her role that she had on the tour last year. The fresh injection of energy from our new young cast is going to be just the pick-me-up the tour will need after the post-BGT funk!

Personally I have enjoyed being back at my flat for a couple of weeks, although the heatwave did send me scurrying for the seaside for a couple of days (much cooler there)! I definitely feel like I have replenished my energy and am raring for the tour to restart. Bring on the summer, bring on Bristol!