Don't panic, it's not all about me.....need to have a quick chat about some Ghost boat thing.

If you regularly read this drivel you may have noticed that I have a penchant for opera at the cinema. I like seeing opera in this way because the atmosphere in a cinema compared to an opera house is so chilled out and the place is unlikely to sell out so you tend to find yourself having a whole row to yourself and nobody notices if you fall asleep. Always a bonus.

I used to love opera. I still appreciate it but I can't say I love it now. To be fair watching in a cinema is no substitute for seeing the genre live really. The sound in a cinema, no matter how good, can never replicate the power of the voice of an opera singer going at full pelt. There are advantages though. As long as you don't have a chorus who feel it necessary to react to every tiny little thing, being up close, in the middle of the action can be quite exciting. Having said that you are at the mercy of the editor as to what you get to see as they will decide what we as an audience need to see at any particular moment in time but that's just a small quibble.

I am not a fan of Wagner. Last night I saw, in it's entirety, only my second Wagner opera. I saw "Die Walküre" a couple of years back, again at the cinema, and last night I saw the ROH production of "Der fliegende Holländer" with the mighty Bryn Terfel and Adrianne Pieczonka. The singing was stonkingly good, truly fantastic. Bryn was brooding and dark while Pieczonka was hopeful and bright. I have always loved Pieczonka. I think she has the most incredible instrument housed in her body. It is a big voice but because of the shimmer she has at the top you never feel like she is beating you over the head with it the way some dramatic female voices do. She is also a stunningly good actress. It is an overused phrase these days but she really is a true stage animal. 

These two giants of the operatic world were joined by another giant but one who was feeling a little under the weather so an announcement was made at the beginning to ask us to bear with him. They needn't have as far as we in the cinema were concerned, Peter Rose was actually on good form. Totally holding his own as Daland with the other two even if he did resemble a Sontaran from Doctor Who. The chorus, too, were better than I have heard them in a while. The regular chorus were joined by a large number of extra chorus members and I kind of wish I had been in the theatre itself as at one point the stage was filled with men. Don't get the wrong idea, I wish I had been there because the sound must have been enormous.

All in all, I enjoyed it and the two and a bit hours, no interval, flew by. It was a surprise when the end came as it felt there should be another hour to go. This was where I got confused. I wasn't totally up on the story before I went to see it but I knew the legend of the Flying Dutchman and figured that Bryn Terfel's character was probably not going to get the girl, well not in the conventional sense anyway. I am assuming Senta is supposed to be seen doing summat she shouldn't with Erik to make the Dutchman spurn her and set sail alone but in this production she didn't appear to do anything (I might have missed it of course). Then I assumed, after Senta yells after him (The Dutchman that is) that she will remain true to him until death, she would probably kill herself but she just carried her little model boat, she had had since the beginning, to the centre of the stage and cried a bit. A total anticlimax.

That said I had a nice time. Still not convinced by Wagner though. Now, feel free to stop reading here as I am going to write a teeny tiny bit about my cabaret that DID happen on Sunday. So if you are fed up of hearing about it please go about your business and think no more about it.

There was a good turnout, about 44 people turned up (mostly friends or friends of friends, I think there were only 7 people who had no connection to me in attendance) so it was more successful in that respect than I had been expecting. It was only once it was done that I realised what an undertaking it had been. The running times were 45 minutes first half and 40 minutes second half. That is a LONG time to hold your own. I totally understand why people invite "guests" to join them on the stage during these affairs. Takes the pressure off a bit.

Everybody asked afterwards "did you enjoy it?". The honest answer was no, but not in a bad way. I didn't hate it and I want to do it again, and I want to do it again soon, but as a friend said to me, Sunday night was like having your tech rehearsal, dress rehearsal and first night (and last night) all at the same time. This was the first time I had tried out the show. In the future it might be an idea to rent a small hall and invite a few friends to come and see it for free just to give myself the opportunity to try out my material to see what works and what doesn't. To be fair there wasn't much I would change in the material I had but I hope I can deliver it better next time. I forgot a lot and got a bit lost at times, however, I am not terrible at getting myself out of a hole so I don't think I made any of my audience feel uncomfortable when I lost my way.

With hindsight, I am SO proud of myself for getting up and doing it. There is a huge difference between doing a 25 minute set on a bill with 3 other acts and what was, effectively, a one-woman show with 90 minutes of just me (and, of course, the wonderful Simona Budd on the piano). This was an immense achievement and one I need to do again. Who would have thought that 4 years of opera training would have led to this.

If anyone is interested in reading someone else's opinion of Sunday night then follow this link:

How did it come to this? The Pheasantry

1 week to go.....well 6 days....is that right?

So, less than a week until I finally do this Pheasantry thing. It has been a LONG time coming. Do not fret, I will stop going on about it very, very soon. 

With less than a week to go what do I decide would be a good thing to do? Go on holiday. I say holiday, do a couple of days just North of Blackpool constitute a holiday? In my world it does that's for sure. I don't really do holidays. Anyway, on my trip up to Blackpool yesterday (Sunday) I was listening to Elaine Paige's radio show on Radio 2 (the greatest radio station in the world!) when she said something along the lines of "there are great things coming up this week at The Pheasantry". My ears pricked up, my heart started beating ridiculously fast, would she get to Sunday? Would I get a mention on Elaine Paige on Sunday? No! She went as far as Saturday as some fabulous musical theatre singer is doing a few nights this week. I'm not quite famous enough for EP. Yet.

I am far too nervous already to talk more about this right now so I will just leave you with the link to buy tickets. Please come along if you can. If I can  get enough people to cover Simona's fee for playing the Joanna and the filming of the event I will consider the evening a success. Of course my dream is to have to turn people away the place is so rammed on the night but, this time, I reckon that is a pipe dream.

2 weeks to go....well, 1 and a bit really.

So the day of reckoning is fast approaching. My show, "How did it come to this?" on the 22nd of February at The Pheasantry WILL happen, whether we want it to or not, in just under 2 weeks. Today I ran through the whole show, on my own, and you would have loved it if you had been in my living room this afternoon. Everything I want to say is in my brain I am just hoping I can access it on the night.

I was starting to feel a bit of "the fear" a week or so ago and it occurred to me that I hadn't really performed since I did Cabaret Confidential at The Pheasantry back in July 2014. So when Paul L Martin suggested I go to the West End Wendies open mic night at The Loft above the Brasserie Toulouse-Lautrec in Kennington on Thursday night I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get back on the horse. Plus, as Simona Budd, my pianist on the 22nd, the Hinge to my Bracket if you will (only some of you will understand that cultural reference), was playing that night I decided it was meant to be. We could try out some new stuff. Make sure I knew all the words, make sure the funny songs were actually funny, that sort of thing. Brilliant.

Of course I chickened out of singing anything new and ended up singing 2 songs I did in my Cabaret Confidential set last year. That's OK though as both of these old songs feature in "How did it come to this?" so it wasn't a totally wasted opportunity or anything. I was flabbergasted at how nervous I was, I really wasn't expecting to be the quivering wreck I was, so I am exceedingly pleased I got up and sang. Any chance to rid myself of a few nerves and get into a calmer state of mind has to be a good thing.

I am determined that my nerves will not get the better of me and I am ever hopeful that Sunday the 22nd will be a rousing success and may lead to more nights of the same or similar. I already have show number 2 in the pipeline so I hope that more than 9 people turn up to make said new show a viable proposition. So if you feel like helping a girl out and eating a pizza at the same time then follow the link below to buy your tickets and hopefully I will see you on the 22nd.

3 weeks to go.....honestly not sure how I feel about that!

So, having waited 7 months, the day of my cabaret is fast approaching. In my head it is going to be a triumph. People will laugh, people will cry (for the right reasons), everyone will leave unable to wait for the next one. Hmmm, that's how it goes for about 5 seconds before a veil of impending doom descends over my head. It is too late to get out of it now so it will happen and I hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The worst being I forget my words all over the place, nobody laughs and there is a constant stream of tumbleweed passing before my feet throughout.

To be fair this is how I feel before most performances. I was listening to a radio interview with the fabulous actress Juliet Stevenson the other day and she said before she goes on for a performance she always thinks "Is it too late to retrain as a midwife?" I yelled "YES" at the radio because that is almost exactly what I think before going on stage (I sometimes change the profession). I just have to keep telling myself it will be fine and if it's not it will still happen and people will forget about it soon enough.

I don't mean to sound defeatist and pessimistic I just feel a lot of pressure. Pressure that I have applied myself. No one else has made me feel I HAVE to be good. The friends who intend to come are coming to support me not to see me fail which means I won't fail (even if I do forget my words). 

Anyway, worrying aside, the countdown to Sunday 22nd February has begun. Barring disaster it will come and it will go. Whether it is deemed a success or not is irrelevant the fact I am putting myself out there is more than enough for me. They say you should do something that scares you every day well I think this will be the equivalent of a months worth of scariness.

So if you fancy a bit of song and pizza please come along to The Pheasantry (Pizza Express, King's Road, London) on the 22nd.

Where the heck have you been?

So it has been a LONG time since I last posted. I apologise. I have been preoccupied with all sorts of stuff recently and therefore not been able to put fingers to keyboard to write for a while (does anyone remember when the phrase used to be "pen to paper"? To be fair, it is still a phrase I have just come up with a new one. I say I've come up with a new one, I am pretty sure I am not the first person to coin it). So what do you have to tell us, I hear you cry?

Well, I did a concert. It is true. I did a concert. A proper one with an orchestra and everything. 'Twas in the depths of Welsh Wales, well Cwmbran, at the Congress Theatre with the Welsh Musical Theatre Orchestra. So I am pretty sure you will have deduced it was an evening of musical theatre loveliness. I got to sing stuff I have been dying to sing for years all with the added thrill that it was with orchestra. Apart from a small (coughs) mess up in "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" (to be fair I am a soprano and I was on the bottom harmony line and, as everyone knows, sopranos don't do harmony) it was a stupendously good evening that helped me realise why I chose this as a career and why it should still be my career. As a consequence I am off back to Cwmbran on the 5th December to do a little lunchtime thing at the Congress Theatre with the orchestra's conductor, Andrew Hopkins so, yes folks, that means I am doing another gig. 3 in one year, I might be able to call myself a professional singer again if this keeps up.

The good thing about doing this little shindig on the 5th December is it gives me a chance to try out a few bits and pieces I will be performing at The Pheasantry on the 22nd February 2015. For those who don't know (or don't remember as I am so lazy and have not posted in so long), following my little stint as part of "Cabaret Confidential", Paul L Martin invited me to put together a whole evening of just me (and, of course, the brilliant Simona Budd at the piano). The evening has a title and a poster so it is pretty much ready to go (once I have decided on an actual programme) and it is this I would like to share with you right now. It is subject to change so do not hold me to everything I have included on the poster. You can't book yet but there are only 80 something tickets available so book early to avoid disappointment I say (I will post again when tickets become available).

In the meantime this is a taste of what might be to come:

Small addition to post:

OMG I have just seen that my blog has had over 20,000 views. I thank you all for reading. Roll on 25,000.

A bit of shameless self-promotion....is there a better use of one's own blog?

So you may, or may not, recall a I am finally putting myself out there again and, for the very first time, putting together a Cabaret (you only have to listen to me for 20 minutes, 25 if I waffle). If you want to refresh your memory you can read Time to get back on the horse then... before you read on.

July 10th is the date I have chosen (actually I didn't really have a choice) to torture people with the beginnings of my one woman show. I will be appearing at The Pheasantry (Pizza Express on the King's Road) as part of Cabaret Confidential and I thought what better way to make a start on my Incompetent Soprano show than throwing myself in at the deep end. At least this way if I bore you you can eat yourself into oblivion.

July 10th will give you, and me, the opportunity to sample a little of what might be. Of course, this is assuming you are in the least bit interested in witnessing such an event.

So if you fancy a bit of pizza with your cabaret I promise to, at least, try to amuse you. It would be so fabulous to have some friendly faces in the audience. Book your table now by clicking here.

See you on Thursday 10th July.