Welcome to my blog page.
26/11/10 - Goodbye London.
Well last Sunday I was in Chesterfield turning on the Christmas Lights...along with Scooby doo...oh yes A list names all the way! Suffering with a stonking cold I headed north in the cold and got into my frock...with hidden layers...and was taken into the town where the crowds were gathering around the main stage. A good few thousand had turned out in the cold yet dry evening. I went on to the stage with the presenters from Peak FM and got a lovely reception from the crowd, thankfully Dr Footlights kicked in and i don't think i sounded too bunged up and sniffy!
After a chat and introducing Postman Pat, the Mayor and Scooby doo and a few funny lines etc it was time for the big countdown and to turn on the lights. From my view on stage you get to see all the main streets light up and the big tree which is lovely and a real Christmas feel takes over the crowd.
Been busy this week finishing off adding bits to my frocks, stocking up on eye lashes, glitter and wig spray...along with boxes of lemsips to fight off this cold that is lurking! It was my last day at the Funeral Directors...i was in the branch on my own and gosh i was busy! So this weekend i finally get to sit down and start to learn my lines before heading off on Sunday evening to my digs in Chesterfield and rehearsals at 10am on Monday morning!
So I will keep you up dated on rehearsals and opening night and hopefully I will see some of you in the audience. To all my fellow Dames, principal boys, girls, baddies, fairies, dancers and babes who will working their socks off in Pantoland this year, have a wonderful season, keep stocked up on lemsip and port and remember...you can never have enough glitter!
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11/11/10 - Winter is here!
I haven't written in a while so I thought I'd give you a quick up date whilst im sat at the cold, rainy funeral directors...you can't say an actors life isn't varied!
My 11th and final wig arrived last week and it is massive and I have just the frock to wear it with! also my size 12 victorian boots arrived yesterday...when you play Ugly Sister you are able to wear killer heels but when you play Dame especially a motherly dame like Widow Twankey killer heels don't really fit the role, so i got for smaller heels and boots instead...these ones are purple!
Wont be long now until im off rehearsing, some of my other Dame friends are gearing up for the start of rehearsals and turning on of lights in the next couple of weeks, I leave London on the 28th of November and i'm turning on the Chesterfield Christmas lights on the 21st...
In the mean time my work at the Funeral Directors continues and will carry on right until I leave for panto...I have to remind myself that I am actually an Actor and not an Undertaker now...or perhaps I should remind my agent of this as well?!?!? However I did have the local Father come in twice today, the second time to see if he'd dropped his teeth in the shop....! and he didn't in case you were wondering.
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30/10/10 - Lantern Parade, Chesterfield
Well today I packed up my car with wigs, frocks, boobs, heels and a lot of make up and headed up the M1 to Chesterfield to lead the Lantern Parade.
I got to the theatre and by pure luck got a parking space right outside the entrance! Met George Telfer who is playing Abanazar and who played Baron Hard Up with me last year in Cinderella and had a good catch up. Started to get ready when the Producer and Director Bruce James arrived...and proceeded to talk to me and then wonders why i take so long getting my make-up on! As we were getting ready we could hear the beats of the drums from the samba band warming up which were to play in the Parade.
At 6.15...and with me finally ready...it takes alot to look this good! ;) we went out to the head of the parade. It's so nice to see all the lanterns that have been made and this year the theme was Aladdin and there were more people than ever taking part. George and I took our places at the front and met the Mayor and Mayoress and had lots of pictures taken for the press...que plenty of gags about the Mayors whopper. Then it was time to start, we walked through the town with the samba band in full swing, stopping for photos, giving out the show flyer's and general silliness and made our way to Queens Park which was wonderfully lit up and there were 100's of people waiting for us to arrive!
Plenty of publicity for the show but so many people came up to me to tell me they had already booked their tickets which was great news! Tickets have been selling very well, looks like another sell out year....so if you haven't got yours yet, don't hang about!!
--------------------------------------- 26/10/10 - More wigs have landed! Today I received 3 more wigs to go with this years panto frocks, bringing my total to 10! I have 1 more wig to get then I will be all wigged up for Christmas. All 3 are very nice, 2 need a bit of dressing but should be fine with a bit of TLC before and throughout the run. I also ordered a pair of heeled victorian style boots, in purple...size 12 of course! They are being specially made and should be here in a few weeks! I'll have to take some photos of all the costumes and wigs during Panto so you can all have a nosy...or even better come and see them in person at the Pomegranate Theatre ... I feel a plug coming on... from Dec 8th - Jan 2nd...see i told you! This Saturday I will be leading the Chesterfield Lantern Parade through the town, i hope the rain and cold weather holds off as I will be in full frock and a northern wind up ones petticoat is never pleasant! Last year was great fun over 400 people in the parade with their lanterns and a live, walking samba band, so if anyone happens to be about at 6.30pm come and say hello! --------------------------------------- 20/10/10 - Panto Poster goes live! Well today the much awaited poster for ALADDIN was released with yours truly adorning the page. It's a nice looking poster and after many friends asking if it really is me...i can confirm that YES the creature in the purple wig really is me! From what I hear tickets are flying out the door, so have a look on my Panto Page for Box Office details if you don't want to miss out! --------------------------------- 14/10/10 - Russians, Cold, Death & Panto tickets! I had a very good meeting with my Russian solicitor Svetlana London the other day to help me on some legal issues i'm having at the moment, it is so nice to have someone who is totally on the ball, sharp and firm in my corner, I hope this situation...which i will tell you about once it has been resolved...will soon be over! I'm back in the throws of Hearnden & Daughters Funeral Directors working in their branches and carrying out funerals as much as I can before I head off to Pantoland in a few weeks. Do you also know that Hearnden & Daughters are the only Undertakers recommended by Equity the actors union! They offer a 10% discount if you are your loved one was/is an Equity member....every little helps say I! I'm so impressed that so many friends and family have already booked to come and see me in Aladdin this Christmas in Chesterfield, ticket sales so far have beaten last years at this point which is fantastic! So if you haven't booked them yet get a wriggle on, like the magic carpet they are flying out the door! I will be up in Chesterfield on Oct 30th leading the Lantern Parade through the town...just hope it doesn't rain, plays havoc with my make-up and wigs if it does! --------------------------- 05/10/10 - Varied Life Since arriving home from Majorca on Saturday in these couple of days they show how varied a life i lead sometimes, which I thought I might share with you! As panto season is almost upon us once again, I am putting the final touches to my costumes and ordering the finals wigs and shoes that are needed...in plenty of time just in case there is a problem esp as I have size 12 feet and ordering ladies shoes on the net in this size can have its difficulties when they arrive! I am also advising a company that I will be working for next year on their production. I played Kenneth Halliwell in the new musical The Boys In The Front Room and I have been asked to stay on in my leading role as they are planning on putting the show on in London next September, so I am helping them with funding packages etc... This is a show about Joe Orton and his lover and killer Kenneth Halliwell. I also had a call out on Monday afternoon at the funeral directors and had to go and collect a gentleman who had passed away a couple of hours before hand from his home. Unexpected death is always very hard for a family to deal with and the shock and pain for them was so evident when I arrived. I like to think that a cuddle and some comforting words and a trust that I will care for their loved one somehow helps them in their journey of grief. Arranging a time to meet my solicitor as I am having legal advice to stop some very fishy goings on...will tell all another day dear reader! I also had to reply to a request from a student asking for some help and advice for her school work on acting and what it's like to be an actor etc topped off by an autograph request from America!! PHEW! It's only Tuesday!!! I have added the link on this site for the first interview I have given to The Derbyshire Times this year for panto...it's titled 'Dame of a laugh' ho ho ho! I will be back in Chesterfield on October 30th to lead the Lantern Parade through the town. I did this last year, great fun about 500 people with lanterns walk through the town with a live band playing and yours truly leading them all!....all i have to say is, cobbled streets & sized 12 high heels.....! ------------------------------------------- 02/10/10 - Honey I'm home! Just a quick one tonight! I arrived home this afternoon from my holiday in Majorca, what a smack of reality I got touching down at Gatwick to a grey, rainy day and then followed by 2hours of traffic until i got home...when only a few hours earlier I was watching the sun rise over the ocean! I had a lovely week on holiday, met some really lovely people and had a good laugh, everything seems so much easier and carefree with the sun beating down! I thought i'd attach 1 of the photos taken of me at Postman Pat which was taken at the Panto Press Launch in Chesterfield in September!
21/09/10 - Happy Birthday to ME! Age is but a number and today mine went up to 29! Heading towards the very grown up big 30 but for now im happy still to be in my 20's...just! I feel very lucky to have had so many messages sent to me today for my birthday from so many people! In todays super quick electronic world the vast majority of messages came via text, facebook and twitter...well i suppose it saves on trees! I spent my day working - on my own...someone get the violin out - at Hearnden & Daughters, yep the Funeral Directors! not what I would have thought i'd do on my birthday but bills wait for no man! It is now only a couple of days until I fly off to Majorca with a couple of friends for week! and i can't wait! to have a good rest and to forget the worries and stresses of life here for while will do me good, plenty to sort out before i go though! In the meantime thank you to everyone who sent me Birthday wishes be it via, snail mail, text, facebook, phone or twitter, i'm very touched! -------------------- 16/09/10 - Aladdin Press Launch Well this morning I headed up the M1 to Chesterfield for the Press Launch of Aladdin! Thankfully my new wig from Italy arrived as I was walking out the door and I really wanted to wear it with the frock I was taking...so it arrived in the nick of time...and I must it looked great on! After a 2 and a half hour drive along alot of road works that drive me insane on the M1 I was back in Chesterfield, I really cant believe that 9months has gone by since I was there doing Cinderella and a whole year since the last press launch, it really has flown past! It was lovely to see Bruce James (the producer) who i always have a laugh with, George Telfer who was Baron Hard up last year and a regular Chesterfield panto villain, sporting a goatee in a Kenny Rodgers type way!, Darren Tough who has been my Dandini for the last 2 years and this year will be Wishee my son and 2 new people Morgan and Alexandra, both very nice. Liz the Theatre Manager of the Pomegranate was also there to greet which was nice....so all very social and time for a good catch up before getting all the gear on! Got into one of my new frocks for her maiden outing in public and the brand spanking ''im just out of my box'' new wig, put my slap on (make-up) and lashes then it was tits and teeth and Dame faces for the press pictures! My face always gets a good workout when im doing photos for the newspapers, pulling lots of suprised, shocked, cheeky, mumsy, daft faces and lips all over the place! After single pictures, group shots and then photos of me and baddie, me & son, & princess etc it was time for Postman Pat ....without Jess, she has a different agent! to come out and have his picture taken! He will be in our panto this year...im told the kids will love it....! Once inside the theatre after walking the wolf whistles of Chesterfield towns folk and photos all over it was time to sit down and be interviewed by Gay Bolton, it was nice she remembered me from last year, my Ugly Sister Ian Ganderton & I gave her a comedy hard time in our video interview last time...which you can see on the Panto Page! This interview I think was a good, witty one, the mention of funeral directing came into it and one of my 3 wishes was wanting to go to Dollywood, i'll put the interview on here once it's out it will all make some sort of sense then! The show is selling very well already, so it looks like it is going to be another sell out like last year, so if you are planning on coming...which I hope you are, book now! Once the tickets are gone, they are gone! Long drive back along the M1 and slightly less road works and i'm quite looking forward to bed! I don't dare say how many weeks until the start of panto...but lets put it this way...it will soon be here! -------------------------- 14/09/10 - Tick tock This week i have been re-stocking up on my make-up from Charles Fox in Covent Garden for Thursdays panto press launch in Chesterfield. I only got the basic amount that i need just to get me through Thursday and so with the smallest bag of products in the world came a £41 bill!! As Dolly Parton once said, it costs alot to look this cheap! I had a meeting last night to discuss the musical The Boys In The Front Room which is about the life Joe Orton and his partner and killer Kenneth Halliwell. I played Kenneth Halliwell in the production a couple of years ago at the Gatehouse Theatre. I met up with the writer and he is hoping to put the show on next year at the New Players Theatre in London, so fingers crossed that will come off...i have been asked to play the role of Kenneth again....so watch this space! Next week on the 21st will be my 29th birthday...oh god the last year of being in my 20's!!... so i have booked a weeks holiday to Majorca which i really am looking forward too. I will be going with my friends Colin and Emily, we are all looking forward to some heat & sun!! I'm actually looking forward to having a rest and leaving the stresses of London behind, alot has been going on lately, which i will tell you all about when it is all sorted once and for all, which hopefully is now only a matter of time away. ------------- 09/09/10 - Some things cost nothing! This is going to be quite a short brief post tonight! Manners really do cost nothing, I think alot of people forget this, the simple use of the words ''please'' and 'thank you'' really do go along way in creating an atmosphere of goodwill and harmony, however the lack of using these very little simple words can cause so much damage and unrest, is all that hassle worth it?? It doesnt matter if you are the boss of a company, the Queen of England or a hard working cleaner manners is something we could all do well from remembering. ------------------------------ 07/09/10 - Almost time to launch Panto! Well next week on the 16th I will be in Chesterfield for our panto press day! This will involve me taking up a couple of frocks and wigs, my 2 giant make-up boxes and a pair of man sized ladies shoes and getting into my Widow Twankey gear ready for photos and interviews with the press to launch ALADDIN at the Pomegranate Theatre this Christmas! It only feels like the other week I was up in Chesterfield in Cinderella as Whitney one of the Ugly Sisters, it has been a couple of years since I last played single Dame, so i'm quite looking forward to going solo once again! I went today to collect 2 of the frocks i'm going to wear from where I store all my costumes, not forgetting my under dress hoop, pinny & boobs...all the things a Widow in peeking needs! I'm no just waiting on 1 of my new wigs to arrive from Italy and once she has made friends with all the other girls (wigs dear reader...keep up) i'll pair them up with the frocks to take aswell. I attacked the wigs with more plastic spray....read other blogs to find out what this is if you cant remember...and yet again pink elephants and moving floors happened! i must open the back door infuture...is this stuff addictive? answers on a postcard please! ------------------------------- 01/09/10 - Plenty of hits! For the first time in my life i'm quite pleased to be hit so often! In the last month alone my website & blog page have been hit over 190 times which i think is pretty amazing! So it proves to me that there are people out there who read my ramblings! Yesterday and today I was working at the funeral home on 2 funerals that I have had alot of input with since their loved one passed away. Both days were very sunny and both funerals had alot of people turn out which I think is lovely to see. It was an honour to work alongside both families and help them through a very hard and sad time and help them provide a send off for their wife, husband, mother, father that is truly fitting. The minister today at St. Marylebone crematorium was very good, I heard him explain to a 9 year old child who was asking about his grandad in the box and his explanation as to what had happened to grandad and what was in 'the box' was wonderfully put. He likened the body in the coffin to a hair cut, he went on, when we have a hair cut, all about us on the floor is our hair that the hairdresser has cut off and once the cut is over, we get up from the chair and leave, but our hair is still on the floor. Even though the hair on the floor is part of us, we are able to leave it behind and so grandad who is now in heaven is like that person in the hairdressers, he has got up and lives on in heaven but has left behind him the bits he doesnt need anymore and that is what we were saying goodbye to today. The little boy understoond all this, walked to the coffin said 'bye bye grandad' and was perfect for the rest of the service, fully understanding what was going on. I have ordered a new wig from my maker in Italy today, a tri-coloured pink wig in big curls, it's very nice and is wigging its way over to the UK and should be here by the end of the week...I hope! ------------------------------- 28/08/10 - Only Fools would miss it! Off I went today to the Ludlow Assembly Rooms for the opening night of Boycie & Marlene which I am producer of and stars the excellent John Challis & Sue Holderness from Only Fools & Horses and the spin off The Green Green Grass. I dragged my friend Amanda with me to keep me company on the 3 hour drive and her packed lunch helped pass the time in the car! It was lovely to see John and Sue again and their partners Carol and Mark, having last seen them at the close of the first tour back in March in Exmouth. Since then Sue has been touring in Calendar Girls and they have both been giving talks on cruise ships....Sue has another 5 to go on after our tour and before she starts panto!! If i ever become famous, please let me get into the cruise market!! It was a sell out house in Ludlow which is a very pretty place! So a great way to start the tour! I have seen the show hundreds of times now, but i still find myself laughing in places just as much as I did the first time i heard and saw it. It just goes to show that sometimes good comedy always works however much you see it! I really love hearing the audience reactions to all the gags and footage for the first time and hearing them talk in the interval as their memories have been jogged by certain things they have just seen! John & Sue were in good spirits ( as were Carol & Mark) and they really love performing their show which comes across so much on stage to the audience. I was able to leave during Act 2 very pleased and knowing that a great time was had by everyone one on and off stage! ---------------------------- 25/08/10 - Rain rain go away! Another busy day in the land of Funeral Directing and I am learning that a very important part of the job is actually talking...not hard for me i hear you cry....but talking and listening to a family. Not just about their passed loved one or funerals, but talking about other things and laughing and taking their mind off their awful situation for 15 mins, half an hour, it really does help! This evening I went to Witney in Oxford to see the Rain of Shine Theatre Comapany perform their The Importance of Being Ernest. I wasnt really looking forward to it as it is open air theatre and today it has done nothing but rain! but thankfully the venue had a covered alternative and we were able to stay dry! It was a very good show, i've never seen Ernest before on stage and i'm so pleased i have now! The comedy & wit is right up my street and if any casting directors are reading this I am a perfect Algernon...so please cast me!! I know the company well and knew many of the actors in the show and it was a joy to see them! Hilary Derret who i toured the UK & Germany with in Macbeth was playing Lady Bracknell and drew many laughs from the audience. Jane Lloyd who acts in the show, produces it and makes the costumes did a wonderful job in the wardrobe department, all the costumes looked fantastic! I bumped into an actor I worked with in The School for Scandal in 2007 which was a lovely suprise and a good chance for a catch up! So a very good show and a very nice evening was had by all! ----------------------------- 24/08/10 - Be careful what you wish for Well today I was back at Hearnden & Daughters... I swear I thought I was an Actor once!?... and just as Sharron (who is lovely & very good at her job) and I sat there saying there wasn't much todo, we had a sudden rush on! 10mins apart came in 2 families, Sharron took her gentleman into the family room, he had a very sad story which I don't feel is right to talk about on here, but man sometimes life is cruel. My family had lost their husband/dad at the weekend and so I was planning the bringing of their loved one into our care and for the funeral to take place next week. There is alot of paper work that goes with funerals and death and the family have a lot to think about for example coffins, cars, hymns, poems etc just at a time when they are trying to handle their grief and in some cases come to terms with a sudden loss. Again I am pleased to say that I will be carrying out the funeral next week, so I will be with the family from start to finish which i like. Tomorrow I will be back at work to collect the gentleman and bring him into our care where we can start to get him ready for his funeral. I will also be checking the route to the crematorium in East Finchley for next week, so we know exactly where we are going and how long it will take us from Hatch End so all the timings work out...you don't want to be late to your own funeral! Tomorrow evening I will be going off to Oxford to see an open air production of The Importance of Being Ernest with the Rain or Shine Theatre Compnay. This is a company that I toured open air with in 2006 playing Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream for 4months. So I know pretty much all the cast in the show, so i'm looking forward to a nice evening out & you can't beat a good bit of open air theatre! --------------------- 18/08/10 - Working 9 to 5 What a way to make a living as a very wise well endowed country singer once said! I've been having a busy time of late and I feel like i've had it in, out and shaken it all about! With the arrival of my 2 new wigs, I had to wiz in to Covent Garden yesterday to pick up 2 cans of plastic spray, this stuff is a god send! When you spray it on to your wig it sets hard and freezes the shape & style of the wig, it would take a heavy truck or a panto season to shift it! After a few cans of that, my kitchen was the place to see multi coloured wigs, flying pigs and pink elephants...note to self, open the back door in future! I had a very early start today as I was running the Harefield branch of Hearnden & Daughters. This is the funeral directors newest branch that has only just opened and they left it in my hands all day....I have suddenly got the reputation at work that I attract death, this being because when i'm in the Hatch End office, I always seem to get a booking....not so today! it was quite literally dead....yes the pun was intended! So after playing about with a window display which got alot of attention from the locals and a few came in asking for information....that was about as exciting as it got! For some reason everyone on civy street felt the need to wave at me, I happily waved back, friendly face of the new company in town and all that...but really lots of waving was going on in Harefield today! ------------------------------- 12/08/10 - The girls have landed Well this morning before I headed off to Hearnden & Daughters, Mr Postman dropped off my 2 new wigs I bought the other day! The boxes they came in were massive, but to be fair the wigs are rather large and they came on headstands aswell.... my niece will have fun playing in them! They are very nice, good style wig although they both need alot of firming up, which means I will spray them with a thing called plastic spray, this will freeze, cement, lock the wig in its shape so it can withstand the torment of a busy, hot, relentless life on stage! ''sing out Louise!'' I can now add them to my girls i already have, I hope the all play nice together! From thinking of wigs and all things theatrical, I was also working today at the undertakers, driving the new mercedes fleet of limos and hearses on a funeral...I had a go driving both! very nice...although to start I couldnt find the hand break or turn it on, sometimes cars can be just abit too fancy! I felt like i was in a bubble and driving a tank as they are very big, but they were a nice drive. It is amazing the lack of courtisy there is on the road for a funeral, people can see we drive very large cars that take up alot of room and often in convoy. There is no need to speed up head on at us, try and cut into the procession or block our path to stop us getting out...if you just let us do our thing we will be out of your way very quickly! However it was very nice to see driving along today in the hearse with full coffin and flowers that a policewoman stopped and took off her hat as we passed. Nice to see some old fashioned respect still exists! ------------------------------------ 10/08/10 - Perspectives & Reality Had a very busy day yesterday at the funeral home what with planning a funeral for next week, having viewings all day of loved ones and this was followed today by going out on a funeral...i'm becoming very nifty driving the hearse i must say! Yesterday and today i was dealing with a gentleman who had passed away at the age of 42 (no age at all if you ask me) and through being with him and his family & friends yesterday and on his funeral today you really have to stop and think about your own life and gather some perspective. To see the sheer raw and total grief of a wife for her husband, mother and father for their son and siblings for their brother is terrible, there is nothing anyone can say or do to make them feel any better or to placate their sense of loss. A positive feeling you can take away from all this is that of Love. The love that is/was felt for this gentleman was immense and I hope some comfort for his family by the sheer amount of people who attended today. Coming away from all this, coming home and sorting though emails many petty & moaning, resenting taking the dog out in the rain & not wanting to get up tomorrow for work etc all becomes for a time quite insignificant to what others are having to go through and the fundermental realitiy of life and our own existance become all the more real. The sad thing is as with all things in cycles, tomorrow is another day it will be someone elses turn to cope, grieve and deal within their own families, until one day that cycle will stop and it will be our turn. --------------------- 08/08/10 - Just a quickie ...as the actor said to the Bishop! Thought i'd just jot a few lines seeing as this week i'm going to be pretty busy working everyday at the funeral home. I have been on call all weekend and so far - touch wood - i havn't been called...what's the betting that in the early hours of the morning I will be just when I have to be in work early on Monday! Fingers crossed I wont be! I read yesterday in The Sun (so it must be true right?!) that there is only 140 odd days until Xmas...!! where has the year gone?!? So it is almost time to start thinking about panto, shameless plug now, but hey this is my website... start thinking about booking your tickets for my panto ALADDIN at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield Dec 8th - Jan 2nd. If it's anything like last year, it will sell out very fast! All details can be found on the Panto Page and New Page! If you are coming let me know, would love to see as many of you there as possible! ----------------------------- 05/08/10 - First time for everything Well it has been a couple of days since my last blog, so thought it was time for an update and i've been a busy boy! Due to the shocking lack of acting work my time at the funeral directors is becoming more frequent...thankfully. I need the money! As much as I am desperate for some acting work - agent if you are listening! - I quite enjoy my time at Hearnden & Daughters in Harrow, a genuine nice bunch of people that I get on well with...which helps alot in the work place don't you think! Last week I was left running the office while everyone else was out on a funeral. This generally means holding the fort, answering the phones, dealing with anyone who may come in and going to collect people who have passed away from where ever they may be. I have been shown how to plan a funeral and last week I had to put it into practice when a family came in, sadly their mum had died a few days before and were initially looking for quotes. A slight air of panic hit me, even though I have been shown what to do actually a) remembering this and b) being faced with a grieving family with many questions really does keep you on your toes and no amount of training prepairs you for that! After having a chat about mum and about her life, any thoughts and wishes she had and like to happen and what the family would like to happen, I was able to give a quote and the family were happy to plan the funeral with me. Being faced with people who are full of such raw emotion at a very difficult time is hard to see and the position you are elevated to really gave me the feeling of great amount of resposibility. Not only are you helping, advising & giving a guiding hand to someone who doesnt know if they are coming or going and lets face it most of us are not used to having to plan a funeral for a loved one, but I as the funeral director am being trusted with that families most precious possession and lets not forget funerals do not come cheap, so you are also dealing with thousands of pounds of someone elses money. I am pleased to say thought that next week I will be carrying out the funeral of this client, I like the idea that I have been with this family from the start. On a positive note, the HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) phoned to say they actually owe ME money! :) I've already allocated the money on wigs for panto this year! So far I have 4 wigs so 7 more to get, as I have 11 costumes you really should have a different wig for each frock....wigs don't come cheap, sometimes they can cost more than it did for the actual frock to be made! SO if any of you come and see me in Chesterfield this Xmas in Aladdin or anyother pantos around the country, take note of the Dames wigs, alot of thought and money goes into them! --------------------------- 30/07/10 Well I feel abit better after my rant yesterday! Although the news that the new government will be making massive cuts to the Arts & Film industry won't help our already suffering profession! Equity (the actors union) sent out some statisitcs today and I thought I'd share a couple with you; The arts are one of the UK's greatest success stories. Makes for interesting reading doesn't it! I spent time today emailing over 200 theatres across the UK with information and press packs on a show Morse & du Fer Productions is hoping to produce next year with psychic medium Sue Nicholson star of Living TV's Sensing Murder, which I really believe would be a wonderful show. Sue originally from Birmingham now lives in New Zealand is very popular on that side of the globe appearing in 2 TV shows. She is very excited a bout coming to the UK next year with her show Energy of Spirit, so I dearly hope we are able to book a good tour for her...although the competition out there is stiff. I have already mentioned in other blogs, Sally Morgan, Colin Fry & Derek Achora are firm fixtures on the touring circuit along with 20 other psychic medium shows that are also doing the rounds....fingers crossed and a bit of astral influence our show will do well... This evening I went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D with an old school friend and it was brilliant, so go and see it with or without the kids! ------------------------------- 29/07/10 - Down Times Well the frustration of it all has got the better of me, the lack of work, the lack of honesty from companies, the lack of respect we get, the ignoring of emails, phone calls and that when you pay your agent 15% + VAT on a weekly wage from a contract i have had for the last 2 years....i expect results....sadly these results have certainly not come! So I decided to send a letter to my agent explaining this....I got my reply today, I could have almost written it myself...quiet at the moment, down turn due to economic climate etc.. which I understand and do agree with...but not 1 single audition all year from them, things are bad but not THAT bad!! I feel in these times of hardship in the Arts things like commissions need to reflect the lack of money on offer as a wage and from January the whopping 20% VAT, this will cripple people like myself within theatre and touring companies where wages are not exactly vast sums of money. We have to be able to live, it is taken as red we love our jobs and profession but this cannot be used as an excuse to swipe giant chunks of our wages and constantly keep us living hand to mouth. This i am afraid dear reader this is the reality of being a jobbing actor, from having 5 years of near constant acting work...suddenly you can find yourself in a position where nothing is opening up or on offer to you...and the advice given is....wait.....ride it out.....well if only the people who issue my phone bills, MOT, petrol, clothes, living costs would also accept these little gems of wisdom!??! Rant over, the sun has gone down and will be up again in the morning and all will be well in the new day....yeh right, back to the Undertakers on Monday...Bring out ya dead!!! -------------------------------- 27/07/10 - There's nothing like a Dame! Headed to Shoreham today to see Pat Moss who has been making all 11 of my panto frocks for my season as Widow Twankey in ALADDIN this Christmas at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield. After a hellish journey with lots of traffic on the M25, I got to Pat's and was welcomed with a much needed plate of cheese on toast and cup of coffee! After lunch we cracked on with the fitting, I had already brought 3 frocks home on my last visit, so I only had the final 8 to try on and have any last minute alterations made. Normally fittings can be quite boring but with Pat we always have a good chat and a giggle which helps the time pass! I am so pleased with my frocks and to finally have them home. The workman (woman)ship is amazing, Pat is a very clever lady and nothing is too much trouble, during this whole proccess never once did she say 'I can't or won't be able to do that'! Whilst I was at Pat's fellow Pantomime Dame and creator of its-behind-you.com Nigel Ellacott phoned, so we were able to swap tips and numbers of various wig makers and dame shoe suppliers...most of us take a mans size in a ladies shoe, which means we have to go to special shoe suppliers....use your imagination dear reader! Nigel is a dame at the top of the tree and has been doing panto for many many years, I've got to know Nigel at mutual friend and panto fairy Lynette McMorrough's garden parties in the summer, it's always good to cream off top tips from someone so experienced. Just wigs to sort out now and then i'm all set for the season and the publicity day at the theatre in September...all this and it's only July...! Clearly panto is for life and not just for Christmas! ------------------------------ 26/07/10 Well what a day! I had a call out at the Undertakers this morning, had to go to a nursing home and collect a gentleman who had passed away earlier this morning. The saying 'dead weight' is a very accurate one...goodness me my back! Collecting someone who has passed away only a matter of hours earlier is very sobering and gives me plenty to think about. It's sad to see that a life has come to an end and however gentle and respectful we are, there is always something very final, basic and perhaps demeaning about how we will all one day end up. After my dip into death, I came home and confirmed with Pat my costume maker that it's all ok for my to collect my finished panto frocks tomorrow, so i'll be off to Shoreham in the morning! Apart from being an Actor...and an undertaker (!) I am also co-producer of Morse & du Fer Productions Ltd. We are currently producing tours for John Challis & Sue Holderness best known and loved for their roles in 'Only Fools & Horses' & 'The Green Green Grass'. BOYCIE & MARLENE has already toured at the start of the year and after a break will be back on the road in August. John & Sue are lovely and true professionals, I'm really looking forward to seeing them both again, along with their other halfs Carol and Mark who also tour with them. We are also producing a tour for dance legend Wayne Sleep opening in Nov and touring Jan - March 2011 called PRECIOUS LITTLE SLEEP. I have yet to meet Wayne but i'm very excited to see what he has planned for the show when i meet him in a couple of weeks to see the content of the performance. Our final show which we only announced last week is ENERGY OF SPIRIT, starring top international psychic medium and star of Living TV's 'Sensing Murder' Sue Nicholson. So I spent this afternoon calling the 200+ theatres on my list to see if they would like to book dates from April next year....this proves very frustrating when Sally Morgan (who i love) and Colin Fry (who i do not) seem to have a grip on all the theatres....so we shall see! ------------------------------------------- 25/07/10 Hello and welcome to my blog! After much thought I have decided to write a blog and keep you all up to date on...well me... and perhaps for those of you who are not involved in the acting world, provide some form of insight as to what it is like to be a jobbing actor with the highs and lows, especially in the tough current climate...this might not make for good reading after all! As some of you will know I have for the last 7 years been playing Dame / Ugly Sister in that great British tradition that is Pantomime! This year I will be going back to the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield, Derbyshire to play Widow Twankey in ALADDIN, I had a great time in Chesterfiled last Xmas when I was playing Ugly Sister in CINDERELLA to full houses for the full run! For the first time in my Pantomime career I am providing my own wardrobe...a very costly thing as any Dame will tell you! I'm having the grand total of 11 frocks made for me this year by Pat Moss who used to make Dame frocks for HI-DE-HI star Barry Howard, Melvyn Hayes, Wayne Sleep etc...i'm clearly in good hands! The work that Pat has put into these outfits over the last few months is amazing and they are going to look fantastic on stage, i'm very excited about collecting them all this Tuesday to bring home!...roll on Panto! However, Panto season is a long way off and as I keep telling my agent 'man cannot live on panto alone'...deaf ears anyone!?!? The lack of work and even auditions this year is something i'm -thankfully- not used to, but the words ''things are quiet at the moment'' don't make me feel any better especially when I still have bills to pay! I won't even get started on the 'boys network' that happens in our profession...yep it's not just confined to the mens clubs of the city you know! So the shocking lack of any work on the horizon apart from Xmas has lead me to take up a part time job as an Undertaker. I have played to a few dead audiences in my time but this is on a whole nother level! I work for a funeral director called Hearnden & Daughters based in Hatchend, Harrow. A very nice team headed up by owner Suzanne who is happy for me to come and go depending on auditions & work (hoho). We all get a real sense of job satisfaction when a funeral passes off as it should....however not all funerals do....only last week 'Carry On Up The Coffin' took place when our hearse broke down half way through the funeral we were on and we had to be towed to the cemetry and this was after I was asked to sing Neil Sedaka's hit 'Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen' at the service, I wonder if 'Paul Morse Live at Graveside' would catch on...but all that is for another blog! 
• 75% of adults across the UK attended or took part in an arts or cultural event in 2007 and the National Theatre played to 93% capacity in 2008/09.
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