A gutsy bottom end

So I had my practise for the audition I may or may not be doing on Thursday, last night. I'm generally not too good in singing auditions - I'm either too relaxed and familiar or so nervous I forget the words, the music and the breathing.

Last night was very chilled due to it just being a practise with the Director and MD, just as well as, having gone to the trouble of writing my words out only to leave them at home! I sang 'I want to go to Hollywood' from Grand Hotel (one of the shows that will be included in the concert) which I didn't know before but having listened to it several times I really like it and have been busily singing away to it in the car for the last 2 weeks :)

For the first time in my life I managed to sing something in front of someone the same way I manage to sing it when I'm on my own, I fluffed some of it but generally I managed to do some good belting. The result of which was being told I have 'a gutsy bottom end'. I shall take this as a compliment, look at the other song that I was told to and then go back on Thursday and see if I can get through it without stopping, hopefully retaining my gutsy-ness!

Tonight is the first blocking rehearsal for Blood & Ice, I've managed to learn the first 6 pages or so, although I'm fairly sure I'll forget all of it as soon as I stand up for blocking!

Line learning - never as easy as you think!

After a hectic week involving my birthday, moving house, 2 weekends in work, the birth of my nephew (4 weeks premature), first read through of Blood & Ice, going to see my tiny nephew and spending the day with him; I am sitting in Coventry waiting for the hour when I must pick up a sofa (and various other objects) from one house and take it and the objects either here of back to Bath - before heading out to a character workshop for B&I.

So I thought in this lull I should do some more studying up and line learning. I managed to put myself into a small state of terror by listening to the read through on my way up here last night - I stopped trying to repeat lines after about 15mins whilst the realisation of just how much I have to learn slowly dawned on me. I think what is worrying me more is that I've NEVER had this many lines to learn (or even half this many!) and it's been at least 5 years since I did any major bit of acting. Still, at this moment, I am still relishing the challenge do have decided to apply myself to the creation of a 2 timelines.

One to help me visualise Mary's life and the happenings there in

And one to help me plan out learning all of the dialogue.... I'll start with the 1 page which I do not speak on, and go from there!

Aunty/ie

Ahh, the question of titles - but at the end of the day it doesn't matter.

Matthew David Pearse Cliff came into the world yesterday, 4 weeks early but still weighing a healthy 6lb 8oz! Vicky is doing OK but she had pre-eclampsia so they are keeping her in for monitoring etc. Was a worrying time for a bit there.

On top of this it was my Birthday on Saturday , which I'm fairly sure Matthew's will eclipse from now on! (it's fine last years was the last important one for a while!), and I moved house, and was in work all weekend.

Still to get my Birthday presents.

Lovely folks helped me move so only took 4 hours. New house is good, although tgere's an ammonia type smell in my room that comes and goes which is not so good!

Didn't have to call any ambulances for this PST w/end so an improvement on the last one......

BLOG rehearsal tonight was fun - thinking of having a go for a solo, see how that pans out.

Mostly very nervous about 1st Blood& Ice rehearsal tomorrow, so an early night with Frankenstein and Mary's diaries as light reading!
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Packing again

So a new year and this years resolution? To be a bit more resolute about typing on this blog!

Got a lot going on at the moment (but then, when havent I?!), the biggest thing being that, after a glorious year of living in the most oppulent street in Bath I am moving to steeper climbs and cheaper rent (and an actual house, first in five years!) so am in the midst of yet again packing up my stuff. This is being aided by the fact that I now have specialist packing boxes and I wrote what goes in which the last time I moved.

Decent Rogues will be on again in half term, slightly different cast, very different venue and then it goes onto a week run in London. I won't be doing the short run in London because.....

I have manged to get the main part in a play which is on the following week. I will be playing Mary Shelley in Blood & Ice at the Rondo Theatre (end of March) and I have to admit to being more nervous than I have ever been about any part - not least because I'm onstage on every page and I've never had to learn this may lines - even without the 6 year gap since the last time I did a play in a theatre. Although Mary Magdelene in the Passion Play last year was pretty epic......

Work is OK, despite saying we'd ease off the work load due to having one less member of staff we still seem to have a jam packed term! Past prefect coming in tomorrow to have a natter about how WCMD is going and the cool theatre type stuff she's been up to - and another one appearing on Saturday to help out with the PST weekend, very proud.

Yup, that's right, Saturday is my 31st birthday and I shall be spending the weekend working and moving house. Joy. Although hopefully some festivity shall occur in the evening, if I can persuade people to help me move stuff!

BBC Points West Interview with Dan Lashbrook, Rob Pratt and Petra Schofield

The Points West Interview for the Show I Stage Managed at the beginning of the summer - I'm in it three times - spot me if you can.

This show was an amazing experience, a fantastic company and the best crew I think I've worked with!

Hopefully it'll be on again in the New Year taking a trip to other places - we'll see :)

Grief

It's been a long time since my last post.

There are many reasons for this.

Mostly that in the last 3 months I could not think of what to write or even how to start.

My Dad died on 15th of February, he was 56 and it was totally unexpected.

Tonight, for the first time, I think it has truly sunk in that I will never see him again.

Grief is indeed a very odd process. Different for everyone, confusing, painful and, eventually, cathartic for all.

For the first time since a week after he died I had a dream with him in last night. The first dream I had back in Februrary it felt natural that he was there. He came up to me, helped me fix my car (in the moddle of a dark field?!) we chatted and when it was time to go I asked "do you have to?" and he said "don't worry, I'll be back".
Last night however he was just a part of the dream, like watching him in a film, and yet I knew there was something wrong, and he shouldn't be there which left me feeling very uncomfortable and having a bad night's sleep.

The best advice I've been given is just to let it happen, and be patient with myself - something I usually find hard to do. Therefore as I type this the tears are streaming and my stuffy nose is getting worse, but I know I have to let it out.

I miss him. I'd just love to hear his voice again (even if it was to complain that I only ever rang when I needed something!) to feel him give me a great big hug, and to talk about all the theatre stuff I'm doing, the website stuff I'm sorting and what new films he's discovered lately.

His number is still on my phone under ICE (In Case of Emergency) and every so often I scroll past it and the though crosses my mind that, just maybe, if I rang,  he'd pick up. I know he won't, I'm not even sure it would be his voicemail, but the thought is there.

Certain things still feel like yesterday. The panic at 1:15am when I read the email telling me to check my phone - which I'd left in my car and on silent because of being at work. Running down the road in my Pyjamas and scrabbling around to find it, the 18 missed calls from every member of my family. And my sister Vicky being the first one to ring me back and bravely having to tell me. I can still hear the hesitation.

I just felt I had to write this, I used to write this blog a lot and it helped. If this post help one person to feel like they're not completely alone in their particular stage of grieving then I feel it has been for more than just a release for me.

For anyone out there who knew my Dad, Dave Key, and did not know about his death or would like to get in touch then please do. There is a facebook page in his memory here. I was, and still am, immensley proud to be his daughter.

I think I'll add my eulogy at the bottom of this post. I'm not sure why, but it seems fitting, and it would be good to know that others could read about him. There was so much more to say than this, but I had to narrow it down :)

My Dad


I have so many memories of my Dad it is difficult to select a few to sum him up, and on top of that there were always ‘the stories’.

He was a man who loved electronics and gadgets. He once bought me a ‘make your own radio’ set and proceeded to ‘help’ me make it whilst explaining the inner workings in great detail – another thing my Dad was very good at. The fact that he taught us about computers from a young age has certainly paid off, I’ll never forget the excitement as we waited for our first BBC micro to load up Chuckie Egg from a tape!

On my 18th birthday he took me to the Art Gallery in Birmingham, we walked round for at least 3 hours and it was great to see him enthuse about it and get to discuss styles, artists and favourites. I will always treasure that as we didn’t often get to talk about art.

He’s always loved cooking. My Aunt says he would bring home amazing things from school and was the king of Spag Bol at Uni. The smell of fresh pizza will always remind me of my Dad as he used to make them from scratch early in the week so we could freeze them and eat them later on. He used to make our birthday cakes – always artistic. I think one of his best was definitely a model of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang complete with wings for one of Vicky’s. When we would go to the beach we’d be there with our buckets and spades, digging holes and making mounds of sand. But Dad taught us to strive for more by creating minor works of art, and teaching us about Physics whist demonstrating how to make a bridge out of sand. The entire Thunderbirds set was one of his more ambitious models. He’s probably one of the only Dads I know who was proficient at a French plait.

Him entertaining with the guitar and songs about ‘Scouts with knobbly knees’ and an ill-fated trip to go fish-fingering, are major memories from house parties when we were little. More recently added are some great jamming sessions with Jo’s uncle John. His guitar playing led to him, and my Uncle and friends forming ‘The Gyrating Toadstools’. He was also able to sing harmony without having any music – something I always aspired to after many family car journeys with us all singing, I was really chuffed the day I managed to do it.

Acting and theatre were definitely major loves of his life. Some of my favourite memories are the stories about the Edinburgh fringe, when they had to build their own fire escape, the fact that my Granny says he would start to become the character he was playing in real life – particularly worrying when he was playing a football hooligan, and all of his performances with Wythall Theatre Company. He had a reputation for being the last to learn his lines, but when onstage he was a force to be reckoned with, his timing was impeccable and his presence amazing. He was also a very generous person to act with. For me his tour-de-force performance was ‘Sir’ in The Dresser. It was honour to be onstage with him.

One of the things I’ll miss most about my Dad was his sense of humour . He told me on more than one occasion that the joke that summed up his sense of humour was this: “A man walks into a bar and asks for a double entendre, so the barman gave him one”

There are so many other memories of my Dad that I could share but mostly I will remember him as the BBQ chef, the bicycle builder, the bedroom decorator, my chief-cheerleader in my chosen career, the guy I could always talk to about geeky things, Rock Band player, a great friend to hang-out with, a mine of information, a great hugger and a rock to lean on. He is a part of all of us here. But I consider it an honour that I got to call him my Dad.

Love you xxxx


 

Catch-up

1. Australia was awsome. I want to move there. The end.
2. Camp was a truly himbling experience this year. I feel as if I actullay had 'the camp' experience. Breakthroughs with campers were made and it was wonderful to see them growing both in God and as young adults :)
3. School is going well, the PST has grown, we are ahead of ourselves in preparation of both shows. Mostly due to the point below.
4. Having a great time SB4SB rehearsals. Been filling in as the brothers mostly - someday I might even learn the part I'm (officially!) understudying. Dancing confidence is growing.
5. Planning my 30th in January. Trying to find a big house somewhere that has open fires, space, countryside - the whole works. Amazingly at least 25 people are coming so the venue keeps changing (and getting more expensive!)
6. Been having some fabulously social times including surfing, nights out in Bath, Good times with Lee Abbey folks and am venturing out almost alone this evening......

Generally things going well, so trying to keep things on schedule and under control, and making my free time count more. Especially as I'm work 'til 6 every night at the mo!.

Aussie Rules

If you've not been keeping up with my Aussie blog it's here: http://spatialtravellings.blogspot.com/

In brief, I am having the most amazing time and loving this side of the world. It's given me only atster and I'm definitely coming back for more. The free stuff in Melbourne, the AFL game,the chilled atmosphere everywhere, The Ghan, The Glorious Red Centre with all it's heritage and depth and the Great Barrier Reef - full of stunning life,some so small you have to spend 5mins staring at a rock to spot it and the the turtles and reef sharks.

Everyone should come here at least once - it has something fo reverybody :)

In the land of Oz

After months of planning and paying have finally arrived in Australia, wOOt!!! Am currently at a friend's house in Melbourne and trying to stay awake until 8:30pm so I can get over jet lag ASAP. Also my lower legs swelled up on the plane, bit weird, so hoping that resolves soon!

You can keep up with my adventures here at http://spatialtravellings.blogspot.com

Broken Toe is very boring - but the sun is fab!

OK, so yet again I seem to be back to the sporadic updating - partly due to the fact that in school they have now blocked blogger so I cannot update as easily. However I spent some time in coffee shop and now, thanks to the wonder of free wireless, I can now update via email - so we'll see how this goes!
 
Plans for Australia are going very well. I have one train journey to pay for and one hostel to find and I'm pretty much done. I even managed to get hold of the underwater housing for my camera at a good price (yey, eBay!). Can't believe I'll be there in just over a month - wOOt!!! :)
 
This weekend is my last relaxing time before we are headlong into the last productions at the end of term - Y10 GCSE, Y9 performances evening (8 shows - 1 night!) Y7-9 production (Cold Comfort Farm, complete with pantomime cows) and the Junior production. Looking forward to all of it, especially as at the minute all seems to be on schedule. In fact so on schedule that yesterday afternoon I had nothing to do so I filed all of my invoices.....there is something very wrong....
 
ALthough a dampener on all of this is the fact that I have managed to break my toe (right foot, 4th toe) by bashing/catching it on on the railings getting out of the swimming pool. This has made walking around rather tricky, which in turn means my ankle is now killing me because of how I'm having to walk. I did this 3 weeks ago, I went to the walk-in place the next morning and (very rightly) she explained that even if it was broken all they'd do at A&E was strap it so she strapped it and sent my on my way. However, this Monday it was really no better so I went to A&E on the school nurses advice) to ask for an X-Ray as it's not just my toe that hurts it's the underside of my foot in that area as well (which is still swelling up and bruising). On the plus side I was seen quite quickly - on the downside she didn't really listen to what I was saying, prodded it (although she didn't look at the underneath bit) said "we don't x-Ray toes - and you should be wearing a shoe, not flip flops. It'll be another 4 weeks" got someone to strap it up again (I was now crying - quietly - and feeling nauseous due to the pain) and sent me on my way.
 
Fair enough to not X-Ray toes but I fairly sure I've damaged the bone in my foot someway - especially as it's nearly a week after that incident now and it STILL doesn't seem to have got any better. Also, and I said this at the time, if I could put a shoe on - don't you think I would?
 
I did actually try to put on a shoe this Wednesday morning - after 10mins I felt so sick I had to come home and put my flip flops back on....this is really starting to get annoying, and slightly worrying....:(
 
This has also meant that, despite my extra training on the dancing (!?), I wasn't able to audition to be a bride in BLOG's "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" which, well, basically, sucked. Still I went in and sang so I can be a townsfolk which should still be a laugh and mean I have a semblance of a social life next term :)