at The Stage New Year Party 2011 (at the Theatre Royal,
Drury Lane -
(Should have some better quality photos of us
singing to upload soon):
You can't even tell if this one is definitely me!:
With Lee Mead who is currently still starring in
Wicked at the Apollo Victoria. Really nice bloke.
With the lovely Helena Blackman:
Me and Franny, again with Lee Mead:
With our accompanist for the day. MD George Dyer.
Was really cool for me and Francesca (my wife) to be invited down to London's West End, to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane for The Stage Newspaper's New Year Party 2011 this last Friday (28th Jan).
It was exciting to be invited to perform a duet ("All I Ask of You" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Phantom of the Opera") with Helena Blackman of BBC's "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?"
I was surprisingly quite calm about performing, given that the room was full of people from the entertainment world, but did feel a flutter of nerves when I looked to the front row and spotted West End Star Lee Mead (who is currently still starring in the musical "Wicked" at the Appollo Victoria.) We had to opportunity to chat with him later and he was such a nice guy, very genuine. He mentioned he had played Roul in "Phantom" (the character that sings "All I Ask of You.") I said "yeah, I know, that's why when I looked down and saw you at the front I got nervous!"
It was fun to do a bit of famous person spotting! Was tempted twice to call out "Sibyl!", as Prunella Scales (star of classic sitcom "Fawlty Towers") squeezed past. And recalled having read on the way down on the train that Magician Paul Daniels had just that week sold one of his wigs on eBay, as he and his wife Debbie McGee walked in.
It was funny though, on several occasions I was sure I'd seen someone and would start a conversation with my wife and a lovely friend we made there (Marie-Ann) about that celebrity and what I knew them from... look round at them again and realise it wasn't them at all!!
I think I need to wear my glasses all the time!
Was great to see Rick Clark from Silva Screen records and the guys from Puresolo, who together with The Stage were the organisers of the competition I won in the summer to appear on the album "100 Greatest Musicals" along side stars such as Lesley Garrett.
On a side note, what an amazing building the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is. It's one of, if not the most grand and beautiful of all the West End Theatre's. Apparently it's haunted. Well I don't know about that (I didn't see any ghosts!), but I can understand why someone would want to hang about there, what with those amazing grand staircases! (It's always been my dream to have a large grand central staircase... not a house... just a staircase!)
Well, after what seemed a successful soiree for The Stage, we headed straight off from the theatre (suitcase and bags in hand) to get something to eat and rush for the train. As always, after a trip to the big city, we were exhausted and although it was a fun trip, it's always lovely to get back to our little home up north and hit the hay :)
