'ello, 'ello, 'ello

Cheers from Buxton!

I'm having a great time in England. I arrived on Friday at 4:00pm (GBT), checked into a quaint bed and breakfats on the outskirts of town, and then had a nice dinner with the cast and crew. Afterwards i had tickets to see the professional G&S company's production of 'Patience'. What I saw was pretty good, but then my 13 hours of traveling and 10 hours of NYC the day before caught up with me. I slept through a majority of the first act and decided to imagine act two from the comfort of my bed. But before I slipped into my jet-lag coma, I of course had to watch 'Big Brother', the original British version that is. I suppose that no matter where I go, I will be obsessed with that show. Too bad its not shown on BBC America.

Saturday was mostly spent in costume fittings and rehearsal. My costume is crazy and includes a gigantic robe/cape thing that is made of velvet and comes all the way down to the floor. It probably weighs about 10 pounds. After rehearsal I headed to a little coffeshop/restaraunt for some sustinance. We spent a lot of time there sitting outside causeing trouble, but eventually moved onto the park and took over the toddler playground. Much swinging, climbing and spinning was done. After a walk around the town and park, and a stop into the pub, it was time to retire for the evening.

Today has been pretty crazy. We had the stage from 9-1 to set the lights, load in the set and wardrobe, and have a full cast costume parade. at 2:30 we begin our dress rehearsal. Mind you, this is the only time we get on the stage to run the show. We have 3 hours with the orchestra, not minute more. Done at 5:30, have a short time to grab something to eat, then the show begins at 7:30. After the show we have a little time to get cleaned up and back into street clothes, and then we perform a cabaret for the after show club. I'm singing "Being Alive" from 'Company'.

Tomorrow I have to leave Buxton about 6:30am to catch a train to the airport in Manchester, and then I'll be on my way back.

See everyone soon!

Cheers!

DW