A Cloak, Chariots of Fire and Feeding the Imagination: Director's Blog 51A

Good morning friends I know and those I don't! Thank you for reading this blog and for sharing in the Arc Team Cinderella journey. Its been amazing.

Yesterday's shows were great, although the smallest houses of the run. No great surprise as we all move from the Christmas magic to the reality of cold and dark January mornings and the hidden promises of spring. None of us probably relishes this shift in mood whilst its happening, but I guess we all know secretly that this is just the way things are in the grand constellation of our lives together.

The smaller houses (not that small actually, we have just got used to packed audiences!) simply reflect this shift. For me today it was also special as my dearest friend and mentor Amari Blaize was in the house with her lovely family, Amanda, Khanysile and Joshua. 

Amari has been my almost daily sounding board for many years, and for the past six months has accompanied me on this Cinderella journey. She knows precisely what this has meant and she has offered me the gift of an active ear and sometimes too much directorial advice than is good for her (or me for that matter), but she gets it and consistently surprises me with her observations! I was more delighted than I can say that she and her family loved the show! Indeed Sile asked me where she could get some of that magic glitter stuff so that she wouldn't have to worry about changing her clothes every day! Oh Sile, you are silly!

It was also great to see Cllrs  Jeanne Alexander and Tony Ramsay the Mayor at the show today with their family and in a private capacity without chains! Although as Tony said to me after the show, the ice cream usher did recognise him and whisper so to her companion! Oh the price of fame!

The final 9 shows are actually booking well as I had hoped they would, supported by the ticket offer campaigns and the local reviews. It looks like we will meet our financial target and at the very least break even on the budget. So we can say we did it, artistically and financially and more importantly that we switched on a small bright light in our community for a few weeks. I am very proud of that.

There was however a little tomfoolery around at Team Cinderella HQ yesterday. Firstly, the lovely Alison arrived just before the interval of the second show with a beautifully sewn cape for Prince Charming to wear after the ball as he goes in search of his princess. 

I know I know, why on earth am I remotely bothered about introducing a new bit of costume at this late stage? Well I can only say that I am always seeking to improve and tweak. Some kind audience member mentioned to me about 2 weeks ago that they thought it strange that Charming wears the same clothes all the way through including at his wedding. I thought that Ian and I  had put in enough by having him wear just his ruched shirt for the ball, but when listening to the comment, I realised that he does in fact wear his jacket throughout except for this.

So I have to admit hassling my lovely designer for yet another rather late change, and true to form he came up with another solution. A cape. I have to admit that I wasn't actually expecting a cape to arrive, how could it?  Zoe had moved on to the panto at Windsor and Alison was on another show too!

But with her usual "can-do" approach to costuming and with no budget left, dear Alison sent me a message yesterday to say she had in fact made the cape! She arrived in the foyer just before the interval, cape in hand and husband left in the car waiting for her. Now the cape is rather beautiful and in the same rich fabric as the trousers. 

I determined by way of thanks to Alison and because of my belief that we needed it to see if we could sneak the cloak into Act Two for the Prince's Friends in Me number with Dandini. 

It was a joyous and exquisite moment when Alison, Phil and I went backstage and summoned the lovely Sharif for an impromptu fitting! Well actually it all went downhill from there. Sharif donned the cape and began to dance. It was the campest thing, honestly! As he shuffled we all began to laugh hopelessly. Our romantic lead turned into Dracula in front of our very eyes. It was side splittingly wonderful. And indeed the purple fabric only leant more credence to the image! 

I was very naughty, and did something I have rarely done, if ever. I asked him to give the cape a go for Friends in Me, and NOT to tell Dean that he would be wearing it until they went on stage. That is seriously unprofessional on my part! Indeed inviting a fit of corpsing and hysterics from the actors on stage is something that is a no go area for any director. But here I was inviting it! And I make no bones about it. As long as they could deliver the song as it should be for the audience without compromising the number, then the idea of Sharif strutting his stuff, cape flowing behind him was a vision I could simply not resist!

And so it was. Oh my goodness, I laughed till the tears were rolling down my cheeks as I watched him do his soft slipper routine with Dean, (so much so that Phil had to shuush me!) who in his inimitable fashion rode the gag wonderfully. There was sheer delight in both their faces which did nothing but add to the fun for the audience, even if they didn't know it! Funnier too perhaps was the Young Company's reaction in the number. 

Little lovely Jess who had stepped into Team One (for Brooke who had got a dart in her foot on Christmas day!) was beside herself after the show. She loved the cape and suggested that we keep it in (sorry J we won't be doing that!). She gave me a little directorial advice, namely that when Marsha puts the Prince's finger up his nose in the riddle freeze she should also put in some vampire teeth!  Dear Jess really made her mark with me as a fledgling director yesterday!

I promise we won't do it again, and I hope Alison will understand that her special trip from Muswell Hill was not wasted! We will definitely use her beautiful cape again, just not in this show!

The other bit of tomfoolery was instigated by our MD and Dean! Again, like me, Mr Phil is a stickler for discipline and concentration. However this did not stop him I am afraid from plotting a little ruse with Mr Kilford.  There is the moment in the resolution when the action of the show is stopped by Marsha once again, in order to mend the shoe and get to the bit where the guy gets his girl.  During this freeze, Dandini carries on a stool for Cinderella to sit on so that she can try the slipper. Well for one show only, the audience got to witness Mr Phil playing Chariots of Fire, whilst Mr Kilford, aka Dandini moved in runner-like slow motion to place the stool at Cinderella's feet.

Although sadly I missed this precise moment of musical genius, I did have the pleasure of hearing about it after the show! They coped of course - because that's what actors do, against all the odds sometimes. And this was odd!  Marsha made some joke about how long it was taking and there we were at the slipper fitting with the audience none the wiser!

I really shouldn't be sharing this with you, dear reader, but I think we have been hanging out together for long enough now to let you in on the silly secrets we sometimes make. 

That's it now though! No more. I have allowed my standards to drop, and as for Mr Phil......... I leave it to you to decide.

The rest of my time yesterday was spent thinking and planning for the future, the next big (or small) idea for life post Cinderella as my trusty Arc team now call it. All a bit scary really, but I have got used to scary over the past six months in particular.

When coming up with new ideas for shows or projects we always have to return to the source of imagination. Olly disappears for days into his head to excavate his imagination and always comes up with something surprising and different whatever the project. I have always loved working with him on new ideas precisely because his imagination is so rich and fertile and at times frankly extraordinary (I refer you to the slipper sniffing).

And for me - I am a magpie. I search wherever I can for the next idea. It is always an accident of fate, an unexpected meeting, show, film, conversation or simply a cup of coffee with an old friend in a cafe somewhere in Essex! But if you are on the lookout, its all there to be revealed.

Having just reread this blog - I see that it is in fact two blogs as once before, so although this has been read today (well at least maybe scanned!) I am now migrating the next bit about books and ideas for the next venture to Blog 51 B

So come with me if you fancy a little about the Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo!