This blog may verge slightly towards the self-indulgent for which I apologise (a little!)
This is largely because a few of Team Cinderella went for a drink and a curry last night at the excellent Bengal Lancer on Longbridge Road (Highly recommend it).
There were about 20 of TC who could make it last night, and we started off with a drink at the Spotted Dog, a great pub where I also bumped into Paul Hogan (Head of Sport and Leisure at the council) and Bob Little a former much loved councillor in the Borough.
When I arrived at the pub after an excellent meeting with a potentially new business partner, a number of TC had already taken over the whole of the end room and were happily mimicking each other and being generally loud! Well - what's new? They do that twice a day on a stage and get paid (however little) for it!
I sat between Sharif (Prince Charming) and Amy (Cinderella) and not far from Sally (Marsha). It was nice to let our hair down a bit, but when I caught myself talking to Chris about budgets for a new show, I realised that I needed to switch off from 'work'!
Amy, Sal and Sharif told me that this evening was to be a 'work" free zone. Mmmm... Amy said we could just do small talk.........mmmm. I did my best, honest, but I'm really not great at it I have to admit. I wish I were better. This is not intended to be coy, its actually often a real disadvantage when I launch into a serious conversation and what the other person wants to do is chat about anything other than notes or the panto! I have a reputation for being an acquired taste like marmite. My natural intensity being quite a put off for some people. Sorry!
It was a really lovely evening, and I realised just how close this group of people has become. I remember back to the early days of this project that feel now like a foreign country, and all the expectations and hopes for Cinderella. There is a certain alchemy that happens when something that didn't exist in any way 6 months ago is there right in front of our eyes, embodied in the team and the show. Its a tingly feeling.
The other lovely thing about going out with some of the team (it was all the actors,some of the crew, Phil, Olly and I) is that I can in fact take off my "boss" hat for a bit and just be me (intense or otherwise!). That might sound like a contradiction with the 'work free zone' instruction issued to me by Amy, Sharif and Sal!
But its nice to feel a sense of belonging to the team and I do. As I said in an earlier blog, we human beings flourish best when we are part of a team or a tribe. Its not an indulgent thing, although it can often feel exclusive. Its just a really healthy thing for the most part, unless of course it provokes a war!
So no work discussions, and I didn't! Only thing I was bursting to do though was to talk to Olly and Phil about the meeting I had just had about a future musical theatre project. You see I am already no longer just in Panto Producer/Director space, I am back scouting for the next thing!
I had walked from the theatre to the pub trying to work a budget out in my head for the next project! But I didn't sit with Olly and Phil at the restaurant so resisted the desire to have that conversation!
I am really excited about the next project though. Olly and Phil are already underway with their new musical. And me, I want to do more musicals! I have found a space that I love to live in. Its a new place for me, a place of special artistic collaboration and I think I am rather addicted.
Christmas nearly here now - and I need to catch up on all the much loved preparations! So after the show this morning which the Arts Council are attending, I shall be off to Cambridge with Olly to trot the shops.
Ps: By the way, today is the last schools show, which I have to admit are my favourite shows! 32 shows down and 17 left to do! How did that happen?
Enjoy your day.
No comments:
Post a Comment