Super Week

What a difference a week makes! One Monday on and a series of rather wonderful events have occurred which definitely warrant writing about.

On Tuesday we went to the interview. It was so odd. Everything was the same as when I’d interviewed there before, and yet so much was different. The set up was the same: into the foyer which, as before, was half roped off and being used as a storage areas for bits of carpentry and lighting equipment. People were milling around quietly. As before, I handed in my CV to the kiosk and completed the application form. Only this time, I was there with a group of people and greeted the person to whom I handed the CV to with a happy friendly smile. We were chatting and laughing and trying to control ourselves as the others in the room were looking a little confused and nervous and irritated. It was hard not to rush up to the new supervisor, our friend Greg, when we arrived to give him a hug as we normally would, as he was helping with the interviews! Jaime, the manager, was deliberately treating us the same as the others but it was so odd.

Down to the stalls bar, the room in which we had the group photo taken on 14^th April and where we’d had the drinks bought for us by the managers. The exercises were quite similar to before (no Parisian mime artist this time though, sadly!) but I felt so confident, helping to steer the group of strangers I’d been placed with towards the right answers. We were the last to leave and said farewell to the managers with a formal ‘goodbye’ before all heading off together to the pub for lunch! We couldn’t see why they wouldn’t hire us back, but were told, like everyone else, to listen out for a phone call within a few days if successful.

 Later that same day (or, rather, the early hours of the next morning!) Viv found out she was getting to move to London! After months of planning, applications and problems, this was so amazing! Can’t wait til she gets here in a few months to show her everything and for her to start her own London adventure!

Wednesday was pretty dull on the whole. I had to attend another manual handling course in the morning, which although involved a brief wander round backstage at ‘Matilda’ was not worth the early trip into town for the sake of an hour. With time to kill before the evening show, I went home again and had a few hours there before needing to return to the West End. My journey home was considerably brightened however by actually having a brief conversation with Ben on twitter! He asked me how Gielgud was and I optimistically told him I’d be going back next week.

Luckily, the following morning, this was confirmed. Just before heading off for the Thursday matinee, my phone rang and a familiar voice greeted me when I answered. “I guess you know why I’m calling you?” Jaime asked. “I hope so!” I replied. Even though I was expecting to get that phone call, the happiness I felt was indescribable! It’s so easy to think back to April, when we were so distraught at it all ending. June seemed a million miles off and the thought of not being together at the Gielgud for all that time was unbearable. And yet now here we are. We have to go in for training on Wednesday and Thursday this week and then Chariots of Fire opens on Saturday! So the wait is over! My last shift at Phantom is this Wednesday night and I’m looking forward to having a couple of evenings off on Thursday and Friday. In some ways it feels like I’ve only just started at Phantom, but I’m definitely ready to leave. I’m going home!

When I got home that night, I discovered an email from a casting agent’s I’d applied to for an internship a week or so ago. They have invited me into interview. I’d heard nothing from anywhere else I’d applied to in that field, so again was really excited! The interview is tomorrow. I told James who wished me luck. It will be really interesting to find out more tomorrow, and who knows what could happen?!

Finally, I had a lovely weekend with Ollie who came to visit. The weather cheered up enough to allow us to sit outside and walk around a lot. We’re trying to plan holidays to look forward to over the next few months.

So here we are. This week, I return to Gielgud. Of course, it won’t be quite the same without the Ladykillers crew there, and not all my friends are coming back. But really, it feels like a homecoming, and I can’t wait.