Crawling out of the dusty woodwork as the turning of another
new year is a good excuse to get writing. The few months since I last wrote
have chugged along with no great dramas, with nothing much to report really.
Chariots still ran. Usual front of house craziness happened. A few fun events
were attended but in general it’s all been quite quiet. I have been trying to
bust out of the theatre and almost managed it on a couple of occasions, but it
didn’t work out. My target for leaving by Christmas got blown well out of the
window but there was the sad glimmer of the glamorous temptation of Helen
Mirren in February. Then, just before Christmas, we were hit with the news that
after all ‘that’, this show was to close early, shortly after the new year.
I don’t know what lies ahead at the moment. I’ve been saved
slightly by the offer of some stage door shifts in the upcoming few weeks but
this really should be my catalyst to finally move on in the hope of finding
that ‘proper job’, or at least the first step towards it. I cannot afford to
stay in London without any income to support that search though, so went
through a very rough few days after hearing the news, thinking I’d be so
suddenly forced to move away. As it is, I may be able to hold out now til the
end of January, and so maybe therefore Helen Mirren. I know I need to leave the
theatre, but there’s no point in doing that unless I have something to go to;
at least as it stands I have a job of some description.
So, the future looks a little uncertain at the moment, but,
being a new year blog, I want to use the opportunity to look back. Last year, I
did a roundup of 2011 and want to do the same again now. I’ll also post a
summative account using exactly the same prompts as I did a year ago,
collecting some of the high- and low- lights!
Once again, I see 2012 as being a year of two distinct
parts. They can be separated almost to the hour, and the line between them is
the last day of The Ladykillers. It’s strange how at the time I even knew just
how momentous that occasion would be. Before was happiness, security,
friendship, a job I loved, glamour and laughs. Afterwards was the unknown. I
wrote a lot about it at the time, and so won’t repeat my feelings in depth
here, but suffice to say things have never been quite the same since. I muddled
through, worked at Her Majesty’s and learnt what the real pull of the Gielgud
was. We counted the days til our return for Chariots, and the play certainly
came with its fair share of amazing moments: working there over the Olympics
was an honour; we met Vangelis; we had the Torch come by our theatre as the
music drowned Shaftesbury Avenue; we met medallists from Team GB and I tried on
a Gold medal; the press night was incredible and we’ve had loads of fun getting
to know *some* of the actors, especially Mr Grace.
There have been ups and downs with the front of house team.
I’ve experienced extreme frustration and there was even a period when I
actively disliked coming to work. However, we’ve come through all that too and
we finish the run again with a fantastic group of people whom I will miss. My
close group of friends have got even closer and some of my favourite times this
year have been sitting up with them all night talking and laughing til we
cried.
Yes, I still feel the pressing need to find a new job and to
earn more money; yes my income here doesn’t quite support me and yes I need to
work out a way of being able to see my boyfriend more often. The close of this
show (this weekend) feels completely different to last time. With The
Ladykillers there was that desperation for it not to be over, because I loved
everything about that job. Now, I feel no emotional attachment to the
production at all and no great desire to keep in touch with anyone involved as
I have The Ladykillers. However, Saturday will mark the end of yet another era
as our team is yet again scattered and I’m not sure how many more times I can
come through that. I will miss the ‘family’ here terribly, but know it won’t
mean the ending of my most precious friendships. What will be will be, and
although things may never be quite the same again, I have made more than one ‘friend
for life’ (to quote the show). So I shall try not to be afraid of the unknown
and remember that if all else fails, 2012 has given me great memories and true
friendships which will hopefully last for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment