1 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,760 Hello and welcome to Drinks at the Bar, a podcast where we 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,520 break through the 4th wall and discuss everything about dance 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,440 and the theatre industry. My name is Paul James Rooney, a 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,000 dancer, choreographer and dance teacher based in Copenhagen, and 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,320 I am your host of Drinks at the Bar and today I am joined by my 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,120 regular guest host, the beautiful Carla Bruni. 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,880 Hi everybody, I'm Carla Bruni, director of the Dancer Studio 8 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,280 London, classical ballet teacher and actor with the Royal Ballet. 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,200 It's actually Damian Luster here. 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,080 We will discuss everything from hearing backstage stories, 11 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,120 touring shenanigans, to deeper issues like body image training 12 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,000 and the reality of being a freelance dancer. 13 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:46,080 With guest professional OH. My God, sorry. 14 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:48,120 Reality of being a freelance dancer and more. 15 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,040 With guest professionals, we are here to share our knowledge, 16 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,840 experience, and help you with any questions or problems you 17 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,880 may have about dance and navigating the dance world. 18 00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:59,440 Hey, Denise. Hi darling, how are you? 19 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,600 I'm good, thank you. I have been, you know, just busy 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,000 at work doing, doing shows, doing cut shows. 21 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,160 So when I'm not on at the moment for Sound of Music, if people 22 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:13,080 aren't sick, then I, you know, use my time to write down a 23 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,240 track for every single person. So I use my cut shows very 24 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,000 professionally. So I literally will take a 25 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,000 specific actor or dancer in the show and write down exactly what 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,120 they do so that in an emergency, I think I have maybe three shows 27 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,440 left to do. Then I'll have everybody's cut 28 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,360 shows planned and done. So if anyone's off, I can just 29 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,080 open my folder and have everybody's track done on paper 30 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,000 and boom, they're easy to then go on for them. 31 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,280 Oh, brilliant. And of course, you know, if that 32 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,920 show comes back into the repertoire of the theatre, then 33 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,640 you've got a lot of Bible basically, haven't you got a log 34 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,280 of all of the of the roles for next time? 35 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,160 Which I will sell for millions. Millions and trillions. 36 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,040 How about you, sweetheart? What's up with you? 37 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,840 Well, I've started rehearsals now for Romeo and Juliet, so I'm 38 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,360 back at the Opera House, which I love. 39 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,720 So we have, I think, one more studio rehearsal, and then we're 40 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,120 on stage for technical rehearsals with piano and then 41 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:17,120 orchestra, and then we have a run of 29 performances, believe 42 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,840 it or not, in over four months. Yeah. 43 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,760 So busy, busy, busy and teaching during the breaks. 44 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:26,560 Yeah. I do love Romeo and Juliet. 45 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,520 I love Romeo and Juliet. I do too. 46 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,240 There are some very magical moment. 47 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:34,440 I mean, just being on that stage alone is magical. 48 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,280 I know that sounds kind of busy or whatnot, but you know, a live 49 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,560 orchestra on stage, Royal Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, It is 50 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,560 just beautiful. Although I have to say, last 51 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:50,720 season we did man on and I think, I mean, it's not a 52 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,280 competition. They're both legendary 53 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,720 productions. But I'm leaning more towards man 54 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,040 on. But maybe I'll feel differently 55 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,040 once we once we get into the groove with Romeo and Juliet. 56 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,200 Because it's so once you're in something and you're hearing 57 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,560 that music and you're seeing the amazing dancers around you, you 58 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:09,840 know, it's, it's hard not to, to fall back in love with it. 59 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,160 But either way, they're both magical productions. 60 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,800 And yeah, it's a joy to be on stage. 61 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:18,880 I don't know if I've ever told you about my alarm clock in the 62 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:20,640 morning. I don't like alarm clocks that 63 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:26,800 go like that wakes you up. My alarm clock, and it has been 64 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:31,240 for the past like 8 years when I wake up in the morning is the 65 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,720 market scene from Marlene Julia. Exactly. 66 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:38,080 That's how I wake up every morning. 67 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:39,960 Because it's like it wakes you up. 68 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:45,240 Yeah, I just, I like because obviously it is a it's the 69 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,240 morning in the marketplace. I like the fact that it like 70 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,400 slowly builds. So it goes bum, bum, bum, bum, 71 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,000 bum, bum, bum. So that's why I listen to it and 72 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,760 sometimes I let it play the entire track. 73 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,080 Yeah, there's a bun head in there still and. 74 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,600 I have to say, I mean, if if I had to get up very early for 75 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,200 something, a flight or whatever it was, I would set an alarm as 76 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,800 a backup. I generally would wake up before 77 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,920 my alarm goes off. But when I do set an alarm, it 78 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,760 is the aggressive iPhone alarm because I want something that 79 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,920 would actually wake me up. I fear that that would just lull 80 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:35,480 me back to sleep as Juliet. For me, it's probably, there's 81 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,120 probably subconscious thing there going. 82 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:39,520 You hear that music like why am I not on stage? 83 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:44,480 I should be doing something. Trigger Something triggered 84 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,400 #triggered. #Triggered. 85 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,000 Well, cheers darling. I have a lovely gin and tonic 86 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:52,960 with me again today. This is the season of gin and 87 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:58,120 tonics. I'm on the white wine spritzer 88 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,960 today, a little bit of a medium blend just for daytime drinking. 89 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,520 Hashtag working, always working. Hashtag always working in 90 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,080 daytime drinking. Cheers darling. 91 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:18,320 Scott, cheers, sweetie. A delight, right? 92 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,080 What's on the our gender today? Well. 93 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,800 Inspired by one of our pop questions to our guest this 94 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,560 season, I thought we should delve into the realm of things 95 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,160 going wrong. Oh well, this is going to be a 96 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,280 short episode for us. No, no, no, no, no. 97 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,560 It's not an episode about making mistakes. 98 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,120 That would be a short episode. It's an episode of things going 99 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,600 wrong in the show. So it could be someone else 100 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:44,520 making a mistake that affected you. 101 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,320 Technical issues, A dresser giving you the wrong costume, 102 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,600 Your wig. Bing, turn the wigs around, 103 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,680 Dina. Right, OK, got it. 104 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:55,920 Well, let's start at the very beginning. 105 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,600 One might say then. I don't know. 106 00:05:58,600 --> 00:05:59,720 I can't. I can't. 107 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,840 No quotes of sound of. Music. 108 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:08,080 Why don't you kick start segment with one of your stories? 109 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,320 Well, actually we should start where all roads begin. 110 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,640 OK, we all know we're about to find out. 111 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,040 If you have seen Matthew Bond Swan Lake there is. 112 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,640 So in Act 2 all the Swans come on and do a big dancing, 113 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,000 dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing and then after about 114 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,360 what 8 minutes there's then the big part of dirt, the duet they 115 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,200 call it. So the big swan and the Prince 116 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,640 are dancing. It's mainly the big swan who's 117 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,680 dancing. If I'm not wrong, the Prince 118 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:40,200 doesn't dance that much in that section. 119 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:44,600 It's more hymn dancing. Reporting at work, yeah, but. 120 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,840 Yeah, and during this dance, there are four members of the 121 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:54,040 ensemble sat at the back doing this floor choreography. 122 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,200 You going with this story? Does it involve you? 123 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,320 Where they do this, this very simple choreography, they're sat 124 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,520 all together and they're all late doing some waving back and 125 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,920 forth, some forward, some body rolls, some floor work 126 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:10,280 basically. And duet duets ones is what it's 127 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:15,960 called now. I think I did it twice in 2 1/2 128 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,480 years of doing that show. I think I did it twice because I 129 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:23,840 was a sick knit. Oh yes, my dance captain. 130 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,360 Thank you very much. No, but it basically it rotates 131 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,320 for people out there who don't know it rotates. 132 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,840 You have sick knit dance, you have duet Swans and you have big 133 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,800 swan dance. Now it is not just the cygnets 134 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,640 that do the cichlid dance and it's not just the big Swans that 135 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:40,960 do the big swan dance. You have medium Swans and 136 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,560 they're kind of cut in half. Some of them learn the cichlid 137 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,760 dance and some learn. Some of them learn the big swan 138 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,600 dance and then this like rotation of who does what. 139 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:55,880 Now I 99% of my shows did signet dance when I was on don't. 140 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,720 I maybe had one show where I didn't do anything and I did two 141 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:01,720 shows of duet Swans and that's it. 142 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,560 Otherwise, I did signet dance. This duet swan moment, though, 143 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,880 in the show is a moment that everybody forgets. 144 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,200 Nobody checks the board before they go on stage. 145 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,040 And you're halfway through Act 2 and you suddenly go, oh, crap, 146 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,960 was it me? And you have this moment where 147 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,960 there's like eight people walking to the back about to lie 148 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:23,280 in the floor, and you go, Oh no, it wasn't me. 149 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:24,320 And then they run off stage again. 150 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,160 One day there'll be only two people there and everyone's in 151 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:28,560 the wings like, Oh my God, it was supposed to be you. 152 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,840 What are you doing? I remember the one of the two 153 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,280 times I did Jouette Swans running up to the back to kneel 154 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:42,679 onto the floor and there's like 6 people with me, right guys? 155 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,160 I know I'm right. I, I, I was shocked to see my 156 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:48,840 name on here as much as you all were. 157 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,320 So I know I am right. You just have these people like 158 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,960 halfway to the floor and then trying to like run off again. 159 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,080 Oh, Jouette Swans little things like that is what I mean about 160 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,840 things going wrong. Nothing big, nothing dangerous, 161 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,560 just little fond, funny memories that you might have. 162 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:09,000 Denise. Yeah, that is, I mean that that 163 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,200 is definitely a funny moment. And also just to go on a little 164 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:17,040 bit from that moment is that you actually kneel, you kneel down 165 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,760 facing upstage in like a diamond pattern. 166 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:25,840 There are, there are supposed to be 4 Swans now if you're the 167 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:32,040 closest to the front of downstage right, what happens is 168 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,880 when you turn from upstage, you're now leading. 169 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,600 So you have absolutely no one to copy from because if you've only 170 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,480 imagined, you've only done it twice out of, you know, 85 171 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:43,120 shows. And you learnt it in the 172 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:44,720 rehearsal period, which was two years ago. 173 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:48,040 Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's not really that 174 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:52,560 fresh at the forefront of your, of your memory, but you've got 175 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:54,840 nobody to copy from. And it, yeah, it's, it is a 176 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,040 funny moment. I mean, I haven't seen the show 177 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,920 in a while, but I'm pretty certain that the Swans must go 178 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:02,200 through what we went through at that age of the moment. 179 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:04,520 You're dancing your heart out, aren't you in Act 2? 180 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,160 And then you have to. And then you really come to a 181 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,360 stop and you either run off stage or you remain on stage and 182 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,840 it's and it, I think it's a shock for most people every 183 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,000 time. I literally, I have written down 184 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,880 some things going wrong to talk about, but I literally have just 185 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,360 remembered one now. I remember stood with you 186 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,880 backstage. We're just about to go on. 187 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,640 Maybe we had already done our first entrance in Act 2. 188 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:34,160 And then I come off, and then I'm stood with you in the wings, 189 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,480 and I remember that I hadn't painted my eyes black. 190 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,040 No, you haven't. I had painted my entire body 191 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,440 white and I'd done my triangle. Hadn't you done your eyes? 192 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,680 But you hadn't done your. No, I hadn't done my. 193 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,440 I had done my triangle but not the. 194 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:49,440 Eyes. Oh, but you hadn't done your 195 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:50,120 eyes. OK. 196 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:55,240 Yeah, Yeah, yeah, in that way. And I just remember you getting 197 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,520 your fingers and being like, Poppy, wait, you get your two 198 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:04,840 index fingers, swipe down my painted forehead and then scrape 199 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:09,360 it across my eyelids and then push me on stage like a pushy 200 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:11,400 mother at like some kind of dance competition. 201 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:13,560 Go on, dance your little horn out. 202 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:19,560 I do remember that, yes, because we must have done that big intro 203 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:21,760 and then we're all waiting to come on for our next entrance 204 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,080 because you look so naked without the eyes on. 205 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,480 But because it's such a quick change, you obviously just got 206 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:28,080 your thing on it. You know, it's happened to all 207 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:30,120 of us at some point. But yeah, but I do. 208 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:34,680 I mean I'm not even ambidextrous but I use most on those eyelids. 209 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:38,960 Go. That is a funny moment. 210 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:41,400 I mean, OK, so whilst we're talking about Swan Lake, I have 211 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,960 one memory, not so comedic, but things going wrong. 212 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:50,080 And that was in Frankfurt where I was actually in the audience 213 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,840 watching. So noting and in act what, the 214 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,880 end of act one in the Soho scene, there's a curtain that's 215 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,520 down, but behind they're setting up the, the white pillars for 216 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:03,520 the next scene for the palace, I suppose, isn't it? 217 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,680 And there was just an almighty crowd. 218 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:10,040 And also there are dancers backstage, the vision Swans are 219 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:11,760 prepping and whatnot. There's all sorts of hacking 220 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:13,240 going on behind stage particularly. 221 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,400 I can't remember exactly what moment, but I feel Soho scene 222 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,440 was happening and one of the pillars crashed to the floor. 223 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,280 Oh Jesus. Nobody was hurt thankfully, but 224 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,440 it caused such a ruckus. I ran from the front of house 225 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,520 backstage to find out what was going on. 226 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,520 We had to stop the show. Curtain came down and, you know, 227 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,120 there had to be an announcement over the microphone to say 228 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:35,440 please, you know, just bear with us. 229 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,800 Well, you know, and it was an absolute accident, but it did 230 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,040 halt the show. I mean, now I'm talking. 231 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:44,680 I could I could give you thousands of stories, but to 232 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:47,480 other productions. But some things, some things are 233 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,240 kind of simple, like, you know, no, no eye makeup and they're 234 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,280 comedic and you can laugh about them forever. 235 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,400 This could have gone very badly wrong, but. 236 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:56,280 Of course, yeah, yeah. I mean, you have to. 237 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:00,520 I remember we had, I mean the director, the CEO, not director 238 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,200 is in like Steven Spielberg, director, director is like CEO, 239 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,840 director of the theatre that I work at at the moment. 240 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:11,880 He once said in passing our job on stage, with the amount of 241 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,720 things that are like hanging above your head and stuff like 242 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:16,840 technically we should be having hard hats on stage. 243 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:19,400 Like. The the fact that how, how 244 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,360 dangerous it is technically to just be stood there with, I 245 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:28,160 don't know, fake doors and fake gates and walls and everything 246 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,960 above your head just hanging constantly while you're on 247 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:32,400 stage. I mean, never. 248 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,280 If you work on stage, just never look up. 249 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,320 It's never look scary. Yeah, I often think of that, you 250 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,720 know, and the height and the lights and all. 251 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,400 I mean, gosh, there's so much. So you really have to have 252 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,120 complete trust in your crew completely, you know, And 253 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,680 thankfully once we start dancing, you know, our attention 254 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:51,240 is on focusing on, you know, on the choreography. 255 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:52,480 So. Chatting in the wing? 256 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,680 Smoking in the wings, giving each other a smoky eye, but you 257 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:58,880 don't have time to focus on what you know, the sets coming in and 258 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:03,400 out, unless, you know, sets do come in and out when you're 259 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,280 entrance, making your entrance and exit on some occasions. 260 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,960 I know at the Opera House, they're very clear about letting 261 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,720 us know, you know, mind your heads, you know, flies coming in 262 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,640 when you're walking in and out, just backstage etiquette, you 263 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:17,800 know. But, yeah, sometimes things go 264 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,040 wrong because, you know, on that occasion in Frankfurt, we'd been 265 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,960 doing a European Tour. So it's a different theatre each 266 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,200 week or every two weeks. So, you know, it must have been 267 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,160 one of the earliest shows of that week. 268 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,280 And you're still kind of eyeing ironing out maybe technical 269 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,800 issues. But yeah, so that was a moment 270 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,800 that was not comedic, but, you know, a classic example of 271 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:39,720 things going wrong in a live show, you know? 272 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:41,640 I mean, talking about a technical thing. 273 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,840 So I was when I was doing The Producers, so very early on in 274 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:47,760 the show. I can't remember his character 275 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:48,600 name. What the fuck is his name? 276 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,520 The Matthew Broderick role, Broderick. 277 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:57,400 Matthew Broderick is back at his office singing a song about he 278 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,320 wants to be a producer. And in our production there's 279 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,800 lots of showgirls that come on stage where he's singing. 280 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,600 I want to be a producer. But then we also have, I think 281 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:11,880 it's six guys dressed exactly like him being him, if that 282 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,760 makes sense. And we came up from the stage in 283 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,000 this elevator. The elevator would come up on 284 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,160 stage and then we would each stick our heads out and make 285 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,720 like, you know, a kind of totem pole of heads on like a certain 286 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,960 point in, in the music and then come out and do like a tap 287 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,000 routine as you do so with as you, as you do, you know, heads 288 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:32,720 on a totem pole. Let's do a tap routine. 289 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,880 And we're stood in this elevator under the stage. 290 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,120 And so obviously there's, I don't know, 3 eights until we're 291 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,560 supposed to start dancing. And then the technician next to 292 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:47,560 me just goes, it's not working. The elevator's not going to 293 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:50,440 drive up. And so I just turn to my right 294 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,360 and I go and I look at James and I, let's just run upstairs. 295 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,920 So we just run out of the elevator, run up the side of the 296 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,120 stairs, get into the wings and we make it to our entrance. 297 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,600 But we will go to do this kind of totem pole head thing. 298 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,120 But then we're right next to the wing and there's scenery and 299 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,000 everything that you wouldn't be able to see us. 300 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,760 So instead of just sticking our heads out the wing, I belly flop 301 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,240 across the stage to get my head the other side of this piece of 302 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,560 scenery to then start doing the totem poles there. 303 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,960 Luckily everybody else had the same idea and they just copied 304 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,640 me and I ran onto stage and started doing their heads up and 305 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,160 then we went into our little time step. 306 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,760 I'll say it works. You achieved the goal of 307 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,960 creating the illusion of a. But I, I love, I don't love 308 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,520 things going wrong. That's a very bad thing to say. 309 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,840 But I, something I pride myself myself in is actually the fact 310 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,160 that I'm very good in the moment. 311 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,760 Problem solver, right? How can we make it work so the 312 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,960 audience don't realize anything's gone wrong or how can 313 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,480 we continue? I, that part I, I feel that 314 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,880 that's one of my biggest assets and one of the reasons why I've 315 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,160 had such a long career, because I'm reliable in that sense. 316 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,600 I you can throw me on stage if something goes wrong, you know 317 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,920 that I will still get the job done and maybe the audience 318 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:06,119 won't even know that something went wrong. 319 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:10,240 And I think that's a very good asset to have in your arsenal. 320 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,160 Oh, definitely. And in those instances, you may 321 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,440 not even remember what you did. You know, if you keep, if you're 322 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:18,560 basically improvising within the space, Funny, isn't it? 323 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,960 You have a blank afterwards, but you know, something happened. 324 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:27,440 You kept the show moving and the audience pretty much didn't 325 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,520 suspect anything at all. To be honest, not at all. 326 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,720 I have a couple of stories from the Johann Strauss Gala. 327 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:37,560 They're 2 funny stories. Oh Jesus. 328 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,800 Well, I have more than two but. Well, that's because it's Lucy 329 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,880 Burns and Julianne working with them and their stories. 330 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,720 Or we need to get Lucy Burns on the podcast. 331 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,360 She has story. Has some great stories. 332 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,280 I don't know if you were with us on this season, but it was a New 333 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,440 Year's Day performance. Oh Jesus in Birmingham. 334 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,480 We've spoken about how we feel about New Year's Day. 335 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:02,520 I'm not sure. I think you might have already 336 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:07,400 moved to Denmark by this point. But anyway, so it's New Year's 337 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,680 Day. We'd done a show the night 338 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,880 before for New Year's Eve at the Barbican Centre in London. 339 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,520 We jumped on the tour bus. We'd driven from London up to 340 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,600 Birmingham, checked into the hotel, gone to the hotel bar, 341 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,800 drank all night because it's New Year's Eve show the next day 342 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,080 like a matinee, so everyone's tired. 343 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:28,280 It's freezing. We're in Birmingham. 344 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:33,960 We're in Birmingham, you know, and we have to gear ourselves up 345 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,240 for a show. So we're on, we're on stage, 346 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,120 we're probably midway through a performance now. 347 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:43,120 The stage in the theatre in Birmingham is quite small. 348 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,720 But so wide. Wide and the orchestra are also 349 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,480 on stage with us for every performance because it's it's a 350 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,320 celebration of Strauss with a conductor who's also comparing 351 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,840 the show and as dancers and these musicians. 352 00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:00,400 Now I think it was Julianne and her partner in mind. 353 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,280 I could I can't remember it may I think it must have been Benny. 354 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:05,200 Let's say it was Benny and Julianne. 355 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:09,040 Benny Maslow. They may, I may have got this 356 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,480 wrong in terms of who was dancing with who, but basically 357 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,640 they're dancing, dancing, dancing. 358 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,080 And the size of the dresses, they're enormous on this tiny 359 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,080 stage and we're all trying to avoid each other. 360 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:20,920 And the choreography is quick and complex. 361 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:22,640 You know it's. Yeah, yeah, it's Christopher 362 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:23,760 Hampson. And waltzing. 363 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,960 It's proper choreographic, you know, moments. 364 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:33,560 But Julianne's dress just wafts some poor musicians sheet music 365 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:35,520 off his rack. You. 366 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:41,000 Just see this. Litter of sheet music go up and 367 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,640 explode up, right. It's a live show. 368 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,640 They hit the floor. The musicians like everything's 369 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,480 in a disarray on the floor. Where's the other couples are 370 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,120 still dancing and we so there are moments when we can turn 371 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:59,040 upstage and Julianne and Benny squat on they're squatted on the 372 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,160 floor scooping these sheets of music. 373 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,520 I mean it was I mean, and we're still having to dance and try 374 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,080 and look beautiful and elegant and serene whilst this is going 375 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:09,480 on. I mean very, very funny, 376 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,960 amazing. And then the second story. 377 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,760 It was when we took the show to Istanbul. 378 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:16,480 Oh yeah, that was after I left, definitely. 379 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,360 Yeah, one of two nights we were there. 380 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:22,360 So the first night we were, we did our technical rehearsal and 381 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:24,360 then it was time for the performance and the show had a 382 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:27,640 very position, very high. So there was a big drop into the 383 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,440 auditorium. So you know, the height of the 384 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,040 front of the stage, it was quite high, right. 385 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:34,640 Anyway, we're dancing, we're dancing, we're dancing. 386 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:36,760 Complete blackout. Halfway through a number, 387 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,720 complete blackout the theatre lights. 388 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,680 Oh, Jesus. So the orchestra were able to 389 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:44,920 keep playing because they have their own little mini torch 390 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,400 that's attached to their rack that they, you know, that they 391 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,280 have their St. musicals so they could still see. 392 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,200 And I just remember screaming. I was dancing with Lucy Burns. 393 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:57,520 I think I just remember screaming waltzing and 394 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,840 thankfully it was probably 1012 seconds of light waltzing in 395 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,560 complete dark with this massive drop at the front of the stage. 396 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,320 But the lights came back up and we were all in perfect plays, 397 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,160 perfect timing where we needed to be. 398 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:09,840 But it was funny. That's how it. 399 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,000 Was funny and that's how it's done. 400 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,520 So those two Strauss moments kind of came to mind. 401 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:14,920 I mean, there are many many, many more. 402 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,000 There's many moments I remember Lucy Burns telling me about 403 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,720 before I joined. So for you listeners out there, 404 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:26,920 I joined Strauss and did I think 2 years and then Damien joined 405 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,000 and we did two years together. Then I left and then Damien did 406 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,560 another two years and now we're not part of it anymore. 407 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,920 But so we both have a lovely relationship to that show and 408 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,000 that production. Like it was fantastic. 409 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,760 Anyway, Lucy Burns told me a story that I think it was 410 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:49,680 Julianne fell over and and I think it's the deflator mouse 411 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,160 overture that they use quite a lot in the Strauss concept. 412 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,160 She fell over at the beginning of that. 413 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,240 And those dresses so hard to stand up in because they're so 414 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,320 big. I remember Lucy telling me that 415 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,440 she just saw at the corner of her eye like Julianne on the 416 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,040 floor like a cockroach, like keep on trying to stand up, but 417 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,360 like she would step on her own dress again and then fall over 418 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:13,320 again. And then Lucy not knowing what 419 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:14,600 to do. So she just literally stepped 420 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:19,040 over her and kept on. Destiny's Child moment. 421 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,200 Exactly. She looked down at Michelle. 422 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,560 What she's doing. Classic Michelle. 423 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:32,320 So after Strauss, I moved to Denmark and actually I remember 424 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,920 one of the first shows I did was Tom Eliza, which is Thumbelina. 425 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,720 So a ballet of Thumbelina with costumes by the Queen of 426 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,560 Denmark. And it's all a big Hoo ha, the 427 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,400 Queen of Denmark does the costumes, blah blah blah. 428 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:52,640 Anyway, so I was, I had two, like in most shows you have two 429 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,640 roles and you have one role you do all the time and one role you 430 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,200 barely ever do. I was on for the role that I 431 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,400 barely ever did. And it was probably, I don't 432 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,280 know, the third time I'd done it, you know, spread out over 433 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,600 five months. So I probably did it once in 434 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,280 April, once in June, and this was now in August. 435 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,360 And it was just, it was in the curtain call. 436 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:19,000 We had to do like Peaky Arabesque run run until I say 437 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,920 releve 5th double tour and I'm on stage right. 438 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,720 The other guys on stage, they have to have to PK Arabesque on, 439 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:31,440 shall I say, crossover centre and not I'm not bitching, but 440 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:35,960 some choreographers forget the rule left in front of right. 441 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,640 And we are taught that at school and it's ingrained into our 442 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,600 blood and into our body. So when a choreographer goes, 443 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,560 oh, at this point stage right goes in front of left it you're 444 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,240 just playing praying for a car crash. 445 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,520 So that's what happened. I'm on stage, right? 446 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,280 I go Piquet arabis. I go to go upstage of the guy 447 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,480 who's on stage left. But now I'm supposed to go 448 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,120 downstage for whatever reason. Yeah, Thank you, Dina Bjorn. 449 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:09,120 And literally you have these two guys chest bump in the middle of 450 00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:14,800 center stage full force. So do Piquet arabesque run run 451 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,680 go to do an enchil essay and the other guy. 452 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:22,960 We've both gone into each other full Welt bam, chest pump on 453 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:24,440 center stage. Look at. 454 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,040 Each other face the audience renovate 5th double. 455 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:32,360 Tick to the rule, kids. This is why left in front of 456 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:36,720 right, people left in front of right being in Tivoli. 457 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,760 So our first show, I'm just sure I've spoken about this before, 458 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,920 our first show was always Comedia del Latte pantomime. 459 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,040 I was playing this role. Who is the proposer to 460 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:49,600 Columbine? Columbine loves Harlequin, but 461 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,400 her dad wants her to marry the rich proposer. 462 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:57,120 So I'm this Camp Amadeus kind of proposer character. 463 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,240 And we're in this street scene and I'm doing whatever I'm 464 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,040 supposed to do. And I go to go into the house 465 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,160 and the next scene is in the house. 466 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,000 And as I go to go into the house, my shoe falls off. 467 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,040 And literally the I go into the house, my shoe falls off and the 468 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,200 scenery changes. So I can't go back and get my 469 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,200 shoe. I'm like, oh, So we then start 470 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,280 doing the, the scene in the house and I see my shoe on the 471 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,200 other side of the stage. I'm like, I need to get this 472 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,760 bloody shoe. How do I get this shoe? 473 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,520 And then the scene is going on and there's not a moment for me 474 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,040 to get the shoe. I'm like, for fuck's sake, I'm 475 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,600 doing this whole scene with one shoe. 476 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,200 And then at the end of the scene, I'm heading towards my 477 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,360 shoe, but the scene is about to change again, but it's about to 478 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,280 change to the street scene. So I'm like, oh, I have an idea. 479 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,480 So we're then leaving the scene. I let the scene do the scene 480 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,200 change. I come out the front door and 481 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:51,960 we're on the street and I'm like, oh, that's why I left my 482 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,920 shoe. Activate shoe and we're good to 483 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:57,240 go. It's literally it's like, 484 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,400 because then in my head I'm saying, but it wouldn't make 485 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,720 sense for me to put my shoe on. I didn't leave my shoe in the 486 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,880 house, I left it on the street. And now we're back in the 487 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:04,680 street. Voila. 488 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,480 Exactly. So then I remember putting on my 489 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,360 shoe and we're like, Oh my shoe, there it is. 490 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,560 Keep it in, keep it in the show. Somebody finished rotating that 491 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,800 please. The things that go wrong in the 492 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,960 show, I mean, it might sound like just funny little stories 493 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,240 and like you had to be that kind of thing, but they're they're 494 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,800 like some of the best memories. They really are. 495 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:30,040 Like actually, I don't know, performing at Wembley Arena in 496 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,920 front of millions of people, That's not the memory you 497 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,600 remember. The memory you remember is your 498 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,640 shoe falling off at Tiffany Pantomime Theatre and everybody 499 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,160 laughing and it just being like so much fun and so funny and 500 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,360 those are the memories. Yeah, those are the moments when 501 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:47,520 things go wrong in that way. You actually can laugh about 502 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,840 them, like because they they're so funny. 503 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:54,040 I have a similar experience. Again, my my memories are not so 504 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:58,040 much in chronological order, but one summer I did Blind Bond 505 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,120 opera for the full summer, and there was a bunch of us, maybe 506 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:03,400 about eight of us, all very, very good friends. 507 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:05,000 We all knew each other very, very well. 508 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:10,960 And we were all in both operas. So we all decided to stay up, 509 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:12,880 spoken about this I think on a podcast. 510 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,320 We all decided to stay up by Glyndebourne for the entire 511 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:16,560 summer. Very, very nice. 512 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:21,120 Anyway, one of those operas, the first operative of the evening, 513 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:24,560 there was a lot of partner work and I remember my partner Joe 514 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:29,400 how we got attached to to a hook on like a waistcoat or something 515 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,280 on my chest. But we were mid and it was quite 516 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:37,600 contemporary style choreography actually, like it was more than 517 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,400 just kind of opera on and off. It was a lot, very, very dance 518 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,760 focused. So we were, we were busy and, 519 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:48,200 and featured. So we really couldn't miss being 520 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,000 in the spotlight if we tried because all, all eyes were on us 521 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,240 at this, this particular moment and the other couples, not just 522 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,120 the two of us. But I could not stop laughing 523 00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:59,400 because she could not get her side of her head away from my 524 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,440 chest. And we were still on stage. 525 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,640 The stage was raped, but you know when you start laughing and 526 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:09,080 you can, you're crying laughing, but you're still on stage trying 527 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,680 to execute the choreography, It was, I just have such a fond 528 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,840 memory of that moment because we were hysterical. 529 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,480 And then of course your friends around you see what's happening 530 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:20,400 and they start laughing. So we're all on stage in 531 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,200 hysterics, trying to be professional, you know? 532 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,320 But moments like that are so funny because I think as 533 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,200 dancers, they don't happen very often. 534 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,320 So when they happen, it really does feel dramatic. 535 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,520 And it's live theatre, isn't it? So you, like you said, you have 536 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,960 to rely on your survival instincts and something kicks 537 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:40,720 in. Sometimes you just get on with 538 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,040 it. You have no recollection of what 539 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,800 you did to fill that space or that partner missing their 540 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,080 entrance or whatever. Set not coming in, whatever it 541 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,880 is, but when when you have those comedic moments where you're 542 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,200 attached to each other's costume and there's nothing you can do 543 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,240 about it. I mean, you've just got to laugh 544 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,880 and just, and just, you know, get on with it and they're the 545 00:28:57,880 --> 00:28:59,480 memories that you remember. You're right. 546 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,920 They are because it's just like exactly what you said, like 547 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,200 you've rehearsed everything for weeks and as dancers and 548 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,560 performers, you are such perfectionist, like everything. 549 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,560 If you're not a dancer or someone who works in the theatre 550 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,080 listening to this, like everything is choreographed and 551 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,560 planned, like moments backstage, like the fact that I run off 552 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,520 stage first you wait for me to pass because I've got a quick 553 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,280 change and then you go and get your prop from the left and then 554 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:25,040 you come back on and then a technician will work. 555 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,440 Everything is choreographed, even backstage is choreographed. 556 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,240 So it is very rare that things go wrong because you know you 557 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,920 are doing, not to make it sound monotonous, you are doing the 558 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,720 same thing every day. So it's so it is a routine. 559 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,120 Then when something does go wrong, it is just the majority 560 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,480 of the time it is funny because lots of the time it is not 561 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:49,880 dangerous things that are happening, it is something 562 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:51,080 silly. Yeah, yeah. 563 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,800 Nobody's at risk. I mean, yeah, yeah. 564 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:58,120 I remember in Kinky Boots when at the end of What's the song 565 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,520 Land of Lola, we were in this kick line. 566 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,160 So we all have, like, our hands behind each other's backs. 567 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,960 And we did step back on the right leg, pitch forward at the 568 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:12,080 hip and then everybody stand up, devil pay the leg out. 569 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,160 And I remember Patrick, if you're listening, I remember 570 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:20,640 Patrick when he put his hand on the lower back, he actually 571 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,480 grabbed my wig as well. When we then, you know, go to 572 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:25,720 stand up, he's then like Yanks my wig. 573 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,320 And then obviously my wig is super glued to my head. 574 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:31,280 So my wig doesn't come off, but like it does like pull me 575 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,560 completely back and get whiplash in the back of my neck, like 576 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,600 just pull my wig. There's always moments where 577 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:40,920 people's costumes or things fall off. 578 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,720 I remember actually in Kinky Boots, Oliver's wig just falling 579 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:48,440 off in the middle of the number. And then you just see like this 580 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,520 random drag queen running around with the stocking cap on their 581 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:52,960 head and like a dead cat being in the corner of the stage. 582 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:57,240 Yeah, and they're distracting. And then it just makes it even 583 00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,000 more funny. I'm trying to think, do you 584 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,960 remember in Swan Lake, there was a moment where I think our Act 585 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,480 One costumes, the servant costumes were the white gloves 586 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:11,600 always set clips onto the epaulettes of our costume, which 587 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,320 meant that I mean, I just have a memory and you feel so naked. 588 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,280 It's a bit like the ACT to no swan eye makeup on. 589 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:19,840 You feel so naked. Not it. 590 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,560 I do remember coming on and doing like the whole first 591 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,920 section, which is quite gestural with your hands. 592 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,560 And I was like, Oh my God, I don't have my I don't have my 593 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:30,760 gloves on. And that's all you can think 594 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:31,240 about. Like. 595 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:36,320 Naked Mickey Mouse. Everyone's everyone is looking 596 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,280 and laughing at my bare hands. That's what's going. 597 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,760 That was what was going through my mind. 598 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,880 Where the reality is that the cast would have been like he's 599 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,720 forgotten his gloves where, where the audience would 600 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,680 probably wouldn't have noticed. Well, maybe they did, but you 601 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:49,840 know, but you feel awful. Like how could I forget 602 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:53,120 something so fundamental? But sometimes, you know, costume 603 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,400 related incidents do happen. You know they do. 604 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:59,440 I remember we were at the end of Fiddle on the Roof. 605 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:04,320 And so James and I have just been, by the way, James is 606 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:06,960 always in these stories. James doesn't fuck up all the 607 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:11,400 time, guys, just so you know. So I remember James and I have 608 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,560 just been Russian police officers with another actor. 609 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,680 And we go in and tell all the Jews that they need to leave 610 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:25,120 this town and buckle off. Basically, James and I go 611 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:29,080 upstairs to then quick change to become one of these Jews that 612 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:33,160 we've just told to bugger off. And we all sing Anna Tefka at 613 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,640 the end of the show. There's really like beautiful, 614 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,480 depressing, sad song at the end. And we're all stood there 615 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,440 basically, you know, one of those poignant moments where 616 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,040 everyone just stands there and just stares at the audience. 617 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:45,960 There's like, the blocking is very simple, but like, you know, 618 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,200 powerful and working. And James and I come on and we 619 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,480 join this and we're all stood there. 620 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,680 And then I just look to my left. James still has his Russian 621 00:32:54,680 --> 00:33:00,840 policeman hat on. Oh, my God, We're always like, 622 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,600 very sad that we're having to leave and we're being forced out 623 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,600 of our town and we're going to be wandering Jews again. 624 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,400 And James is actually an undercover police officer who's 625 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:14,880 just thrown us all out. And I could just see James 626 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,080 because I notice it. And then I kind of gesture to 627 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,280 the guy next to me to be like, look at James, look at James. 628 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:22,960 And he looks at James. And then people start noticing 629 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,440 James, but James hasn't noticed because James can't see what's 630 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,080 on his own head. And then I get James's 631 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,320 attention, and then he's like, I can see his brain go, oh, my 632 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:34,240 God, I've got the wrong hat on. Take it off. 633 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,120 But we're Jews. We're not allowed to show our 634 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,240 hair, our hats. Our heads are always covered. 635 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,040 So he's like, oh, but I can't take off my hat because I can't 636 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,080 be a Jew without a hat on. Yeah. 637 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,720 I mean, that is, that is a funny moment and and you've just 638 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:54,800 reminded me in my very early days in the company of Swan 639 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,680 Lake, we did the big swan dance. And so it was my first season, I 640 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:04,040 think because we're at the Dominion and Adam Galbraith, if 641 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:10,320 you're listening, the big swan dance is 4 big Swans, 4 big 642 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:15,280 Swans featured in this very, very aerobic number. 643 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:19,800 It's beautiful, it's fantastic, but it's it's very tiring and 644 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:24,199 difficult. And two Swans come on 1st and 645 00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:26,679 then the following 2 is like in, in a cannon. 646 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,480 So I was one of the 1st 2. And I think from what I 647 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,440 remember, he'd like grabbed my arm, which meant that I couldn't 648 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,199 go when I was going to go, but I obviously had to wipe my arm off 649 00:34:37,199 --> 00:34:41,120 of him. But because it's me, I corpsed 650 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:44,920 immediately. So I spent the entire big swan 651 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,560 dance giggling all the way through it. 652 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,520 I mean, I was 19 years old, laughing, trying not to laugh, 653 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:55,040 laughing even more through this very serious dramatic number 654 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,400 towards the end of Act 2. It's just before the coda big 655 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,560 finale finish of Act 2, before the interval. 656 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:06,720 Anyway, got through it, laughed all the way through it and then 657 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:10,960 the following day we always came in, had company class, followed 658 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,960 by notes and then ready for the next performance. 659 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,000 I got such a bollocking from Scott Hambler. 660 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,440 May he rest in peace. Quite rightly so. 661 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,840 He was like, what was what was so funny that we needed to see 662 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:27,520 your teeth all the way through the big swan number. 663 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,480 I don't think I I don't think I grasped up Adam Galbraith. 664 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:39,000 But it was your fault, Adam. Can you imagine, like, trying to 665 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,280 make this graceful kind of steps, steps, you know, saute, 666 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:46,600 lunge and yeah, it's supposed to be beautiful. 667 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,800 And I was like A and then yanking my arm off and then just 668 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,720 speaking. So it was worth every giggle. 669 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:59,040 It never happened again. Do you remember, this is not 670 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,000 something going wrong with this just from my, I now just 671 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:05,840 remembered there was a rehearsal on stage the day after the 672 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:10,160 premiere in Sydney and I wasn't there. 673 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:18,040 And I remember my phone ringing and it was my, it was my dance 674 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:20,200 captain. Catherine Zeta Jones and I. 675 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:26,200 Cather Zeta Jones slash Carla Carla Bruni was calling my phone 676 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:28,600 and I pick it up and I just remember doing this. 677 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:32,600 Hello. Hello. 678 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,120 Hello. It's not getting any better. 679 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,640 Hello. And then hi. 680 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:44,640 Where are you? Sorry, I'm at, I'm at the hotel. 681 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:50,320 Why you have a rehearsal now? Me trying not to panic. 682 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,360 Well, hi, babes, you have a rehearsal now? 683 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:56,560 Yeah, I partied too hard in Sydney. 684 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:01,120 Hey, I was young and dumb. Also, we would have been jet 685 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:02,840 lagged. I mean, we literally flew, had a 686 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:05,040 day and a half off and then went straight into tech runs. 687 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:08,240 So but I think it's even funnier than that. 688 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:12,640 I think I was like, okay, yeah, you know, with management, you 689 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,080 know, on the other end of my on the other side of me, Okay, 690 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:16,840 you're on your way. And you were like, I'll be there 691 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,480 in 5. She went there. 692 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,120 She'll be 15 to 20 minutes because she's clearly stood the 693 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:26,600 bed. I mean, but I'm sorry, Matthew 694 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:28,520 Bourne, you have your own self to blame. 695 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:32,280 Who has an ice sculpture with vodka pouring through it at the 696 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:33,600 premiere? Come on. 697 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,120 And you expect your dancers to turn up on time the next day? 698 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:41,200 Absolutely never do not throw a party until you've done the run 699 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:43,600 of the of the show or the season. 700 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:47,600 There is a company here that I haven't worked with that this 701 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,440 sounds like a great idea. They have the premiere. 702 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:55,240 So Thursday, people out of the theatre world, lots of the time 703 00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:58,320 you have a premiere on a Thursday and it's based in the 704 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,560 fact that you have a premiere on a Thursday so that press can be 705 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:03,840 out for people to buy tickets for the weekend. 706 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:07,520 Obviously nowadays everything's done straight away on social 707 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,800 media and with the Internet and stuff, but like we've kind of 708 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,840 kept the same thing that you have a premium on a Thursday so 709 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,640 the newspapers with the reviews can be out for the weekend kind 710 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:19,080 of thing. Anyway, there's a company over 711 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,560 here that does the premiere on a Thursday and then they have no 712 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,840 show Friday. Now. 713 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,120 That is a company I could work for. 714 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,600 I'm sorry, I don't do Fridays wherever you go. 715 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:33,880 Sorry, have a day off after the premiere. 716 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,040 That's amazing. I mean, not just because of the 717 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:39,760 alcohol, but also because, you know, the tech weeks and 718 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,040 everything leading up to the premiere, such long weeks and 719 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:44,480 such long days that everyone's dead. 720 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,720 To give everyone that extra day off is amazing. 721 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:50,240 Yeah. That is a great idea, although I 722 00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:52,520 suppose it won't happen because that's a loss, isn't it? 723 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:55,080 They're thinking, well, we could have the show that we could be 724 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:57,960 making a profit on or making, you know, So, But yeah, in an 725 00:38:57,960 --> 00:38:59,880 ideal world, that would be ideal. 726 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:02,920 But yeah, there's definitely a lesson to be learnt, which is do 727 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:07,040 not have your dancers, you know, do not supply your company with 728 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,920 nibbles and alcohol before you finished your final show. 729 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:13,440 Because of course, you know, you're going to want to enjoy 730 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:15,760 yourself at the party. And then you have to get up and 731 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,160 it's like a New Year's Day, Johann Strauss, Scala all over 732 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,520 again. It's just not the vibe. 733 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:27,960 I actually remember a story that a good friend of mine who used 734 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,600 to be a stage manager I worked with told me he walked onto 735 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:35,920 stage and there was two members of the company stood there 736 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,040 talking to each other 5 minutes before the show. 737 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:42,520 They were stood there ready on time, fully in costume, chatting 738 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,120 to each other and it was 5 minutes before the show. 739 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:48,720 And he just stares at them and he's like, they not realise, OK, 740 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,000 I'm just going to go over there. And he walks over there. 741 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,720 He's like, guys just look at each other. 742 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:59,600 They were both dressed in the same costume for the same role. 743 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:06,080 Having a full on conversation for 5 minutes before the show 744 00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:08,800 being like guys, have you not noticed one of you is in the 745 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,800 wrong costume because you're not both playing this role tonight? 746 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,680 Double whammy, double special. That's so funny. 747 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:19,000 I mean, we've all experienced something along the along those 748 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,880 lines, haven't we? Like dancers not turning up like 749 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:25,040 still in the dressing room, like hearing the show over the tanoi. 750 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:28,760 I mean, like, oh, it was me that was supposed to be done, not me. 751 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:32,120 I would never miss an entrance on that one. 752 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:36,640 This again, I don't know if I have missed an entrance. 753 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:40,560 I must have done, but I don't remember missing an entrance. 754 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,240 I I've spoken previously on the podcast about being too early 755 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:49,000 for an entrance. With the door, I love the door 756 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:51,520 story. But actually the door story that 757 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,640 that's another Queen's ballet. So there was another Queen's 758 00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:56,480 Ballet. All the Queen's ballets are old 759 00:40:56,480 --> 00:41:00,800 hands, Christian old hands, Christian Anderson stories. 760 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,440 And one of them is called Fur Toy, which is the tinderbox. 761 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:09,640 And basically it's a, before there were matchsticks, there 762 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:12,600 was like, you have a little box with a Flint and that's how you 763 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,440 would light a match kind of thing. 764 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:18,400 And it's a story about this magical tinderbox. 765 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,640 So we're doing the premiere. So everybody who's anybody in 766 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,400 Denmark is there, like the Queen of Denmark is there. 767 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,680 All the press are there. The press aren't taking pictures 768 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:28,760 of us. They're taking pictures of the 769 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:32,880 Queen watching us, the lead in the show you to Snow if you're 770 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:37,240 listening. He gets to this magical cave and 771 00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:41,440 he finds this tinderbox and musically there's this brum, 772 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:45,160 brum, brum. And he strikes it three times. 773 00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:47,440 And on the third time, magical things happen. 774 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:50,000 And this happens throughout the show. 775 00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:54,240 However, the first time he does it, he goes grung, grung, grung. 776 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:57,280 And on the third time, it flies out of his hand. 777 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:04,640 Tivoli is an open air theatre. It flew into the audience. 778 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:05,120 Oh. My. 779 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:09,480 Gosh, at the premiere we now do not have a tinderbox. 780 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,640 The name of the show for the rest of the show? 781 00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:12,960 Oh. No, it's. 782 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,920 Just been just like miming lighting matches for the rest of 783 00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:20,240 the show I've. Seen it once, you can imagine 784 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:23,800 the rest. You get the gist guys. 785 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:28,520 Man, you've seen it all before. That this thing flying into the 786 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,720 audience like, oh God, now what do we do? 787 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,920 I mean, they're harmless little moments, but they can be very, 788 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:37,800 very funny. I mean, unless the objects, you 789 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:41,080 know, the shoe flinging off and hitting somebody in the 790 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,320 orchestra are those moments, I mean, completely out of one's 791 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:46,040 control. But they can be funny as long as 792 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,320 they're not hurting anybody. You know, those little magic 793 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,640 moments can sometimes make all the difference, do you not 794 00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:53,080 think? Especially if you're in a, in a, 795 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:57,280 a show that's been running for a while, it just lifts the energy 796 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,320 a little bit more because it, it just kind of excites you in a, 797 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:04,040 in a, in a, in a cheeky little way to get you through into the 798 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,760 next scene or the next act because it's something just 799 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,680 slightly different. But you know, and again, and, 800 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:14,760 and I'll finish with this story, live orchestra, you never know 801 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:18,920 what you're going to get because it's a live usually it's pretty 802 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:21,760 consistent. But actually there, there are 803 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:26,240 different variations of, of tempo for sure in a live 804 00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:30,760 production. And I always loved when the 805 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,760 music was too fast. Again, I cannot help people. 806 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,800 I'm a terrible corpse. They're like, I cannot, I'm 807 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:41,000 like, please don't look at me on stage if something goes wrong 808 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:45,520 because I cannot keep a straight face and not do it. 809 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,000 And I love those moments where the, you know, the orchestra 810 00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:51,240 were playing way too fast, but you're trying to fit in all the 811 00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:53,040 steps. You know, it was far less 812 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:58,480 amusing when you know, Big Swan Dance, for example, was too slow 813 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:01,400 and you're trying to elevate, you know, the three, three 814 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:04,080 times. Yeah, I remember that happening 815 00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:07,720 in in Paris, that when we arrived, there was a 816 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:12,880 conversation made between the conductor, who was French, and 817 00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:17,360 the rehearsal director. So the entrance of Swan Lake 818 00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:22,200 needs to be a certain tempo because it's Allegro, it's 819 00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:24,520 jumping in our version of Swan Lake. 820 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:27,280 And I remember him turning around and saying that's not how 821 00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:31,440 this is supposed to be played. The entrance in Swan Lake is 822 00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:40,760 supposed to go, but in Matt Swan Lake, you're going step onto 823 00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:42,880 Lasse, step Russian Padashar, step onto Lasse. 824 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,400 And if that's slow? Yeah, it's. 825 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:48,920 Not and you're a signet and you have to do 14 of those. 826 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,000 I mean, you're a big swan and you were swan #14 so you did 827 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:53,560 half of them and. Then no. 828 00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:58,120 I was also Swans 11 and 13 on occasion, so you know I either 829 00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:04,800 did three or two or one. I was Swan 1:00 and 4:00 so I 830 00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:08,320 did quite a few of those little jumps and when the when the 831 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,640 conductor decided to play it how it was meant to be played. 832 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:14,240 Yeah, that's, that's that's pretty awful. 833 00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:19,160 Because particularly, Yeah, if you're an earlier number, that 834 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,320 is, it's painful because you think, Oh my God, I've got to 835 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,080 get through all of this. And it's far too slow. 836 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:26,720 Yeah. But when it was fast, I loved, I 837 00:45:26,720 --> 00:45:29,720 loved. They just made me chuckle, you 838 00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:32,640 know, silly little moments to just give you a bit of life. 839 00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:35,760 And also like, I think, I think conductors don't realize how 840 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:41,040 much it affects the dancing because even singing in 841 00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:43,400 musicals, like you notice it being a little bit faster 842 00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:44,920 sometimes. You're like, oh, this is a 843 00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:49,080 little bit pasty today, but it's kind of fine or whatever. 844 00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:53,680 But when you've got dance steps going to the rhythm, like, the 845 00:45:53,680 --> 00:46:00,080 slightest deviation in, in speed, in tempo like makes a 846 00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,840 huge difference. Oh, it really does. 847 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:05,320 Especially if you have choreographed something, I don't 848 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:08,720 know, just, I mean just imagine, imagine it was a ballet class. 849 00:46:08,720 --> 00:46:11,080 You know when you've choreographed something which is 850 00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:13,720 supposed to be fast, so you're going double fappy, double 851 00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:16,040 fappy, double fappy, double fappy and a petty bap 1 semi da 852 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:17,200 da da da da. Da da. 853 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,400 If then the music is too fast. Yeah. 854 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:23,520 By the tiniest split second. It. 855 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,440 Gets ridiculous. Yeah, you can't fit, you can't 856 00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:29,480 fit it in. And I my interpretation of that 857 00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:34,720 with a live orchestra is I feel like the conductor is obviously. 858 00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:39,320 Wanted to go home. Feeling, feeling themselves, you 859 00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:41,840 know, within the moment of the music and the energy and the 860 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:44,440 vibe and the ambience that they're creating, leading, you 861 00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:48,600 know, a beautiful orchestra. And for them, I always feel like 862 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,520 the music comes first and the dance comes second. 863 00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:53,560 Even though everybody's collaborating to create 864 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:55,600 something beautiful for the stage. 865 00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,320 Don't forget the only person that can see the dancers on the 866 00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:02,360 stage is usually the conductor. So he is or she is watching or 867 00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:07,160 they are watching, but if they're feeling what they're 868 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:12,200 creating in real time, sometimes that's how the tempo can can 869 00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,840 shift because you're kind of switched off from what's not 870 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:17,960 switched off. That's not fair because they're 871 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:19,960 highly skilled. No, they've, they've become, 872 00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:21,880 they've, they've really got into it. 873 00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,760 They haven't switched off, but maybe like they've really got 874 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,400 into the music and they've like fallen deep into the realms of 875 00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:34,400 musicality and that's. How I always kind of find the 876 00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:38,480 reasoning behind those, those, you know, in musical moments 877 00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:41,120 that do shift from time to time, which is natural. 878 00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:43,640 Or sometimes you're doing a double show on a Saturday and 879 00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:46,240 the second show is much faster and you're like, he just wants 880 00:47:46,240 --> 00:47:48,320 to get the train home. He's trying to make his last 881 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:50,120 train. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 882 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:54,040 Or, or in music, you know, I've seen, and I know it sounds like 883 00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:55,440 I'm slightly obsessed, but I'm not. 884 00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:58,760 But I've seen Wicked multiple times in multiple countries. 885 00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:07,080 Thank you, Cynthia. And once I was in, in the US, in 886 00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:11,560 Portland, and it just felt the entire, the pace of the entire 887 00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:15,000 show was so slow, painfully slow. 888 00:48:15,600 --> 00:48:17,760 And then it was just so it was less enjoyable because 889 00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:20,320 everything felt dragged out. And, and actually that's 890 00:48:20,320 --> 00:48:22,200 happened to me once here in Les Mis. 891 00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:25,680 It was so slow. And then it loses the energy and 892 00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:27,520 you think, Oh my God, I've been here 7 hours. 893 00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:31,520 But it's the same with acting like, you know, if there is not 894 00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:35,000 a certain pace to something, then you can, you know, there 895 00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:38,360 needs to be that kind of heartbeat throughout the show to 896 00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:42,320 keep things moving. Otherwise, very easily you can. 897 00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:43,840 Switch off. Yeah. 898 00:48:44,120 --> 00:48:48,080 And interestingly, again, as we deviate into a kind of a 899 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:52,080 separate conversation, but that also translates as teachers, you 900 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:55,560 also have to you're not just delivering steps and 901 00:48:56,080 --> 00:48:57,680 collaborating with the the light. 902 00:48:57,680 --> 00:49:00,200 If you have live music, you're lucky enough to have a live 903 00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:03,480 musician, but you also have to keep the pace of the class. 904 00:49:04,600 --> 00:49:06,280 We can save that for another discussion. 905 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:08,960 But it's it's still, it still translates in the same way, 906 00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:11,120 doesn't it, as the pace of a show. 907 00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:14,200 You need a good. I love that what you said about 908 00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:16,680 a steady heartbeat, you know, keeping, keeping the energy 909 00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:19,800 going, keeping it consistent and keeping the energy with you. 910 00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:25,520 I, I mean, I, I detest teachers, whether it's either at school or 911 00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:28,880 in an open class, no matter what it is when they go off on a 912 00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:35,760 dissertation, like, you know, a full on GCSE presentation for 913 00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:38,680 like 10 minutes, like, oh, come on, get going. 914 00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:41,520 This is not the time and the place for you to go into a whole 915 00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:44,880 discussion about something, whether it is school, whether it 916 00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:49,160 is open class, whatever it is, a dance class needs to keep 917 00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:51,120 moving. We can't sit here. 918 00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:55,760 And because also, I mean just not to go like you said, not to 919 00:49:55,760 --> 00:50:00,200 deviate completely and go into completely another realm or 920 00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:04,640 category, but mainly because even then everyone is going to 921 00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:06,840 get a cold. And if we stand there talking 922 00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:09,360 for ages and go, cool. Right back to double tours. 923 00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:12,200 Yes, I think there has to be a balance and it's really 924 00:50:12,200 --> 00:50:15,880 interesting because I literally last weekend I taught one of my 925 00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:19,160 ballet technical classes again. So it's a 2 1/2 hour ballet 926 00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:23,120 class really focusing on with a technique. 927 00:50:23,240 --> 00:50:27,400 So there has to be an element of explanation, you know, of course 928 00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:30,960 what I need to see or how that person can progress. 929 00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:33,680 But there also has to be a balance of how much time I spend 930 00:50:33,680 --> 00:50:37,800 doing that between each exercise because of course I'm talking 931 00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:40,080 and I'm also then delivering an exercise. 932 00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:45,760 So that's time when the dancer is not active, they are active 933 00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:47,480 and that and that's the point I'm getting to. 934 00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:51,320 They also have to be responsible to keep warm during those 935 00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:55,440 moments of pause. And I think understanding that 936 00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:58,600 if you're watching an exercise or you're listening to a 937 00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:01,920 correction or an explanation, just keep moving. 938 00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:05,000 I'm not talking star dumps, but just roll your ankles a little 939 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:08,440 bit or so. There has to be a certain level 940 00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:11,280 of responsibility between the the performer, the dancer, 941 00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:16,200 between those moment moments of explanation or even setting the 942 00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:18,840 exercise. But again, I shall finish that 943 00:51:18,840 --> 00:51:21,320 there because that could be a whole other conversation, but 944 00:51:21,320 --> 00:51:24,320 it's it's. But it also harks on to what we 945 00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:26,880 were speaking about the other week when we were talking about 946 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:30,040 the the dance environment, the studio, the theatre, whatever it 947 00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:32,480 is. That's why there are such strict 948 00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:36,320 rules put in place if you're lucky enough to be on an Equity 949 00:51:36,320 --> 00:51:40,200 contract of temperature, temperature in dance studios and 950 00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:43,760 in theatres. Because you do need to be able 951 00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:46,600 to stop and have a conversation and give a correction and 952 00:51:46,880 --> 00:51:50,000 whatever. And the dancer needs to not get 953 00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:53,640 frostbite in between exercises because it's dangerous. 954 00:51:57,560 --> 00:51:59,440 We are. We are very good at changing 955 00:51:59,440 --> 00:52:03,240 conversation. Well, like most best friends, 956 00:52:03,240 --> 00:52:06,760 we're highly efficient in having multiple conversations at the 957 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:08,920 same time. And I think our poor listeners, 958 00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:11,800 it's a little bit of a schizophrenic experience because 959 00:52:12,520 --> 00:52:15,080 we dip in and out. But I, I hope that you've all 960 00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:19,240 stayed with us completely. We do try and we try hard to 961 00:52:19,240 --> 00:52:22,680 stick to the subject, but we have to leave some stories for 962 00:52:22,680 --> 00:52:25,520 the upcoming book tour. So on that note, I think let's 963 00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:28,520 call it a day. Thank you all for listening. 964 00:52:28,680 --> 00:52:30,280 Yes, thank you. Of course there has to be 965 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:32,560 something left for the memoirs and the eulogy. 966 00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:36,040 So thank you all for listening to Drinks at the Bar and hope to 967 00:52:36,040 --> 00:52:38,440 have you all back again next week. 968 00:52:39,040 --> 00:52:41,560 Denise, take care. Love you so much. 969 00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:47,080 You my darling, love you too big kiss and take care if you want 970 00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:51,360 and we will be back soon. I was trying not to give any 971 00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:56,440 more Sound of Music puns better. Bye sweetheart, bye.