It's over. The madness is over.
Wait, that should read: The Madness is over.
Last night at around 10pm the proverbial curtain came down on the greatest musical I've ever had the pleasure to partake in. 7 weeks of intensive rehearsals turned into a 2 hour production of sheer brilliance. Say what you like about the minor cock-ups that happened during the run - people colliding with the set, improvising song lyrics and dropping limo driver hats - but the audience never cared. They came for a good time and they got one. They got a show of drama, comedy and full of Madness songs. They got Star Wars, cannabis dealers and a trip to Las Vegas. They got a show worthy of the West End - and the tour may yet still be to come!
To start, I want to say thank you to the cast, crew and band for making this production the best musical I've ever been in. It was simply stunning. Yes it was stressful at times: I've never done a show where you spend one week learning a dance and that's it, onto the next one, but we all pulled together like the family we became and turned out a performance of star quality. There are some personal thankyous I do want to make though:
To Paul Bailey - for giving me lifts to and from the Redgrave Theatre on Show week. You're a star mate, I'm sorry I couldn't buy you a pint at the aftershow party, but I will definitely get you petrol money!
To Zoe Cotton - for keeping me sane throughout the process. I could always turn to you if necessary and you were a joy to work with and a fantastic dance partner. I just hope I did the same back.
To Becca Page - in line with Zoe, for being an awesome dance partner in 'Baggy Trousers'. We knackered ourselves out every night with that number, but it was WORTH it. And yes, you ARE forgiven for kicking me in the face.
To the Producer, Choreographer and Director - Ian, Jacqui and Alex - thank you for giving me the chance to appear in the show. It was a thrill and a pleasiure to work with such great people. Long may it continue.
To the lads - Ricardo Demarchi, Fraser Kidd, David Nicklas, James Hucknall, Josh Samuels, Jake Wheeler, Will Ferris, Liam Gordon, James Bonser, Marcus Carroll, Adam Janaway, Alex Nodes and Murray DuBotting - for keeping the dressing room bright and lively even when things weren't going quite to plan on stage, and for being some of the nicest and greatest guys ever.
And finally, to the girls (here we go) - Jennifer Boxall, Ellis Brown, Rachel Child, Alice Dowden, Jessica Edwards, Georgie Fenwick, Hayley Lloyd, Kellly Lowson, Misha Malcolm, Natalia Mintz, Josie Nicollson, Sophie Pollard, Amber Smith, Rebi Walsh, Alice Dalrymple, Amy-Louise Webber, Lora Seward - akin to the guys, for being utterly awesome and a joy to work with.
So, with Our House over, a look forward to next year's musical is a must, even if we will ALL be getting that sinking feeling on a few occasions...I really hope I can work with as many of you as possible next year on Titanic. But for now, thank you very much for making this experience a truly wonderful one. I love you all xxx
AND NOW:
A song from your favourite band.
Enough said.
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