6th June 2016

Philip and I went over to Manchester last night to watch Bernadette Peters in concert at the Manchester Opera House. She really has got a fabulous voice and is still looking great. It was a wonderful evening with a fantastic 11 piece orchestra. Sadly we didn't get Time heals everything

from Mack and Mabel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHxPuWld5o

but you can't have (Time heals) everything :-)

I find it remarkable though someone can go to a concert and spend the entire thing flicking through their smartphone!

3rd June 2016

Two blogs in one day! but there is more news, the job I mentioned that I couldn't talk about I now can!

I've just been given the all clear from the Chief Dalek himself Nicholas Briggs to say that I can talk about a play we've just recorded. (No Spoilers!) I've played a part in a Big Finish Dr Who! (pause for applause and whoops of joy) We recorded my bits a couple of days ago it's called The Transcendence of Ephros and its due for release in November. I got to work with Katy Manning (Jo Grant, Jon Pertwee's Assistant in the early 1970's for the non Whovians amongst you) and the reincarnation of Jon Pertwee in the form of Tim Treloar whose performance is fantastic! We can't have Jon Pertwee himself sadly but Tim's performance is so accurate that we can hear Jon again to perfection in new adventures. I mean that wholeheartedly, he was amazing to listen too! The fans will love him. and to work with Katy was a dream and a joy. Incredibly warm and lively. I had a fantastic day. Thank you Big Finish Team and David Richardson Producer for making an old actor's/big kid at heart's dream come true.

All the info about it can be found at the Big Finish site here The Transcendence of Ephros

3rd June 2016

Well its been a busy few days with some voluntary work over the bank holiday weekend with the Manchester Regiment 1914-1918 in Sherwood Forest informing/entertaining the visitors, I'm no good with the facts and figures yet. I need to do a lot more studying! So I do what I do best and go into children's entertainer mode and use my miniature uniform to keep the kids and the parents happy by letting them have their photographs taken as a first world war soldier.

Manchester Regiment - Living History

Wednesday was a brilliant day but we can't talk about that yet (winky face)

Yesterday was another course for the FEU (that's the Federation of Entertainment Unions, Equity, Musicians Union, Writers Guild and Jounalists) It was about Blogging for Creatives and here I am Blogging. So now I know I should be putting this on my website. The problem is I need to sort out a new website, it was all hosted by Castnet but they stopped doing that a short while ago and I'm now without a website. With so much online presence on spotlight, CCP etc I'm not sure how much anyone needs to look at any more of me, but in this day and age everyone should have a website so I'd better get onto that and now know to put my blog on the front page.

The course was run by William Gallagher, whom I'd met before a few years ago on another course with the FEU. William is a writer and has done several Dr Who audios with Big Finish.
 

here's one of them 

Doctor Who - Scavenger starring Colin Baker- by Big Finish

So we were able to chat a bit about Dr Who in the gaps and found other life long fans were on our table too including Stephen Aintree an actor from Liverpool who attended the first ever DWAS convention and Longleat 20th anniversary 

Stephen Aintree- Profile at Castingcallpro

so all in all a good day until

Disaster

I returned on the right train, but I was bit sleepy having had a very long day the previous day and missed a night's sleep, however I was sat by some fairly noisy guys, I'd checked with them that I wasn't sitting in their booked seat as one of the seats was reserved from Crewe to London, I even mentioned that I'd be getting off in Crewe. I helped them get the cap off their beer bottle with the belt clip on my keys and all was fine except as we were pulling into Crewe I must have zonked out for a very crucial couple of minutes and the guys either didn't notice or didn't think to nudge me, I woke with a start, saw my station ran to the door it wouldn't open! I hurtled down the carriage like I was running for my life to the other door still nothing! Then the train pulled out! 

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The Guard was fine about it and signed my ticket so that I could get back without paying but there was nothing else he could do, The next stop I could turn around at was London, nearly 200 miles away. Fortunately they were fast trains and so it could have been worse but instead of getting back to Crewe at 17:30 it was 21:30. 

I chatted to the guy opposite and had told him what had happened, he was very pleasant and got off at Lichfield, Then he too hurtled back to the seat in a similar mad panic to me as he'd left his Laptop on the luggage rack. I must have been a bad influence.

  

Friday 13th June

Oh missed out the trip to the Royal exchange costume store to sort out our outfits for The Ghosts of Kirkdale

Thursday 19th June 2014
Well about ten days since the last blog, oops. Went down to London on tuesday the 17th June for an audition for Gary Starr productions for their Show Alice in Wonderland and met Ellis Creez from Katch 22. We had a bit of fun with the group audition and rather nicely we both got parts, i'll be the caterpillar and we will both be the tweedles. Francesca Anderson from Phileas Fogg was also auditioning in a later slot and I was able to meet her for coffee and then later on catch up with Nigel Harvey (ITV Text Santa) too so all round a good day. I also managed to pop into the toy theatre shop in covent garden and bought two nice vintage sets of toy theatre plays for the Waterman and The Smuggler.

We went to see Maleficent last night at the movies in 3D it amazing how quickly you adapt to the 3D as I can't really remember thinking at any point in the movie that the 3D jumped out at me. It was a remarkable film to watch. Beautifully made, odd in that Maleficent had such a back story and wasn't really bad just badly treated.

Work is well on it's way to the house, we are having the whole house re-pointed, which will hopefully smarten the place up a bit.

Nanna has been in hospital but is back out again, she has a clot in her leg which can be of serious concern.

Rehearsals are moving on apace for the ghosts of kirkdale in Liverpool, unfortunately the writer has been taken ill, so not sure what effect that will have on the show, it will be a huge disappointment for her I'm sure if she can't get to see her show performed.

Margaret Noble's Funeral 30th May 2014

Back from Margaret Noble's funeral, as always these events are tinged with a mixture of emotions, great sadness obviously, I really feel such a deep friendship for Keith he has always been like another dad to me, I suppose Mentor is the word, we spent so many good times together in pantomime and on tour and doing telly work, he and Margaret are pretty much responsible for me getting into the business professionally and I can honestly say I don't think we've ever had a cross word, So it breaks my heart to think how he must feel without Margaret his wife and soul mate for 61 years i think they said.
But on the plus side these events bring people together and it was wonderful to see some old faces again, some of the Nantwich Players that I'd met again last October at their 30th anniversary of their fist play in their own theatre in which I appeared as the bizarrely named Inigo Jollifant. But also to see Michael Astbury again. Michael and I were in the same class at school we appeared in the Nantwich Tales pageant thing in 1979 went to Margaret's Youth Theatre at the Nantwich Players where he played Ratty to my Toad in Toad of Toad Hall, he kindly invited me back for coffee after the funeral today and it was lovely to see his Kids and spend some time with him and Marian and Sarah McCabe chatting over some memories from around thirty odd years ago. Who knows we might even persuade him to join facebook 

Richmond Castle 25th May 2014
Jolly bank holiday weekend, Saturday was spent rehearsing with young cast of The Ghosts of Kirkdale up in Fazakerley, Liverpool then on Sunday I went up to Richmond castle in Yorkshire to do a bit more living history stuff with The Manchester Regiment.

It was good fun, Paul kindly let me use his Lee Enfield but I'm going to have to take the plunge and get one for myself. Not to mention the webbing etc etc. Not cheap :-) 

I'm looking a bit chunky again on the photos :-( so I think it's time to get back on a diet again, working from home these past couple of months does rather put temptation in the way as I sit by this computer scouring the internet for work. So I know I've been eating too much again.

 

Well the busy week is over, it's been really good. I loved the book, Fighting Pax by Robin Jarvis, it was awesome! the ending couldn't really have been more spectacular! So many great scenes to play so many fantastic characters to try and bring to life. One particular scene had me turning on the waterworks as one of the lead characters is caught in an awful moral dilemma and I am seriously hoping it sounds as good as it felt and I don't come across as a blubbering idiot! The slightly hilarious thing is where of course you have to stop because you're eyes are streaming so much you can't read the words on the page.
We had been offered four days in studio but we were able to cut a whole day off the schedule again and get it done in three. Apparently I hold the record on The Devil in the Marshalsea for managing to record 7 hrs and 20 minutes of usable stuff in a single day :-)
We had a new sound recorder Liam, who was very pleasant and a bit of a Whovian himself so we could chat about geek stuff in the recording breaks, he's taken over from Matt.
So really looking forward to hearing how this one comes out. I certainly hope to use some of the voices on a new audiobook showreel  as they were so wildly different from the usual mixture of regional accents.
Next on the agenda is back to liverpool for more rehearsals of The ghosts of Kirkdale and another day out with the Manchester Regiment on sunday up at Richmond Castle.

Blimey what a week it's been! Monday was spent creating a voice track demonstrating some new character voices for a possible new audiobook. Then on tuesday I was given the role after my voicereel was described by the powers that be as

 "I think this is properly brilliant. Seriously. Book him! Get on with it : ) Really like his work!"

The timing is tight so I drove up to the studio to pick up the copy and it was huge! the longest yet at 574 pages and it needs be recorded this coming week

So it's been  a busy week as not only  was that in the diary I also had a course on assertiveness on Wednesday with the Federation of Entertainments Unions. Then on Thursday I'd got a nice little job booked with Reels in Motion recording several pieces to camera for a finance company in Newcastle Under Lyme. This was my first job booked through my new agent so that's a big plus! especially as there may be something else this week if we can fit it in.

Then on saturday we had our first rehearsal with AFA for The Ghosts of Kirkdale, so i got to meet all the kids and we spent the afternoon doing a first run through. I'm working with Ed D'Arcy Hatton, small world Ed was the organiser of the Over The Top play that didn't come off in 2009 for which I created this poster.

I went to an audition on Friday for The Ghosts of Kirkdale, a musical play which will be performed at The Unity Theatre in Liverpool.
http://www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk/whats-on/the-ghosts-of-kirkdale.html

The play is just rehearsing on saturdays between now and the middle of July because it's a community thing giving opportunities to people in Liverpool, so I'm rather hoping another talking book might turn up to fill in the weekdays between now and then. The audition was very pleasant and welcoming. So big thumbs up from that. 

While I was on my way back I got an email from Rainbow Faces asking if I was available to do another day for Harveys the furniture store leafleting outside their Macclesfield store this time. I was able to draft in Adam Goode, who has borrowed my first world war uniform for a murder mystery in Shavington this coming weekend. 

This week includes some more dental work and a course with The FEU federation of Entertainment Unions. I've been on a few before and they've usually been quite handy/informative and a good social/networking event to meet other like minded people. This one is about assertiveness. :-)

Brodsworth Hall.  4th 5th May 2014

I spent the last couple of days with the Manchester regiment, a living history group. They were involved with an English Heritage event at Brodsworth hall near Doncaster. I took my WW1 uniform along and was very warmly welcomed. On the first day there were quite a few guys as well as a contingent from the east Yorkshire regiment as well.

I was taught some drill and we did some marching practise before going onto the arena infront of the public to do a firing demonstration with live rounds from the guys who have the live firing weapons. They were really helpful and added to my kit with the webbing and the the gun which I'll have to get sorted out for myself sometime fairly soon.

 so I learned how to Shoulder arms and order arms and slope arms and present arms and stand at attention and at ease and stand easy, although I'm sure they'll all need a lot of tidying up, if I can even remember them by the next time I have a go!

Commercial audition didnt come off sadly :-( went with Pip to see the Fawlty Towers at the Stoke Rep theatre tuesday night it was very good indeed.

Excellent set and great performances, Mrs Richards (the deaf lady who wanted a view from her window) was awesomely like the original and Polly had mastered that mid atlantic accent to a T.

Tonight we are going to see King Lear at the cinema, one of those national theatre things, we went to see the war horse one a few weeks ago and that was very good too.

Well this week is a bit empty, I should have been going to an audition today in Liverpool but it's been moved to May 9th. Last friday night was fun I was team leader on another Avant Garde Murder mystery dinner. This time we were at Dunsley hall

 a rather charming hotel in Staffordshire. The Murder mystery was based around Jack the Ripper so I spent quite some time in the loft digging out some Victorian esque costume and combining a few different hair pieces and moustaches to come up with this  as a look for my character Wilberforce Bentley.

The journey was awful, torrential rain had slowed down the M6 and it took me all of the 2 and a half hours I'd allowed to do the 57 mile journey. The evening went well and the diners seemed to enjoy it and we've already had enquiries about doing another there.

I was working with three actors I'd not worked with before, Allie Garside, Carissa Wagner and Michael Dacre.

Allie Garside

Carissa Wagner

Michael Dacre

Yesterday I was up in the attic again sorting out the costume store. I've bought 40 plastic boxes to try and make some sense of the jumble. So I need to get back up there today and do some more.

There might be an audition for a commercial tomorrow fingers crossed! and tonight? well Pip and I are off to stoke rep to see their production of Fawlty Towers. Pip does reviews for the local paper so we get in free :-)

I have just had a couple of days in London, first I went to an audition for a summer panto, well it was really for musical theatre people not my kind of panto performer at all, you know singing, dancing, being young! not really my particular panto skills, I'm not a dancer, I'm not really a singer, and I'm certainly not young! I'm just a mature comic panto villain and not even a dame either really so to get there and be told I was auditioning for dame and then put through what for me was a very complicated dance routine was just a waste of their time and mine. Right from the moment I walked through the door and saw a room full of 18-20 year old musical theatre graduates in black lycra and just me a solitary ancient fossil in comparison who is going to be 50 next year I was just thrown completely off balance and felt so "in the wrong place", A couple of other older guys arrived one had the guts to walk out when he found out we were there for the wrong part, you see we'd all been told Abanazar and only later found out it was for a an ugly sister type character, it was hopeless. So learned a lesson there. I think in future I'm going to have to say no to these dance things, these "we just want to see if you can move" I can't, I'm too old end of!

After that I went to see my friend Francesca Anderson from the Phileas Fogg Theatre company in a play she has been working hard on for the last 8 or 9 months I think, it started at a pub theatre in the autumn and has just transferred to the Pleasance Theatre. Not a theatre I've been to before it's a converted carpenters factory warehouse type place, very nice and the play was well performed and very moving with 11 great parts for actresses, no guys at all. Set in a 1950's boarding house for unmarried mothers it was genuinely moving and I even shed a few tears myself at the end. It was directed by Jonathan Rigby who has also been represented by Infinite artists for a while so we compared a few notes.

Fran and her partner Andy let me stay the night in her lovely flat in Crystal Palace  and I came back today, I feel absolutely knackered though. Now I'm sorting stuff out for friday night's Murder Mystery.

Confirmation has come through about an audition on Tuesday in Liverpool but we can blog about that another day.   

Suddenly realised I'd not used my blog in ages so thought I'd better get going again and take advantage another publicity tool.
So Since I last blogged lots has happened, very proud of the four talking books that I've recorded in the last 12 Months

England's Lane by Joseph Connolly in which I shared the reading with Brigit Forsyth from the Dr Who story Evil of the Daleks

2 books in The Agent of Rome series written by Nick Brown The Siege and The Far Shore

and most recently The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson.

Panto last Xmas was at The Towngate Theatre in Basildon

in which I played Rapunzel's dad The King

My other big news this week is a change of agent, sadly the time had come to leave my last agent and look for new representation. I went to an interview last Thursday 17th April 2014 with Guy Thomas Howe at 7 casting. So all the paperwork has been filled in and we'll just have to see what happens.

Anyway now I've found this thing again I'll try harder and hopefully blog a little more often, well more than once every two years or more.

About to start rehearsals for Treasure Island on the P+O ship  The Pride of Brugge