Blog - August 2010

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I can't believe its August but it must be cos I have just celebrated my 52nd Birthday ( August 2nd) and I am in LLandudno...but the last  couple of months have just flown by!! After very knackering and pressured rehearsals in London for two weeks  and then lovely Norwich for a week ( we had to move their so that we  could use the set of the tour that was just finishing) we finally  opened our leg of the Calendar Girls tour in Cardiff. it was pretty scary as its a whole new cast (except for my great pal Julia Hills who started the whole thing as Ruth with me as Cora in the original production) but we are now playing Chris and Annie ...two bigger and different roles so it was pretty scary for us all...especially as we were opening in the fab Millenium Centre to 200 people a night. How we got through it I have no idea and we did manage to break the record for the longest running time ever with a first half of over an hour  and twenty minutes ( but we have thankfully knocked a lot of time of that now). But we did get through it and we have been getting standing ovations at every performance. I think the terror and fear bonded us all as a team and we get on so well...

Its a fantastic cast from the gorgeous Jennifer Ellison to the hilarious and wonderful Ruth Madoc, Denise Black, Jean Boht and a fantastic Welsh actress called Rachel Lumberg playing Ruth who is both hilarious and moving and audiences just adore. We have also had the legend that Is Margaret John ( the neighbour in Gavin and Stacey) who is just wonderful and like royalty in Wales. Sadly she is only doing the Welsh dates so we shall miss her when we finish here.

We are also helped by having the gorgeous Joe McGann to play John...apart from being a great actor and handsome he is heartbreaking in the role and has the women in the audience in tears....

So we head up to Scotland this weekend ( dates on the website). it will be fab to be home to see my daughters, my hubby, family and friends as well as sleeping in my own bed for the first time in seven weeks!!

Though I think I only get one night and am then in Edinburgh with fellow cast member the fab Denise Black who is opening her show at the fringe and we are all piling through to see her ( I think I am duetting too)  Its at the Gillie Do at midnight..God knows what state we will be in next day!!

In my first week home in Glasgow I am hosting a lunch for the Paul O Gorman Leukemia research Centre in Glasgow at Oran Mor. It has sold out and we have great auction prizes as well as the original wonderful Calendar Girls coming up from Yorkshire and they are coming to the show at night.

I am also appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival on the 24th at 1.30 and signing my book etc before coming back through to do the show in Glasgow at night. I have more signings inn Aberdeen and Inverness during the tour as well. The book is now out in paperback and doing well as far as I know...my attitude is that I have written it and thats my part done...if it sells and people read it then great but I have to take some pride in the fact that I sat down and wrote it...

So its all go...but I just feel so privelaged and thankful to have been given the chance to do all this...

All the best,
Elaine...