Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog...finally! I just wanted to give a little update on things and why i've had such a big break from blogging. My last post was back in October 2018, after that work started building up and I was quite busy so didn't have much time to sit down and write. Alongside this, back at the beginning of December, my Grandad got taken into hospital. He had been very poorly for quite a while and had Parkinsons for around 12/13 years. During that time, I was more focused on him and my family rather than blogging. Sadly, he passed away a couple of weeks later and I was completely heartbroken. He was such a wonderful man and I have nothing but good memories of him. This time really made me realize just how quickly things can change and it's taught me to never take anything or anyone for granted. My mental health definitely went rapidly downhill and I ended up feeling very low, helpless and lost. I'm slowly starting to get a little better again and I want to talk through a few things in this post that have given me that much needed 'pick-me-up'. I really hope you enjoy reading the rest of this post.
JANUARY:
Back in January this year, myself and one of my friends Fleur went to see Ramin Karimloo in Southend at the Palace Theatre. For anyone who doesn't know who Ramin is, he's an incredibly talented musical theatre performer/actor. He has the most amazing voice and I was completely and utterly mesmerised by every song he sung. This was my first proper time seeing Ramin live (not including seeing him in a musical called Murder Ballad a few years ago) and i'd 100% book to see him again in a heartbeat! If anyone may be interested in him, he has music available on iTunes, google play etc, highly recommend you check him out!!
MARCH:
March was a busy but good month. I had a week off from work and made the most of it.
This started off on Sunday 17th March seeing Rip It Up: the 60's with another of my friends, Dani. Rip It Up is a singing and dancing through 60's music show starring Aston Merrygold (JLS), Harry Judd (McFly), Louis Smith (Olympic Gymnast) and Jay McGuinness (The Wanted). We had M&G, front row tickets and loved every single second. It's such a fun loving, feel good show and i'm so sad that it's West End run is coming to an end soon. If you have a chance, catch it at the Garrick Theatre in London before 2nd June, you won't regret it if you go!
Next up, I had 3 Collabro shows in the one week in Southend, Cambridge and Guildford. Anyone who knows me will know how much I adore those boys. They've been a huge part of my life for the past 5 years and I don't think i'll ever tire of seeing them perform. I'm beyond grateful for all the memories they've been a part of and all the friendships i've made thanks to them.
This was their 4th UK tour to go along with their 4th album - Road to the Royal Albert Hall. The shows were so incredible and each night slightly different. They sung every song from the new album plus their beautiful original song 'Lighthouse' and their 2 BGT songs both from Les Mis - 'Bring Him Home' and 'Stars'. They also added the song 'Faithfully' by Journey/from Glee - this was a song i'd personally never come across before but have ended up loving it, it's a beautiful song and they do an amazing version and I know i'm amongst many when I say I hope it's a contender for album 5! They also wowed the audience with a Motown Medley as their finale which covered some of the classic Motown numbers finishing with 'Can You Feel It'. It was great to get up and have a dance at the end of the show as well as in the middle with their Jersey Boys medley which was one of my personal favourite parts of the show!
We were introduced to a new support act for this tour; Georgia and the Vintage Youth. Georgia is a jazz style singer/musician from Essex and had 2 band members with her; Harry on the drums and Marco on the saxophone. I'll admit I wasn't sure what I was going to make of Georgia as i'm not really a jazz music fan, but I was pleasantly surprised and found her very good! She's a talented young singer and I believe she'll have a bright future ahead of her.
The boys also had 2 incredibly special guests on tour with them; west end superstars Kerry Ellis and Lauren Samuels. I saw Kerry at all 3 of the shows I went to this week, now I knew she was good but I wasn't prepared for how much she'd just totally blow my mind when performing. She is an absolute powerhouse performer and I felt so incredibly lucky to be seeing her perform live. A personal highlight of the shows for me had to be the Collabro boys joining Kerry to sing 'A Million Dreams' from The Greatest Showman. One of my favourite songs from my favourite film and so beautifully done!!
To finish my week off, myself and my friend Emily w
ent to see Wicked on Saturday 23rd and it was, as always, fabulous. I think i've seen Wicked 4 times now and each time I end up loving it even more and I am desperate to go back asap. Wicked relates to The Wizard of and it tells the story of what happened before. I can't fault this show at all, the cast are always amazing and the music/songs in the show have a mixture of fast and slow numbers, happy and sad, love and friendship. It's a truly special show and i'd definitely recommend it to anyone who maybe hasn't seen it!
This was such a good week and I was so sad when it came to an end and I had to go back to work. The comedown from that week hit me quite hard and quick but thankfully it wasn't too long until I had something else to look forward to!
APRIL:
April wasn't quite so busy but I had an equally exciting few trips out. First up was another Collabro show (yes, show number 4) this time in Ipswich. This show was so special and also slightly more emotional for me. I suddenly came over filled with anxiety and dread before the show and wanted to walk out but I was so thankful to have the support of my friend Elly to help me through the show. I think the main reason I got a bit more emotional at this show was down to the fact I was in the same place I was in when my Grandad passed away in December and had no idea at the time, so as nice as it was to go back, it filled me with very high emotions for the evening. I was also trying to hold back tears during Georgia's set which made me realise just how emotional i'd end up that night although I wasn't quite prepared to cry as much as I did...never mind! Once again, we saw the legend that is Kerry Ellis and I was still just as in awe of her talent as I was the first time I saw her perform. Aswell as singing A Million Dreams with Collabro, Kerry performed 2 solo songs being 'Anthem' from Chess and 'This Is Me' from The Greatest Showman - both of which were incredible each time I heard them!
My next trip in April was to see the musical Waitress. Waitress has recently transferred to the West End from Broadway and i've been desperate to see it for so long. I'd become obsessed with the soundtrack which was written by Sara Bareilles and seeing the show live was everything I hoped it would be and more. It follows the story of Jenna, a Waitress in a pie shop who dreams of a better life for herself. Currently, the show stars Katharine McPhee as Jenna, Marisha Wallace as Becky, Laura Baldwin as Dawn and David Hunter as Doctor Pomatter. I went with Fleur and we actually saw Piers Bate as Doctor Pomatter who is the 1st cover and was making his debut in the role the day we went and he was wonderful! You wouldn't have guessed it was his debut that's for sure. The whole cast of this show gave it 110%, it's a heart warming, funny show with some wonderful songs! I have 2 favourite songs from this show and surprise surprise, they're the ones that make me cry, pretty typical me really! The songs are 'You Matter To Me' which is a duet sung between Jenna and Doctor Pomatter. The lyrics to this song are just so beautiful and for me, it's more than just your typical love song, it's powerful and can have a meaning to relate to love, friendships or family. The other song is 'She Used To Be Mine' - I definitely feel as though I can relate to this song and certain lyrics due to my depression battle. When Kat was singing this song she put so much emotion into it and it had me sitting sobbing in my seat at how beautiful she sounded aswell as the relation to the lyrics. I will definitely be booking to go again asap, I feel it could quickly end up in my top favourite musicals and I am also desperate for a London cast recording!
My 3rd and final April trip was my 5th and final Collabro show of this tour - the grand finale at London's iconic Royal Albert Hall. This show was super special, it was a time where I was reunited with friends i've not seen for a while and a time I got to meet new friends who i'll hopefully be friends with for a long time to come. Now, they'd promised surprises at this show and it was definitely packed with amazing surprises. Surprise number 1 came in the form of Anna Bartle (Matt's beautiful girlfriend) performing a stunning dance to 'Maria' from West Side Story as the boys were singing. Personally, I found her dancing stunning and inspiring and she looked absolutely amazing too. Another surprise was Christopher Edwards (Jamie's beautiful boyfriend) doing a beautiful dance during Electricity. This again inspired me and as I dance myself, i've decided to set myself the challenge of one day attempting to create my own dance to this song, not for any reason other than to challenge myself and see what I can potentially do. Next up we had Michael Xavier who is an amazing west end performer join the boys to sing 'Why God Why' from Miss Saigon and one things for sure, he fitted in wonderfully and sounded brilliant! I finally got to see Lauren Samuels perform at the RAH too aswell as Kerry. Kerry once again sung Anthem and Lauren sung Tightrope from The Greatest Showman. Both of these ladies are superstars in their own rights and with the both of them singing 'A Million Dreams' with the boys, I was just in awe and I need to hear that again and again! The absolute highlight of the night came just before the Motown finale when the Collabro boys, Kerry, Lauren, Chris and Anna all coming out and singing the most iconic (in my opinion) musical theatre song EVER - One Day More from Les Mis. Being a huge fan of both this musical and song, it's safe to say I got very excited at this and I have to say another huge thank you to my friend Nicola who very kindly filmed it for me! The whole show and tour was incredible and definitely the perfect 'pick-me-up' which I very much needed after an awful few months, i'm now sad it's all over but so thankful I have some amazing memories to look back on and cherish for a long time.
MAY:
We're only 6 days into May so I haven't got alot to say just yet, however yesterday (Sunday, 5th May), myself and Emily went to see a show at Cadogan Hall - West End Does: The Magic of Animation 2. West End Does is a company set up by Rob Houchen who is an incredibly talented west end superstar, Tom Callister and Rob's mum. They put on shows with different themes and a year ago was the first ever show - the magic of animation. Yesterday was a sequel to it and it was definitely my favourite show yet. Hosted by the incredible and hilarious Dan Buckley and Scott Paige, the cast of insanely talented west end stars sung through some brilliant songs from the world of disney and animation. The cast was made up of: Rob Houchen, Bradley Jaden, Dan Buckley, Scott Paige, Laura Baldwin, Celinde Schoenmaker, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Rachel John, Jenny O'Leary and John Ellis. Each performer was absolutely incredible and I heard some songs i'd not come across before but have fallen in love with. Especially 'If Only' from Little Mermaid the musical which I didn't know existed but need to know more about from just hearing that one song. I had such a fantastic evening and I know Emily did too. We've both been to every West End Does show together so far and I always have the best time at their shows and I can't wait to see what's next!
So this marks the end of my little update and hopefully it's the start of some new inspiration and i'll be back with another post again soon!
I hope you've enjoyed this post and thank you for taking the time to read it.
Love, Beki x
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