Meeting Erica

My walk of outer London continues, and I have now ticked off Uxbridge to Barnet through the course of October, which has brought me to the closest point of the walk to where I currently live. It’s rather nice not to have to spend 1-2 hours getting to the start of each walk via public transport for the time being, although always lovely to explore these far reaches of London! I especially enjoyed the view from Weald Wood across Harrow and the rest of west London, watching the planes landing at Heathrow.

There was a lovely reunion centred around Jenny Cooke, who turned 70 this year, of people from MT4Uth. This was a youth theatre company based in Belfast that I worked with for some years either side of 2010. A fair number of the alumni have gone on to do very successful things, so it was great to toast them all with a Sunday lunch and have a good old catch up with fellow creatives.

Talking of 70, my parents made another pilgrimage to London to see me conduct Crazy For You. It’s the first time I had seen my mum since she herself had turned 70, and with my dad hitting this milestone himself in a few weeks, we also used the time to plan a holiday that my sister and I are treating them to. Even better, I’ll be able to join them on the trip as we’re all going the week after my show finishes!

I only really have a week in hand to enjoy this trip with them, as I am then straight into rehearsals for Come From Away, my next major project as Musical Director. The show is on tour throughout next year and, following a meeting with Alan Berry (Musical Supervisor) this week, I am now in possession of Erica, the name given to the accordion that the MD also plays in the show! Consisting of diatonically laid out buttons (no piano-like keys), the hard work begins to start learning how to play her.

We are ramping up rehearsals somewhat back at the Gillian Lynne Theatre as we prepare for an exciting appearance at this year’s Royal Variety Performance. Look out for it on ITV in December! It should be fab.