OK, so we are late in the first blog posting of the season, but at last it is here, and with lots to report since our last posting.
Let us go back to audition time early in February. A total of 18 girls attended our dance audition with two dancers needed for our tour. A tough 2 hour audition is the task for dance captain Fay to put the girls through, and at the end of it all we have made our decision as to the girls we want. So welcome aboard Siobhan Minnis, and Nina Hall. Siobhan is originally from Yorkshire, but now living in London, while Nina is a local girl from Sunderland. The first local girl we have had for quite some time. More on the new girls to follow.
In the meantime here is a story from Maisy the Greyhound.
Hello everyone, I am Maisey (the Greyhound that Colin and Marie rescued from the Retired Greyhound Trust) If you are a regular blog reader then you will no doubt have heard of me when Colin has previously mentioned me in the Timeless Blog.
Colin seems extremely busy at the moment so I have, learned how to use the computer and decided to contribute to my upkeep (which is a lot of doggie treats and bones) and write the start of this years blog for him.
It doesn’t seem two minutes since the last show was on tour, now all of a sudden my house (which is always busy) seems even more busy with the rehearsals starting mid-February. First of all there were all the costumes to sort out, there seems to be lots of them and lots of feathers and sequins, they all take up a lot of room. It would appear that laying on top of the comfy feathery costumes didn’t Help Marie too much, but she did let me watch from my bed.
Thankfully most of the costumes didn’t stay in my living room, they were sent to Shirley (the Dressmaker) and presumably they clogged up her house instead!
When the rehearsals actually started they asked me if I would like to go along and watch (well in all honesty they got my lead out and tricked me into thinking I was going for a walk – then they took me to the rehearsal rooms somewhere about 20 minutes away). The rehearsal rooms consist of two main rooms, one is very cold and the other is even colder, but I was ok ‘cause my comfy bed was brought along with my fury blanket to sleep under. (I took my teddy to cuddle too)
There are a few new people this year – but let me fill you in on who is who (cause I know them all now)………
Obviously there is Marie and Colin – you should know who they are by now. There is Jenni (or Pen to her good friends like me) the singer who has been on tour with Timeless for over three years now (she turned up to rehearsals with a broken finger which she claims she did fighting dragons – she confessed to me though that she simply fell over a twig – stupid or what?), Steve who joined the cast last year (he is very very tall and his feet are bigger than everyone elses by miles), Fay the Dance Captain (she has two doggies of her own so she is easy to get along with) Helene a dancer, who is returning for her fourth tour (she is always smiling and laughing and I’ve decided she will be a good person to follow in the hope of getting extra treats) and then there are Siobhan and Nina who are new dancers (and seem to be very friendly – I intend to make them my friends too).
That is the cast but a lot more people seem to be involved in rehearsals and the preparation of the tour – I find it hard to remember everyone (I do have a good memory for those who give me treats though!), but I’ll try…… There is Bill-Bill the road manager, he is usually busy in an even colder room building props and the new set that consists of a 1950’s ice cream parlour. Sonya comes along to help with rehearsals (and brings me my favourite treats), Alex and Gemma the Dancer Supervisors come to teach some of the routines, Suzanne the Choreographer comes in and makes sure the show is perfect. Shirley sometimes comes with costumes that people need to try on and sometimes she brings her sewing machine too. Mary (Marie’s Mum) comes to sew things sometimes and then there is the most important person of all…….. Jo-Jo, (Colin and Marie’s PA). Jo-Jo is the most patient person in the world, always seems to be busy, has the most diverse job description in the world (that includes everything from accounts to dog walking) and always (yes always!) has doggy treats in her handbag – that is why she is my favourite.
Gosh rehearsals are hard work. Personally I lay in my bed and sleep for a couple of hours, go out for a quick walk with Colin, then persuade someone to give me a doggie treat (or if they have human food that’s even better) then it’s time for a nap again, more treats, more napping and then hometime. I really like sleeping and sometimes I open one eye and check that they are all still rehearsing. The cast seem to be a little busier than me in rehearsals though, they pretty much sing and dance for 10 hours per day and do this continually for 13 days!!!!!!! From about day 10 they bring all the costumes and use them to practice. Some of the cast get in and out of costumes really quickly – they call this a ‘Quick Change’ and have to practice to make sure they get back on stage in time to sing or dance to their song. Some of these ‘Quick Changes’ take a lot of practising - I usually continue to sleep through them.
During rehearsals this year there seemed to be a few things that stressed out the humans, One of which was very upsetting. Someone broke into our van whilst it was parked outside and stole things. Colin wasn’t happy and called the robbers ‘pond-life’! (among other names) The police had to come and it cost Colin money to repair the broken window.
The next day Marie locked her car and house keys in the boot of her car and the RAC man had to come out and break in to her car to retrieve them. Thankfully not too much damage, (even though it took over an hour to break in to her car) but Marie didn’t seem too happy that day.
I enjoyed following Helene the dancer around the rehearsals sometimes in between naps – she doesn’t seem to know that Dogs don’t usually get to eat beef flavour crisps and rich tea biscuits – good eh? I was quite excited to try on a couple of Helene’s Hats and let Jenni take a picture (I tried to look unimpressed though, don’t want to ruin my street cred). I also had my picture taken with all the dancers when they were wearing some wonderful feather costumes. I’m very pleased because this photo will be sent to my friends John and Judith at the Retired Greyhound Trust. They are spreading the word that us Greyhounds are great companions, very well behaved and extremely relaxed (generally asleep to be honest) maybe then some of my friends can be rescued by nice people too.
The rehearsals came to an end eventually and then the cast were ready to go on stage for their first performance, Whilst I will miss them all and thoroughly enjoyed my time in rehearsals I am quite relieved that I can relax at home in front of the TV now for a few months – well until the next rehearsals in August that is, I already told them I’ll be there then too, so they better all start saving up to buy me treats and bones.
More from me later in the year................now it is back to the humans
Customs House in South Shields is our local little baby, where we do four shows in three days, and therefore on to the first show. As ever there are plenty of first show nerves around. The backstage costume changes are just as difficult as the on-stage activity, and the new girls get to grip with the organised mayhem that needs to happen for the show to work. Fortunately four of the cast have done this show before, and so Colin, Marie, Jenni, and Helene have the additional task of keeping everyone calm when things get frantic.
Somehow the first show goes without any major problems, and for all on stage there is a major sigh of relief. First show over, routines are in place, costume changes made on time, well, most of them, and a successful show. Now the tour begins.
All four shows at the Customs House are done and dusted, the van is loaded and we leave to have a well earned two day rest before setting off on the first of our travels. This season is condensed into a shorter space of time than normal, with the tour ending in mid May instead of June, which means we are regularly doing 3 or 4 shows per week. Next stop is Hayes in Middlesex and of course back to Travelodges.
Tuesday 8th March. Beck Theatre, Hayes. The journey from Durham is so long for this one that we travel the night before. This also gives the cast a chance to chill on Monday night, have a drink or two, get some food and generally unwind before the matinee next day.
Updates so far.....Jenni's broken finger is on the mend, but bless her she is still suffering some tropical disease after her holiday. Bleeding mozzies!!!!! Siobhan is the first dancer to lose some item of accessory and breathes a massive sigh of relief when she finds out that Bill picked the bracelet up from the Customs House. Helene is no longer amazed that Travelodges have towels (Regular readers will understand this). Fay is doing her dance captain role of checking that the girls are doing their routines properly, and the new girls are settling in very nicely. Steve has now cracked all of the lyrics to the new songs. Colin has his comedy breaks sorted, timed, and plotted out. Marie is no longer running around trying to get costumes ready for certain deadlines, and Bill Bill is confident that the lighting plot is now as it should be.
Todays show is yet again trouble free, and it is only a short drive to our next Travelodge in Surrey, ready for the Harlequin Theatre in Redhill tomorrow.
Wednesday 9th March. Harlequin Theatre, Redhill. Again just a matinee and the cast really have an easy week this week. Three matinee shows and then back home. Redhill is a theatre that we only visit once again instead of the regular twice a year. Normally we would do a matinee and evening show but with most of the audience attending the matinee, the decision is made to do just one show.
The normal show day routine goes ahead. Arrive at the theatre for 11.00am, girls get the boys bacon sarni's, props are set, costumes are set, and then ironed. Sound system put up, and by around 1.00pm everyone is more or less ready for showtime. A good show, and before we know it we are travelling three and a half hours up the road to Cheshire ready for our show in Winsford.
Thursday 10th March. Lifestyle Centre, Winsford. Having arrived at the Travelodge at Warrington at around 10.00pm last night, the cast are well rested and ready for the 2.00pm show. This week we have had no children in any of our shows, and so the set up is a little easier as some of the props are only used when we do have children. A pre show meeting is organised with the cast to do 'notes'. This is the chance for Marie to go through a video of the show and correct any mistakes that any of the cast are making, and bring in any new suggestions which would enhance the show. Not a great many mistakes to correct although there are some, and most of the cast have a least a few things that they need to be aware of during todays show..
The first problem to tackle today is the fact that we have interference on two of our radio mikes from a local radio station. Just a minor irritation but has to be done. Most of the cast are looking forward to going home after todays show with the exception of Jenni who is going back to stay with Colin and Marie in Durham. Maisy the greyhound has had her first taste of being in kennels since last year, but as she sometimes has the company of another greyhound called Pax, she is quite happy to see her second home.
5.00pm sees the van packed, cars loaded, and everyone is on their way. Unfortunately only one day off and then we venture back down to London, but that one day will be very much enjoyed by all.
