Hello and welcome to a very bewildered me. I've just been to the gym, and I've sat down and just gone-
I'm a complete and
utter zombie version of myself. I asked on Twitter
what kind of things you guys would like to see in the last of 'Three Cheers for New Years', because we've got eleven days left.
Ten? Eleven days left? And Evie Belle Baker suggested doing a theater/performing
industry-type Q&A, and I really liked that idea. So here we go.
"What's the difference with having an agent and not? Is there more chance of getting an audition?"
Yes, usually if you don't have an agent, you aren't able to get an audition unless
it's what they call an 'open audition',
which means anyone can go, it's open to the public.
Usually casting directors send out 'breakdowns' of characters to agents and those agents then figure out which of their clients
fit those breakdowns and then send those clients for the auditions.
And it's very very rare that musicals especially do open auditions. Every now and again
they'll put out a public call, but usually you can only really get auditions for musicals in the West End or on tour
through agents. So it's easier to get auditions if you have an agent.
It's not impossible without one, but it's far far easier with one. "What character would you love to play,
but know you will never be able to due to race/age/gender etc.?" I'll pick one for each race, age and gender. So race,
Nala from The Lion King. She has the best song in any musical theater show which is called
'Shadowland', for those of you haven't heard it, listen to it immediately it's unbelievable. It's so good. But clearly
I am really really white so I could never play that part.
Age? Matilda.
I wish Matilda had been around when I was a child,
I would have loved to have auditioned for that part. And Enjolras has always been my answer to the question
'What male character would you love to play one day?' I just want to hang upside down off that barricade.
I never got to have a go at that when I was in Les Mis and-
Such a shame. "Can you give any tips on how to learn lines? As a drama student
I'd find this so helpful because I'm the worst at it and would love to know what you do?"
I am one of those really annoying people that finds learning lines
quite easy. I think because I've been in musical theatre my entire life,
and I've always been put in situations where I've had to retain information quite quickly,
my brain's just
attuned to that now.
But I've always thought it's really important to figure out your cue lines, like which lines come before your lines, because obviously
you're having a conversation with someone and usually the things that you're saying are
as a reaction to what someone else is saying, so usually there's something in someone else's line that will give you a clue
to what you're about to say. "Do you ever get bored of singing the same songs every day,
or does it feel different with every crowd?"
I'm a perfectionist, so if something doesn't go quite right in a performance
or I feel like I could have done better, or I feel like I want to try something new
because what I've been doing previously hasn't really been floating my boat,
I love having the opportunity to do the show over and over again, so I can really
define and perfect exactly what I'm doing every night. I got to do
Les Mis nine hundred and fifty nine times to get that show perfect.
"Do you ever have those days where you think are not as good as other people in the industry/
you don't deserve to be in a show, and how do you deal with it?"
I feel like this every day when I am in a show, uh-huh, because I didn't go to drama school.
And I'm usually put into a big group of people who all have been to drama school,
and they have all trained to be there.
So I feel like I have to prove myself and prove my place within the cast every single day, which
is hard.
"How awkward are onstage kisses?"
The first kiss that you have to do with someone in a rehearsal room is always really awkward. The story that I always tell is
me and Oliver Ormson, because we had to kiss each other before we'd even hugged. Day three of rehearsals.
And they were like 'okay, kiss' and we were like
'This is really strange.' So the first one is always going to be really weird, but once the first one's out of the way,
you're like 'okay,
well, this is just the job now.'
But I've been really lucky with this, because every one I've had to kiss or be close to and be intimate with in shows are
ridiculously lovely people and
they're gorgeous. They're all wonderful to look at. I mean seriously, look at them.
This and this.
Disgusting.
Beautiful human beings, so you know it's really hard life. It's really difficult to have to be intimate with all these gorgeous boys.
"Did you ever get treated worse in the industry because you're a woman?"
I can only speak from my experience here, and I have never felt
lesser because I am a woman.
I've always found musical theater
and the theatre industry to be a very
accepting and liberal and friendly place, because when you've got shows like Kinky Boots,
which is all about accepting yourself as much as it is about accepting everyone else
Everybody's talking about Jamie, and shows that cast a whole variety of different people like Lion King and
Hamilton and Book of Mormon and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and the whole musical theatre world is bursting at the seams
with people of every race, gender, sexuality, you name it. And so the kind of isn't really any room to
discriminate. Obviously as the saying goes there's always one. You know there might be a select few
who are a bit more closed-minded than everyone else, but I have yet to encounter them, and I've always found
musical theatre to be a very very accepting place.
Which I'm hugely grateful for. "How do you deal with your unusual working times?"
Um deal with, I wouldn't say deal with. I- I just
try my hardest not to die.
You know, you come home for a show at like
11:00, half 11:00, and then you don't really wind down until like half 1 or 2.
And then you don't really want to get up until like 11:00, midday, and then you get those people who are like
'Hey, how about we go for breakfast at 9:00?'
And I'm like 'No.' "Any tips on keeping your voice in perfect shape to perform night after night?"
Sleep.
Sleep is so underrated.
I didn't realise the power of a good night's sleep until I
would do a show and stay up really late,
and then get up really early and then wake up the next morning sounding like Jabba the Hutt. Sleep, get eight hours,
do it. And water.
Pints and pints of water. "Performing can be quite an emotional job, does it help deal with your own emotions
and is it kind of therapeutic for you?
Or do your emotions make it harder for you to get in character sometimes?" If you're having a really bad day
and you're playing a character like Éponine, where she's like
feisty and like gruff and gets to like sing shout at people, than that- that's
wonderful. Same with Wednesday actually. There was a bit in 'Full Disclosure', at the end of act one where I'd have to like sing shout
'STOP!'
But if I was having a bad day,
I would just take the opportunity to just allow all my all my rage at that point.
But then sometimes if you're having like a really bad day, it is really hard to
focus. But that's the job, so you got to do it. And finally "what shows would you recommend in London? Me and my friends?
are thinking of seeing one, but there's too much to choose from?" There are your stable favorites like Les Mis and Phantom the Opera. Their tickets aren't
hugely expensive, then there's your more expensive shows like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Book of Mormon.
They are very very expensive,
but they are incredible shows. Harry Potter and the Curse Child is the best piece of theatre I've ever seen in my entire life.
But what kind of friend would I be if I didn't promote the show my friends are in. Scott Paige, Jacob Fisher,
Cameron Blakely, Daniel Buckley, and Alex Tranter are all in a show called Eugenius.
Which opens on Monday night at The Other Palace, I highly recommend that you go and see it.
I will put the link to tickets below this video. That is all from me for today.
Thank you for joining me and don't forget to donate.
We are raising money for WWF, CoppaFeel and GirlGuiding, the link to donate is below.
And you could potentially win lots of lovely prizes, so go donate. Love you lots, see you later. Bye.
*click click*