Thursday 13th December 10.11 AM.....
This time next week......I will be asleep in my hotel room!! I am not quite sure who has stolen our time but it seems to have disappeared quickly all of a sudden. With less than a week to go the pressure is on and I can certainly feel it! Most of that pressure however, is created by me as I want this to be beyond brilliance! I want for the cast and the organisation to be proud of what they have created and achieved. They will be I think.
I have a stinking cold which is very inconvenient as it could have at least waited a week before getting me! Being unwell is not an option so I have bought up all stocks of Vitamin C and Echinacea in order to beat it from my body. Rest and sleep will be important for the cast this week. Any high performing sports person would ensure that appropriate amounts of rest and sleep are available in the preceding week before a competition. It is the same for theatre, especially when you don't have the stamina.
Tonight's rehearsal will be the last one in the Education centre which has been our home for the last few months. We will have the rostrum that we plan to use in the performance so I think it will all become that bit more real. I am confident that all the intricate pieces of the jigsaw are being put into place. Lisa and her team have done an amazing job of shifting tickets, Nigel and Simon are creating the most extraordinary documentary and
Mark Glaze and his camera support team are pulling their hair out to make next week come together.
Before the 19th of course, there is another important performance. The nativity! This will be tomorrow (Friday) at 4pm. I am hoping that I can sit there and enjoy it for all that it is. My fear is that I will take notes and pull the cast together at the end to tell them that they were not all singing in time during 'Donkey donkey'.
Petra will be acutely embarrassed and tell me to shut up and sit down. If she doesn't, Mia will! The reality is that I will be a weeping father, attempting to hold the video camera still whilst my daughter attempts to pull off being an Angel!! I wish she would try that at home!
I am sure I will have an opportunity for weeping next week too. Preferably after the show rather than before or during! I am not sure I will have time to write another blog before the big day (you sigh with relief......) All is not lost though! I will write a closing one the day after! For those of you that are connected with it in anyway....thank you for all your hard work, commitment, contribution and energy. Good luck!! For those of you that will be sat in the audience.....enjoy...and clap loudly!
Monday 2
6th November 2007, 22.07.........
It was bad news! The news we had been dreading! I opened the piece of paper carefully and struggled to take in all that it said.......'In this years nativity, your child will be playing the part of one of the animals in the stable......please supply a costume for a cow, sheep or pig' I sat down before breaking the news to Mia. Her response was deeply emotional...........'oink oink''. I was a little surprised that she wasn't bothered about not getting the part of Mary. Being 2 and a half she is, admittedly, a little young for the role but she is certainly the biggest Drama Queen at nursery and would have definitely pulled it off! But all was not lost.....the next morning at nursery, after some negotiation, we managed to get her an upgrade to an Angel! 'So sweetheart....do you want to be a Big Angel or a little Pig?' There was a pause whilst she consulted her agent (!) and then came the response..........'A BIG PIG!!!' Why on earth did I bother...
