Tears On The Train Home In Canterbury

You know that moment when Grizabella sings 'When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too...' - that's the moment in the show where I lose it. Because it is SO true. The theatre is all about transience, really. Your favourite show isn't like your favourite book or TV show or film, because you never, ever can see the same show twice, there is an exact and unique chemistry to every single night at the theatre which is never recreated and it is lost when the sun comes up the next morning only for something entirely different but equally magical to be conjured up the next night. And when you know you're not going back to see the show until September? Yeah, that's when you realise that more than ever and you end up crying solidly from Memory to the end of The Ad-Dressing Of Cats...and then again on the train back home!

  I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever..
—  Suzanne Collins

So yes, I went to Canterbury for two nights this week to see Cats, and it was so very magical, I cannot even begin to decribe it. And this cast...ohhhh this cast. They've stolen my heart, it's terrible!!!!! They are all so good, every single one of them! Of course I have my favourites, and of course I always end up falling for the underappreciated characters, it's just how I am! But every single member of this cast is amazing, and their swings are incredible and I just...there are no words for how it makes me feel to see the show I love performed so well by such a lovely bunch of people. And then I'm lucky enough to be able to go to stage door and thank them in person and let them know I noticed all those little details they put in! Talking to these lovely people at stage door was actually almost as much fun as the show! My seat was my favourite side of the stage, and believe me when I say...I was practically sitting on the set! The stairs were not kind to the performers, let me tell you! Very little room for error!! And yes, Ben Yates (Mungojerrie) nearly broke my neck falling down those stairs...which he assured me was an accident! But I still loved it, even with the near-death experience in the Finale! At least when I'm the one sitting there then the cast know I'm well aware of when I need to keep my feet well and truly tucked in!! Although that's not to say they still don't make me jump sometimes when they leap down into the stalls!!

Anyway, so many amazing memories of the show and of stage door, and I can never ever thank these lovely, talented people enough. But I did cry on the train home (my iPod is to blame - Embrace's 'I Had A Time' and Coldplay's 'A Sky Full Of Stars' back-to-back creating a flood of bittersweet/sleep-deprived emotion!) and hopefully they know that that means they did their job well! I just hope they know how much I'm going to miss them until September! All I can do is say: to my two Carbuckettys, thank you both, you were both darling and gorgeous and amazing. To Ben Yates: you made me laugh when I was crying in Ad-Dressing of Cats so you are a hero, even with the nearly killing me thing! To Cassie: you're a star, always. And to Adam, Ben and Dawn...you three are the best and I don't think I stopped smiling (even when I was crying) thanks to you three on and off the stage, I adore you all for so many reasons and I'm sending you so many cheers and smiles and whoops and you have no idea how much I wish I could deliver them to you in person from the front row every night! To all the cast: thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Again, a more detailed story of my Canterbury trip will eventually appear on this website once I finally manage to write up allll the many stage door pages on this site! It's very, very long road to get all these stage doors written up but I'm getting there slowly and once all the other pages on this site are done then I will focus solely on the stage door pages, so a time will come when all these stories are up. But for now I'll leave you with some lovely photographs of me and some very lovely talented peope, including the gorgeous group shot I got on my second night with Adam Lake (Alonzo), Dawn Williams (Rumpleteazer), Ben Mundy (Coricopat), Natasha Mould(Jemima), Kathryn Barnes (Tantomile) and Hannah Kenna Thomas (Victoria).

If you are lucky enough to find yourself at Cats, then give these people a cheer from me and remember that every character in Cats is special and unique and no-one should be taken for granted! Cheer Admetus, watch Cassandra see off Griz, remember that Alonzo is the one who wounds Macavity and that Carbucketty and Bill Bailey have a unique talent for mischief. And most importantly? Let these wonderful, talented people see you smile back up at them - give them energy to feed off, because you never know who might be having a bad day or who might be missing home or be struggling with the heat and sometimes if you just will them on then you can make it a tiny bit more bearable. All of this wonderful cast deserve nothing but good audiences, so help 'em out for me, ok? And if you go to stage door - don't be afraid to speak up!!!! Like I said on my Hints & Tips page: remember the understudies and make someone's day, or tell them who your favourite character is, let them know that what they're doing truly does matter...and if you're not sure? Ask! They don't bite I promise: they're lovely people who are more than happy to explain who they played, what they did or even help you find whichever member of the cast you're looking for, but they can't show you how lovely they are if you never ask: I wouldn't even have got to know Ben Mundy if I hadn't have asked him to take a photograph for me!! And if you make them smile, then they will leave you smiling in return.