Now... for a real summary/update/review of Stageworks first tour!

As I probably said earlier on in this, this Blog of a true champion, the Arts Council was very keen on us staging our first tour on our own, to show "willing" I think, or to show we were/are commited to the company.

Well, let me tell you this... staging a theatrical tour with no more money than the company heads can afford to chip in is no small deal. It's hard. Really hard. We've worked our fingers down to rusty looking, smelly stubs... we've argued, fought, fell out, or "loudly debated the facts" as I like to call it. We've lost hours at work in the "real world" losing us money... we've missed social events because all our cash has span away into this cheap looking 60's B-Movie black hole spiral that was the tour. We had to build the bar for Shakers out of a fire door, and some old stage blocks for God's sake.

It still looked pretty good though.

We played Howden, Scarborough, Leeds, Filey and Selby. Sawden and Terrington were on the list, but I think the Earth cracked open and swallowed them both, or at least their BT lines. York was also in there, but the venue... well, the less said the better I think!

So we managed five shows, which were - in respective order... Good, Good, Horrible, Amazing, Great. Let me tell you, playing a show in the city centre of Leeds to NINE people? Not an experience I would ever want to repeat. EVER.

For Shakers we had our very own Cat Moss and Beth Stephenson, as well as Jade Celeste and Dominique Epton, who are sisters. Yes, I got a bit confused as well! Dominique was cast from the Westwood rehearsals which now seem an utter age ago, and Jade was cast in a blind panic on the monday morning of the rehearsals when the girl originally cast had to drop out of the show! Jade's "straw sucking face" will stay with me forever and ever... and Dominique's pervy old men characters haunt my dreams still. The girls worked together incredibly, although the mass panics and "it's not my bloody line" moments were a little scary to see fifteen minutes before the curtain went up!

For Bouncers we had myself, our work experience boy Nathan Bottomley, Alistair Reith and John Forde. John never got the opening dance sequence right. Once. Alistair and Nathan's Gay Disco Cowboys are immortalised in my fragile mind for the rest of eternity. Damn you.

There's a chance that Bouncers will resurface in September to do a lightning tour of colleges and universities... I hope it does. It was a very, very sweaty play, but it was a very, very fun play.

Now... it's all settled. The set is packed away (the fire door bar is in the skip...) and the costumes are getting a damn good dry cleaning. Ew. Ew. Ew. I'm currently surrounded by invoices, bills, receipts, and cash... a reasonable lump of cash that is slowly dripping away into the plughole of theatre. Noone is going to get rich off this tour, but at least we had a laugh, and it didn't cost us anything to put on, and I think that's one of the important things!!

Christmas Carol next at the Castle Museum in York, followed by... let's just say something a little bit special for Summer 2007.

Next time I update this... it'll be Chapter Two - The Perils of Funding.

*cymbal crash*

And that's the end!

THE END!

Of the Bouncers and Shakers tour.

Of our first (hopefully) none funded productions!

Of trying to create something with 11p and some dry crackers.

Of performing in small venues with no lighting, staff, or a roof!

In brief... though it was a struggle sometimes I had a wonderful time! Filey was by far the most enjoyable. The staff were friendly and helpful and even sold a lot of tickets for us! One venue we played it didn't even put up one poster! Goons!

I'll write a more detailed entry later, but it's Sunday and I'm lazy.

Crikey, that last post reads a bit melodramatically, and doesn't even put across the point I was trying to make!

What I meant was... it pretty much sucks that myself and the other cast / crew of the show have put in such tremendous amounts of work, energy, and time to create what I honestly believe to be two pretty damn good, funny shows, certainly an enjoyable two hours, so it frustrates me to no end to see Alistair's mighty heart breaking at the prospect of his parents coming to see him onstage when there's under 10 people sat there... not too mention Dominique and Jade's parent, who have supported their daughters at every single show we've done, and plan to make it to ever show we stage in the future.

It's frustrating as people often just don't give theatre the chance, opting to sit in and watch reality TV, or go watch something like Garfield 2... dammit people! Theatre is an English Heritage, or... something.

Hopefully the next couple of shows will make the last couple of months worthwhile! I'm honestly considering giving away tickets for Filey for free, just to get bums on seats!!

Yes. Brent Spiner. Data from Star Trek.

He likes our Little Shop of Horrors.

"good job" says heavily painted android man.

How utterly, utterly random, bizarre, and warm-fuzzy-feeling generating.

Not an actual update... that will come soon, after a veeeeeery important meeting on Thursday night.

However... I offer proof that we ARE WORKING AS HARD AS POSSIBLE, and not totally GOOFING AROUND.



Oh yes.

Yeah, last night - Scarborough. Home. The homecoming gig I suppose. Very odd.

So we turned up a the venue dead on 4pm to discover the following!

1 - No posters! Anywhere! Nothing! No indication AT ALL that we were paying £100 to use a ballroom in the venue to stage a play.
2 - The guests that were ACTUALLY STAYING IN THE HOTEL had no idea a double bill of Godber shows was happening in the hotel they were staying in!
3 - Two weeks ago I was asked "how would you like the seating". This was clearly ignored!
4 - No member of staff actually acknowledged our presence, unless serving us at the bar!
5 - Pants. Pants. Pants.

So, we rallied forth, plastered the outside of the venue with posters and signs and hoped for the best! The fact that the local press hadn't actually mentioned the event has happening, the fact that a Scarborough based radio station didn't mention once in their listings, the fact that people who are (were? who knows!) close friends of mine just couldn't even be arsed to show up and support us - instead acting like spoiled five year olds, and the fact that the moon was waxed fat I seriously expected six or seven people to show.

So i was quite happy that we sold just under half of the house!

The shows... were... interesting. Luckily for us the audience were really with us, but we can't, cannot, cannae, NOOOOT ever again put the shows out as battered and raggedy as they were last night. True - they were both very, very funny, but they felt improvised, and not unlike clutching to the roof of a speeding train, the driver of which has slumped into a whisky induced coma.

The HORRORS.

Get out was swift, lots of audience feedback including (I have to print these two, they are the quotes of LEGENDS...)

1 - "I've seen Bouncers seven times, done by professionals, and this was the funniest one I've seen."

2 - "The last and only time we laughed like that was when we went to see Peter Kay live."

So there. In your greasy faces, oh Scarborough people who just didn't turn up. My advice? Stop acting like fools and buy your tickets for the Filey show on the 25th of July, come along, laugh until various bits of your body fall off, and then ask your friend to kick you square in the crotch for not coming to see it in Scarborough.

So there.

Having one of those fun "what the hell am I doing days" today.

I hear Malton Bacon Factory are always hiring!

Just watched Lost... why did Locke hit Charlie when what the boy clearly needs is a big cup of coffee and a hug?



I left this going while I watched Lost... and now it's here! A longer scene this time... 6 minutes longer in fact!

Bouncers? Gah ahhhn tharrn...



Reeeeeeeeeally short clip. About 45 seconds I think!

So yeah! HOW HOT IS IT? Too hot. Dammit. We continue onwards in that busy way we do... it's all about the Bouncers tour at the moment, hence the lack of posts. If I posted daily it'd just be...

1 - Rang some people
2 - Rang them again
3 - Went to town X, put out X amout of posters, sold X tickets...

And so on... pretty dull, huh?