Four very different performances :)

I'd like to tell you about four performances I was pleased to see earlier this year.

I spent a weekend in Bath visiting my lovely friend Tara from The International Jazz Summer School (which you can read about here). It was great to spend time with her and her husband. One of the exciting things we did was to go and see a performance by the Wardrobe Ensemble of 33 at the Ustinov Studio. It was a very interesting play about when the 33 Chilien Miners that were trapped in 2010. In fact it was a fascinating and interestingly done performance. I would definitely recommend it.

I also had the opportunity to hear my mum play some more with Paddock Orchestra, which was lovely. They performed at St. Cuthbert's Church and had quite a big audience.

My friend Kirstie Fixter is an excellent singer and I went to see her in a panto at the beginning of this year was a lot of fun 'Adventures in Pantoland'. It featured elements from lots of different Pantos which was fun. More recently I've been to see her in a production of Hairspray at The Victoria Theatre Halifax which I will tell you about in another post.

The 4th performance I got to see was for my birthday, and it was a surprise. Gareth and I went to stay with my older sister in Nottingham. In the evening we got a little dressed up and headed in town. I still didn't know where we were going at this point! I don't know Nottingham well so as Gareth led me through the streets I had no clue where we were going. Finally I saw a huge picture of Miranda Hart the comedian as we approached Nottingham Arena! I was very excited as I find Miranda hilarious and enjoy the TV series. She is very talented and good at what she does, and the show did not disappoint. It was so funny, had a great positive, fun, atmosphere. She involved the audience quite a bit and made sure everyone had a great time. Very talented performer.

Just a few highlights from the end of last year

I know this was some time ago, but I've decided not to have any time pressure on myself for when I do these updates -it's just fun to look back and keep a little bit of an record for myself and also any friends who are interested in what on earth I do with my time - work wise anyway ;)

Music
For the first time I went to an organ concert at Huddersfield Town Hall which was interesting, played by the fantastic Gordon Stewart who was very knowledgeable about the music he played and made it interesting.

My mum is part of Paddock Orchestra so I also went along to their Christmas concert which helped me to get in the Christmas mood.

Festival of Light
I went along to the festival of light in Hudds - always worth a visit. An event involving street theatre, music, installations and yummy food and drink. It always has a great atmosphere.

Winter Wonderland

In December I volunteered at a community event at Abbott Lodge, Salford called 'Winter Wonderland' organised by Kate Marlow, run by the residents of the shelter. The centre welcomed in many members of the community including families to enjoy a winter scene with lots of entertainment. My friend Ellie and I along with a few others were Wonderland Guides, welcoming people and generally helping out. It was a lot of fun!

Plymouth

I took a break from looking for contracts at this time for health reasons, so had a little bit of respite time which allowed me to spend some time in Plymouth at the end of the year and also the beginning of the new year. I really immensely enjoyed my time there and some at the time much needed r+r.

I saw 'The Little Red Hen' by Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company which is an excellent children's show including puppetry and live music. This was performed at The Drum Theatre at The Royal Plymouth and has gone on to tour various areas of the UK. Gareth is one of the performers. The audiences loved it and it was great to see their noisy, enthusiastic reactions! 

The Set

At the Drum I also got  to see the fantastic Barbershopera perform The Barber of Shavingham, which was a great experience. They are fantastic singers and hilarious. Great to meet the cast also.

 Also saw the pantomime Robin Hood there and went along to the after party which was fun.

Gareth and I also welcomed in the New Year in Plymouth which was a really special time.

Lancashire's Ghostly Happenings

I was involved with a Halloween ghost tour at Lancaster Castle on Halloween, with Wooden Spoons Theatre. I played the part of the Grim Reaper. It was a lot of fun.

Thought you might like to see a few snaps! Photos taken by Paul. D Swarbrick and Gillian A Lawson:

I also got to see the company's Church Street Cut Throat Tour in Preston again, which as always was excellent. If you are interested in seeing this it is currently performing monthly up to the 29th of August at least so check out their website if you're interested.

October Plenty

 

Back in January of 2013 I talked about the company The Lion's Part and the seasonal Twelfth Night celebration. Well, The Lion's Part are also part of a seasonal celebration in October, called 'October Plenty' at Borough Market, London Bridge. This is connected with Borough Market Apple Day. I went along - as I was in London at the time - and also did a small amount of helping the evening before the festival with setting up etc, but mostly to support Gareth who did a lot of helping out and performed in the festivities.

 

 

It was just a fantastic event! It began with a procession...

 

 

 

...to the Globe Theatre...

 

 

...where there was a performance.

 

 

 

And then a procession onto the market for more performances and festivities, yummy food and games.

'The Corn Queene'
-who was later dismantled and her bountiful plenty
 thrown into the crowd!

Robin Hood

Gareth performing as 'John Barleycorn'

 To read more about all the different parts of the festival click here.

 

It was great to be in London at this time so it was easy for me be there. I really tried to take as many opportunities as I could to experience lots of different things in each area of London that we stayed, as this is one of the benefits of working in different places - and I want to take full advantage whilst that is still a part of my life!

Musical Interludes

Here are a few snapshots:

My sister got married!

My family

I got to be a bridesmaid, which was great (you might remember I mentioned about it in my Serbia post), but she also asked me along with a couple of her friends to do a little singing at the reception. So Gareth and I performed a few numbers which was fun and it was a very relaxed and happy reception :) It was in Manchester.

 

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During my time in London I got to see a bit of live music which was great. Gareth and I payed a visit to the Ain't Nothin But... blues bar.

 

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It seems Pinner has a little jazz scene of it's own and we went along to listen to The Simon Allen Quintet as part of Pinner Jazz.

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And I checked out the KLC Quartet in Toulouse Latrec Brasserie & Wine Bar whilst in Southwark for part of the tour.

Diccon and Karl were actually both at
the Jazz Summer School I went to.

They were brilliant, and I was really glad to have the opportunity to hear them. I got the chance to perform with Karl Charity in France and he is not only an incredible trumpet player, he also has a gorgeous voice.

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And one weekend back in Huddersfield we got to hear Jon Gomm (in the middle of the picture below) which was really cool. He was supported by Jasmine Kennedy who was excellent. 

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So there's a few pics for you :) I know this seems a while ago now but it's been a busy few months and so keeping up to date with this blog is tricky at times! But I still really enjoy it hence I continue posting! It's therapeutic for me if nothing else ;)