And That Was That

So, there’s been exciting news in the world of… well, the world, today, with the birth of our future King – as yet unnamed, but my money is still on Tyler Mckynziie Kieanu Ashtyn Jamaal Mohammid Mountbatten-Windsor. It’s also been an exciting day for me; the final performance of our play, The Murder At The Vicarage.

Am I glad it’s over? Well, yes and no. There’s been stresses, as there are with any other show we do. It’s been tough at times, that’s for certain, and I won’t miss slaving away at my lines and getting worked up because it doesn’t come out the way I want it to. I am struggling with post-show slump at the moment, but I’m getting my hair done tomorrow which should brighten me up a bit. I will really miss the show and the people in the theatre group, and honestly I’m considering driving back from uni every weekend to be able to be in the pantomime! I love them so much; after six years they’re like my second family and I miss every one of them when there’s not a show happening.

Still, I suppose it means I can get back to writing. Camp NaNoWriMo went down the toilet, so to speak, and I’m actually trying to write a pantomime. Never written a full script before – a radio script doesn’t count, in my opinion – so it’s daunting but fun! I’ll keep you updated on that, with more details to come soon.

Anyway, this is me, signing off (for tonight) and heading for some sleep!

 

Falling Behind and Falling Asleep…

Do you know how long it’s been since I blogged?

WordPress has logged me out. It’s been that long since I posted something, that I had to actually log back in this time. What’s going on there?

In fact, it’s been that long, that I haven’t blogged since I was 18! (Admittedly, I’ve only been 19 for a week today, but I couldn’t resist using that joke).

So… surprise surprise, I’m ill again. I’m seriously considering giving up on my body; it’s doing its best to give up on me. More tests await me – a blood test next week to find out if I could be coeliac, and it’ll apparently take a few weeks for the results to come back, but at least it’s another thing crossed off the list. I’m more interested in how long it’ll take to hit a vein – last time, it took five jabs before it actually went in. I’d like it to be less this time, but I’m not holding my breath.

The play is going well so far! We’ve had fair sized audiences, and good feedback. There’s two shows left now – tomorrow and Monday – so hopefully they’ll go just as well if not better. I’ll be honest, it’s the first time I’ve kind of thought “I’m looking forward to it being over”. It’s been a stressful one, but it’s not enough to put me off acting, or the theatre group – I love them too much to just disappear!

I think the hot weather has got us all feeling bothered; which may contribute to us wanting the play to be over. Those dressing rooms are HOT, and have you tried wearing pancake when you’re sweating buckets and it’s 30 celcius outside? Goooood grief, it’s been incredible, but we need a rain shower to freshen everything up! I’m lucky; I live on the coast – we’ve been spending a lot of time in the sea – but I feel sorry for those further inland.

On the writing front; was doing Camp NaNoWriMo but I think I’ve fallen too far behind; I’m still writing though!

Me And My Hectic Life!

I apologise for the lack of updates recently, my life appears to have exploded. That or someone’s replaced the old Maddy who sat in her room writing all day with one who actually has loads of stuff to do and doesn’t seem to get a moment’s peace to just sit down and blog. I think it’s the first one, my life has been feeling very ‘splodey lately.

Glyndwr Uni is currently hosting Ffresh Festival, the Welsh student film festival, and it seems to be going really well. I’ve been doing a couple of hours of volunteering on the registration desk yesterday, and I’m doing the same this afternoon – in 45 minutes, to be precise – as well as helping to judge the best actor award (not just me – there’s three of us doing it), so it means going to watch all the showcases (the one we saw this morning was very good!) and then making a decision.

As well as that, directorial performances are next week and I’m in two, so rehearsals are still ongoing. I’ll be honest, I’m looking forwards to getting them over and done with now. Having to schedule in rehearsals every week around everything else is mad. I’ll be glad of a break!

Going to see Train on Saturday and honestly, I can’t wait! I’m so worried that something will go wrong – we’ll lose the tickets or they’ll cancel last minute – because I’ve wanted to see Train for ages, they’re my favourite band and I love their music so much. I think my Mom’s still convinced that she’s coming with us, and honestly if I knew she liked Train when I was buying the tickets I would’ve gotten her one too, but she didn’t decide she liked them until around the day after tickets sold out. Next time, I promise!

So, lots has been happening in the world – I know I said I wouldn’t post too much on current affairs but it’s been a big couple of weeks – since I’ve been AWOL.

Oscar Pistorious and the shambles that has been his bail hearing – how it’s going to be a fair trial now with all the mistakes that have been made is beyond me, but I’m hoping it is all just a big mistake and he really mistook her for a burglar.

The human incarnation of a Chucky Doll calling the-woman-formerly-known-as-Kate-Middleton “plastic” and basically having a go at her because she’s pretty – what else would have sparked such a vicious and personal rant? It’s fine to have an opinion, sure, but there was some definite bitterness going on there – which made me giggle really; it’s been good for the Twitter lulz.

Bedroom taxes and workfare schemes galore; political cock-ups I’m not even going to delve into because I could spend all day ranting about Ian Duncan Smith; but I’ll spare you that one.

Still, the story that’s caught my eye isn’t a miserable one, or one filled with anger and bitterness. It’s one of hope; one that’s really affected me in a way I didn’t think it would. I’m referring, of course, to the announcement of Mars One (at least, it’s the first I’ve heard of it) – the plan to start a colony on Mars. I’m thrilled, because it’s a step towards the universe I’m writing about – Christopher Maine’s universe, of course – becoming a reality, and I never thought we’d even taken one step towards it during my lifetime. I really hope it becomes a reality and isn’t another of those far-fetched schemes, doomed to failure, because the hope the news has filled me with is surprising.

So that’s just a little update from me, to warn you that it may be a while until you hear from me again. I’m still alive, still plodding along (or rather, running at everything head-first and hoping it doesn’t hurt too much) – I’m just a busy bee!

NaNoveling Update – End of Week 1!

So Week 1 of NaNoWriMo draws to a close, and I am halfway to 50k. It’d be really great if I can maintain this pace and get 100k in a month; I can’t remember how much I managed last year but I think it was closing in on 75k, to go even better this year would be great!

So I’ve basically mapped out and written all the important plot points (well, nearly all of them) – now it’s a case of bringing them all together. My “novel” is actually three sections or books, so I’ve got plenty to write about, I can’t see myself running out of steam. I’m really pleased with how well-developed the characters are, especially the main one, and I know that when I re-read some of the Terra Firma Fleet books (available now on Amazon Kindle), the particular character from those stories whose origin I’m writing will have a lot more depth behind her. It’s a really interesting character exercize!

Another character thing I’ve done is the accent tag challenge, for three of the main characters. The way it is, you’ve got Amber, who is almost a “valley girl” type character – blonde, beautiful but sometimes a little bit ditzy, and she’s got quite a generic, feminine American accent, because of the colony station she’s from. Then you have Caydan, who is well-educated and well-brought up, and he’s very much your typical Received-Pronounciation young man, because his home on Tempora Prime is in a very affluent area. Then we have the main character, Madalyn, who you may recall from “Dragon Flight: Wrath”, if you’ve read it (and if you haven’t, READ IT!). She’s a New Manhattan girl, a young mechanic with something of a slightly-diluted New York accent – no real defined borough but at a push I’d say it’s between Manhattan and very, very diluted Queens or Staten Island, from what I’ve heard and attempted of it (my attempt really isn’t anything impressive!). So I did the accent tag challenge for all of them, and it’s made writing their dialogue a lot easier!

In other news, I performed my monologue in class in front of an agent today, which was amazing! We also had a great workshop on facilitation, which is what I really would like to do in the future, so hopefully I’ll be able to do some volunteering work experience with them later on in my time here! Oh, and looks like I passed my room inspection. All in all, a very good day! 🙂

9AM Starts Are Evil.

Before I started uni, I’d always see others moaning about their 9am starts and I’d think how lucky they are – they can roll out of bed and into uni (assuming they live in halls), whereas I had to get up at half past six to be at secondary school for half past eight. I now understand what it is that people hate about them. When you’re at secondary school, you’re generally still living at home – you have someone to force you out of bed. At uni, you don’t, and if your alarm doesn’t go of and you’re in a cocodamol-induced stupor, as I was this morning, a 9am start becomes your worst enemy.

Why was I in a cocodamol-induced stupor? Because in yesterday’s lesson, I was pulled into a door during a trust exercize (yep, that’s really going to make me trust someone!), and hurt my back. My back is already not in great shape, but yesterday it was hurting a lot so before bed, I took a cocodamol to try and help me sleep. It definitely did help me sleep – unfortunately it made me sleep for a bit too long, so by the time I woke up at half past 9, the cut-off point for being allowed into the lecture had already passed (if you arrive late but before half past nine, you apologize to the class and join in. If you’re beyond half an hour late, you’re not allowed into the lecture, which is fair enough because they don’t want you disturbing the others).

So instead I’ve been productive with my morning, finding monologues that I can use for my assessed piece in November – currently thinking of either Yvaine describing her love to Tristan from “Stardust”, or a monologue from “I, Robot”, although if anyone has any suggestions they’re gratefully received! – and tidying up my room, doing a bit of re-arranging and so on 🙂 Later on I’m going into town to buy a NEW ALARM CLOCK!

So, if you’re a school/college student and think “9am starts are easy, I won’t struggle with them”, think again – when you get to university, you might just be surprised. The biggest downside to independence I’ve found so far hasn’t been having to buy your own food or clean for yourself – those things are quite rewarding and you feel proud of yourself. There’s no pride in missing a 9am lecture because you don’t have someone to force you out of bed!

Well… that escalated quickly.

I don’t know quite what I thought the first week of uni would be like – perhaps a bit of a “settling in” period, a time where things are quite relaxed so you can get your bearings, nothing too hard or strenuous, just a few acting exercizes to get us warmed up and things like that. So, there’s an audition on Friday, for which we have to prepare a piece from Blood Brothers (a play I’ve never studied because I was in a higher set for GCSE, so we did “An Inspector Calls”), and a song. I live in halls and while I love singing, I’m not sure my flatmates would appreciate me belting out a big musical number to practice at any hour of the day. I’m hoping we’ll get a chance to have a practice some other time, because otherwise I could make a fool out of myself!

I’m not hoping for a main part or anything like that. I’m a first year, there’s about 60 of us on the course spread over 3 years and very few main parts, so it’s fairly obvious the big roles will go to the third years, which I think is how it should be – I’d be so annoyed if I was a third year, and a first year waltzed in and got a big role at my expense (although I guess that’s showbusiness!). I’ll be fine in the chorus, especially because I don’t know the play at all and it’s not one I’m particularly fanatical about (if it was RENT or Wicked or something like that, I think I’d be thinking a little differently!). If I can’t get a spot in the chorus, and when there’s so many people that seems like a real possibility, being tech would be just as cool, especially if they need people for costume or make-up. Since I’ve started doing face-painting, I’ve discovered a new love for costuming and stage make-up, even though in this play it’ll just be normal stage make-up.

So, it’s not exactly going to be an easy first week – not that I want it to be! I want it to be jam-packed and fun, but not too tiring. I’ve explained about the issues with my back, which should make things a little easier when it starts playing up so I don’t just run away and sit down randomly, they actually know where I’m going. It’s playing up again, which is a pain – literally! – and I’m not entirely sure why, because it still doesn’t feel like bone or muscle pain, even though they’ve said that’s what it is. I’m not registered with a doctor up here either, so it’s a little tricky to get anything done really. I’ve got plenty of painkillers though.

There’s been lots of stuff going on, and a few things going wrong with finance etc, so all those creases have to be ironed out, but d’you know what? I’m excited for the year ahead. I think it’s going to be crazy and jam-packed and I’m anxious not to plan anything in advance – I’m already hoping that fate will be on my side for things planned for the rest of this year, what with Idina Menzel in two weeks and then War Of The Worlds the week before the show (eek!) – so I think it’s nose to the grindstone time; better get working hard to secure my future!

Getting Ready To Go…

I’m actually feeling fairly organized with regards to uni. A lot of my stuff is packed into boxes and ready, 12 days ahead of schedule, and all that really remains is the bits and bobs that I have in my bedroom that I can’t pack until the last minute – my lava lamp, TV and ps2 etc.

It’s been weird seeing people go back to college and school this year – my brother and sister have both gone back to school, and some of my friends in the year below have been posting on Facebook about how they’re back at college, and it really is strange to see. It sounds stupid but I can’t help wondering who’s sitting in my seat in class, who likes the teachers who taught me, what they’re studying right now. Saying that, you couldn’t pay me enough to get me to go back there and do two more years. Whereas when I finished secondary school, once I started college I would have loved to re-do my last year at school, because I had a great group of friends and enjoyed it, now I just can’t wait to get to university. It’s a shame I didn’t enjoy college, but there’s no point sitting and moping about it – time to look to the future and enjoy it.

I’m struggling with the thought of leaving my family behind. Most people seem to be really excited about it, but I’ve always been so close to my family that it is going to be very hard – and my dog is definitely included in that, I’m going to miss her and I really hope she recognizes me when I come back! My plan  of going home every weekend isn’t going to work out too well – for starters, the first three weeks are going to be so hectic with pre-freshers, freshers and re-freshers, so there’ll be no going home in that time. Also, I don’t want to be backwards and forwards every weekend, because travel will cost a lot. Still, I really want to see my family – and especially my fiance – as often as possible, because words can’t even describe how much I’m going to miss him. I’m already dreading the last time we see each other before I leave, because I know I’m going to cry buckets.

On a brighter note, it’s not like we’re not going to see each other at all – we’re going to talk over video chat as much as possible, and it’s not even like he won’t see me until Christmas – as many weekends as I’m able to, money and work permitting, I’ll be back to see him, and hopefully he’ll be able to come and see me sometimes. Also on a brighter note, and regarding my fiance – well, it’s a brighter note for me, but not so much for him – is his sponsored walk this Saturday! He’s in a medievel re-enactment group, and part of that involves wearing the armour – all 8 stone (5okg) of it. So, he and two other knights are doing a 30 mile walk from one castle to another in full armour to raise money for Diabetes UK – that’s 30 miles carrying the equivalent of 50 bags of sugar, each! They’d really appreciate it if you could sponsor them – http://www.justgiving.com/ardudwy-knights-glyndwr-march

I’m hoping to blog more often once things are settled, but I’m also doing some video blogs for http://www.thestudentroom.com all about the experience of going to university, so that’s going to take up some time. However, if you’re a fresher this year – or will be next year or the year after etc – and you want to check out the video blogs so you know what to expect, I’ll post a link to them once it’s all up and running.

More research!… not ;)

So, I haven’t gotten around to watching 28 Days Later yet, which will be very intensive research for my novel, but I did – under the guise of researching – end up watching Blair Witch Project. I’ve seen bits of it before but never the ending and never the full film, and I figured it’d give me some tips on how to convey horror. I have learned two things – the first is that whilst having a massive build up for a two second climax that is really quite disappointing in that there’s not much horror, very little gore and ends with a guy standing in a corner and a fuzzy camera clip may seem like a good idea, it really isn’t, and the second is that if my book is made into a film, don’t let them cast rubbish actors.

BWP may have been a good film if the acting wasn’t so awful. If they’d been a little more human, I may have believed that it was found footage (y’know, if I didn’t already know it was a film), but they were so obviously TRYING to act human that they were more wooden than the many trees around them (I never quite realized how monotonous 90 minutes of footage of trees can be until now), which kind of sucked all the suspense out of it. I will admit that I did find the bit where they were in the house at the end scary, but that was only because I thought something was going to jump out at them. I can deal with gore, I can deal with scary monsters but I get so scared if something jumps out – even if it’s just my little sister jumping out at me in the hallway, it scares the bejezus out of me – so jumpy-out films are a no-no.

By the time the credits started rolling, I wished something would have jumped out. I mean, what an unsatisfactory ending. We never get to see Blair Witch. We never see what happens to any of them. The first guy had his tongue cut out and yet he was still shouting them. Where was he? First he was upstairs, then he was downstairs. What was so scary about the second guy just facing the wall? I mean, I look at walls sometimes if they’re interesting, I don’t get people running at me with a camera and screaming. And then the typical cheesy “end shot of a camera upside down on the floor” was… meh. I mean, I suppose the film did start that phenomenon, so it can’t really be called cheesy, but really, it was so unsatisfactory – and yet, I found myself hoping they make a sequel (not counting the one they made which apparently had little to do with the original) to tell us what actually happened to the three main characters and how the hell the camera footage was found without the people who found it turning into screaming wall-facing tongueless shouting unsatisfactory film endings too?

Maybe I’m being too harsh on the film; maybe I don’t get it, but I don’t want to watch a film where the scariest part is watching the leading lady’s nostrils flare repeatedly and seeing her nose gunk go into her mouth. That’s not my idea of a horror movie, that’s just gross. Anyway, it hasn’t really served as great research for my novel, but it was never really intended to, I just felt like watching it. Hopefully 28 Days Later will be more successful on that front – and hopefully it’s a better film overall! I can deal with zombies much better than I can deal with an actress’s nose goo.

A Letter To My 13-Year-Old Self.

Revision is not going well – my mind just really isn’t in it today – so I’ve decided to change things a little bit, and I am going to write a letter to my 13 year old self. The power of hindsight is a wonderful thing, and there are many things that I think would have turned out better had I heeded the advice I’m about to give myself. That said, I’m so happy how I am today, so don’t read this and assume I’m not happy with my life. This is partly a writing exercize, and partly because I’m bored.

Dear 13-year-old-me,

The next few years are going to be tough on you, and right now you’re not prepared for them at all. You’re still drifting through school, not really paying much attention to lessons other than ones that interest you and you have a few friends, but you’re not exactly popular. So, here’s my advice for you over the next four years, to wind up as awesome (if not awesome-r) as your current, 17 year old self.

• Pay attention in Maths and Science lessons. Yes, it’s boring. Yes, we hate science and maths, but you will regret not paying attention – I find myself wishing I understood maths and science better because I struggle with it, I’ve forgotten virtually everything I used to be able to remember and I think there’s a few times where it could’ve been handy. Had I listened more when I was your age, I could have gotten As in the sciences and a B in Maths. I’m happy with the Cs in Maths and Physics and the Bs in Biology and Chemistry, but I know it could have been better, if I’d gotten over the fact that I find them boring and paid more attention.
• You’re too young for boys. Disregard all boys that come your way until December 31st, 2010 and you’ll end up very happy and not with a load of self-esteem issues that still bug you to this day.
• If someone whose name begins with “D”, who enjoys science fiction, writing and acting reveals that he likes you a lot on December 31st, 2010, don’t hesitate to admit that you return those feelings, because by the time you’re my age, you will have had the best 17 months of your life.
• Learn as many musical instruments as possible! Start playing the guitar and ukulele early, I only started a couple of years ago and I regret not learning earlier because I could be so much better by now. Keep going with the singing, regardless of what people say – in the future, it will open a lot of doors for you.
• Take every opportunity to perform that you get, and don’t let confidence issues convince you out of it.
• Don’t bring your problems home and take them out on your family. They’re struggling with your teenage mood swings enough, let alone having to put up with you being a royal pain thanks to other things happening in your life.
• Don’t wait as long as I did to get a sudden confidence boost. When you’re in a situation with new people, introduce yourself. Be friendly and be yourself, but for god’s sake, CALM DOWN A BIT. If you’re hyper it’s only going to scare people away. By the time you’re my age, you’ll have found a happy medium – when you need to be, you can be serious, but you’re also not afraid to be goofy and go a little crazy, especially when you’re scaring pigeons away and screaming as crabs chase you.
• Don’t spent your time worrying about what other people think about you. One of the most stupid things I’ve ever done is change myself into a quiet, reserved person because I was worried that people would mistake my… well, I like to think of it as quirkiness … for special needs or something like that. These days, people can think that about me if they want, it just shows their ignorance because they don’t take the time to get to know me and find out that I don’t have SEN, I’m just making the most of being a child before I turn 18.
• School isn’t the be-all and end-all. For all I said about paying attention in Maths and Science, don’t let it take over your life! Chill out a little bit or you’re going to get stressed and over-worked. Do all your homework when you get it, do work in the lessons rather than chatting and messing about – which, by the way, doesn’t help with the whole “People assuming you’re special” issue – and you won’t have to spend hours at home trying to do it but failing because you didn’t listen to the teacher.
• Don’t stress about not becoming a prefect – at the end of the day, the teachers were right. The prefects ended up as basically targets for the misbehaving students, and you can do without that stress in your GCSE year. Plus, I don’t think it turned out to be quite as good as people thought it would be. And hey, most of your friends didn’t get to be prefect either, so it’s not like you’re the only one. You’ll end up having an amazing Year 11 regardless, and no matter how many times you say you can’t wait to leave, as soon as you get to college you’ll be wishing you were back there again!
• There are certain people you shouldn’t bother with, and others who you should bother with more. I’m not going to name them here out of respect for their privacy, but when someone is a friend to you, don’t be mean to them – and when someone is mean to you, for heavens’ sake don’t try to build bridges, it’ll only lead to more trouble in the long run. Small arguments are going to happen, especially when some of you have such personality clashes, but there are people you still speak to today who you had arguments with in the past and got over them, and that’s worth it. On the other hand, there are people you ignored the major arguments with and insisted things would change, and now there’s irrepairable damage. Still, don’t assume that’s a bad thing.
• You are going to miss your friends a hell of a lot when you go to college, so make sure you stay in touch with them over Facebook! Never underestimate the value of social networking; for all its faults it also has advantages.
• Deefer is going to die, and it’s going to absolutely break your heart, but don’t worry and DON’T blame yourself. You’ll have another dog and she will change your life completely, so much for the better.
• Stop wearing make-up earlier than I did. You’re beautiful without it, it can destroy people’s skin and you’ll feel so much better for it. Special occasions will feel more special when you’re getting ready and putting make-up on, and it’ll save you money when you’re not wasting £5 a time on foundation.
• Don’t worry about the future. When you’re 13, university isn’t something you need to worry about. You’ll go through ups and downs of wanting to go and not wanting to go, and you won’t know what course you want to do and at times you’ll just feel like giving it all up, but don’t! As I’m writing this, I’m looking at a box by my window which is slowly filling up with things ready for university, and it makes me smile because I’m going to university – despite everything, I’m going to go.
• In short, to borrow a favourite quote of mine, live like there’s no tomorrow. Laugh every chance you get. Learn from your mistakes – and don’t make them again! Love the people who will love you back. Live the life you love and you’ll love the life you live.

Don’t worry. Life’s going to throw some nasty stuff at you, and you’ll have the scars to show for it when you get to my age, but you’re going to get through. Nothing can get you down – you’re strong and you’re beautiful and, one day, you’ll be writing this post to your thirteen year old self, looking back on the years and realizing that regardless of what is thrown your way, you’re stronger than you seem, braver than you believe and smarter than you think, and I think you’re going to be just fine.

Olivier Awards 2012 – My Predictions

First of all I need to point out that I haven’t seen any of these shows nominated here (with the exception of “Wicked”), but I’m going on what I’ve heard, reviews I’ve read and music I’ve listened to (I’m heavily biased in favour of Matilda because it seems absolutely AMAZING!). So, these are my predictions for some of the categories of the Olivier Awards on the 15th April (some of them I can’t possibly comment on, because I’ve heard nothing about any of the nominees. 

Best Actress In A Musical – The Matildas. These four girls, from videos I’ve seen and songs I’ve heard, are incredibly talented. That, combined with their age, makes them my choice for this category. 

Best Actor In A Musical – Bertie Carvel. This one’s going to be tough in my opinion, between Carvel and Nigel Lindsay, who has been playing Shrek in Shrek The Musical, because both are such demanding roles and also big character roles, but from what I have read and heard, Carvel will edge it in my opinion. 

Best Performance In A Supporting Role In A Musical – Nigel Harman. Again, another one that will be a serious contest between Shrek and Matilda, which I think could be a recurring theme! As amazing as I’ve heard Paul Kaye is as Mr Wormwood (and I don’t doubt it considering his character as Vince in “Mongrels”), I think Shrek will edge it in this category because of the things I’ve heard about Harman’s performance. 

Best New Musical – Matilda. If Matilda doesn’t win this category, I will be both surprised and angry. From everything I’ve seen, it has everything that a long-lasting, fan favourite musical needs – amazing music courtesy of the fantastic Tim Minchin, amazing staging and choreography and a storyline based on a book that pretty much every child in Britain – prior to the time when reading suddenly became something that children can’t seem to do anymore – has read. 

Best Musical Revival – The Wizard of Oz. This one will be another tough one – if I was judging, I’d have a struggle between Singin’ In The Rain, which is an old favourite of a classic, and The Wizard Of Oz, which has been so well publicised thanks to “Over The Rainbow”, and has an amazing cast. If I was a judge and such biased judging techniques were allowed, based on its immense popularity thanks to Over The Rainbow, it’s amazing leading lady (Danielle Hope’s voice is phenomenal) and the fact that I know Russell Grant and he’s a fabulous person, I’ll have to say The Wizard of Oz!

Best Theatre Choreographer – Peter Darling. I’ve seen a video of the scene for “When I Grow Up” in Matilda, with the swings, and the insane dancing for “Revolting Children” – that is some mad choreography and I will be very surprised if Darling doesn’t win, although the choreographer for Singin’ In The Rain would provide some competition. 

BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award – Les Miserables. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Wicked, it is and always will be one of my favourite musicals, and when I saw it, it made me cry – twice! But I think that Les Miserables has been running for so long, and there’s no denying it is an astounding musical and I also consider that one of my favourites and an absolute must-see for me, it has such a massive following that I think it will definitely win. If either of the other two (Jersey Boys and Billy Elliot) win, I’ll be quite annoyed because I think Wicked and Les Mis are both so much more deserving of the award, but at the end of the day it is the audience award so the majority will have their say. 

 

That’s all the ones I really feel I can call properly at the moment. Of course, the judges could have absolutely contrasting views to me and I could be proved entirely wrong on all of them, but I’d really like to see Matilda sweep the board completely or as close as possible, especially in the Best New Musical, Best Actor and Best Actress categories, because from what I’ve seen of it, it looks amazing. 

I shall be watching or listening to the awards ceremony to see if I’m right or wrong!