My Proudest Moment!

So, yesterday the plaque for Harold Lowe was unveiled. I started my campaign for it two years ago, and to see it unveiled on such a fitting day – the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking – was perfect. It was a lovely ceremony and I’m very grateful to everyone who turned up – lots of people took the time to attend which was wonderful – but, more than anything, to Captain John Lowe, Harold Lowe’s grandson, who nearly brought me to tears by asking me to help him unveil the plaque. It was a wonderful ceremony and there seemed to be a few people struggling to remain dry-eyed! The choir were there singing Welsh hymns including “for those in peril on the sea”, the army and RAF cadets were there, as were members of Harold Lowe’s family and local dignitaries and press.

Ioan Gruffydd was invited but was unable to attend, but he sent a wonderful letter which was read out at the ceremony to everyone – and I was presented with a copy of the letter in a frame which will take pride of place in my bedroom 🙂 in short, it really was a wonderful day and a fitting tribute to a true hero, and I can honestly say that it was my proudest moment was seeing everyone crowding around the plaque, wanting to look at it, read it and take pictures of it. I was so moved by the number of people who came up to me and thanked me, but the truth is I couldn’t have done it on my own, it needed the support of local people to make it happen, and the people of Barmouth and the surrounding area were overwhelming with their support, and it was clear to see that everyone agreed that Barmouth needed something to commemorate such a great man.

If you’re ever in Snowdonia, come down to Barmouth and visit the harbour, and take a moment to come and see the plaque. I hope you will be inspired to learn more about the local hero we are all so very proud of.

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!

My Titanic Connection.

It hit me today that I haven’t fully explained my connection to the Titanic, even though I’ve told you all I’ve been on television and radio about it (more on that later). So, with the centenary of the ship setting sail today, and the centenary of the sinking on Sunday, I think it’s time I explained my personal connection to the Titanic.

For most people, their connection begins a hundred years ago, when their ancestors set sail on the Titanic on its fated maiden voyage. For me, it’s slightly different. I don’t have a familial connection to the ship – my story starts over ten years ago at my Nan’s house. She had the James Cameron film “Titanic” on video, and whenever we went to stay at her house, I’d sit and watch it, sometimes twice, at night. The story itself was rather lost on me – I was only six years old and didn’t really understand the romance between Jack and Rose, but the historical side interested me. I’d already decided, by this point, that I wanted to be a historian (of course, that isn’t my aspiration anymore, but I was fairly set on it at the time), so I devoured any information about the Titanic that I could find. I remember badgering my Mom for a book at a school book fair one year, called “My Story: Voyage on the Great Titanic”. She was convinced that I only wanted it for the little blue necklace that came with it, but in all honesty, I wanted to read the book. I absolutely loved it, and I think I only took it off my bookshelf last year, having read it many times.

I noticed, even that first time when I watched the film, that there was a character who did something very brave, and he had a Welsh accent, although I didn’t think much of it at the time. As time progressed, I kept watching it at my Nan’s house, and eventually my curiosity got the better of me, and I went on the internet and looked up the Welshman whom I’d seen rescuing another character in the film. I had no idea of his connection to my local area of Wales, but I was interested nonetheless. Still,  I found that he was Fifth Officer Harold Godfrey Lowe, and although he had been born in Eglwys Rhos, he spent some of his childhood in Barmouth, the nearest town to my village, just down the coast. I was only eleven, and although I was very interested, I still didn’t think much of it.

Two years ago, I was in a local cafe when I heard a man talking about the Titanic, and a man from Barmouth who had been on it, with my dad. I joined in the conversation, and we got talking about how it was surprising that there was nothing in Barmouth to commemorate Harold Lowe – so, when I went home, I wrote a letter to a local newspaper and started a facebook campaign, and it all started from there. Two years later, a plaque to him has been unveiled today in Deganwy, the town to which he eventually retired and where his grandson now lives, and a plaque will be unveiled this Sunday, the product of two years of this campaign, at the harbour in Barmouth. I feel immensely proud to have been a part of the campaign, but more than that, I am pleased that he’ll finally be commemorated in Barmouth and people will learn about him for years to come.

So, that’s basically what this campaign has all been about. The newspaper articles, the radio, the television – it’s all been leading up to this Sunday, but it doesn’t end on Sunday – the plaque will mean that, for decades to come, there will be a lasting memorial to the local hero many people didn’t know about until recently. You can find the television programme I filmed for last year, “Titanic With Len Goodman”, on BBC iPlayer, and I am on Episode Two.

*Happy Dances*

I only have one chapter left of book 2 to write! I’m currently on just under 75,000 words, and hopefully the next, and last, chapter, will take me up to just under 80,000. I’m feeling much better today (seems like it’s finally on it’s way out, but it still hurts like hell!) so I’ve been able to get some writing done, and I’m quite happy with it! So, one chapter left, then I might take a break (but probably won’t!) and then start on Book 3, which is the last in the trilogy. Then, the epic editing session can begin whenever I can be bothered to do it 😉

By the way, if you’re in Britain, Ireland, America or Japan, over the next few weeks there is a documentary airing called “Titanic with Len Goodman” (BBC1 in the UK, RTE something in Ireland, PBS in American and apparently it’s in Japan too), and I am (hopefully!) on one of the shows – I spent a day filming in August so not sure if I am on it, or what episode it’ll be, but it sounds like it will be an interesting and informative programme anyway, so check it out!

 

Maddy-o is a radio star?

Well, not exactly. And apologies for that awful, truly terrible title.

I’m not exactly a radio star. I’ve had my first taste of being in a radio studio and it’s really cool! I’ve been recording an interview for a program BBC Radio Cymru are doing on the Titanic (what with the centenary approaching and my campaign for a memorial in Barmouth having received some attention recently), and it meant I had to speak in Welsh. It was a challenge for me – at first, it felt slightly like my Welsh GCSE speaking and listening exam, an experience I hoped to never have to repeat – but when I relaxed and settled in, it seemed to go quite well.

I’m, technically, a Welsh learner. Yes, I’ve been learning since I was three and a half, but never speaking Welsh at home – and only speaking it sporadically at school, i.e since the age of seven I’ve only spoken it during Welsh language lessons, which weren’t exactly frequent either at primary or secondary schools. I’ll never speak it as well as people who’ve lived here all their life and speak it at home, but I am fluent, and was considered to be first-language – i.e on a par with those who speak it at home with their parents – at secondary school.

I think the main problem is that I haven’t spoken it for a while, other than the odd snippet thrown here and there in conversation, and used on Facebook. I think a lot of people hear my accent and assume I can’t speak Welsh – it still seems fairly strong, especially when I do speak Welsh – when really, I’m fluent, but sometimes it just doesn’t flow as well as other people’s seems to – there are certain words I struggle with because of the pronunciation and others, where they’re easily confused with others and I get confused.

Still, I’m fairly pleased with how I did today, and when I find out when it airs, I shall let you all know – although, if you don’t speak Welsh, you probably won’t understand it, but at least you get to hear my voice! And my (doubtful) Welsh abilities! So, all in all, a good day. Let’s see what tomorrow – the dreaded results day and UBER evening drama rehearsal – brings.