It's been a while (where have I heard that before). Busy, busy, busy. After identifying flaws in my stage performances and a dreadful 'Britain's Got Talent' audition, I decided on some one to one workshops with a professional performer/producer/director. Everything they listed as a 'Do Not!' was something 'I DID!' at the audition. Hindsight is a very wonderful thing. But the BGT8 staff were all very helpful, polite and courteous which was a nice surprise after hearing of the moans from those unsuccessful in the past. With that volume of people to deal with, some are going to be hanging around a while.Great experience, even if it was a series of painful lessons learned.
The audition and workshops were well worth the investment of time and money, and it's surprising what you can actually do when you try new things out. In fairness there are not many opportunities to have improv sessions in the guise of one of your own characters, except in these sorts of workshops. Confidence building and a great way to fine tune audition pieces. Pity I didn't have the training first...DOH!
Been working on location for a couple of TV programmes as an Extra (or Supporting Artist if you want to sound more important). I was an idiot with a kite on Porthcawl beach for 'Casualty' a few weeks back (nearly ended up in casualty after the stunt kite hit me in the face at a fair old mph - no doubt the only bit of me they edit in). Should be shown in March 2014. And yes, I did eventually manage to keep it up for a satisfactory length, of time, thank you very much.
Good experience: nice people to work with and for. Couldn't get cold as the kite had a mind of its own, so avoidance tactics were essential (aka diving for cover). A sprint down the beach to retrieve the kite's 12-15ft tail (avoiding continuity problems) got the blood pumping too, to fight off the chilly breeze.
A bit of work a couple of weeks earlier as well for 'Gwaith Cartref,'' an S4C production. Again, very enjoyable and a great experience, playing an 'oggling letch' in a club whilst one of the cast was belly dancing. One good point was, that if you did something wrong and somebody was not happy with you, you couldn't understand a bloody word they were shouting at you :o)
2014 should be exciting, plenty of opportunities to audition for, using the pieces from the workshops. Looking forward to them now rather than being daunted.
If I don't manage to write another piece before Crimbo, let me wish you all a great Xmas break and a fantastic 2014.
More exciting times ahead people.
Regards
Lurv
