Sonder Nights
Last week had a bit of a first for me as I was involved in Sonder Nights at Tigermilk; a poetry night after which I performed as the night’s live entertainment. I’ve become very used to people expressing themselves through music and song, so it was quite an interesting and different experience to sit and listen to poetry.
David Stolton, Ysella Sims, Leyla Özkan, Frances Kormpala, and Anastasios Chalas performed their poems, and listening to them speaking about their art really took me back to when I initially began to showcase songs that I had written myself. It’s actually quite terrifying at first because you feel so raw and exposed, like you're telling the world your deepest darkest secrets. All the poets did incredibly well and it was a privilege to be involved.
I currently have a few things in the pipeline that I hope to be able to share with you soon, but in the meantime keep checking my social media pages for any updates in the meantime!
New original coming soon!
I’m currently in the process of recording a new original song! Unfortunately I can’t give a time frame yet as to when I’ll be able to release it, as recording with my injury is proving to be rather challenging. I have played it live a couple of times though so some of you may already have had a sneaky peek!
Watch this space!
Spamalot
What a week!
We just finished our run of Monty Python’s Spamalot, and it was great! Crazy busy week (especially as I was in work during the days too!) but it was so fun to get back onto the stage to do some musical theatre.
I spend a lot of time on stage but it’s been a couple of years since my last musical theatre show and it was great to get back into the saddle, and Spamalot is such a show to do it with. It’s also been a lovely opportunity to dance again, which I haven’t done for even longer.
It has been difficult to have so much time away from doing my usual gigging, but doing Spamalot has been a great way to keep myself performing during my injury. I think the dancing has been helping to keep my neck and shoulder moving and generally things are improving, so its onwards and upwards!
Happy New Year!
Unfortunately I haven't been very active recently; I've had to take some time out from playing due to a muscular injury in my shoulder and neck that has made it difficult for me to play guitar. I'm currently working with a physiotherapist to try to get things back to normal and I am now on the road to recovery.
Thankfully I have some very talented friends and I am organising some cover sessions to be post in the coming weeks. Thanks to everyone for sending their best wishes!
Spamalot!
I'm very excited to announce that I will be taking part in Plymouth Gilbert and Sullivan Fellowship's upcoming production of Spamalot! I have always loved musical theatre and its been great to get back into it with such a fun show and a great theatre company. We open on 20 March 2018 at Devonport Playhouse in Plymouth.
Thespis Theatre Group
For the last couple of years I have been involved with Thespis Project Productions, and this was my first show with them, The Wrong Side of Prohibition. I played Anna, an immigrant from Greece who is taken in by Tony and the girls at his speakeasy. When they discover that Anna can sing, she makes an appearance in their club, but the ending of prohibition starts to catch up with them.
My first appearance in Wrong Side was during the 2016 Plymouth Fringe Festival. Following this, we were booked to perform 4 more immersive shows at Tigermilk by The Duke of Cornwall. This was a great experience as there was no stage; the entire venue was Tony's club and the performance took place throughout, with actors walking between the tables. All 4 nights sold out, and we received glowing reviews for our performance. Snippets of these are below!
ThatMusicalTheatreNerd
Another stand out performance came from Nicola Tyrer as Anna, the young Greek girl who is brought to the club at the beginning of the play. Her transformation from a timid girl into a confident singer was realised brilliantly, and Tyrer's beautiful voice was showcased in her acapella solos, which she performed impeccably; remaining perfectly in key throughout and displaying a good level of acting through song. The contrast between her and the other girls was also evident, not only through their appearances, but also through their levels of experience.
LornaIllustrates
We also got chatting to the wonderful Nicola Tyrer, who played Anna, who was over the moon to have such an amazing turn out for the event! We gave her much praise for her solo-singing scene towards the end of the show, which was absolutely beautiful. Her voice is stunning!
AnOceanGlimmer
Throughout the performance, Anna portrayed by Nicola Tyrer grew from a shy young girl into a confident singer. I loved this transformation as you could tell exactly how scared she was but once she became confident with those around her, she was able to become confident with her singing. Nicola has an amazing voice, I didn't think she had it in her and it was perfect! Especially as she performed without music, so it was even more impressive that it was perfect.