Craig Nolan Official Blog: Blog 5! An e-mail from Danny Boyle!

Hey Everyone,

Happy Thursday!

I am actually writing today's blog from the comfort of my bed. I don't know if it's me just being very lazy or whether the rehearsals (along with work of course) have finally caught up with me! Anyway, I'm comfortable and that's all that matters.

I've just finished reading a blog that I follow every week by a guy called Mark Evans. Mark is an actor from London and is currently appearing as the lead in Ghost the Musical. It follows his daily life, what he gets up to and his experiences with being on the West End. It's a really interesting read - check it out (as long as you promise to still visit my blog too) - http://markevansonline.blogspot.co.uk/.

Anyway, back to me!

I cant believe I am actually going to say this, but the rehearsal on Saturday in Daggers (my nickname for Dagenham) was actually really pointless (although I did manage to take some more sneaky shots. See below). It was a five hour rehearsal call, but by the time they get everyone in, seated, and then out on to the field of play, it turns in to a considerably shorter rehearsal.

My section also includes an additional role, that lasts about an hour and a half, and involves me getting quite close to all of the athletes from all of the different countries. Jealous? That's all I'm giving away. This is the part we were rehearsing on Saturday. Quite a lot of what we had previously been taught about this section has changed, so they were teaching us all of the new bits. I don't want to sound negative but the guy's teaching us were different and they didn't really have much of a clue what was going on. Actually, that's not fair, they just weren't as prepared and organised as our normal choreographers. But hey, I'm sure it will be alright on the night!

The rehearsal on Sunday was back at the stadium and was the total opposite... Amazing! As revealed in Danny Boyle's press interviews, there are going to be a good few animals in the 'Green and Pleasant Land'. As we were waiting to start, six horses were led on to the field of play, to an uproar of cheering and applause. I think they are trying to get them used to the noise, but really, us 1,000 will be nothing compared to the 80,000 cheering on the night. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

We did a good few run throughs of the whole section, which was great to see how everyone had improved since we did it over a week ago - and the rain held off too which was an added bonus!

On the final run through, they flew in the five rings and explained how they would 'work'. I'm excited about that bit... like, really excited!!

It's actually been nice that we have had a break from rehearsals this week which has allowed me to concentrate on work, catch up on sleep and not hear anymore cues for 'John Travolta' or 'Freddie Mercury'.

Today, I was surprised to see Danny Boyle pop up in my e-mail inbox. I have had the odd 'High Five' with Danny (I'm definitely on first name terms with him) but I wouldn't say we were e-mail buddies (not yet, anyway). He had sent an e-mail out to all 10,000 of the cast thanking them for all their hard work and to not become disheartened by the press who are trying to ruin the surprise. Nice touch! Oh, and the subtle hints I'm revealing in my blog posts, please keep these to yourself :).

I'm heading back home to Coventry this weekend for a well deserved night out with friends (and to see family of course) for my best friends birthday before the start of a busy two weeks. Roll on the 13 hour days of rehearsals - Yippee!

Three weeks to go! Eleven rehearsals to go! The Olympics are coming!

Have a great weekend and thank you for reading.

Craig

P.S - It wouldn't be a good blog post without some sneaky pics - enjoy!