Blog 7! 6 days until Show Day!

Hey everyone,

I hope you have all had a great week.

Incase you didn't realise what that yellow thing is in the sky at the minute - it's called the Sun!!! Hooray!

It's been a very busy week for me since I last blogged, with plenty of long rehearsals. I can't believe that this time next week, I'll be heading to the stadium for one of the last times (apart from the evening of the Closing Ceremony). In our flat, we have been doing a countdown on our chalkboard (pic below) and I remember when I first started it... 100 days to go!!

I'm actually writing this part from our holding area at the Stadium. I'd just got into my first costume - complete with boots and a waistcoat!! All of our costumes look really impressive.
For a sneaky peek on what they look like, take a look at the following link for some press pictures from yesterday: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2175205/London-2012-Opening-Ceremony-View-inside-Olympic-Stadium-provides-glimpse-spectacle-look.html
I've been at the Stadium four times since my last blog and the whole process of getting in, getting through security, collecting meal packs etc is getting more and more tedious by the day. I've now realised that we will never start rehearsing until at least two hours after out scheduled call time - annoying, I know!!

Apologies I didn't get to finish this yesterday, we had our 30 minute call. So, it's now Saturday and I'm writing from the comfort of my bed!

When we are there for so long, we get a lunch and a dinner pack which consists of a choice of Sandwich, Granola Bar and Fruit. I know this sounds really ungrateful but i really cant wait until my day off tomorrow so that i can have something proper - I'm sick of eating a Sandwich for both lunch and dinner!

Yesterday's rehearsal was the first time we ran the whole show, to time (apart from a slight technical problem with the music during the NHS section) and in costume. It actually felt like it was Show Day - apart from the fact there was no audience at all. I keep getting to see sneaky bits from different sections and it really is going to be a fantastic show.

I managed to get a nice lie in the past couple of days as our call time wasn't until 1pm which was nice, so I'm feeling very refreshed today and raring to go!!

It's actually quite daunting that we don't have any rehearsals left (without an audience) as today is the first day we get a full audience of 80,000 in the stadium to watch the show. It is also the first time that we run it to the actual timings of the Opening Ceremony - 20:12 (see what they did there) for the Prologue, with the main show starting at 21:00. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the transport home. We will have all missed the public transport by the time we leave at 00:30 and they have laid on buses for us to get (part way) home. I ticked the option of being dropped at Trafalgar Square - we will see how that pans out!

Well, i best be off to enjoy what is left of this very sunny Saturday before a VERY exciting Dress Rehearsal this evening.

I'll be sure to send an update the night before the Opening Ceremony (Thursday) to reveal where i will be during the Ceremony (so you can try and spot me) and also a sneaky picture of me in one of my costumes.

Have a great week and thanks for reading.

Craig

P.S - SIX days until the Greatest Show On Earth!!



6 days to go!