Blog 12! Life's a drama on Old Compton Street!

Hey there,

Happy Thursday!

It's nice to see that the Sun has decided to make an appearance again. I was beginning to think that the nice weather was over and we were very well on the downwards slope towards winter! I cant believe that we are already a week into September - only 110 days until Christmas (not that I'm counting or anything).

Well, this week has been as busy as ever. It's amazing how I actually manage to fit so much in considering I'm at work for nine hours of each day.

I had my friend Donna down for the weekend which was really nice. It gave us a chance to catch up on the goss (those of you that know me, know that I LOVE a bit of gossip), have a chill and also enjoy a good night out on Saturday night. We also met Heidi on Saturday, who we both used to work with at Mercia for Breakfast which actually turned into Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, all within two hours. Honestly, I had never so full in all my life. To give you an idea of how much we ate (bearing in mind it is just a Cafe), the bill came to £62!!!!! We had Eggs and Bread and Cake and Coffee and Juice and more Coffee....!

Once we'd finished our mahoosive meal, me and Donna parted with Heidi (she was very tempted to phone in sick so she could join us on our mega night out) to take a browse in some of the shops along Oxford Street... basically, it was just another excuse to spend some more money!!

I decided to show Donna the delights of Soho on a Saturday night. We started off in a little pub called Molly Moggs (just off Charing Cross Road). I always love the atmosphere in there. It's only a very small pub which seems to attract all sorts of different characters including an Elvis impersonator, several drag queens and the odd straight person - quite rare for Soho! After a bit of Karaoke action (I wasn't drunk enough at that point to get up and sing), we were ready to head in the thick of it all... Old Compton Street.

Remember me talking about 'Soho Cinders' in my last blog? I've still got the songs in my head! Where better to give my rendition that on Old Compton Street itself. I managed to flag down one of the Rickshaw (basically a bike with a bench on the back) guys to give me a lift to the next bar (about 5 doors down) which he agreed to do for free. So there I was, with Donna running behind, singing at the top of our voices 'Life's a Drama on Old Compton Street'. It's fair to say, we got a few looks, a few smiles and even a few cheers. I'm such a clown sometimes!

I actually remembered bumping into Bev Rudd, who is part of the cast of Soho Cinders, as I was singing out loud... she seemed to be enjoying my rendition. She even tweeted me to tell me it 'made her night'. Think she might have been lying though!

Here is a snippet of the song from the show, just so you can see how addictive it is:

Whilst on the subject of Musicals, It's really sad to see that so many of the West End musicals are closing down. I work next door to the Palladium and where 'The Wizard of Oz' was playing until last weekend. It's been a big moving week for them and its sad to see them removing part of the set each day (even though I didn't overly like the show.

The other ones that have posted notices to close are: Shrek (making way for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chicago, GHOST, Blood Brothers, Sweeney Todd and Dreamboats and Petticoats.

I'm hoping that these shows are just making way for new, upcoming and exciting productions and not just the fact that the West End is dying from loss of profit!
In last week's blog, I mentioned that I was going for an audition to be part of an amateur production of 'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' (It's such a mouthful). I actually decided against it in the end. I read more into it and decided that it wasn't really for me... and plus, I am rubbish at doing an American accent!! So, I decided to leave this one for now and wait for one that appeals to me more to come up... I'll keep you updated.

I'm off back to Coventry tomorrow, actually cant wait to catch up with family and friends. I have another busy week coming up so expect to hear about the 'Fashion Night Out' (tonight) and the 'Team GB Parade' (Monday).

Have a great week.

Craig

Blog 11! Life after the Ceremonies!

Hi there,

How are you?

I'm sorry that I've been a bit quiet over the past couple of weeks, I've still been getting over the buzz of the Ceremonies, catching up with work and I've actually had some slight withdrawal symptoms from not watching any Olympic events!!

How excited are you all now that the Paralympics have started? I haven't actually got round to watching the Opening Ceremony as yet, but I've heard mixed reviews about it. I'll have to make sure I watch it before the next blog, so I can give my take on it. My review is obviously going to be totally biased with a slight (OK, a lot) sway towards the Olympic ceremonies.

It's really inspiring to watch the Paralympics though, don't you think? The determination that some of the athletes have is just amazing. I watched some of the swimming events today, and it really is amazing to see the athletes giving it there all, especially those with limbs missing. The Paralympians are the real heroes.

I know I keep mentioning the Olympics (but it is what started this blog after all), but there has been a big reunion planned for a couple of weeks time. The texts and Facebook messages have been circulating with the plan of meeting in Hyde Park for a picnic (weather dependant of course), gossip and general chit chat. I'm actually really looking forward to it as it will be nice to see everyone again and catch up on everyone else's post Olympic blues. I think we should organise to rock up in costume and 'bang our drums, so our mums, can see us on TV' - good idea? Hmmm! I'll be sure to keep you updated about that.

So, what else have I been up to? Actually, not a lot really. I've just been working. It's all work and no play!

I tell a lie - I have also found some time to enjoy myself. My friend came down from Coventry a couple of weeks ago as we had booked some tickets to go and see a new musical which is showing at the Soho Theatre called 'Soho Cinders'. It was actually AMAZING!!

It's basically a kind of Soho pastoral celebrating modern London's sexual gaiety.

The hero, Robbie, is a young male escort threatened with eviction by his ugly stepsisters from the laundrette he platonically shares with the adoring Velcro. Robbie also happens to be conducting a rhapsodic affair with London's bisexual mayoral candidate, James Prince, while being in the professional clutches of a rich political fundraiser.

Stiles and Drewe (it's their show) write really good songs, and one of them called 'Let Him Go', deserves to become a hit!!

It's a matter of speculation as to whether a boy-meets-boy musical enthralled by Soho village life can achieve wide popular currency.

You even come out almost believing, as the lyrics go, "life's a circus on Old Compton Street" - this is true!

Next week, I'm auditioning for a musical (amateur though - for now) called 'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' - heard of it? If not, i thoroughly recommend that you google some of the songs, it's really addictive! But anyway, I'm rattling on a bit now, so more on that next week. Fingers crossed!!

Have a great weekend and thanks, as always, for reading.

Craig

Blog 10! Closing Ceremony... the pictures!

Here is some great pictures I took during the Closing Ceremony... Enjoy!

The Highlight...

Team GB Diving - Chris Mears, Tom Daley and Jack Laugher

 Pre-Show...

Symphony of British Music...

Team India - Hockey Team

Russell Brand

Russell Brand

Tinie Tempah

Tinie Tempah

Jessie J

Jessie J

Jessie J

Tinie Tempah

Spice Girls

Spice Girls

Spice Girls

Spice Girls (again!)

.....

Scary Spice

VB

Cannon Blaster

Rio arriving...

BOOM!

Brian May and Jessie J



Extinguishing of the Olympic Cauldron...

Blog 9! Closing Ceremony!

Hey there,

How you doing?

I never thought I would say this but I am loving the Olympics - everything about it. We have about four large TVs at work and each one has a different event on each day. It's hard to try and keep track of what is going on especially when your head is moving all over the place to try and get a glance of all the screens!

I've also actually been constantly clicking refresh on the Olympic ticketing website, in the hope to get some last minute tickets to an event. I'm kidding myself really as I know I literally have no chance of getting any - I'm still going to continue to try though, you never know...!

Anyway, I cant believe that this Sunday is the Closing Ceremony. Where has the past two weeks gone? I think the whole of the country are going to be really lost with what to do now that there will be no more Olympics (well, we do have the Paralympics but we have a two week break in between). It's like we have nothing else to look forward to! We had the Jubilee, then Wimbledon, now the Olympics... then what?

So, the Closing Ceremony is of course this Sunday, and incase you had forgotten, I'm also performing in that too. If you managed to watch the Opening, you will have seen that I had a dual role - a Drummer and an Athlete Marshal. Well, for the Closing, I am an Athlete Marshal again. Basically, I get to stand there with all of the Athlete's and dance with them, have fun with them and make sure they have a good time. It's actually a really fun role - wait until you see my costume - Its a cross between a Pontins Bluecoat, a Christmas Tree and Blueberry - That's all your getting!!

This week, It's been back to Dagenham (I forgot how much of a trek that place is) where we have had a dress rehearsal on Monday and one again tomorrow. I was actually VERY surprised to arrive at Daggers on Monday, to see the *p*c* *i**s and *n* ***e*t**n (I'm being very secretive aren't I - see if you can guess who they are!!) rehearsing right where we were due to rehearse. Everyone was really excited as we just weren't used to rehearsing with such stars. Mind you, after performing in the Opening Ceremony, I'm practically a Superstar right?

The Closing Ceremony is going to be such an amazing show!! It's going to feature heavily on London (complete with landmarks) along with some of the most successful artists the UK has ever seen. There will also be the handover to Rio where they will do there creative piece, which I have no clue what it is, so that will be a nice surprise on the night.

The ceremony itself starts at 9pm and runs for about two hours. Be sure to look out for me. I'm adamant to get on TV this time as they clearly forgot to focus on me last time!!

I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures that will feature on my next blog. Exciting.

Right, best be off! I'm going to get an early night before rehearsals with *a** T*** tomorrow. Have a little patience and all will be revealed on Sunday ;). Sneaky hint there!!

As always, thanks for reading.

Craig.

Blog 8! The Greatest Show On Earth!

Hey everyone,

Happy Sunday!!

Well, what can i say? I have been on an absolute high all weekend leading on from the best night ever on Friday evening.

The day on Friday started with a nice lie in at home (as i was certain it was going to be a very late finish - those athletes sure know how to party!). Once i was ready to go, i met a few other volunteers at a really nice pub at St. Pancras station. The plan was to have a bite to eat and a few drinks and then head to the Olympic Park via the new Javelin train (its a super fast train that gets you from St. Pancras to Stratford in 6 min's!!!). Why is it that when you have a few drinks, you really get the taste for it and then it's really hard to stop. We ended up having 3 bottles of wine between 4 of us!! It's fair to say that i was slightly tipsy on the way to the stadium.

Whilst i was still at the station, i did a quick interview with the news team at Free Radio (Mercia) and a live interview on the BBC Coventry and Warwickshire drivetime show talking about how i got involved, what people can expect (without giving too much away) and even got asked for a sneaky clue about one of the famous people involved - the clue i gave was James Bond!

You can listen to the BBC interview here:

So, after my slight bit of fame, i arrived at the Stadium which was absolutely MANIC! There were people everywhere.

It seemed like i was only there for a few minutes when we were given our 30 minute call - yikes! In 30 minutes time, i would be performing to 4 billion people worldwide - it doesn't get bigger than this.

Once i was in my starting position, i was continuing to get texts, Facebook and Twitter messages of support and excitement and even some really funny pictures from the Belgrade (Theatre i used to work at) peeps party they were having - see the pictures below! By this point, as you can imagine, i was mega excited. I could hear the 80,000 live audience cheering and the countdown begun.. 10, 9, 8... it was Showtime!!

So, how on earth did we manage to transform this...


... to this?





























1000 x Working Men and Women, 1000 x Drummers, 300 x Green and Pleasant Land, Brunels, Suffragettes including months of intense rehearsals, talent and commitment - that's how!

It was amazing to see everything come together on the night especially as we were kept out of some of the secrets like J.K Rowling and David Beckham appearances, any details to do with the Olympic Cauldron and even the Mr. Bean comic sequence.

The atmosphere throughout the whole evening was fantastic. It's such a great feeling being part of such a worldwide, global event - The Greatest Show On Earth!

I think a lot of the 'Drummers' were actually dreading the Athlete's Parade section (which we were all also part of) as it involved a lot of standing around, dancing, smiling but i have to say that this section was by far my favourite. It was so much fun standing amongst 10,000 athletes, constantly getting high fives, being given country flags from the athletes and breaking into dance every minute. The athletes were all loving the atmosphere and had massive grins on their faces the whole time which was really nice to see - it was their night after all!!

The highlight of my whole night was standing right next to Team GB and even high fiving Tom Daley just before breaking into 'Big Ben', 'Buckingham Palace', 'Rocking The Thames' and 'Union Jack'.

I'm actually really relieved that it is all over and that it went so well. It was an amazing feeling to see the excellent reviews in the papers, over Twitter and Facebook and I'm pretty sure that Danny Boyle is amazed that his 'Isles of Wonder' was a complete and utter... success!

Well, it's no rest for the wicked. I now have a short break (until Wednesday) and then it's two weeks of intense rehearsals for the Closing Ceremony - but that's for the next blog.

I'll leave you some photos, taken throughout my whole Olympic journey right through to the Opening Ceremony.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading,
Craig