Author: catherinedoveyroche

I spent a considerable amount of time arranging six songs – mainly of a Christmassy nature – for Italia Conti’s Cert HE students on their acting course, and went into the college from 22nd to 29th November to teach all 50+ students and MD the songs in their half-hour end-of-term show. It was an enjoyable but tough gig with so many, though fortunately they all kicked in to the challenges, and the director, Jack Gogarty, ran a tight ship. We achieved a fairly high standard given the parameters – numbers, lack of MT experience for most of them, and the time constraint.

I still find I become as involved working on student productions as I do on professional shows, and I was very nervous before the Conti performance and was shattered by the end. And it was only half an hour.

Barry Cryer was on very good form when I visited him in hospital today. They’ve given him a frame and he’s having intermittent physio, but there’s understandably no way of knowing yet how long he’ll be recovering. We have a date at the Bristol Slapstick Festival on Sunday 20th January, but it’s impossible to know if he’ll be able to do it. Frankly, on today’s showing, I’d say even wheeling him on stage in a bed would be fine. He’d still crack the gags and tell the stories splendidly.

Both A Pupil in Studio 90 at the Park Theatre and The Muddy Choir touring with Theatre Centre finished well last week, and it was an interesting experience working simultaneously on two plays by ex-East 15er Jesse Briton. I was pleased with the way the music turned out and the way it was used and performed in both productions, and despite clear programme notes for A Pupil some reviewers thought I had composed music by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy et al. Very flattering but sadly not true. The moment in the play and the violin piece I completely fell in love with was Respighi’s Melodia from his Six Pieces for Violin and Piano, which was played as a recording and then the character Simona (the excellent actor-violinist Flora Spencer-Longhurst) slipped into playing the piece as the recording was faded out. She came in perfectly in tune every time I saw the show.