by Priscilla

Apr.24, 2009, under Cast Blog

Moving the show from Australia to London has involved some changes. For a start we are in a much smaller theatre and on a much smaller stage, so we’ve had to compress the Australian production. Trying to do the shows in the enormous shoes without bumping into each other and knocking the cast off stage into the orchestra pit has been the biggest challenge! The audience response has been amazing here, I wasn’t sure that they would get it, but here in the UK they laugh even more.

Tony Sheldon

On a typical day I wake up and have breakfast checking my e mails from Australia. Then I check all the Broadway and London theatre websites seeing what’s new and what’s coming up, who’s in work and who’s out of work.

If I have about 3 hours I jump on a different bus and try to explore a different suburb of London. This is my way of discovering the city by getting lost each day and then finding my way around. I have seen some really beautiful suburbs and some not so beautiful suburbs!

I leave about 3:30pm to get in to the theatre for 4:30pm. I do my exercises in the theatre and then I have to start to get into make up by 5.00pm at the latest. My make up takes an hour and we then have a vocal warm up. After that I have to be put into my corset and have my hair all pinned up and that has to be done by the half hour call. So all in all it takes 3 hours to get ready for the show itself.

It was always going to be a yes when I was offered to come over and play the role of Bernadette in the West End production. I have never worked outside of Australia. The carrot of working in the West End has been dangled before, but it has never happened. My greatest concern was about whether they would choose to cast someone from England, but they decided to take a chance on me, which was such a thrill. The hardest thing was making sure I could afford to come. The move meant bringing my partner over, who wouldn’t be working for a year, so I’m supporting two people on one salary and contrary to what everyone thinks West End money isn’t that glittering! I actually had to take a substantial pay cut to come over. Those were obviously the considerations when taking the job, but the joy of being asked to come over and represent the show overrode all those other factors ultimately. If in the future I had the opportunity to go to Broadway with the show I would love to and it would be an honour to be considered, but we’re a long way from that.

Tony Sheldon in Go West

A lot of people have commented on how the show is a non stop singing and dancing extravaganza, which does begin to take a toll and as a result I have learnt what I can and can’t do. I can’t go out and party after the show, I can’t drink or smoke anymore, which I used to! I have learnt that I have to get a certain amount of rest, particularly at the beginning of the week as one day off isn’t really enough. It’s all about pacing yourself, but I’ve had three years to come to terms with that.

The role of Bernadette calls on a lot of your skills as a performer. There’s the dance numbers, the acting and the singing! Obviously I love my little moment in Macarthur Park, because it is my one moment where I am really alone on the stage connecting with the audience in a quiet way. I look forward to trying to nail that and see if I could hear a pin drop in the audience. That’s when I know that I’ve got them, when they are not coughing or just sitting impatiently for the next big production number. It’s very exciting and satisfying.