Operating in the Theatre

Things have been busy at work. With "The Little Mermaid" now finished touring for this year I have had time to catch up with the schedule of my own production company. A new production of one of my shows starts rehearsals on the 5th December, so it's probably time to start thinking about it more seriously.

"Hansel & Grettel" was a musical I wrote back in 1997, one of the first big successes I had. It's been produced a number of times since then and this latest staging, which I'll be directing myself, will be its fifth professional production. It all seems a bit late this year - normally when we are asked to produce a show at the end of the year I have it all cast by the summer. The difficulty this year has been the fact that I've been on tour so much and I wasn't actually sure that I wanted to be working so hard around Christmas. So at the moment I only have half the cast I need, and I'll have to head down to Dublin and hold some auditions. I hate holding auditions.

I'm also moving into my new house in less than two weeks time. The builders are finally finished and the tilers are ready to go and lay the floors. That's one of the reasons I was dreaming of not working this Christmas - the thought of an uninterrupted Christmas in my new house! I have worked in theatre every Christmas since 1993, appearing on stage in the early years and then directing, musically-directing or producing since about 1996. We negotiated a compromise with the theatre this year which means that I won't be working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and I don't need to be around in January any more than I want to be.

The other reason I had thought about not working this Christmas was that I have to go into hospital soon. It's a long story, but basically I was attacked outside a night club last year and was left with cuts, bruises and a broken nose. The nose needs repairing, or septorhinoplasty to be technical. My consultant helpfully calls it a 'tear down and start again job'. People don't tend to notice that my nose is different, but internally it's a bit of a wreck and, terrified as I am of hospitals and surgery, I am looking forward to having my old profile back. I go into hospital towards the beginning of November.

That's normally the time of year that rehearsals start, and I didn't think arriving to work in dark glasses, nose splint and head scarf would do my professional image any good. Again, we've been able to negotiate a later opening date and so I have a two week recovery period before I need to be seen in public. I may insist on doing less press interviews this year, though.

So a busy few weeks ahead - casting, moving house, pre-production work, hospital ... getting to rehearsals will be a welcome diversion. I'll leave you with some images from the last production of "Hansel & Grettel" (which I also directed) that my company presented in 2002. The 2005/2006 version will be based on this production.