A Rock 'n Rolling Shakespeare!

One of Shakespeare best-loved comedies is about to undergo a radical change into a rock ‘n roll musical! The ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ is to be put up by the MADC at San Anton Gardens, as its annual Shakespearean offering. However, this is no simple adaptation of the play, as director Chris Gatt who has decided to transform this comedy into a 1960's musical romp set in a seaside resort!

The plot centres round the poor-as-dirt knight Falstaff who decides to seduce two wealthy women, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, with the intention of cheating them out of their husbands’ money. However, the two women are not interested in the aging, overweight Falstaff as a suitor and decided to stage an elaborate series of events to get their revenge.

Taking part in this hilarious comedy are Mikhail Basmadjian as Falstaff, Charlotte Grech as Mistress Ford, yours truly as Mistress Page, Pia Zammit as Mistress Quickly, Alan Paris as Ford and Stefan Cachia Zammit as Page, as well as a number of other top local actors such as Marylu Coppini, Colin Willis, Faye Paris, Michael Zammit Maempel, Edward Caruana Galizia, Wesley Ellul, Jean-Marc Agius Cafa, Edward Degaetano and Katherine Brown.

Tickets at Lm 6 and Lm 7 will be on sale exclusively from Agenda Bookshop outlets which are also offering a 20% discount on the 'Merry Wives' paperback script. More information may be obtained via email: bookings@madc.biz.

Tribute to Weirdness

As a tribute to Maltagirl and Hsejjes's recent posts, here are my top 6 weird attributes/habits (I say top 6 as I have waaay more than 6, I'm sure!)

1. My shoes have to be aligned perfectly when I put them away.
2. I know most people speak to their cats... but I sing to them (then they run away, miaowing).
3. Like Maltagirl, I leave the food I like best for last on my plate.
4. I talk to my computer. Thankfully, it hasn't answered back yet.
5. I collect plastic bags for absolutely no reason whatsoever except that I like having a store of plastic bags just in case.
6. Before every performance onstage, I have to do everything exactly the same (as far as I can). This has included, for example, sucking on the same type of lozenge, making sure the same person always does my make up and wearing the same pair of shoes while on the way to the venue.

Anyone for Theatre?

Stagecoach Malta Theatre Arts School is to hold a once-in-a-lifetime musical theatre workshop to be held at St James Cavalier in July. Pity I can't be there as I will be on stage at the time - I'm very upset to be missing it. But if you're into theatre, you really should do it!

The adult workshop (16 years and over) will be headed by foreign tutors. The classes will take place in the evenings of the 10th and the 14th July and a full day on Saturday 15th July, culminating in a showcase performance. The participants will be divided into two groups according to experience and training. This means that anyone who is interested in gaining some truly valid music theatre experience will find the workshop extremely challenging whether a beginner or a seasoned actor.

Tutors include Gavin Mole who (under his professional name of Tom Wakeley) was musical director of ‘Oliver’, ‘Aspects of Love’ and ‘Miss Saigon’, amongst others. He has been a vocal coach at RADA for many years and specialises in musical theatre for children. He is currently working on the hit musical ‘Chicago’ at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End. Denise Mulholland’s concert and oratorio appearances included performances at the Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. She has worked as company principal for all major UK opera companies. Denise has given a number of vocal workshops in Malta and performed at the Manoel Theatre and St James Cavalier.

There will also be a children’s workshop, which will be open to children between six and 15 years of age and will take place between the 10th and 14th July from 10 to 17.00 hrs. This five-day course will see the students through a musical production from start to finish, which they will then perform in the theatre. Mr Mole and Ms Mullholland will be joined by dancer / choreographer Emma Loftus.

A special class for children between four and six years of age will also take place between the 10th and 14th July from 09.15 to 13.00 hours, headed by moi, Emma Loftus, and Beverly Farrugia. They too will have their performance for parents and friends

if you're interested, call tel. no: 21 419306 or email: info@stagecoachmalta.com.

... and breathe!

These past 3 weeks have been, without a doubt, amongst the busiest of my life. I am EXHAUSTED! So many things to do, that it is only today that I have had a chance for a breather... and a few minutes to update my poor, neglected blog, while my hubby is watching some men in shorts kick a ball around a large pitch.

Maaaaa... how busy I've been! My life is hectic even when it isn't hectic (if you know what I mean!) But when I add 'extra' events, it really gets mad! It all started off with the Vocal Aid concert on the 27th and 28th May - what a great event to be part of! Honestly, watching circa 300 kids on stage singing in pretty perfect harmony is a wondrous sight to behold. Whenever I take part in Stagecoach concerts, I always feel priveleged to be part of the whole experience.

However, I must admit that I was most looking forward to hearing Maltagirl and her fiance sing their song - 'Love can build a Bridge'. I heard them for the first time at our first rehearsal... and they made me cry (in a good way!) because they were so cute - and they can sing! And then at the end of the song, they had a little kiss - awwww! When I watched the real thing at the side of the stage, I still had tears in my eyes. Insomma, a big prosit to them!

As soon as the Sunday performance was over, I rushed to the Manoel Theatre for a rehearsal of 'Don Giovanni' (the play version of the opera) where I was due to play Donna Elvira the following weekend. Of course, that led to a week of rehearsals every day with me grabbing a sandwich (if Iwas lucky) in between driving from work to another place of work to rehearsals. The play, which was in aid of the Malta Hospice Movement went well, in spite of a couple of mishaps in the costume department (totally my fault! And no, it wasn't a 'wardrobe malfunction' kind of thing hehehe!).

On the Saturday, after the performance, I had a coffee with a couple of theatre friends and then met Sha, the Pea and the Blonde plus other friends including Gedudu for a bite to eat and some good company at Labyrinth in Valletta, since Sha was here for a couple of days. Much fun was had by all, and the food (I had a mango chicken wrap) was yummy and very good value-for-money too! On the Sunday, we had a cast party at Buko which, while yummy, was not good value-for-money at all (i.e. horrendously expensive for what we got).

Then came rehearsals and performances of the Summer Soiree of the school where I teach. The Grade 8's and 9's were performing for family and friends at St James Cavalier theatre-in-the-round and, after months of ranting (by me), they gave a more than creditable 2 performances. Actually, some of my students exceeded my expectations! They were so good - in both drama and dance (someone else teaches them dance of course!) - that I was impressed. All in all, it wasn't like watching the usual school performance - these kids really entertained their audience! Even I enjoyed it (when I wasn't having kittens/growing more white hairs/starting up an ulcer every time they missed a cue - quite a rare occurence thank goodness!)

In the midst of all this genn, of course there was the Sting concert. I was working onsite so had to endure 2 and 1/2 hours of showing people to their seats (rather painful on the feet although, this year, I said: "to hell with fashion" and wore my tennis shoes!) But it was all worth it to watch Sting up close and I really, really enjoyed it! At one point during the concert, I realised that for the past 2 days, all I had eaten were 2 sandwiches and 2 yoghurts. So I had half a packet of Pringles and promised to eat some proper food later. But when I got home after the concert, I was too tired to eat and went straight to bed.

Wednesday was a holiday for most people but not me since I still teach on public holidays. Got home after work and wrote on the p.c. for a while. Then in the afternoon, I had my first real rehearsal for the upcoming MADC Shakesperian offering of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' which I thoroughly enjoyed, except I'm not sure if I know how to act any more - we'll soon find out hehehe!

I woke up on Thursday feeling absolutely terrible. My head throbbed like mad, my sinuses were blocked, I couldn't see or talk properly, I had swollen throat glands and a horrible sore throat; I even had a bit of fever. My hubby decided exhaustion and lack of food were to blame. So I had an extra hour's rest (thank goodness, we both weren't working in the morning) while he prepared the biggest meal - full of protein and vitamins - I had ever seen. I got out of bed, gobbled it all up and felt miles better.

Today, Sunday, the headache is still somewhere at the back of my head and my sinuses are still blocked but it's all so much better thanks to lots of TLC. So the moral of the story is: no matter how busy you are, do take some time out and, most importantly - eat! Off I go for some coffee and biscuits - yum!