A and I have been on the hunt for a console table to sit behind our sofa for a while and I was fortunate to pick up these little gems from the show hoping that they might work.  Two old school desks!

We’re currently debating over whether to paint and distress them or leave them as are – what do you think?

J x

Due to the arctic conditions I thought I’d pass on a little recipe to you, for one of those nights where you fancy something yummy but cannot be bothered to spend any time making it! – my friend Lily who has just started a blog, passed on this little delight when we were working together, so all the credit goes to her her mum…

Puff Pastry Delights

You will need:

Ready made puff pastry

Any base you fancy – pesto, tomato etc

Any topping you fancy – tomatoes, beetroot, broccolli, courgettes, beetroot etc

Onion sliced

Cheese sliced

This is a great way of getting rid of odds and ends in the fridge and you can seriously put ANYTHING on it.

• Roll out the pastry, cut to whatever size/shape you’d like and pinch in the sides.
• Smear a base such as pesto over the pastry.
• Add onions and any veg you fancy.
• Finish with cheese sliced/sprikled/slathered over the top.

• Pop in the oven for 20-30 mins….until the pastry has risen and is golden and the veg is cooked.

Voila it looks like you’ve been busy buying at the deli or slaving over a hot stove…who would believe it actually took you no time or energy at all!

A x

The rules were simple:

1) Bring a ‘top tune’ that makes you dance

2) Come dressed as the artist / title / or the video

3) Bring a bottle

This allowed everyone to be as abstract or as obvious as they liked.

I LOVE fancy dress and any excuse to get dressed up….J takes a bit more persuading!

We went for the more simple option so ‘You’re the One That I Want’ was our tune and yes we went as Danny and Sandy.  I’m obliged to say this was my idea and not J’s.

We did come across another Danny but from the Saturday Night Fever era!

There were three Dolly Partons with outrageous boobs and blonde hair out in full force. We also found a Jessie J, Jesus, a Snake, a Frog, an American boy and a skater boy (who couldn’t skate)….

Toby and Freya’s beautiful girls dressed up as well.  Lola was the candyman in a dress decorated with Maoam, proving quite the hit.  Mabel who started the night as a bunny for ‘Jump Around’ decided she’d prefer to be a mermaid – this five year old knows how to make a statement!

J had rehearsals the next day which sadly meant not too much of a late night for us.  However, we boogied with the best of them singing our hearts out to a mixture of old school classics and modern day tunes.

A x

Oh how times have changed…..

Not feeling guilty at being lazy

Dad / Jamie pottering around doing man jobs (gardening, tinkering with his car)

A breakfast of champions

Long walks with my family and Herbie whilst a roast is cooking

Curling up infront of a crackling fire with a G & T

All piling in the car to go on a road trip

Big cups of coffee at the kitchen table

Mid afternoon cups of tea with crumpets covered in butter and Herbie lying at my feet

Candles burning in the background

Being surrounded by my crazy family

Having the time to sit down and read and do the crossword

A Sunday night movie

Over indulging on yummy food…just because it’s Sunday

My dad going outside in the morning to ‘listen to the silence’

Catching up with family over the phone

If only when I was younger I knew just how great Sunday actually was…

What did you get up to this Sunday?

A x

Saying that a class is never as bad as I think it’s going to be and I always come out feeling great and wondering why I don’t go more often…the same can’t be said for all dance auditions!  There are loads of great classes in London with such exciting teachers that there really is something for everyone. Grab a friend and together it won’t be so daunting.  I went to a hilarious ballet class a little while back where my friend and I were by far the youngest by a good 20 years…we had an absolute ball and a good giggle and there was even a little old man in the corner playing the piano for us.

If just the idea of going to a dance class is leaving you with palpitations (I completely understand) then something you can do in the quiet of your own home is keep reading. Alongside fiction I also read books on acting, always picking up pearls of wisdom. These are a few I read recently that I highly recommend (click on the photos for links to them):

Snow is great when you don’t have to be anywhere, however, when you need to get around, London transport goes predictably AWOL. Although you might manage to get where you need to go, there’s always that niggling question as to whether you’ll ever get back! Central London turns pretty slushy in this weather but where we are we can almost believe we’re waking up to tackle a day on the slopes.

Greenwich Park is hard to beat in the snow…well it’s hard to beat in any weather actually. It was like stepping into Narnia and wondering whether those really were Mr Tumnus’s footprints we were following up the snowy path!

Our friend and actress Tanya braved the elements and trekked over for a catch up over a cuppa. And, later that evening, we in turn flew the flag of the fearless and ventured over to Battersea for dinner with friends.

J decided his special ‘heat-holding’ socks didn’t work if they were over another pair. So, on a hunch, drastic action had to be taken!

And it worked! Those that want to venture into the snow, remember thick socks first! But how to keep your ears warm?

Crunching back home at night through the snow was magical. There’s an air of peace as people swap the roads for their beds and a calm reflected light from the snow, guides you home.

Back home to the fire, bowls of coffee and toasted crumpets slathered in butter and marmite (if you haven’t tried them with marmite, then you must!).

Panto was a first for both of us this year -aside from Amy’s outing as a chicken as a child -so we weren’t quite sure what we would make of it.  Both productions were very different.  J was strutting his stuff as Aladdin in Aladdin in Oxford and A was flying around in Neverland as Wendy in Peter Pan at the Camberley Theatre in Surrey.  Aladdin was more of an ensemble play with 7 actors and was much closer to the original story.  The script and music were original and relied heavily on the use of physical theatre to tell the story.

Peter Pan was your traditional slapstick panto with two teams of children, cream pies and your usual ‘oh no he isn’ts’. A had an absolute ball! Any job that allows you to fly and have glitter fights ain’t half bad! Panto is one of the only environments where the audience are almost waiting for the actors to corpse or ad lib…and we didn’t disappoint!  The feeling when you are on stage and desperately trying not to laugh and not to catch you fellow actors’ eyes is one of the best feelings…you feel like naughty school children!

The rehearsal process for the two shows was of course very different. Traditional pantomimes will typically have a much shorter rehearsal period than most shows…it’s much more bish, bash, bosh. In contrast, and highlighting how different our two shows were, J had the luxury of a 3 week rehearsal period to explore staging, script and music. A had just about a week from page to stage.

Performing over Christmas is always tiring with an almost guaranteed 2 shows a day, every day and sometimes even 3! Both of us were lucky that we had a great casts and you could easily imagine the festive period to be unbearable should this not be the case.

Here’s a few pics so you can see what we’ve been up to:

Thank you so much to those people who came to watch and support us.  We appreciate it so much and it was great to see you.

We’ve gone home for a few days to recharge our batteries – long country walks with Herbie and over indulging on farm-shop food should sort us out.

J & A x

Many of you will be aware of my involvement in co-producing the Dress Circle Benefit Concert in August 2011. Myself and Stuart Matthew Price assembled a whole host of the West End’s finest talent (plus a few special guests thrown in for good measure) along with a 30 piece orchestra, for a sold out concert at London’s Her Majesty’s Theatre.

The production was nominated in both the whatsonstage and broadwayworld awards for 2011.

It was a spectacular evening of truly memorable talent and performances from members of many original casts, some singing numbers that haven’t been heard out of context and publicly since their last performance in the production.

With such overwhelming support and positive feedback, Stuart and I have decided the opportunity to expand on the success is too good to miss, and therefore have started work on this year’s concert in aid of a very special charity.

More news to follow!

j. X

Images: Personal/ Carter Photography/ Phil Cowndley.

I tap at the keys as I recline on our new sofa which accompanies our new flat. We moved over two weeks ago and, to be honest, were beginning to outstay our welcome on the floor!

So here we are. The beginning of our combined blogging journey. We hope you enjoy it with us.

J&A. X

After a few months of this concert just being an idea in Stuart Matthew Price and Jamie Yeoburn’s minds, last night all their hard work paid off in a wonderful concert. I’m still not sure what the point of the concert was… Was it to raise awareness of the lovely Dress Circle shop or to raise money? I’m still stuck on that one, but what I do know is that it was a wonderful evening filled with some of the West End’s best.

The evening was hosted by Aled Jones who was very charming and funny. The concert was split up into musical sections with some old style musicals getting some recognition and the ‘big’ composers names also getting a slot in the evening’s events. There was a 30 piece orchestra conducted by Simon Lee- a very enthusiastic conductor. The music throughout was just stunning!

The evening started with the Overture from Gypsy.

The Witches of Eastwick then followed with three songs from the show.  Eastwick Knows was performed by Sarah Lark who did a great job. Rosemary Ashe performed Evil. She acted it brilliantly. Then, the highlight of this section followed for me which was Look At Me by Josefina Gabrielle, Tiffany Graves and the wonderful Caroline Sheen. The three performers vocals were amazing together.

The audience was then treated to the Original Donmar Cast of Parade.  Stuart Matthew Price and Steven Page along with the rest of the original cast performed The Old Red Hills Of Home. I adore this song and thought the performance was just brilliant!

Next it was time for a favourite of mine Stiles and Drewe. Aled Jones performed Choir Boy which was just hilarious, typical Stiles and Drewe lyrics and that unique feel to the song that makes it Stiles and Drewe. Aled performed it very well. Next up was Daniel Boys singing They Don’t Make Glass Slippers from Soho Cinders not Different as was advertised in the programme. Daniel didn’t get time to rehearse with the orchestra, he gave a wonderful performance though considering.

It was then time for another original cast. This time Avenue Q.  Julie Atherton, Simon Lipkin and Jon Robyns performed I Wish I Could Go Back To College. A good fun, upbeat song from Avenue Q but I wish we could have seen more of them.

Jodie Jacobs and Debbie Kurup performed Take Me For What I Am from Rent. I thought they did a brilliant job. Some of the company then performed Will I?/Seasons of Love. In this section I thought George Ure, Steven Webb, Stuart Matthew Price and especially Emily Tierney did a magnificent job. Their voices sounded wonderful together.

Dianne Pilkington performed Someone Else’s Story from Chess. I loved seeing Dianne sing this song live, as it is one of my favourite tracks on her album.

The next performance was by John Addison and Anita-Louise Combe performing Too Much In Love To Care from Sunset Boulevard. John and Anita have the most beautiful voices. A pleasure to watch.

Tracie Bennett performed an energetic but completely crazy rendition of Come Rain Or Shine from End Of The Rainbow.

Next up, was Kim Criswell singing Memory from Cats. Kim originated the role in LA. It was an okay performance but it didn’t blow me away.

Rebecca Caine, Frances Ruffelle and Jon Robyns performed A Heart Full Of Love from Les Miserables. Although I thought they did well, I think they could’ve showcased Les Miserables with some more songs from the show, especially with the brilliant Rebecca and Frances there!

Ashleigh Gray closed the first act with Defying Gravity from Wicked. Ashleigh’s voice is phenomenal. I think it’s a shame she never got to be Elphaba full-time. She’s one of the rare Elphaba performers that can sing AND act.

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Act Two started with the Entr’acte from Love Never Dies leading into The Phantom Of The Opera section. Rebecca Caine was absolutely astounding performing Think Of Me. Perfect vocals, flawless! If I can be so bold.. she actually made me like Christine. I usually find the character of Christine quite bland. A lot of  actresses that play Christine could learn something from Rebecca’s masterclass performance. She was genuinely overwhelmed by the standing ovation she received to. Nice to see. Robyn North and Jonathan Ansell then performed All I Ask Of You. I think Jonathan has a good voice, but I have heard much better Raoul’s. Robyn sounded beautiful.  Then, Ramin Karimloo took to the stage to perform Music Of The Night. I absolutely love the song and Ramin did it justice. It was fantastic.

After Phantom, it was time for some Sondheim in the form of A Little Night Music. Hannah Waddingham was ill, so unable to perform. Helen Hobson stepped in and performed a beautiful rendition of Send In The Clowns.

Another fantastic section was the Dreamgirls section. The Idolls- Portia Emare, Emma Lindars and Charlotte Riby performed a stonking rendition of One Night Only. They really got the audience going with their powerhouse vocals.  Then… goodness me, I was completely blown away by Landi Oshinowo performing And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going. It was incredible!

Ellen Greene performed Between from Betwixt which is a lovely song.

Alex Gaumond performed Lune from Notre Dame De Paris. Alex’s voice is wonderful and this song was beautifully performed in French.

Frances Ruffelle came back on stage to perform Love Me For What I Am from In Trousers. Frances has a great voice and she looked beautiful.

Dougal Irvine and Laurence Mark Wythe performed their original composition for Dress Circle especially for last night’s event. It was called The World Of The Show, which I thought was brilliant. I look forward to going to see Dougal and Laurence amongst other composers at the SimG Cabaret on Battersea Barge on 21st August!

Ellen Greene came back on stage to sing Somewhere That’s Green from Little Shop Of Horrors. Ellen got quite emotional during the number, saying it was a big deal for her. I think her voice probably isn’t as strong as it used to be, but she really felt every word she performed.

Next up was a  musical that I really, really, REALLY want to come back to the West End- Miss Saigon. Samantha Barks and Claire Moore performed I Still Believe brilliantly. But the highlight of this section has to be Bui Doi performed by Peter Polycarpou and baced by the Bui Doi Male Chorus which included a wealth of talent such as Adam Linstead, Jonathan Stewart, Stuart Matthew Price, Jon-Scott Clark, Dougal Irvine and much much more.

The final performance was Sunday from Sunday In The Park with George, performed mainly by the choir who was made up of performers from the Royal Academy of Music, Arts Educational School and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. The whole company came on stage for this performance and just watching the amazing line up in front of me was pretty magical.

It is a theatrical event I won’t forget. My highlights have to be Rebecca Caine’s Think Of Me, the Dreamgirls section, Ramin Karimloo’s Music Of The Night and Miss Saigon.

Stuart Matthew Price and James Yeoburn did a great job producing this marvellous night. I hope all their hard work pays off and people’s awareness of Dress Circle is heightened.