Sandi Thom and the Magic 6-Ball...

Hey boys and girls.

Well, while the year is slowly kicking into gear, auditions are starting to come along and the first gigs are coming through, I want to tell you about a little success story of some friends of mine...

Anybody who has been following the charts recently will at some point have stumbled over Sandi Thom and her Janis Joplin-Like (almost-) A Capella single "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker".

The feisty wee Scottish lass with her beautiful voice (who was in my year at LIPA) really doesn't need any publicity from me. But the fact that she's invited me to come see her gig at Islington Academy on Thursday and that she practically nicked my band deserves a little attention.

Yes it's true, three quarters of "The Magic 8-Ball" are currently the line-up for Sandi Thom. Not that it would be anything unusual. Marcus, Craig and Scotty have always proven themselves musical whores and moreover, a lot of us used to hang out together. I can't wait to hear them again!

If you haven't heard the album yet go and check it out. I like it a lot, and even if you don't: Buy it anyway! It's keeping my boys off the street.

Thanks for the invite Sandi, I'll see you on Thursday...

Gone with the wind...

Well, I was gonna fly to Germany today but thanks to 99mph gale force winds, I spent over three hours on a bus getting to Stansted. They closed down the M11 motorway because apparently 2 trucks got blown over. The following picture served as the backdrop to this tedious story:

I always enjoy the irony of those warning signs...

Of course I arrived 10 minutes after my plane took off and therefore spent another 2 hours in turning around and getting back into London. I did however manage to stay dry. Wonder if this guy did:

Happy New Year 2007

Well, after a great Christmas here in Germany I'm looking forward to seeing the taillights of 2006 dwindle into oblivion. I'm spending tonight with a few old-time musician friends (ie my old heavy metal buddies) listening to the loudest music this planet has ever produced and probably demolishing a few kegs of beer. Hell yeah!

I hope all of you have as much fun as I will tonight, I'll see you next year.

Happy New Year.

Chris

Footsteps in mud, blood and rain...

The week before I decided to jump back over the pond for a nice cozy Christmas in Germany I figured I oughta do something to get me into the true spirit of the festive season. Together with his fantastic team, director and newfound friend Nic Dawkes invited me to just the thing I was looking for: Trench warfare and the killing of women and children...

No, we did not enlist into the American army and go to Irak. Instead we shot a WWII based shortfilm entitled "Footseps" (the plot of which I won't spoil and will rather direct you to the homepage: www.getmescene.com/footsteps ).

I don't want to jinx it, but if the production values are anything to go by I think this will be one hell of a piece of work. Everyone from the DOP to the make-up artists were astonishing in what I struggle to call a low budget production.

The culmination of the project for me was in the last night of shooting. The cast and crew stood side by side till 5 am after the heavens opened and we were up to out ankles in mood and artificial blood.
The carefully planned, perfectly equipped shooting schedule turned into guerrila warfare: Making sure the equipment stayed dry... Make-up artists straddling actors in vans to apply gunshot wounds... Friends of the crew sticking around to help wherever they could... Actors lying half-naked in the middle of a field shivering - no - convulsing with cold before having to play perfectly still corpses... it was great.

One of the corpses remarked jokingly he would kill the next person who said an actors life is glamorous... Well, maybe not glamorous, but a hell of a lotta fun.
Guys if you're reading this: Any time, any place.

almost Cupid at the Old Vic...

What a pleasant coincidence...

After blogging about the Old Vic, I've been offered a play-reading of a new adaptation of Ovid's "Metamorphosis". It's part of the Old Vic - New Voices programme and will be shown to the board of the Old Vic with an option to be performed on the Old Vic Stage sometime next year... How exciting!

Amongst others I get to play Actaeon, The God of The Underworld -muahahaha- and ironically Cupid.

Credit must go to the wonderful Emily Randall who recommended me (thank you very much) just from working along side me at Theatre 503.

And while we're at it, thank you also to Jamie McLachlin (whose Spotlight page I can't find). He got me a part in a short film we will be shooting in two weeks. More info about that when I get to it.

-------Amendment--------

They've decided to cut the story of Pygmalion... Hence Cupid and Venus are no more! *ROFL* Well, as much as I will miss that bit of the script, it makes more sense in reality... (and that picture of me as a naked winged minor was starting to disturb me a bit).

The Old Vic

When I moved to London in 2005 I lived in an empty office. (I know, slightly strange, I'll explain in another post.) My housing association asked me for proof of income so I spent the first day walking around the area of Borough with CV's looking for a job. I went to the Tate, The Globe and then happened to bump into the house manager of the Old Vic. The conversation went something like this:

- Can I have a job?
- Can you start on Saturday?
- Can you give me a Job reference?
- Welcome to the Old Vic.

I thought: Awesome! I'll stay for a few weeks, watch a play and then find a real job...

A year and a half onwards and I still can't tear myself from the place. Apart from the fact that my fellow ushers (struggling actors/dancers/singers and the occasional lawyer) have become friends, this charming little theatre with its leaking roof, creaky floors and exasperated toilets is one of the best places to spend an evening on London's Southbank. And if you're lucky the occasional movie star will make an appearance in the bar.

Spearfronted by Kevin Spacey, the artistic director, this theatre is gaining a reputation for producing new and exciting productions. (Currently: "A Moon for the Misbegotten", starring Kevin Spacey, Colm Meaney and Eve Best. Definately worth seeing and on a side note: All three of them are incredibly nice people.)

Although it's been a rocky ride at times I like Kevin's attitude for the theatre. I believe he deliberatly uses his and his fellow actors' clout to draw audiences, then chooses plays which are not the obvious crowd pleasers but rather theatre he likes to produce.

In any case I can't encourage you enough to go and see a play there, no matter who is in it.
Oh, and if I'm working meet me in the bar afterwards...

Chris goes to Mars...

Just found this courtesy of Travelport. Enter your name onto the DVD going to Mars and immortalise yourself while confusing future Aliens what all the words on the disc could possibly mean... ;)