Winter Blog 2012

It’s THAT time of year again, Christmas is on our doorstep. I’m so glad to be back in time for a fun Christmas at home.

What a whirlwind of a few months I’ve had. I left for New Zealand on 7th October to begin the tour down under. First I met up with the guys in the band, some of whom I’ve worked with before & some not. I also had a new PA/Dresser onboard called Sarah Buchanan. A wonderfully efficient person, who loves shopping, the theatre and knows all that’s needed to get the show on the road. After visiting some radio stations and doing a few press interviews it was off to rehearse in readiness for the first performance at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton and what an enthusiastic bunch they were. A great way to begin....

Next up was Christchurch on the South Island. The city that was devastated only eighteen months ago with the catastrophic earthquake. I was shown around the city and saw first hand the terrible havoc it had caused. But I also saw and heard how the kiwis can’t be put down for long... A serious new building programme is already in place and signs of regeneration are clearly visible.

I visited Christchurch’s National Academy of Singing And Dramatic Art (www.nasda.co.nz/elaine-paige-visits-nasda.html) and met up with the students to talk about theatre, music and the art of the audition process. The young singer who joined me on the Australia/NZ tour, Nic Kyle, came from the same school. They surprised me with a wonderful performance. Wow! Forget reality TV, these young people sounded amazing. So much so, I asked if they would like to join me on stage that night in concert.

It took only a moment for a resounding ‘Yes please’ to ring out around the hall. They were jumping up and down with excitement. This was going to be great. So the school staff & my touring manager Steve Porter, along with my sound crew, set about the organisation to make it happen.

And happen it did. During the second act I introduced the choir and 30 young, talented students filed on to the stage. What followed brought a lump to my throat, just as it had earlier in the afternoon when they had sung for me. This beautiful sound of harmonies rung out and brought a smile to the faces of all who were lucky enough to be there. So the tour was truly underway and off to a good start.

We then said farewell to New Zealand headed for the west coast of Australia - Perth was our next stop.

The sun shone on us for the couple of days we spent there before the performance and we even managed to get in a couple of games of tennis!!! Oh Yes, I always travel with my kit, just incase!!! On the 21st we were off to Adelaide followed by Melbourne & more sell out concerts for the appreciative Ozzie’s. Next up was Sydney, and my ‘return’ to The State Theatre. As beautiful as ever and a venue I always love to play.

With only two more to play in Oz, Canberra & Brisbane, before heading off to the Far East, I met up with my old friend Kris Phillips who was going to join me for some duets on the China leg of the tour. We hadn’t worked together since 2001 when we sang in The Great Hall of the People with the Andrew Lloyd Webber concert.

Chinese audiences love western musical theatre and to say I felt like a rock star from their riotous ovations put it mildly. OZ & NZ were fantastic but this reception was crazy!

This was the first time for a lot of the band and crew had visited China so trips were organised to The Great Wall, The Great Hall Of The People and The Palace. In Shanghai, we went for a Chinese tea in a gorgeous garden and tried all the tiny tea cakes. The food there, if you like Chinese food, which I do, is delicious, but I had to beware of too much rice, or I would have piled on the pounds!!

Then a visit to Hong Kong to see friends & to buy a few pairs of shoes! Well you know a girl loves shoes.

Before the final concert in Singapore (but only after a Singapore Sling in Raffles Hotel.. well you have to don’t you) I bumped into a group of British tourists who kindly told me they listen to the Radio show every week!!! Well not this week I thought!

On arrival back in UK, there wasn’t any slacking, it was straight into rehearsal for The Princes Trust Charity Concert at The Central Hall Westminster along with Ruthie Henshall. A fun day, and we were to sing with the London Symphonia. A rarity these days to sing with an orchestra, so a real treat. Ruthie & I decided as a surprise, we would sing the duet ‘’I Know Him So Well’‘ that song always goes down well and it seemed a good finale. This was the first time, in all these years, that Ruthie and I had ever shared a stage!

With concert work over for this year it meant I now had some down time - November ended with a trip to the O2 to see my favourite band Keane in concert at the O2 arena. What a great show and so wonderful to be part of that huge audience of 20,000 people! Thrilling! Saturday 1st December, I took myself off to The Hennessey Gold Cup Racing day at Newbury. Miracle of miracles - I won on my first bet! Such fun, I bumped into a few old pals.. Hugh Bonnerville who stars in ‘Downton Abbey’ and the brilliant satire ‘2012’ and also Gilly Cooper, but surprisingly I missed Elizabeth Hurley & Andrew Lloyd Webber!!!

Then a trip to the opening night of The Bodyguard, which was a fun evening’s entertainment. More of a rock concert...really, starring Heather Headley as Rachel Marron, singing up a storm and looking stunning in Tim Hatley’s beautiful costumes. Lloyd Owen as handsome and cool Frank Farmer. Great songs, my favourite’s being ‘Run to You’, written by Judi Friedman & Alan Rich who I bumped into and had a nice chat, and ‘I Will Always Love You’, the Dolly Parton hit and by the end of the evening the whole audience on its feet singing along to ‘I Wannna Dance With Somebody’ by Merrill & Rubicam. The after show party followed at Northumberland Avenue and, again, more old friends were
there - My MD Chris Egan who was responsible for the orchestrations and musical arrangements, Martin Williams sax/Flute/ Clarinet, whose played for me too. So lots of music talk as you can imagine. Then I bumped into Chris Neil, actor & record producer who I worked with way back when in ‘Hair’ days! - much reminiscing! And just as I was leaving, there in front of me was the leading lady of the night, Ms Headley, of course I offered my congratulations, and asked her to take care of her golden voice. ‘‘Yes Mam’’ she said.

Yes, its great to be back home in London town and back in the hot seat at the BBC with EPOS. I‘ve missed you all. So I’m looking forward to putting together some cracking Christmas shows for you to listen to while we all collapse on the sofa from eating far too much turkey and Christmas pud.

Have a wonderful Christmas wherever you may be..... And best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.

Love
EP x

Autumn Blog 2012

Hello!

So just as I finish packing my last suitcase for my Australasian tour I thought I’d put pen to paper to catch up with you all before I leave.

So what a summer we’ve had! The Jubilee kicking it all off and where was I? Yes Los Angeles! I couldn’t believe I was missing out on all the brilliant celebrations. But I made sure the Jubilee came to LA. I had bunting all over my dressing room door at The Ahmanson Theatre. So The True Brit abroad. I educated the yanks about English History and what a Diamond Jubilee really means! I celebrated by having a tea party at the theatre of cakes, pies, cup cakes, biscuits and, of course, tea. It went down a storm. I also got up at 5am to Skype home so I could be a part of it ‘live‘.

Then after the show they all watched the highlights of the River Pageant on CNN! Me too, I cried with pride at 60 Glorious years, of the service of our Queen. I am so full of admiration for her. How she and the Duke stood for all those hours in the driving rain I do not know! Showing the spirit of the English and true grit.

My final performance of Follies in LA was 9th June, which was sad as this really was the last. Every other final performance we all knew we would meet up again in another city to continue the adventure, but this really was IT! Onto pastures new....

Mine was a quick trip to Palm Springs to visit friends and to do a day’s photo shoot with Hollywood photographer Michael Childers. I had already spent a day choosing some wonderfully glamorous dresses in LA prior, so we all met up at the home of Erich Burkhart & Doug Hudson in Palm Springs - a beautiful house absolutely ideal for a photo shoot. It was a long day, but a lot of fun and some wonderful photos to be seen later came out of it…. I’ve let you see a sneak preview.

Then it was back to London. I had been away so long by now I felt almost like a stranger in my own land, but with Wimbledon on the horizon it didn’t take long to get back into the swing if things. Gosh it felt good to be home, and to be with my friends again, and to play some tennis of course!

On the 19th June as president of the Dan Maskell Trust I attended our Celebrity Annual Golf Challenge at Wentworth Golf Club and much fun was had by all. Not least as there was the England Euro match on that day too - the beginning of an exciting summer of sport.

As Wimbledon fortnight commenced I hosted a lunch as President of the Dan Maskell Trust at Wimbledon which is always a pleasure; and then I was invited to the Royal Box on 5th July where I sat with Jason Isaacs, Cliff Richard, & Maggie Smith. It was such a delight to spend a day in splendid surroundings with great people.....Well its as good as it gets!

I then had to fly back to Los Angeles for some meetings, but manage to squeeze in a trip to Napa Valley, and promptly caught a cold! It was freezing there, worse than London, if that was possible!!! But it didn’t dampen my spirits surrounded by all those beautiful vineyards … one can’t be blue for long!!! Hic!!

So with shoulders coming back down, it was time to visit the South Of France and stare at the view. Heaven. I read books, wined and dined with friends, swam in the sea!!! Shock horror what was I thinking? Pottered up and down the Mediterranean coast and generally do what you do on holiday. Of course all the while glued to our brilliant Athletes and the spectacle of The 2012 London Olympics. How brilliant was that? I felt so proud. Amazing achievements on a daily basis, and my beloved London looking magnificent.

How great it was to fly the flag. Think we should hang on to our new found patriotism it really felt like the country coming together. Sport does that just like music. It’s a common language.

The tennis, of course, was of major interest. It was tricky when I saw the match coming up between Federer, my hero, and Brit Andy Murray. But Wow! Andy came of age in that match. As hard as it was to watch, he so deserved to win. To claim what had been narrowly missed a few weeks earlier …the Wimbledon Crown.

Just as I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms, it was the turn of The Paralympic Team GB to give their all and give it they did... more Gold Silver & Bronze medals came, more pride. Britain's Peter Norfolk and Andy Lapthorne winning silver in their quad doubles tennis final were fantastic and so exciting to watch. Well done guys!

While in France Faberge invited me to Les Azuriales Opera at The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild Cap Ferrat. One of my favourite Operas ...Giacomo Puccini”s Tosca.. a fully staged performance by Michael Bracegirdle as Cavaradossi, Laura Parfitt as Tosca & Changhan Lim as Baron Scarpia with musical direction and piano by Bryan Evans. All performed in searing heat! It was Brilliant and all followed by dinner in the stunning gardens. A glamorous and exciting evening.

On 21st August I woke to glorious sunshine in London! Something that hasn’t shown much of itself this summer, it is especially welcome because today is the day I play doubles on the grass at Wimbledon with none other than serious doubles champion Peter Fleming and Barry Cowan. Along with Liz Vlotman who had bid for this prize at the Dan Maskell Celebrity Golf Challenge a couple of years ago. A first for us both! I was so excited. We played for at least an hour and a half and I managed to pick up a few tips from Barry regarding my ‘grip’ as you can see and a lot of fun was had by one and all. What a day, one to add to my ‘memory’ bank!

Just after the bank holiday weekend I went to the theatre to see ‘Chariots Of Fire’ the play based on the film, especially commissioned to coincide with The Olympics. It was great to see my old friend actor Nick Grace and a company of youthful energetic accomplished actors create before your very eyes the feeling of ‘actually being there’ at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Having heard their story, their trials, their tribulations and their struggle, when the race is won at the end, its so emotional ....well I cried. The run has been extended so if you can do go and see it, you won’t be disappointed.

On Friday 7th September at St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden I had the thrill of being awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of East Anglia at Mountview’s Graduation Ceremony. The award was made in recognition for my ‘Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre and the Theatre Profession.’ I was given an Honorary Doctorate of Letters. Being part of the ceremony at which so many talented young people were starting out with a career in the theatre made it particularly special. I have been fortunate to receive many theatre industry awards during my career but this one really is very special and I'm very honoured.

It was such a great day with all the students, staff and, of course, my friends there to support me. We arrived at the ceremony just before 2pm and I was taken to a dressing room to be fitted with the graduation outfit. I had to wear a rather fetching gown(!), which practically swamped me, even though they had specifically ordered a small size for me, and an equally fetching hat! Thank goodness everybody else was wearing the same outfit.

We all sat and watched as every student walked up to the stage and received their well earned degree certificate and had their photograph taken. The level of excitement nearly took the roof off, but what amazed me was the array of ladies shoes that passed by! Some of which I don’t know how those young girls managed to stand let alone walk!!

Eventually it was my turn to receive my honorary degree, which was presented to me by Professor Edward Acton, Vice Chancellor, of the University of East Anglia and Sue Robertson the Principal Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. And as I said in my speech that afternoon - ‘Dr Paige’, who would have thought it?!

Just before I readied myself to head to the southern hemisphere, my DVD ‘Elaine Paige Celebrating a Life On Stage’ was re-released (with a brand new cover) with a round of interviews in tow. I spoke with my fellow station mate Steve Wright at BBC Radio 2, popped in to see those naughty Loose Women and sat down and did several interviews with the ladies and gentlemen of the press!

And as if getting ready for 7 weeks away wasn’t enough I thought it would be a nice send off to agree to a concert at Raymond Blanc’s La Manoir in Oxford for his Festival aux Quat’Saisons – this year celebrating its 21st birthday! An intimate evening set firstly in the small St Mary the Virgin church adjoining the manor, where I sang accompanied by my dear musical director Chris Egan on piano, followed by a magnificent 4 course dinner with some excellent wines. I also had the chance to walk round this magnificent estate and take in the water garden, the kitchen gardens, and the beautiful scenery.

Then it was off to bed and off round the world!

I’ll see you all on the other side!

Until then …

Lots of love
EP x

26th April 2012

Hello!

Finally …. Time to catch up with you all. It feels like ages since I’ve done a proper blog. It was difficult to write more when I was doing the EPOS Radio 2 report from NY as that seemed to cover everything I was doing outside of Follies and there was no point repeating myself! Anyway I’ve now managed to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard!

After I finished in New York I gave myself a break and had a heavenly holiday in Barbados. I just lazed around, swam, read my book and caught my breath after the run of Follies and two amazing concerts at the Allen Room in NYC’s Lincoln Center – first time I ever sang in concert in New York and it was a thrill. And as always so lovely to see some of you there!

Barbados was such fun and I managed to catch up with a couple of pals. Cliff Richard and Cilla Black. Both of them have places there and we went for a drink. Well the next day Cilla flew home to the UK and upon arrival realised she’d left her mobile phone in Barbados – guess who became the ‘phone courier’? Yes yours truly! I safely brought it home to the UK and ensured it was returned to her.

Back home I celebrated my birthday by having a few friends over for dinner, which I managed to organise whilst away. I then had a surprise for my birthday, which was a trip to see Keane in concert at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea. They are one of my favourite bands and this was a special place to see them as it was just down the road from where they grew up in Battle, East Sussex and it kicked off their world tour! Their new album Strangeland is out next month!

I also managed to get back to playing some tennis, which I have to admit I hadn’t done much of in the States. Amazingly after a year off it made no difference to my game whatsoever!!!! Ha ha ha ….. oh well! I also played at Wimbledon with a friend. A spot of tennis followed by lunch. All very nice, great to be playing there and I’m very excited to have been invited to the Royal Box yet again this year during the 2nd week of Wimbledon.

And speaking of tennis I attended the AGM meeting of the Dan Maskell Trust, a charity very close to my heart. Lots going on there this year including three people, Emma, Peter and Tamsin, running for the London BUPA 10K run on the 27th May. It would be lovely if any of you could manage to support them with a £5 donation - Text TENNIS to 70007. Thanks!

Theatre wise I had a few outings in the short time I’ve been home. First was to the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House to see Romeo & Juliet – so romantic, so beautiful, so elegant! Loved to have been in the show …. don’t think I’m tall enough to be a ballet dancer though! I also went to see Sweeney Todd starring Michael Ball & Imelda Staunton both of whom were fabulous and gave such great performances. Interestingly they’ve set it in the 1930’s, which does give it a bit of realism especially as the Adelphi Theatre is just walking distance from Fleet Street where said Demon Barber originated!

Of course I made my ‘return’ to EPOS at the BBC! It was so lovely to be sitting back in that chair and even more lovely to get so many welcome back messages from you all saying how much you’d missed me … made me feel so happy! Knowing you are all listening in is very special to me. Thank you.

To let everyone know I was back I was asked to appear on ITV’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show and managed to tell everyone of my time in Follies and what was coming up. As always he was a true gent and such fun to be interviewed by. We always run out of time when I’m talking to him, and as its live, I can see the studio managing waving his arms frantically trying to stop us from chatting on as the end titles are about to roll! Poor thing looked like a windmill!!

Then I was off to Harrogate for a one off UK concert in the beautifully restored Royal Hall. It was so great to perform again on a stage in the UK, to be able to sing songs I haven’t sung for a while and to see some of you. Apart from the freezing cold weather –snow was predicted and it almost made it to Harrogate – it was a great night and we all had fun.

Following this event I went off to do another first in my career. Sing in a cave! Yes! The beautiful St. Michael’s Cave in Gibraltar. I went to perform at the Miss Gibraltar TV Spectacular. It was the 50th anniversary of the show and all was going really well until moments before it was about to go live when …..blackout! The whole place, the whole area was in darkness. The sub station had blown and there was no power anywhere. It looked for some time as though the event would not take place and I’d flown all this way and just sat in a dressing room …in a cave … with the audience out there in the dark! Thankfully by midnight the power was back on and I eventually sang at around 1am Sunday morning, which wouldn’t have worried me if I hadn’t had to get the first flight out the next day to get back for the Oliviers!!

So, back in England Sunday mid day and a mad dash from Heathrow airport to the Royal Opera House to rehearse with the BBC Concert Orchestra and to get ready for the show. I was sharing a dressing room with Girls Aloud/Shrek leading lady Kimberley Walsh, but with all the to and fro’ing from the stage we only spent about 10 minutes together! I had British designer and couturier, Lindka Cierach, make me a beautiful blue silk dress with beaded cap sleeves especially for the event. I presented the BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award to Les Miserable, and as part of the celebrations for Sir Tim Rice I sang ‘Argentina’ and then presented him with his Special Award for his outstanding contribution to musical theatre.

It was a great evening followed by a lavish party held in the glass conservatory behind the Opera House where I bumped into lots of old pals including Roger Allum, Zoe Wanamaker, Bryan May & Anita Dobson, Patrick Stewart, Chris Luscombe (who directed my 40th Anniversary concert and recent featured in The Iron Lady) and Ruth Wilson who had won Best Actress. I was also thrilled to see Monica Mason who had earlier won an Olivier Special Award for her outstanding contribution to theatre.

The next day I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Tim thanking me for singing and being there. A few days later I’m packing and off to LA for the third and final instalment of Follies.

I’ll fill you in on how it is in LA once I’ve settled there!

Until then …..

I’m Still There …. again!

Love
EP x

EPOB 15th January 2012
(UNEDITED New York Roving Report for BBC R2 Elaine Paige On Sunday)

Hello, … it’s me EPOB… Elaine Paige on Broadway with my first roving report of 2012, and Happy New Year to you all and to you too, Barbara.

Hope you all had a great time and didn’t put on too much weight! Oh well its only once a year!

So what did you get up to I was working – another first – working on Christmas I never done that (funny voice) in all my years in the theatre. But it was a fun atmosphere backstage and I’m sure you got a taste of it if you heard my special on Boxing Day.

Boxing Day for us was a day off, but of course they don’t celebrate here anyway. So I went to the legendary Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular which has been thrilling audiences for nearly 80 years! The show features over 140 performers, a mule and a camel, lavish sets and costumes and an original musical score. This year they also included 3D special effects, but of course the stars of the show are the ladies dance troupe - The Rockettes. Their precision and choreography is like Busby Berkeley and amazing to see live. A must see New York tradition first presented in 1933, and seen by more than a million visitors a year. Well worth it.

Anybody in New York on New Year’s Eve stays well away from Times Sq. This year more than a million people gathered to watch the ball drop. They start arriving at mid-day and once you get there you can’t get out. All the surrounding streets were closed at 1pm by the police, so our matinee was brought forward and by the time I came out at 3 you couldn’t come out of the stage door, so I had to walk out the front entrance and then walk several blocks downtown before I could get across to the east side of Broadway.

I decided dinner downtown was the best option and the ideal way to celebrate and I was right. We enjoyed a fabulous supper at the wonderful Gramercy tavern and then got back to the apartment just in time to watch the Times Square ball drop on TV. That suited me just fine, and as I looked out of my window on the 38th floor I could see all the ticker tape and confetti sailing past the window. A great sight to witness … in the comfort of my apartment!

New Years Day was a crisp and sunny day – not a cloud in the sky, so we decided to be rather romantic and take a wonderful horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park followed by tea at the beautiful Plaza – hope you saw my Tweets.

The hotel has been standing here since 1907 and is probably most famous for its Oak Room Bar and also the books written about Eloise - by Kay Thompson. Tea was delicious and well worth a visit

I’ve also managed to get to the movies and two of my favourites were the silent movie ‘The Artist’ and also Martin Scorcese’s ‘Hugo’ - both a visual feast for the eyes.

And I finally got to see The Book of Mormon. It’s as shocking to audiences today as Hair was in my youth and you can’t believe you are laughing at such rudery but laugh we did. And the performance by young Andrew Rannalls, who you might have heard me interview in one of my specials over Christmas, lived up to all expectations.

Well there’s only a few more weeks of Follies so next time I speak to you I’ll nearly be (sing) “free again” and thinking of being homeward bound

But until then I’m Still Here and I send you lots of love and happiness for 2012!