Nick's Buxton Diary - Part 6
Monday 10th August - Wednesday 12th August

Monday 10th August

It's another 9 am start, for some musical polishing of Trial with Andrew Nicklin. There are one or two moments which, musically are giving cause for concern, but on the whole, things are going quite well, and it promises to be a lively, entertaining production.

As soon as this finishes at around 9.55 am, those of us involved in Ruddigore as principals, namely myself, Tony Smith (Usher/Old Adam) and Judy Savournin (Counsel/Dame Hannah), and also Andrew Nicklin as M.D., dash down to the Octagon Hall, where Alistair Donkin is making preparations for the first principal rehearsal.

It's the first time I've worked with Alistair for two years, and I'm looking forward to doing so again, but not without some trepidation. Richard Dauntless is known as something of a dancing part. I am not known as anything of a dancer. Alistair knows this very well, and threatens me with tortures unspeakable, namely hideously complicated dance routines. The reality turns out to be not too bad, and I reckon I can just about manage to learn the routine for my song ("I shpp'd, d'ye see") by Saturday afternoon.

Alistair had planned to work with the principals as far as half way through act 1 this morning, but manages to make better progress, and I have time to go and collect my Trial costume from the costume area to the rear of The Paxton Theatre. Judith Mills, costumier, is there, and presents me with exactly the same costume I had worn five days earlier, right down (or should that be up?) to the exact same bowler hat.

Now; the moment of truth. Would the hat still fit? Or would, as my mother always warned, those kind words expressed in the last few days by so many friends and strangers, have gone to my head with the result that the hat would now no longer go over my expanded cranium? With considerable relief, I find that it's just as tight a squeeze as before, but definitely no tighter!

This accomplished, I return to the Ruddigore rehearsal, which continues to make good progress. My own assessment of the cast of principals thus far is that it is potentially a very strong cast, with good actors and some very fine voices. It ought to be a very good show indeed on Saturday, knowing from past experience what Alistair Donkin can achieve in seven days, and, having already worked twice with Andrew Nicklin during this festival, am confident that musically, the show will be equally strong.

Alistair is planning to work with Mad Margaret (Julia Foster) and SirDespard (Howard Turnbull) for the rest of the afternoon, so I have a short break before it's time for the Trial dress rehearsal. This proves to be something of a chaotic affair, most notably for me when it gets to the singing-whilst- suspended-in-mid-air part - the ladies come as close as they've yet come to dropping/throwing me into the orchestra pit. I seriously wonder whether I ought to warn the viola player who is sitting immediately in front of me, but decide this is a cowardly action. Prayer seems a safer option.

Trial is the curtain raiser to the Children's HMS Pinafore, and as such, as soon as Ian Smith has finished with the audience, we'll be on. Sure enough, soon after 7.30 pm, Trial begins with a lively pace being set by Andrew Nicklin. Presently, it's my entrance, which, due to the proximity of the HMS Pinafore set behind the Trial set, is something of a contortion act itself.

I ought to have mentioned earlier that Pamela Leighton Bilik, in her capacity as producer for this production (and of course the Childrens HMSP) had requested to the powers that Be that this evenings' shows should not be adjudicated. On reflection, I think this was probably a good thing. In comparison with The Savoynetters' production, which had similar rehearsal time, I don't feel it was quite as polished. This was, to my mind, in no way the fault of Pam, who was working with the cast allotted to her by fate. One thing that made it perhaps a little less polished than the Savoynetters' production was that whereas, almost without exception, the entire cast of the Savoynetters knew the show musically and practically word-perfect prior to their arrival at Buxton, a number of the participants in this production were, shall we say, less well acquainted-o with Trial than they might have been. This resulted in, for me at least, a less polished show in comparison.

Having said all this, the audience seems to love the show. There are quite a few visual "gags", all of which elicit a warm response from a reasonably fullish house. Personally, I feel a little tired physically, but generally speaking, I'm happier with my voice in this Trial than I was in the Savoynet Trial. This doesn't mean I'm completely satisfied with my performance, far from it. One or two top notes again give me cause for concern, but I hope that the audience, who have other things to worry about, will either not notice or forgive them.

To my considerable relief, my second song (the one where the ladies pick me up and hold me in mid-air) goes quite well. Having had practice at it, I'm able now to breathe properly in this position, and I'm probably as pleased with this as with anything else I did tonight.

Most of the other principals acquit themselves quite well, June Morris (Plaintiff) and Judy Savournin (Counsel) being the outstanding performers for me.

Presently we are through, and the audience responds most positively to what has been, for me, a most unorthodox production of Trial, but nonetheless, one which I've enjoyed being part of.

We have been offered complimentary tickets to see the children's Pinafore, but Mandie and I are in need of three things - relaxation, food and drink. The orchestra having been dismissed for the evening (Pinafore is being accompanied by piano), we go with two musical friends to The Old Hall for a meal. We're staying there tonight, so we can give our palettes full play, so to speak. A few bottles and an excellent meal later, we are the last to leave the bar of The Old Hall, and retire for the evening. I'd like to say "reflecting on what has been blah blah blah", but I'm afraid I can't remember what, if anything, was on my mind at this point, other than sleeeeeeeep.

Zzzzzz.

Tuesday 11th August

Wandering across to The Opera House for a 10am commencement of this morning's Ruddigore rehearsal, I stop off in the Portakabin, for no better reason than having a few minutes to kill. Playing on the video there is last night's Pinafore. Josephine (Emma Mills, daughter of Judith - that very well-known costumier) is just beginning to sing "The Hours Creep On Apace", and I decide to stay. Within seconds I am enraptured, and thus I remain for the rest of the aria. Emma is only fourteen, and has no singing training at this point. Her performance is wonderful, and the ridiculously nonchalant ease with which she soars to the optional top C towards the end is a real spine-tingler. A terriffic performance, which makes me wish I'd stayed behind last night to watch it. Then I wouldn't have had the thick head I'm now carrying round with difficulty on my hung-over shoulders.

On my way down to the Octagon, I come across Emma, and tell her exactly what I thought of what I've just seen. She says her mum and dad are debating whether she ought to have some voice tuition. This seems to me to be a foregone conclusion, as long as she finds a singing teacher who is sensitive to her extreme youth and does not try to push her too far too fast.

By the end of the morning session with Alistair and Andrew, we (the principals) have completed the setting of Act 1 and made some inroads into Act 2, and we are joined by the chorus for a combined Act 1 run-through in the afternoon. This goes very well. The men's chorus in particular are very well- drilled for their entrance ("Welcome, gentry"), the result of a considerable amount of hard work that they have done on their own away from the main rehearsal.

I skip the evening's offering in The Opera House - Bolton Catholic Musical and Choral Society's "Hot Mikado" and return to Barnsley. Tomorrow is another rest day for me, and I intend to start early, besides which, I find I am developing an alarming habit of getting some of my lines confused with other, similar ones. I intend to work on this problem tomorrow.

Wednesday 12th August

Rest day. In retrospect, I wish I had been there in the evening to see Trent Opera's Patience, which was to practically sweep the boards three days later, but (still in retrospective mood) I'm glad I took so much "time out", as this means that when I return to Buxton on Thursday morning, I 'm feeling completely refreshed and my voice is finally beginning to feel and sound like I know it ought to.

Nick Sales