Just a quick note to wish all my family, friends and visitors to this site a fabulous festive season!  Eat, drink and be merry, and most of all enjoy heath and happiness.  With lots of love, Bee xxxxxxxxxxx

BBC Bristol Interview

EDIT: If you have problems with Real Player then here’s the the interview in a more user friendly format.

Interview (3.6Mb - Right Click To Download)

Check out these costumes Phantom Phans!!!

Have been on covering Mme Firmin this week and therefore get to wear the beautiful Purple dress (although it looks blue in the photo…) and last week covered a Princess so got to flaunt the massive (3 stone in weight) dress. Love it but my expression says it all after 2 flights of stairs…. So cumbersome and you can take out the entire corps de ballet in one go.
Only a few costumes remaining to show you now, one in particular being particularly special so stay tuned!!
Am loving my time at Phantom, everyone is so wonderful and the costumes and wigs are GREAT! I LOVE IT!!!

Hurrah! 3 performances of Confidante under my belt! Check out the wig - quite a balancing act in itself!!! The long delay since my last post is, I’m afraid, a reflection of the stress in the life of a Swing…

This first month in production has been really tough on all us new Swings. Never knowing when we’ll be on, as which part, often without rehearsal…Aaaaagh!  BUT, I have now performed every female ensemble plot bar one, which I will hopefully get to do soon.  It certainly isn’t a case of kick back and relax yet, but I do feel much more at ease with the job in hand.  All the elements of the job which make it stressful at the beginning are, I believe, the elements which will keep it fresh, interesting and exciting throughout a twelve month contract.  I’m so glad and grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to Swing in the West End.  It has proven the biggest challenge of my career so far; even above singing in capacity stadiums at the Rugby World Cup or to a prime time TV audience in Maria…Phew!

I have a night off Phantom tonight, but will still be in the West End, attending another show…The Opening Night of The Sound of Music!  Toi toi Connie!  Lots of Love and Luck!!!  Watch this space!

Paper faces on parade….! OK, so I’m going for the ‘Just got out of bed look…’. Do you love my stripy tights???

Very proud to be showing you my West End opening night photos! The female Swings finally got to make their Phantom debut on Friday evening! The Boy Swings were required earlier in the week when various blokes went sick, so Rachel (the other female Swing) and I made a pact to share our first show and on Friday it was crunch time!!! Lots of pressure following weeks of watching, learning and most of all waiting… Not having ever had the chance to perform on the stage or in costume (no tech/dress rehearsals for Swings), it was certainly a challenge. I opted for Act 2 which begins with the spectacle of Masquerade! It was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had at a Masked Ball, despite the initial trauma of scaling the centre-stage staircase in complete darkness, and then not falling off it during all the gallivanting! The rest of the cast made the whole Act a joy. They really looked after me and made sure I was in the right place at the right time. The company spirit at Phantom is quite something. Thanks guys. x x
Rachel and I also performed a show each on Saturday, so we now feel well and truly into the ’swing’ of things!!! Monday night (Opening Night) was hard for us all as we had all the adrenalin of an Opening Night but no chance to use it. I’m glad to have a whole show under my belt now and feel much calmer going into Week 2. This is so different from anything I’ve ever done before; being a Swing demands so many new qualities and disciplines. It’s a huge challenge and I intend to do myself and the show justice every time I go on. I can’t wait to have a go at another character now…