Madness in New York, a story in pictures

 PART II

I was up early again the next morning as I left the city and headed upstate to Utica, no I’d never heard of it either.

 

It was a slow but immensely pretty journey, travelling through all those places that all had famous music halls, such as Yonkers and Secaucus!  I was in Utica for technical rehearsals for the new We Will Rock You US tour, that was opening the following week in Baltimore. I have to say that Utica really is the strangest of places, this once thriving and wealthy town now lays empty except for the Rock You Rockers that took over the Hotel Utica! It was built in 1812 and has hardly been updated since, and is not only haunted by ghosts of guests past, but will continue to be by the noise cast made from the den they created on the derelict 14th floor to party in! 

You can tell it was once a wealthy place 

 But now there is barely a shop open 

 

Or people on the street 

 

However, people came from far and wide, young and old to see our opening night, and let me tell you they went crazy! They were screaming in the aisles, cheering and clapping like you’ve never seen! I met the most adorable little girls who were so proud to show of their t-shirts.

 

 I bid farewell to Utica with a delicious lobster roll…

 

And headed back to the city and my beautiful girls who had flown in to meet me! We headed straight out to take in the sights, and the first stop was the iconic Brooklyn bridge.

 

 

The rest of the afternoon we shopped until we dropped, as there was more work to do that week and I was desperate to get some bargains in before I had to leave again! 

It seemed no sooner had I arrived, I took the super fast and super efficient AMTRAK rail to Baltimore for some final work on We Will Rock You, and our phenomenal opening night! Watch exclusive video with Rock God himself Brian May here. 

Of course no opening night is complete without my picture with Galileo, and this one literally rocked my socks off!

 

Back in New York it was meetings oh, and meetings and some more meetings and of course a couple of shows (and did I mention some meetings?) I went to watch Pippin, where my protege from Britannia High, Matthew James Thomas was appearing as Pippin.

It was the most stunning production I have ever seen, of what isn’t really one of my favourite musicals, and I have to tell you I was absolutely blown away. It brought a tear to my eye as Pippin’s magical word became reality, and the beautiful stillness of the performers as everything disappeared around them was so moving. The interval was however a much jollier affair, as I was whisked up to the company managers office for drinks and a bit of incredible history. The office was originally Irving Berlin’s office, and aside from the fascinating photographs on the walls there was a much bigger secret to it as well. The theatre was built in the prohibition era, and there was at the back of the room, a hidden doorway to a secret room where the liquor was kept! This included the original ice box and hidden panels, that was just incredible to look at.

 

 

 

 

I also managed to get to see the new Broadway hit Kinky Boots, which featured some fun songs, fabulous drag queens, and fierce costumes! Of course I couldn’t leave NY without a bit more shopping as I had so many television appearances on my return, I needed to update my wardrobe, of course, in my new larger size… Suitcases laden, 5am taxi outside, I made my way to the airport for my final flight, and arrived into the waiting arms of my family, and I was home at last.

Hong Kong Crazy

 

A very long and overdue hello to you all! I have been on a whirlwind trip all over the world this past few weeks, and aside from barely being able to find any internet anywhere, I wouldn’t have had a second to post anything anyway, it has been madness! As there’s so much to “show and tell” I’m writing this blog firstly in two parts, and secondly as more of a picture diary, so look on and enjoy…

I arrived in Hong Kong after massively delayed flight (three hours, thanks British Airways!) but arrived safely at the beautiful Hyatt hotel in Hong Kong, where my view was exquisite.

 

There’s no rest for the wicked as they say, so it was straight to work on Starlight Express getting the show ready for opening night, and the work clearly paid off as Hong Kong took us into their hearts. Here’s a little clip.

Of course it wasn’t all work, and I managed grab few hours sightseeing…

One evening I hopped on a train and headed out to the ladies market which was full of goodies, most of which I didn’t want, but I did find a fair few fabulous bits and pieces…

I had found a good friend in Shen, my interpreter for the night, who knew what prices to pay, and if they weren’t good enough she marched me along, away from the beautiful scarves I so desperately wanted!

Another evening, I was taken out for a glorious dinner with some of most powerful people in Hong Kong, where we ate the most delicious sushi,i and enough Kobi beef to feed an army! It was truly delicious, and I am not ashamed to say I have been dreaming of it since…

ON my last morning I took the peak train to the highest point in Hong Kong, where the views were simply breathtaking.

Although as well, there is a view  of Hong Kong Harbour with all the smog and pollution which is such a shame to see

So finally after am amazing week, I left Hong Kong with memories of Starlight Express and the “piggie blessing” they gave to welcome us fading away

I left Hong Kong for a 16 hour flight to New York where I arrived 12 hours before I left! In a daze, I headed straight to my favourite Manhattan deli to eat the best matzoh ball soup in town. Who doesn’t love a bit of comfort food!

The Adventures Before My Adventure

Hello from Hong Kong! Yes it’s finally arrived and here we are ready to open the international tour of Starlight Express! Despite the final rehearsals running from morning till night I’m hoping to be able to get out and see some of the city before I head on to my next port of call, New York! I’ll tell you all about HK, and what I’m doing in NY when I check in next week.

But first let me tell you all about last week’s adventures. It was pretty busy as I was doubling up between The Wright Stuff every morning, and Starlight Express rehearsals all afternoon and evening – however I did manage to fit in a few other exciting things….

Did you catch me on the Wright Stuff? If not there’s a few episodes here and you can see me in action, so to speak! I had such a great time, and loved meeting Jolly Olly, Ana Matronic, Louis Emerick and Cian Ciaran!

Tuesday was the only day that week I didn’t appear on the show, and that’s because I was in Leeds for a very special 100th Birthday party! My brother in law’s Aunt Rose, who is, at 100, still the sharpest, most switched on and fabulous lady I have ever met. She really is an inspiration in the truest sense of the word, and I can only hope to be laughing away as brightly as she was in years to come.

Wednesday I managed to fit in a wonderful couple of hours between The Wright Stuff and Starlight, attending the Arts Lunch at the Science Museum, hosted by Christopher Hastings. The guests included Reece Shearsmith, Terry Gilliam, Janet Suzman, Michael G Wilson, John Sessions, Margaret Drabble, Imogen Stubbs and Miranda Richardson The food was divine, the conversation scintillating, and the exhibition that was to follow after lunch looked incredible. Unfortunately I had to dash back to rehearsals so couldn’t stay to see it, but I will be there as soon as I get back from my travels.

Thursday we had our final run through of the show before we left, and it is looking truly phenomenal, if I do say so myself! Now let’s go show Asia what we’ve got!

Friday afternoon after my final morning on The Wright Stuff was just meeting after meeting and an intense catch up with Coco as it was the last day I had with her, and I’m not back for three weeks… So you can imagine it was rather hectic. After getting everything pretty much sorted I was looking forward to a lazy Saturday of packing, when disaster struck…

As I mentioned earlier after my trip to HK I’ll be winging my way to the US, where for the first week I’ll be rehearsing for the American tour of We Will Rock You somewhere in upstate New York called Utica. (Anyone? No, me neither!) So there I’ll spend my first week, then of course it would be silly to be so close and not get to one of my favourite places in the world, New York City baby! Anyway, as I was glancing down my itinerary, I realised that my hotel dates for staying in NY had been booked for September! Panic set in, how had I not seen this before? How had no one spotted it? I was beside myself having managed to find a fabulous deal on a hotel right there in midtown, would they even have any rooms left and worst of all had I lost all my money?! I’m happy to say that there was another room for me, and thankfully was only charged for one night cancellation, or you would have heard me screaming all the way to the city!

That being resolved I was able to head to dinner that evening with a smile on my face. It was my Abi’s 23rd Birthday, and we were celebrating with dinner at the fantastic new restaurant Chotto Matte on Frith St, where I swear every dish they brought out was more divine than the next. We had the most wonderful evening, finished off with desserts from heaven!

Sunday and leaving day seemed to arrive so soon, and I spend my final hours at home surrounded by my wonderful family having a delicious Birthday brunch of blueberry waffles and pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, all homemade by my better half! After a few tearful goodbyes – yes I know I’m only away for three weeks! – you’d think after all the drama on Saturday I’d have had my share, but of course I couldn’t get off that easily – after a traffic free ride to the airport, there was me thinking I was out of the woods and on my way… but of course the flight was delayed from 10:30pm till 1:30am, how boring!

Still we arrived safe and sound, and here I am! So until next week where I’ll be writing to you from Utica (again, anyone?) for now it’s Zai Jian from me!

Love Arlene x