Schmoozing and boozing

‘It’s a long time since I’ve seen you like this’
‘I’m high on wine, and actors’

I know I’m being quite giddy, and giggly. I’m in a theatre bar practicing the art of the schmooze. It’s a skill that’s been somewhat underused of late, so it’s sending me rather hyper.

The reason…our first trip of the year to see Blood Brothers, our first trip, in fact, since last September, so there have been some cast changes. Linda Nolan is back as Mrs J – this is the first time I’ve seen her in the role since the last time the show was in Billingham – she remains the leading exponent of ‘lapel acting*’. She really feels it at the end, yet moves me less than a simple gesture does from another performer. We have a new narrator in Craig Price. Craig is a veteran of the JCS tour, and played Jesus for the second half of the tour; ‘yes, he died on stage every night’, and a new Linda, but we still have Stephen Palfreeman as Mickey, and he’s fabulous. I cry at the end, but I don’t stand.

At the end of the show, we go round to the stage door; it’s been a while. Craig is one of the first out commenting ‘I thought I saw you’. We have a quick chat and then he suggests we go for a drink, as they keep the theatre bar open. (There really is no where else to go in Billingham – early we’d had walked round a precinct with about 10 cash points, and no shops – and a sign saying ‘welcome to Billingham town centre). Well, we’ve been invited – it would be rude to refuse, wouldn’t it?

We head back inside, get a drink, and chat to Craig, catching up on what he, and others, have been doing; Stephen comes over, and we talk about theatre, touring, venues, theatrical digs, the price of tickets in London. I’m in my element, and knocking back the vino at a rate not seen recently. About midnight we, and the remaining cast members are asked to leave by the bar staff. We get hugs from Stephen, testing if they’re still as bone crushing as we remember. Pretty good I’d say.

We head back to Boro, to complete the night’s drinking in the late bars. I later realise that tonight we’ve been asked to leave 3 different bars, as they wanted to close. A pretty good night I’d say.

*this means tugging her coat lapels in the intensely emotional scenes.