Hello there readers!
I know I should really keep more up to date with my blog, but it's been a bit crazy recently. Mainly because I have only just returned from the wonderful land of DUBAI! And oh my goodness, did I have a blast.
So here's a little recap of my little adventure to the UAE!
The purpose of my trip to Dubai was to play the iconic role of Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Centrepoint Theatre, DUCTAC. And let me tell you, it was the best thing I’ve ever done.
My dad has been producing pantomimes since before I was even on this earth, and when you grow up with your father constantly choosing cheesy songs, telling cheesy jokes and occasionally dressing up as characters such as Smee, a King, Jason the Woodcutter and an Ugly Stepsister, you can assume that I had an interesting household to grow up in. (Doesn’t help exactly when your mother is also in pantomimes playing characters such as Prince Charming, Wicked Queen, Dick Whittington and Slave of the Ring…).
However, when you grow up in a household like that, you can’t help but wish that you could be the princess. The one that all the children come to see, the one that little girls want to be like. To be the title character of your own show. Even when I did my first pantomime with my dad at age 5 in Cinderella, I dreamed of the day I would someday be the princess that that handsome prince would save.
And finally, at age 19, my time had come. Yes, I had to wear a very itchy wig, but it was worth it.
The cast (which included myself and my parents who were playing the Woodcutter and the Wicked Queen) and the production team, flew out to Dubai on a Thursday evening, and arrived earlyon Friday morning. (Can I just mention that I watched probably some of the best films on the plane journeys? Thanks Virgin Atlantic!). The first thing that hits you as you step off the plane is the ridiculous warmth of the Dubai sunshine. It was definitely a change from the awful rain and flooding we had in the UK. The only downside was the lack of sleep, and the fact we weren’t able to book into the hotel until 2pm. Therefore, we had about 5 hours to kill. Looking homeless, feeling like shit, and carrying my mahoosive suitcase, we headed to where the kids in the show were already rehearsing.
Meeting the children in the show was definitely an experience on its own. All of them were ridiculously enthusiastic to see the principle cast, but some were very disappointed with the colour of my hair. The amount of times I had to say “Don’t worry! Snow White will have black hair, I’ll be wearing a wig…” was endless.
Finally, 2pm came along, and we were all extremely relieved. Straight away, all of us headed to bed. Then, we met in the hotel bar for dinner where we could all actually get to know each other, as I still hadn’t really spoken to the guy playing the Prince or any of the production team.
The next week involved rehearsing10am-8pm every day. And jeeze, did we need it. Learning lines and songs, whilst learning the dance routines with these kids who had known these routines for weeks was pretty daunting. However, the cast were so incredibly supportive of each other, and considering how much the banter between us all grew, when any of us messed up, it didn’t matter. That’s the beauty of pantomime.
During the week of rehearsal, I had some little extra things going on: promoting the show!
The first was heading to our show sponsor, Dubai 92’s radio station; dressed as Snow White! We had a little slot on the morning show (during the kids school run!), and had pictures with the radio show hosts, which were then put on both Twitter and Facebook. (Yes, I was accompanied by Dozy the Dwarf.)
Another promotion was a couple of meet and greets at The Toy Store within the Mall of the Emirates, which is where our theatre was located. And it was hilarious! Women were randomly handing me babies to hold, various aged shoppers fighting over who could have a picture with me next; I felt like a celebrity!
Not only did I have meet and greets, we also headed to SKI DUBAI and had a photoshoot! Where we had a very freezing cold Snow White surrounded by skiing dwarfs! Major thanks must go to the professional ski instructors at Ski Dubai who voluntarily dressed as 6 of our dwarfs for our photoshoot!
After the week of rehearsals and promotion, the tech and dress rehearsals arrived! Anyone involved in the theatre will know that the most tedious part of putting on a production is the tech rehearsal. It’s the day when the cast go on stage for the first time, dealing with set changes, setting lighting, testing sound cues and sound checking the casts microphones. When you have a cast like us to deal with, of course it was going to be stressful. 30 kids, with nothing to do…I think you can understand the stress level. We had flying witches and fairies flying in on stars, a massive cauldron, and even a wrecking ball! And after 24 hours of gruelling hard work, the tech finished and the dress rehearsal could begin!
Because we had two teams of kids, we were able to do two dress rehearsals. And boy, did we need it! We invited parents of the children to come and watch and give feedback, and overall, the dress rehearsals went well. However, I am a firm believer in the phrase “Bad Dress rehearsal, good show!” Therefore, I became very nervous.
I had no need to be nervous, because the show went off without a hitch! But, we did have a few screw ups, which was natural. I think my favourite would have to be when a little girl from the audience, who was dressed in a Snow White costume, decided to join the dwarfs and I onstage in the middle of a scene! I turned around, saw her, and just froze. Shortly, after Shabby the Dwarf gave her a hug and escorted her off the stage, the giggles began. Didn’t help when all 7 dwarfs were giggling under their massive dwarf heads (which made me giggle anyway!), and then singing straight afterwards! Whistle While You Work was certainly a challenge. Even when I had eaten the poison apple and passed out across the table, I could not stop the giggles! It was definitely an experience.
The show after this one must have been cursed as well, considering in the same scene in the afternoon show, Shabby completely stacked it over Growlers chair, Dozy forgot to put on her gloves and dwarf shoes, and I forgot the words to Whistle!
To spend time in the Dubai Mall was lovely! AND, it meant that that evening, we were able to take a cast trip to watch FROZEN! Which was phenomenal, obvs.
Of course, because it was pantomime season, we got to spend Christmas and New Year in Dubai, which was very different, as for the past 7 years, my dad had to spend Christmas alone in Dubai whilst my mum, sister and I missed him terribly every year. Whereas, this year, we were able to spend it all together again!
My sister flew out to join us late Christmas Eve, as her earlier flight got cancelled due to the flooding in the UK, so early Christmas Morning, we all waited for her at the airport!
We finally got back to the hotel at 4am, and decided to all go back to sleep, and that we'd all got out for a late Christmas Lunch. Which turned out to be eating large pancakes at iHop inside the Mall of the Emirates food court! Afterwards, we headed towards the fantastic Jumeriah, which was the most beautiful market place if had ever seen! Comparing what I thought Dubai would look like, and what it actually looks like, to see a market place and traditional music, I wasn't disappointed.
Then, to end our Christmas Day, the whole cast and crew went to Brewsters inside the Jumeriah, and had a lovely dinner all together!
We continued the run of the show from Boxing Day to New Years Eve, where we had a blast (and my sister headed back to the UK alone...) The show got easier, I got less nervous, and we all began to relax a bit more into it. But then, when the end was near, on New Years Eve, the cast and crew did the get out, we all headed back to the hotel and got ready to head to a friends apartment building, where we could watch the record breaking firework display across Dubai! And it was SPECTACULAR! (And also 20 minutes late...which we found very amusing!)
New Years Day we all had off before flying back to the UK on the 2nd, so we headed back to the Jumeriah to spend a family day together.
Dubai was literally the best experience in my 19 years of living. And I miss it everyday. However, thankfully, our production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was picked up for a tour! SO, back in March, we headed to Cairo, Egypt to perform the show (with a slightly different cast!) and this July, we will be heading to El Alamein to perform the show there, again, with an altered cast! So I will save our Egypt adventures for a later date, and don't worry, I'll give you all the juicy details! ;)
Hope you enjoyed this post guys! If you did, leave me a comment or follow my blog for more updates on my travels!
Love to you all! And as Snow White would say: "just hum a merry tune, it won't take long till there's a song to help you set the pace."
(Comment below which song that's from!) ;)
Fawce xoxo
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