With much excitement and buzz, Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna opened at Sadler’s Wells in London. Getting to the big night was a bit of a challenge for me. About a week into rehearsals (on my two days off), I came down with a sore throat and fever so I headed off to the doctors office and he gave me a round of drugs. Five days later and a few days off from rehearsals, I felt so much better. But once again, on our day off, the sore throat and fever came back but with a vengeance. I headed off to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He examined my throat and said that I was not well then admitted me immediately to the hospital. I really needed to get treated quickly since I had less than a week until opening! He gave me two different antibiotics, IV fluids, a mouth rinse and pain killers. After a night in the hospital, everything was starting to get better so I was released with two prescriptions.
Opening Night was first time I was able to sing full voice and it felt great! In the audience, was a plethora of celebrities including Boy George, Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys, Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran, Tenor Hans Peter Blockwitz, and Graham Norton! The audience loved the show and we had a wonderful after-party. Our cast was so lovely and great to work with. Janis Kelly sang the title role of Madame Saint Laurent (the Prima Donna), Rebecca Bottone, her maid and Jonathan Summers, her butler. I played the role of André, the journalist who comes to interview the Madame on the eve of her return to the operatic stage. Our two actors were Siobhan McMillan and Jamie Griffith Jones, Tim Albery directed, Robert Houssart conducted, production designs by Antony McDonald, and movement coaching by Philippe Giraudeau.
Unfortunately, at the end of our show, Iceland’s volcano shut down all the airports in the UK and most of Europe so we were stuck in London. The apartment we had stayed for the month was all booked up so we were left to look for alternate accommodation and we were graciously hosted by our friend Tony MacIntosh of
Le Café Anglais for an evening, (If you ever get a chance to visit London, have a meal at Le Café Anglais for some amazing food and ambience! The hors d’oeuvres, the main course and the service are all fantastic.), then spent one evening at the Citadines - Barbican and one fantastic night at the
Beaumont House Hotel in Old Windsor! I never knew how happy I’d be to see planes taking off from Heathrow, once it opened again, and jet vapour trails in the skies. It was quite eerie not to see any planes flying around London. Luckily for us, we got on the first and only Air Canada flight to Toronto from Heathrow that day. The excitement of going back home on the plane was palatable. We heard so many different stories of people getting stranded and how excited they were all were to be going home. I’ve always said it’s wonderful to travel but it’s always great to go back home!
