JUST SO - (No More!!)

CAST RECORDING

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Monday 4th October

And so the Anorexic Leopard is “just so” no more!! But, I could not leave you, dear Readers, without letting you know how I’m managing back in my own skin!

My first week of unemployment, went like this ………………

Monday night - Michael Frayn’s new play, ‘Democracy’, directed by Michael Blakemore, and starring (the always wonderful) Roger Allam, and the very funny Conleth Hill (who is soon to be appearing in ‘The Producers’ … with the Rhino!).

Tuesday – I did absolutely nothing!

Wednesday – At the Photographers, having new ‘Professional’ portrait photos taken. My GG was in front of the camera too (we both needed updating!), and as there was time, we had Nick take some shots of us together – you never know!?!?!?!

Thursday morning - Another dance recall (that’s two now!) for ‘Guys and Dolls’.

Thursday afternoon – A meeting with an Agent, and yet another ‘Guys and Dolls’ recall… this time, they not only wanted to hear me sing (again), but had me read for them too. One might think “looks promising”, but in this business, you never know!

Thursday evening - Supper at home with the folks (nothing beats home cooking!).

Friday morning – A meeting with another Agent, and a casting for a ‘McCains Chips’ commercial (for the Belgian market!).

Friday afternoon – Work! Accent coaching for that certain West End show!

Saturday – was devoted to the well being of my trusty Mini (richly deserved after all those - often heavily laden - journeys to and from Chichester!). On the first visit to the garage the mini was given a clean bill of health. This turned out to be a wrong diagnosis! A further visit, and a second opinion, revealed the need for a new pump in the power steering. All is now well!

Sunday, yes, Sunday - 10:00 am (not a time of day I am particularly familiar with on a Sunday!) - another dance audition for ‘Guys and Dolls’ (that makes three, or is it four – who cares!). This time it’s for some partner work, and I get to play with the ‘Dolls’!!!!!

And here we are, back where we started – Monday October 4th – The Recording Studio awaits.

As I make my way from the house to the tube I find I can hardly walk! All thanks to yesterdays interesting two hours of lifting, twirling, supporting, and generally partnering my poor ‘Doll’!! I say “poor”, because I fear that as a result of my attempts to ‘lift and twirl’ her, she may be in a worse condition than me (I haven’t done ‘partner’ work since 1994!?)

I arrive at Sony Music Studios in Whitfield Street in good time. I’m not called until 2:00 pm, so I’ve had plenty of time this morning to warm up my vocal chords.

At the entrance, I bump in to the Cooking Stove, and my old mate Jaguar ... they have both been on holiday this past week and are looking tanned and refreshed. In contrast, I am looking pale and interesting!!!! (No-one asks why I am walking so strangely!). As we sign in at reception we catch up on the news. The Jaguar had a fabulous time sunning himself in Spain, and the Cooking Stove was having a great break, but tells me he had to cut it short to come back for the ‘Guys and Dolls’ recall yesterday – it’s a small world!

The Rhino and Elephant’s Child pass us at reception.

“It’s this way boys,” says the Rhino “follow me”.

We are using the large studio at the back of the ground floor, and as I walk in, I am transported back in time to 1998. It was in this very studio that, six years ago, I had my first-ever recording experience … but that’s another story.

One by one the JS cast arrive. The band and some of the cast have already been in for three hours this morning, recording some solo numbers. Everyone is very jovial and chatty. Apart from George, who looks a little stressed.

“Hi guys”, he says, “welcome”. “We’re going to run the Rhino song again, so if you want to go downstairs and grab a coffee, we’ll call you in a few minutes.”

In the basement is a large lounge area with a piano, sofas, television and a pool table.

“Come on then Greiffy” says the Kangaroo, “the table is ours!” No table tennis then?

For the next ten minutes between chatting and playing pool, I ‘hum’! - no, I haven’t been getting sweaty over the pool table, I’m ‘humming’ to exercise my voice (which is feeling a little tired today). Must be all that ‘lifting and twirling’!

Finally, we are all called.

The studio itself is large, and separated into different work areas. The main part of the room (with wooden floors and large wooden hanging screen partitions) is the area the cast and musicians will occupy. The hanging partitions are used to separate us from the band, and David is situated at the end of the partition, between us all, so that he can see us to conduct.

At one end of the room, by the entrance, is a smaller room where the “techies” live – with all the equipment that records our sound. A glass wall separates us, picture an airplane cockpit… but multiply that by ten!, and on the other side of the glass I can see George & Anthony, chatting to the sound engineer.

At the far side of the main room are two smaller rooms (“booths”) with glass doors. These booths are for recording solo vocals and solo instruments (in our case, the drums!).

We begin with ‘Go Forth’. The Eldest Magician, who has solo lines in this number, makes himself comfortable in one of the booths, and the rest of us line up behind a collection of microphones in the centre of the main room.

“Let me explain”, says George. “As we can only record 78 minutes of material for the album, we have had to make cuts. Bit by bit, David and I will take you through these cuts as we come to them. Unfortunately we can’t please everyone!”

Before we can begin recording we have to check the sound levels, and in order that we can hear the band, we are all given headphones (“cans”). When the band plays, and we sing, the sound engineer mixes the sound, and feeds the levels back to us via the cans. Once we are all happy with what we can hear, we can run a rehearsal.

It has been over a week since we sang any of the numbers from the show, and our performance is a little shaky … but of course that is why we rehearse! David takes us through the first edit of the song, and we are ready for a take. Picture “Live Aid” - that’s us … all of us with one earpiece hanging loose around our necks, and the other held close to an ear!

Just as in a film studio, a large red light comes on when we are recording! Very professional… and a little un-nerving!

Well, this is it… here we go!

“Everyone ready?” comes the voice of George through our cans… “let’s give it a go!”

The first take goes reasonably well, but we are having trouble hearing ourselves. We can hear the band, but we can’t really hear ourselves. Getting the vocal/music balance right is vital. Once this has been achieved, everything should fall into place.

We run the number several times, until George and the engineer feel they have enough to edit together.

Next up is ‘Limpopo River’. For recording purposes, the two stage versions of this number have been amalgamated into one song. The Kolokolo Bird and Elephant’s Child join the Eldest Magician in the vocal booth.

We rehearse a couple of times and go for a few takes … then it’s tea break!
‘If’ is up next, then the last forty-five minutes of this three-hour recording session is devoted to ‘Little One Come Hither’.

We break for dinner at 5:00 pm. Most of us eat together in a pleasant Mexican restaurant a few moments from the studio. The chat around the table is mostly about theatre! It’s impossible for actors not to talk theatre. I try to rest my voice, but it’s a fine line between being careful and being unsociable!! The Rhino has been given the day off from his current West End project, ‘The Producers’ (which has just gone into the theatre to start technical rehearsals), and the Zebra has just this minute been offered a small role in the new Working Title film. Lucky girl!

Our two-hour dinner break is pure luxury… but not particularly productive, as some of our number are now feeling perhaps a little too relaxed!

We start back prompt at 7:00 pm. During the break, the Kangaroo and Dingo Dog have been learning a new intro into ‘Leaps and Bounds’. One of the songs to be lost in the Album edit is ‘Aboriginally I’… and the new intro that the Kangaroo has been learning is in fact the old intro (the one I learnt for my recall back in March!!). G&A feel that this is a better segue into the ‘Leaps and Bounds’ number, especially for the recording. For the rest of us, the number is unchanged.

During the run at Chichester, some of the tempos of the production numbers were changed (due to choreography and set moving), but today they will be set forever – once they are mixed and copied to CD, that is!

From Wallaby’s, we become Elephants and sing through ‘Another Tempest’.

As we break for tea, the Jaguar asks me if I know what we are doing next.

“No idea”, I reply, “but knowing my luck, we’ll probably be called for our number around 9:30!!”

“Oh, I hope not,” he says.

“We’ll see!!”

After the break we go for another take of ‘Another Tempest’. “Sorry guys,” says George, “we need to do the end of ‘Leaps and Bounds’ again!” Poor old Kangaroo, he thought he was done!

Finally, George is happy, and we are finished for the night …… that is, with the exception of the Rhino, Elephant’s Child, Cooking Stove and Parsee, who are to stay to record ‘Please Don’t Touch My Stove’ ... and (didn’t I tell you?!?) the Jaguar and the Leopard! AAAaaaaaarh!!!!

“Sorry to leave you to last”, says Herr Director, “but we know you can do it!” This could be the first time that two ‘fast and randy barrow boys’ find themselves speechless!!!

While the other guys get down to their recording, we slink off to the basement lounge to run through our song. Quick panic – and practise!!

It’s 9:40 pm and the ‘spivvy’ Leopard and his mate ‘Elvis’ finally get their turn in the ‘solo’ booth. It’s time to take the ladies out (again)!

Fortunately, we have time for a rehearsal. Then take one is a little tentative. Take two is better, but I mess up one of my lines. Take three could be the one … “That’s it!” comes George’s voice through the cans, “We’ve got enough to work with.”

Being a self-confessed perfectionist, I want my performance for the recording to be ‘purrfect’! I want the Leopard I created on stage at Chichester to be as real in the recording as he was on stage. Fingers crossed!

… tomorrow is another day!

Tuesday 6th October

We begin my third and final session at 10:00 am sharp with ‘Jungle Light’ (or bleeding chords, as I nick-named it in rehearsals, as I happen to be on the top vocal line). Our rehearsal is a little groggy, but yesterday was a long day, and it is 10:00 in the morning!

“Morning everyone!” Says George. “I know it’s early, but we don’t want to remember this song as being the ten o’clock Tuesday morning song, do we?”
God no! Come on voice … and brain!

‘The Parsee Cake Walk’ is the first song we record that is exactly the version in the show. Oddly on the first take, without Stephen’s choreography, we struggle to know where to sing! During tea break, David takes us through some of our harmonies – which need his help. Perhaps we should have had a vocal call last week?!

Next on the list is the ‘Just So’ number. The Jaguar and I were changing costume at his point in the show, and therefore are not needed. We sit back, watch and enjoy the recording process. The Giraffe and Zebra have their turn in the booth with the Kolokolo Bird and Elephant’s Child.

“Hopefully we are next”, I say to the Jaguar.

The CWEP has arrived by this point. I can see him in the control room with Herr Director and George. I hope he likes what we are doing … after all he’s paying for it!!

Once everyone is happy with ‘Just So’, David takes us through the changes in the Finale. Finale? It’s 12:30 pm. We finish at 1:00 pm. What about the ‘Just So’ Reprise? Will my Leopard not get his spots?

The ‘Finale’ is a version of ‘Just So’ that goes in to the ‘Limpopo River Reprise’. Once everyone knows what they are singing, we go for a couple of takes.

As the clock strikes 1:00 pm, George announces, “that’s lunch! I still need the girls to sing through their ‘Just So’ again … but everyone else, thank you!”

I pop into the control room to check that we are really finished. “Yes, thanks Simon”, is the answer. I guess the Leopard and the Jaguar won’t be getting their spots then! Hey ho!

I am delighted to find my GG waiting outside for me. I say my goodbyes to my JS colleagues, wishing them well in whatever comes next.

I can’t wait to hear the CFT Cast Album of ‘Just So’ …

I suppose I’ll just have to wait for the release of the CD!

And so will you, ‘Best Beloveds’!

A BIG thank you to all the Cast, Crew, Stage Management and Staff at CFT for letting me write about them and my experiences this summer ... and putting up with my relentless photo-taking !!

To G&A for asking me to be a part of their wonderful 'Just So' !!

A special thank you to my Fantastic Aunty Deborah for her editorial guidance !!

... and to ALL my readers for Reading !! I hope you have enjoyed reading my Diary as much as I have writing it !!

And finally a thank you to G&A's Webmaster, Philip for his great designs
and efficient upkeep!

Many thanks,
Simon G (your 'resting' Leopard !!) x

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