So, Victoria Wood…
We first heard rumour that Victoria may be attending the show way back in the early stages of rehearsals.
It was at a rehearsal in October and our Director Mark Harris burst into the rehearsal room whilst we were setting ‘Oh, Oh, Mrs O.’ and blurted out in pure excitement that we may have a special guest visiting us during our performance week. Naturally, everyone gasped and got rather excited even at the prospect of Victoria potentially seeing the show. The excitement quickly turned into nerves
Months of rehearsals went by and we occasionally mentioned in rehearsals that we may have a visitor when we move to the Lyceum but with it never confirmed we always treated with a slight bit of caution.
Rehearsals ended and we were over half way through our performance week at the Lyceum and our Friday performance began fast approaching.
Everyone arrived early at the theatre that evening, us all being very unsure as to what tonights performance will entail and if the rumours would turn into reality.
We all began getting ready for the show and then the whispers began circulating; she was here! Cast members that had family members watching the Friday performance noticed Victoria arriving at the theatre and our management committee that would oversee her visit to the show greeted Victoria and took her into her own pre-show room for privacy.
It was official, tonight I would be performing in Acorn Antiques – The Musical, a show written by Victoria Wood, for Victoria Wood. Very quickly, the nerves kicked-in.
So we started. The show began at 7:15pm and as big as tonights performance was, the show moved as normal as it did all previous nights; we almost forgot that it’s writer and creator was watching.
Act one finished and cast members began reading text messages from friends in the audience asking if Victoria Wood was watching as they’ve seen her.
Now the secret was out, all the shows social media sites went a little crazy commenting and tweeting about our special guest.
We continued on with the show and 5 minutes before our curtain call we received from our stage manager that we were to all stay on stage as someone wanted to meet the entire cast!
The show ended, the curtain fell and all our dreams for Acorn Antiques came true… Victoria Wood was here!
Arriving from stage left, she chucked her coat to a member of her team and walked on to a huge applause from the cast and crew and with hands clasped, opened up to the entire cast on how much she enjoyed the show and that she was a proud writer following tonights show.
Victoria apologised for other original production team members being unable to attend due to the bad weather and let the cast know she will be taking back extracts from the show.
Complimenting us all on the high quality of the show, Victoria said: “I took photos throughout to take back to the original production team. I loved it.”
She then laughed with the cast and continued to speak for a further 10 minutes.
Victoria then agreed to have photographs with the entire cast, said her goodbyes and left but not without a quick chat with a few cast members. Her most noticeable was with Helen Kempton who lead the show as Mrs Overall. Victoria pointed at Helen and said in a gust of excitement: “And you, I love you!” What a compliment for our talented leading lady.
Our Director Mark Harris sat behind Victoria throughout the entire show and told us after she had left that she laughed continually from start-to-finish. I think it would have been very easy, having devised, wrote and followed the show since its original creation in London, to be bored or unsure about a new interpretation of the show however to know she enjoyed the show and even managed to laugh throughout was the biggest honour and a point I know many cast members were very proud of.
Photos of the show began spreading on our social media platforms, one gaining over 140 likes and comments which was the highest Croft House had ever received.
We all began getting changed from our costumes and left the theatre before our final two performances on Saturday and saying goodbye to Acorn Antiques.
I’ve met many theatre stars and celebrities throughout my life but to perform for Victoria Wood in her original musical and to receive such touching comments on the production is a dream come true. A very proud night to be a member of Croft House Theatre Company.
What a complete honour and a memory I know i’ll never forget!
William J.
CentreStalls 