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The tour bus seems to be blessed. From London to Tewkesbury to Cheltenham to Bromsgrove, the snow and travel chaos is either just behind us or too far in front to be a real nuisance.
By Artrix on Saturday, the conditions are easier. And the audience doesn’t have to wear its overcoats. Nevertheless, we are still surrounded on all sides by blizzards and icebound roads and closed schools and five mile queues behind jack-knifed lorries.
Everyone did arrive, just.
Mateo and Ana and Jesus managed to scramble in to Stansted in between snowshowers at 11.50 last night. By this morning it was snowbound again, and Luton, which is not that far away, was totally isolated.
The snow hit at just the right places and times for us last night, and the same is happening today. We were chased away from Stansted by it last night, and out of London by it today into the effects of last night’s storms in the west country. It’s as if we’re in the eye of the storm.
To the south and north of Tewkesbury winter chaos reigns. Both Severn bridges closed. The M5 at a standstill. And Oxfordshire enjoying blizzard conditions.
And yet we slid effortlessly along the M40 due to the lack of traffic, and hit Tewkesbury in record time. The trip from The Roses to the digs in Cheltenham tonight, and the trip to Bromsgrove tomorrow - and home again - may be a different story.
We don’t know yet, but there are some of this weekend’s gigs under threat from the lovely snow.
According to the forecasts, more snow is threatened for thursday, and as we have people flying in from Spain that day in time for shows on friday, saturday, sunday and monday. Everything hangs on how much it snows, and when, and where, and how many troops have been dispatched to clear the runways…
And naturally, most of the bookings are looking healthy, and in one, a local enthusiast has gone to immense trouble and expense to prepare food and socialising for after the show..
It’s always the way with cancellations.
So today has been about having ‘conversations’ with venue managers about the possible dangers - if there are any, which we hope there won’t be because I’m just panicking - which I hope I am.
It’s all very well for those on the sidelines to urge that The Show Must Go on, but after all the snowballs have been thrown, this weather is going to effect the flamenco business just like any other. And the venues artists perform in. And the awful truth is that we won’t know what the best decision is until it’s too late to take it..
As the famous song goes on to say:
“Everything the traffic will allow.”
There is a real danger of no traffic at all, especially air traffic.
We have people coming in to three different airports. Which is either good or bad, I can’t decide which. All the singers and a guitarist are are arriving at one. If that one is clear, we could put on a show, but only with one dancer. If it isn’t clear, we’ve no show at all. And all the permutations in between. Either way we need all three to be clear to have a full company.
Maybe the era of cheap-flight based mini-tours is coming to an end.
Bridport is undoubtedly a long way away from lots of places, but lovely when you get there, and very welcoming. The little show we did in the Arts Centre was made worthwhile by the welcome.
Back to the lovely Swan by the Severn in Worcester. Thankfully intact in spite of last summers storms, which flooded the entire city centre but left the theatre with only marginal damage in the basement. The shows went on.
This was our fifth performance at the Swan since 2001, and was as well-managed as ever. Thanks to technicians Matt and Emma, and all the front of house staff for loving their work.
Flamenco Express, New Theatre Royal
Interior: Gallery moulding.
Rehearsal
Buleria.
“A small company of three dancers and four musicians filled the stage as if they were performing at a much bigger location yet kept intact the intimacy of the venue.
With a programme of traditional flamenco performed with unconventional interpretations, they managed to transport the audience not to the tacky Spanish holiday resorts of the 1970s but to the darker heart of the Iberian gipsy soul.
The dances were packed full of energy (exhausting the audience as much as the performers) and displayed impeccable precision and timing. Mention must be given to guitarist Jesus Alvarez whose dexterity and musicianship were stunning.”
Portsmouth News
The sad, fiery history of The Theatre Royal, as revealed by the missing half. This image was taken from approximately the position of the original backstage wall. The entire original stage, flytower and dressing rooms being destroyed in the fire of 1972.
The magnificent efforts of the theatre team over the years has not only reopened the house as a working venue, but also restored much of the decoration and fittings of the beautiful Matcham interior, one of the best acoustic spaces in British regional theatre, in our experience.
Thanks to Heather, Mike and all the team for making the day very simple, straightforward and creative.
Flamenco Express have played NTR five times since 1998, and it was obvious from the start that here was a venue which might have been made for flamenco. Apart from the acoustics, the intimacy of the galleries - as in all Matcham theatres - is a genuine aid to the performers, as is the spirituality of the vaulted auditorium.
The stage as a tablao - as a sounding board for flamenco purposes, is also excellent. Deep and crisp and even. June the twenty fourth wasn’t the feast of St Stephen, but the NTR shone brightly that night, as it always does for us.
From an entirely selfish point of view, the added bonus of the NTR, compared with most other Matcham theatres, is the fact that because the only stage is the old forestage, there is no rake, which can sometimes be troublesome for our dancers. This is a direct result of the fire - and if that doesn’t make the NTR a bona fide flamenco theatre, I can’t think what does. It is a building which has suffered, and which was reborn out of fire through improvisation and determination. It doesn’t take a gigantic suspension of disbelief for the audience and performer to tune in together to the spirit of such a space and relax into the business of making theatre.
Hopefully, when the final restoration is complete, it will stay same, only better.
Silky slick efficiency from the entire team at the Queen’s, from booking the date through the marketing operation to the performance of the technicians. Thanks to Jim and Alex, and to the front of house team.
Our first visit and hopefully not our last.
And an audience which knew really how to enjoy itself. And a modern audirorium with a crisp but warm acoustic, and a lively stage. And from a personal point of view, a theatre in which a journey from the dressing rooms to the front of house didn’t invariably end up in the car park - which can happen.
All this plus an ecological signature species for a theatre pet.
Another of the many pretty little theatres on the British regional circuit. Performing over the sea in a high wind was a new experience for most of the company, but the sheer gentility and elegance of the Pavilion seemed to defy the storm with sheer style, and the howling wind was tamed to provide a perfect soundscape for the timeless passion of flamenco. The music inside the theatre was as intense as the raging wind outside. God was our FX man that night.
Thanks to Jim and Roy for doing everything He couldn’t.
And to make the night almost perfect, Spain beat Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2008. We had tried, with some determination, to book an Italian restaurant for supper after the show, where we could share the second half in a culturally meaningful way. But all in vain. All were closed. And don’t think we don’t know why. Vergogna sugli ospiti di Worthing. To have sipped Sambuca dei Cesari as the winning penalty sliced home would have been perfection. For us, anyway.
In the end we had to make do with a very nice pub, followed by a very nice Indian restaurant. But it wasn’t the same.
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Jesus at the half hour.
Seafront Worthing
Taking Shelter
© flamenco express 2008