Hello Everyone!
I am so excited to share some wonderful news with you... I have been cast in my first professional theatre role and I am going to Ireland to perform in the musical play "Seven Letters" in the Claremorris Theatre on the 1st & 2nd of April.
I had a moving experience performing during the open rehearsal to family and friends in a London theatre (note the above pictures) on the 12th of March. It truly was a memory I will hold forever. I will share my journey with you of how I got given this amazing opportunity:
One day three/ four years ago I was busking in Staines and a married couple, who were a playwright and composer approached me and took my card. They said they enjoyed my singing and might be in touch. I didn't hear anything until last Autumn (2021), when they got in contact and told me about a singing role they needed to fill and asked if I would like to audition for them. I sang "Maybe this time" from Cabaret in my audition and was offered the part!
From then outwards I was sent the sheet music and set out learning the original songs; I also started one on one rehearsals with the composer Lindsey Bridgewater. The songs were challenging to learn, but it was very invigorating to be part of a new exciting project...
Seven Letters is a musical play set in a retirement home. It follows the life stories of three old ladies Faye, Tempie and Lena of whom, throughout the course of the play you learn about the lives they led before arriving at 'The Pines' care home. It is a moving and poignant play that grapples with themes such as love, loss and purpose. I am cast as young Faye who had a tragic young life; getting pregnant outside of wedlock, being abandoned and forced out of her home and to abort her baby. Throughout the play I sing five songs, as my character becomes a singer later on in life and that is shown to the audience by a series of flashbacks where songs act as emotional indicators to important moments in her life. It is a challenging role as the themes and emotions expressed are so raw and the songs so powerful; and with every performance I do endeavor to put as much feeling as I can into the songs and this can be exhausting. However I am loving the challenge so far and am feeling very honored to be part of a show with such an amazing message of listening to the wisdom of the old.
The open rehearsal on the 12th of March was such a special day for me. As all my family and friends are unable to travel to Ireland to watch me sing in the show; it was so wonderful they had the chance to see the show in London. They absolutely loved it and even cried as a result of deep themes in the play. I got given a lovely bunch of flowers and it was just such a beautiful moment in my life. I am now so excited to be travelling to Ireland later on this week!
I will try and write another blog soon sharing my experiences in Ireland performing in the show. I really would like to thank everyone who reads my blogs and is interested in my journey as a singer. I hope I will have many more interesting things to keep writing about over this coming year.
Warm wishes,
Charis Anne
Below is some reading material and a promo about the shows previous run in 2018;