In lights

This morning was a morning of admin. I got myself a giant list and ticked the points off one by one. I'm now in a hurry to tie up all the loose ends on Beyond the Fence, so that I can actually start to think about the rest of my life... Which is an empty chasm right now. I walked into our kitchen yesterday and stared miserably at the piles of rubbish on the floor; the unwashed dishes and the clothing spewing out of the tumble drier. It's time to reclaim my life and that reclamation begins with spring cleaning.

As of today our show is in its tech, so, apart from finding a few more trims to get the overall length down by another five minutes, there's a limit to what I can or should try to achieve. Famous last words...

The big news is that I've finished my compliance documents which give the scientists who want to write papers on the experiment all the information they need in terms of what musical phrase came from which computational system. It's vital stuff in terms of evidence but hopelessly dull. The lyrics have all been through the same rigorous analysis and yesterday it was revealed that 25% of every word being sung in the show has its origins in computer processes. A much higher percentage than we'd thought.

I went to osteopathy at lunch time and exited feeling like a cloud. Nathan realised he was meant to be working at the box office today so there was a mad panic as he rushed off to work. I called in on him on my way to the theatre for rehearsals and saw quite what a smash hit the show Motown has already become. It's only just opened at the Shaftesbury where he works and has already extended its booking period to next year. The phones were ringing off the hook and a steady flow of customers were coming to the windows. Its advance is mega.

It's a little sad that an unremarkable juke box show like Motown would sell so well. The majority of people coming just want to sing and dance along to the songs. I do wish that the same people would also think about coming to see something a little more grown-up, thought-provoking and original.

We had rehearsals all afternoon at the Arts Theatre and it was really exciting to walk up to the venue and see the marquee with all its flashing lights and the words "Beyond The Fence" written in huge letters. I was proud to see our name all over the poster outside. We have to keep reminding ourselves from now on that however awful the ride has been at times, we are about to see our first musical in the West End, which is exciting beyond words.

We're not yet able to rehearse on the stage, and, in fact, the show's designer wants Nathan and me not to see the set until it's ready, so we were rehearsing in rooms above the theatre... Rooms which got double booked in the evening, causing us to hot-foot it round the corner to the Actor's Centre for the evening session.