BLOG: Chicago, Cupcakes and Cruising

I’m sure I’ve been here before, promising that from now on I will write a weekly blog of everything goes on in ‘Wilma World’ should any of you care to know what’s going on. But if I have said it before and failed at keeping it up, I apologise and will try harder.

I’m still living in Paris (can you believe it’s been ten months now?) and on Saturday afternoon I went to see the new French production of Chicago at the Théâtre Mogador‎. Performed entirely in French, I had a sneaking suspicion that Chicago the Musical was always meant to be performed in French and I was right. Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, two sassy French murderous ladies, chain smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. That’s exactly how I imagined the real life Roxie and Velma to be (if they existed – did they?) and the two ladies playing the roles were a hoot! There are some musicals out there that just seem to ‘work’ when translated in to another language. The Addams Family was surprisingly one of these shows that sounded better in French than it does in English and Chicago was perfection in French as well. I will definitely be going to see it again before it closes on 31 January and I highly recommend jumping on the Eurostar and checking it out yourself! Even if you don’t speak French, so long as you are familiar with the story you can follow what’s going on.

On Friday afternoon, my mum received a lovely delivery of Cupcakes from the courtroom drama Witness For The Prosecution which is celebrating one year of playing at London’s County Hall. Currently playing until September 2019, this Agatha Christie classic has transformed London’s County Hall to give an immersive feel to this courtroom drama. My mum loved the cakes and even roped my niece (and future West End Wilma in the making) in to taking a few pictures!

Later this week, I’ll be heading back to London to prepare for the West End Wilma Awards which are taking place on Sunday 4 November at the Arts Theatre. I can’t believe it’s less than a month away now and if you don’t have your tickets already then get them now because there really aren’t many left!

But before I start pulling my hair out in preparation for the awards ceremony, my mum and I are setting sail on the Stages – Musical Theatre cruise next Monday (which also happens to be my birthday) for four days, sailing to Amsterdam and back. Musical legends Michael Ball and Beverley Knight will be performing as well as other legends like Christina Bianco, Collabro, Lee Mead and Marti Webb! It’s going to be a fun-filled few days and I will try to document it all on video so you can see what we get up to! I’m sure there will be a few surprises in store (my mum has opted for a surf simulator lesson which is sure to be both hilarious and disastrous in equal measures) so stay tuned for that!

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