Annie Get Your Gun - The One Show!

Exciting news! Although we're only a few days into rehearsals (10 or so!), the entire company of Annie Get Your Gun will be appearing on BBC's The One Show this evening (Wednesday April 30th)! It's very exciting for us all as it's our first piece of collective press and the first outing of a number from the show, and your first chance to see what we've been up to so far.

We're actually performing a number from AGYG that my character Annie isn't in, but Lizzi Gee has very kindly slotted me in so that I can be with the company. Cue some rather
frantic learning of choreography and music from me this past weekend. Never have I been more grateful for the portable technology of an iPad and the ability to make a reference video at the drop of a hat. It's a very, VERY useful tool.

Karen Large, Costume Supervisor for the production, has been out and sourced some fabulous t-shirts for all of us to wear on The One Show, as the show costumes are still being fitted. We collectively line up for inspection in our matching t-shirts and show hats, coupling them with our own assorted denim jeans and trainers. Hair decisions are made, t-shirts are tucked, untucked and re-tucked and, once satisfied, we are signed off and quickly change so that we can continue polishing.

Polishing means basically just that. Adding the final shine to the number so that it can look as good as possible for our TV appearance. Dance Captain Jonny Godbold has already been drilling us and now Lizzi puts us through our paces, going through each section of the routine over and over again, to ensure that our hands/feet/heads/hats/eyes/ears/eyelashes are all in the right place at the right time. More videos are taken for us to watch back (cue some comedy outtake footage of people being inadvertently smacked in the face by flying hats - I am SO sorry Dermot!), and then, sweaty and exhausted, we break for a spot of tea and cake.

Our musical director, Steve, has been in the recording studio all morning with a merry band of musicians laying down a gorgeous track for us to sing along to, so after tea the rest of the company jump in cabs (thank you tube strike) to join him and lay down an additional vocal track. We'll be singing along live on Wednesday but this way we also have a piece of music that can be used for promotional purposes.

Kara Lane, Katie Marie-Carter, Matthew Dale, Jonny Godbold & Flo Fields in the studio

Jason and I are left to plough on with the Act 2 scene work with Ian and Lizzi, with Bob Broad at the piano. Bob has now joined us as Deputy Musical Director for the first leg of the tour, and it's nice to properly welcome him into our little family. This does mean he's going to need to get on with booking some digs though, and sharpish. Either that or invest in a tent!

Jason Donovan and Emma Williams getting match-matchy in rehearsals

The One Show airs on BBC 1 from 7pm-8pm, and is then later available on the BBC iPlayer. Tune in for a sneak preview of what to expect when Annie Get Your Gun hits a theatre near you soon!