THE SOLO EDIT: THEATRE TRIP

Social anxiety and fear of large crowds when riding solo should make going to the theatre alone one of the most horrific experiences I could encounter only second to going to a concert. Our perception of solo events is truly bonkers, even the most outgoing person would likely recoil in horror and be reduced to a ball of fear and sweat at the thought of sitting in a crowded room of stranger with no one to talk to. Trust me, I get it.

I know I’ve spoken about my social anxiety multiple times over the past 10+ years (oh my god I’m old???) but back in my uni days, I was only just starting to come out of my shell, still very fearful of social situations unless I had a friend by my side and someone to talk to. Even having a friend on hand made me nervous because what if the conversation dries up, what do we talk about next? It’s only in the past few years I haven’t felt a knot in my stomach and a tightness in my chest along with the burning urge to cancel any and all plans.

With all that being said, solo trips to the theatre were something I became used to throughout the duration of uni, largely because I didn’t have any friends interested in live musicals or plays, and even if I did, they definitely couldn’t afford to flit to London at the drop of a hat. So instead of missing out on seeing my favourite actors performing live, or watching the musicals I love so much on stage, I gave myself a week needed shove in the back. I bought a ticket to see Platinum at Hampstead Theatre, and well, I’ve never looked back. It took that one push out of my comfort zone, lots of panicking and stressing leading up to the performance, and it changed me for good.

 

The following 8 years I haven’t shied away from countless theatre visits (along with 8 hour round Megabus trips from Cardiff to London every few weeks), supporting (and meeting in some cases) some of my favourite actors and making memories I wouldn’t trade for the world. The following year I started a fan Twitter account to make theatre friends, one of which I’m still good friends with today.

If you want a real positive boost, the first solo theatre trip I took was in mid January, 2 weeks later I booked a last minute ticket and took myself to watch Waitress on Broadway. That night is one of my most treasured memories and that definitely would not have happened if I hadn’t taken that first leap. Life has a funny way of working out.

Pre-2025, the last show I’d been to see was Come From Away in the West End back in 2021, its outrageous how much time has passed when I used to be at the theatre every other week, but I decided this year I was going to rekindle my love for it and book some shows I’ve wanted to see for so long. It’s almost criminal that I work so close to the Palace Theatre on Oxford Road, and live on the bus route there, yet I hadn’t been since moving to Manchester. At the back end of last year I booked a ticket to see Kinky Boots (Johannes Radebe in it too, oh my god yes PLEASE!) and then swiftly booked Dear Evan Hansen too, making the most of touring shows is the way forward, I told myself to stop being a snob and not only see shows in the West End. And then tickets popped up for Bat Out of Hell for under £20 which felt rude to ignore.

As it turned out, these shows were all in February, I might as well have paid the Palace rent instead of my landlord for the month. I wont like, the experiences still felt a little daunting, especially for Kinky Boots as it was my first solo theatre trip in over 6 years and heading in felt a little bit awkward because I’m not familiar with the seating plan in the, but of course I was fine.

Tips

• Familiarise yourself with where you’re going if it’s your first time someone new, don’t panic your way there otherwise it’s ruin some of the fun and excitement from your experience.
  
  
• If you’re really nervous, I’d advise booking seats at the end of the row or as close as you can get. If you’re really panicky, you know you can swiftly leave your seat for a breather without bothering others and feels like a fast escape for your mind. Thankfully I’ve never needed to leave but it’s there for peace of mind.
  
  
• Not sitting in the Stalls? Take the stairs up to the level you’re seated in, lifts with strangers is not the way forward if you’re already nervous (unless you’re unable to walk the flights of stairs wait for the next available empty lift or arrive when doors open to afford you the time).
  
  
• Walking up to the theatre, I usually have my headphones on, keep them on until you’re inside or even until you reach your seat if you’re uncomfortable. Just please remove them when speaking to staff and when they’re scanning your ticket to avoid making the encounter more uncomfortable and appearing rude.
  
  
• Remember, you’re not supposed to talk during a performance anyway, so sitting in silence with strangers is not as uncomfortable as sitting there trying to make small talk.
  
  
• Have fun! Try to keep your mind quiet, relax and enjoy yourself, after all you’ve paid for the experience so take what you want from it.
  
  

Where would you like to see me go next?

Please follow along for more solo experiences and tips to make the most of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone!

S xo

WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT THEATRE?

WARNING: This is gonna be one long, mushy and self indulgent tale about my love affair with theatre. I’ll answer the post title question at some point (probably right at the end when I remember that there was an actual point to this ramble). Oh, and I'm also going to be talking about theatre quite a lot more on this trusty ol' blog.

As I write (most of) this, I’m on my way to London again. This afternoon I’m seeing Betrayal, and Waitress this evening. I’m ridiculously excited about both, seeing Waitress again on home soil will be fun and I adore Katharine McPhee (back from her Smash days), and seeing Tom Hiddleston on stage? Let’s hope I don’t pass out.

So let’s start from the beginning.

It’s been around 10 years since I first fell in love with musicals, I don’t know why it took me so long, but amidst all my emo-ness, long black hair, sight-hindering side fringe and My Chemical Romance loving persona, I was utterly obsessed with Hairspray. I’d just seen a school production of it (only because one of my best friends was in the chorus) and I wondered why I hadn’t paid any attention to musicals before then. I also really wished I had the confidence to get up on that stage and perform too, because it looked a blast and all I wanted to do was sing (it’s probably for the best I don’t though).

Christmas Day ‘11, I was gifted tickets to see The Lion King at the Lyceum in London, and for those who know me, you’ll know that TLK has been a long time love of mine since ‘94. I didn’t know how I’d feel seeing it acted out on stage - or if I was really a theatre type of person - but I cried from the opening number, virtually until the end and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. It’s safe to say that was one of the best experiences of my life.

In August 2012, the day after my A Level results came in, my mama and I saw an evening show of Wicked in the West End. I was utterly obsessed with it at the time and I cried seeing Matt Willis as Fiyero (and Rachel Tucker at Elphaba, whaaaaat?!).

Everything started to escalate around then, I didn’t attend much theatre but I was enjoying musicals more than I ever imagined, it was virtually taking over my life. I spent all my free time watching Glee, listening to OBC’s and cast recordings and the odd bootleg I could find (mostly How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Darren Criss) and fantasising about being the next big star (whilst doing absolutely nothing to help that dream along).

I’ll never forget the moment my mum took me to Shaftesbury Avenue - under false pretences may I add -, stood us outside the Queen’s theatre and produced 2 tickets for Les Miserables from her bag. I don’t think I stopped crying for a good half an hour, I was sobbing and giggling into my Subway sandwich. And then set off again as soon as the show started.

The theatre love only seemed to stop at musical theatre though, I really couldn’t ever entertain the idea of sitting and watching something on stage without them bursting into song. I’m used to live music, I was practically raised on it, so people standing on stage and just talking? Not for me thanks.

Fast forward to late 2016, I was in my first semester of uni and one of my favourite actors announced that he was going to be making his theatre debut in January, with another announced for the following month. Play interest or not, I was seeing George Blagden even if I was bored to tears. Turns out, Platinum & The Pitchfork Disney not only enabled me to meet one of my idols, but also opened my eyes to how interesting and diverse that side of theatre could be. And I wasn’t bored to tears once. In fact, after seeing TPD at Shoreditch Town Hall, I went home and booked tickets to see Alex Vlahos (George’s onscreen brother) in La Ronde at Southwark’s The Bunker and another ticket to see TPD. I was suddenly hooked.

I should mention that amidst the first 3 months of 2017, I also saw Waitress on Broadway(!!!!).

As the year went on, I saw The Ferryman (which was utterly unbelievable), I’d been wanting to see it since before it’s transfer to the West End but the Royal Court tickets went like hot cakes (I just wanted to see Fra Fee and Paddy Considine). That was also the same year as my Dunkirk hype, (I was horribly obsessed, yep) so I snapped up a ticket once I knew the date of Tom Glynn Carney’s final performance. And then went home and made a Twitter account to connect with more like-minded theatre folk like myself. Little did I know that would be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

January 2018 I got my first day seat. It required a 3am coach from Cardiff to get to the Gielgud for a reasonable time in hopes of grabbing a £12 ticket to see The Ferryman, it was cold and miserable (and I knew some folk had been there since about midnight) but I got a front row ticket and was seated amongst a tonne of people I knew from Twitter which was surreal in its own right.

My love affair with the Gielgud ain’t over yet.

By the time May came around, I was ready to see Tartuffe to support George Blagden again, fully deciding that I was going to see every piece of theatre he did in London (and probably further afield because I love to support that honey) and then an announcement came out that my favourite actor was to do a two-month Shakespearean theatre stint at Donmar Warehouse. I’ll never forget the excitement amongst myself and a bunch of Twitter friends, we all freaked. the. eff. out. In total I saw Measure For Measure seven times during the 10 week engagement, including opening night, original closing night, amended closing night (it was given a one week extension) and three times in the final eight days of the run. 

I can’t even begin to explain the importance of that time, it was insane, I made a bunch more friends, made incredible memories with some of my best friends and met my idols more times than I can even recall. To see Jack Lowden & Hayley Atwell on a small stage as many times as I did is something I’ll never forget, nor will I forget the emotions I felt or the in depth chat I had with Hayley about her portrayal of the MCU’s Peggy Carter and MFM’s Isabella, and how important both roles are. Shortening those two months to three sentences seems unjust, but I still don’t know how to articulate how incredible the whole experience was.

Somewhere in between I fell in love with Company too, the gender-reversed Stephen Sondheim musical that briefly flew into the Gielgud for a few months, it was far more than I expected it to be, such incredible talent - hello, Patti LuPone was in it!! - and a whole stage show that had me smiling from ear to ear all throughout. And also finding Bobby relatively relatable. Seeing that twice was such good fun, both times I booked tickets were on a whim but so worth it, especially seeing it front row (oh, did I mention that George was in this too??)

And then that brings us to this year. Another whim trip to see The Woman in Black with one of my good friends. It’s not something I’d particularly wanted to see but when Elle said “let’s go see this!!!”, I saw a theatre trip opportunity and said “count me in”. Honestly, if you get the theatre on a good night (when there isn’t a class trip of kids sat behind you) then it’s amazing. Two actors (three if you actually count the title woman), a few props and an eager audience is all it takes, it’s immersive and captivating and I love the storytelling of it. I’d definitely contemplate giving this a go again and I love putting myself out of my normal comfort zone. Side note: It really wasn’t as scary as I’d expected. Thank Moses.

Olivier Awards. What a tiring, fun, soggy experience that turned out to be. Okay, so it wasn’t a tiresome patch on the BAFTA’s from last year, that was a whole weird time in itself that made me think I was gonna keel over and have to nab an inhaler from someone. Thankfully the whole wristband situation was a lot easier for this awards show. For those who don’t know, if you want to stand in pens along the red carpet to see the guests arriving, and hopefully nab a few selfies, then you can, you just have to get a wristband on the day. BAFTA’s was a nightmare, Olivier’s were far easier. Amy & I arrived at the Royal Albert Hall at just before 7am, got our gold bands and then sat in McDonalds for three hours before anywhere else opened. It felt poignant to do this particular awards ceremony this year, after how important theatre has been to both of us over the past 12 months, it was the thing to do. There were many “I know their face, who are they”’s and “Is that who I think it is?”, a lot of rain and most importantly, a lot of actors that had been doing the West End circuit around the time. Meeting Jay McGuiness was a total highlight of the night (okay, of my life!), and Harry Judd, Rosalie Craig, Danny Dyer and my OG Elphaba, Rachel Tucker, made the whole thing worth it.

Who knows, maybe I’ll have to head there again next year.

Finally, this week I saw Betrayal which was an interesting play, a Harold Pinter one as part of the Pinter at the Pinter season, I started off unsure and by the end I was hooked. Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox & Zawe Ashton were a great trio to bring the story to life. In all honesty I didn’t think I was going to get to see this, the tickets were so far out of my price range and I couldn’t justify £90 on a “cheap” seat, but thankfully the #RushTicket system is in place and I was lucky enough to purchase a Stalls seat for £15 making that little dream come true.

So, as soon as that was booked I decided to make a day of it in London and booked for Waitress in the evening. I’m not lying when I said that I started crying as soon as the opening bars of Opening Up rang throughout the theatre. Maybe it was the emotions of the day, my tiredness, the fact I was dripping wet from the vile weather outside, the fact my nosebleed seat had been upgraded to the Stalls or the fact that I just really love this musical with all of my heart. I really cried a lot throughout, and spent more than I intended on merchandise, but it’s a special one and I can’t wait to go back even just to smell the beautiful scent of freshly baked pie in the foyer (I remember that well from the Brooks Atkinson!). Oh and meeting a bunch of the cast, Katharine McPhee included, didn’t harm the evening at all.

There’s now no concrete theatre plans in my future - just yet - but hopefully over the next few weeks I’ll have the opportunity to either make another trip to London or tack some shows onto the end of my existing trips so I can see my girl Hayley Atwell & Tom Burke in Henrik Ibsen’s Rosmersholm and my new fave musical Come From Away. And then I definitely need to find something to see in NYC next month!

To finish the year I’m hoping to take a cheeky London trip with my mum to see BIG the Musical (because we both love Jay McGuiness and I don’t think she’ll forgive me for meeting him until she does herself) and then I have to see Jeremy Jordan play one of four shows at London’s Cadogan Hall because I love that chap so damn much.

Now the answer to the big question.

So what’s so important about theatre? It’s like film and any other form of entertainment, there’s nothing like shutting off for a few hours, immersing yourself completely in something and being entertained. For me, it’s helped me get through the stress of uni (sometimes the amount of travelling has added to it and I’ve panicked I wasn’t going to finish work but it’s not hindered me in the slightest), it’s given me a tonne of new friends that I can go to the theatre, film premieres, Comic Con, London trips for hanging out with and people to talk to online, and it’s given me such joy and happiness that I can’t even begin to express how much it’s changed, and impacted, my life.

I’ve met so many new people, supported new talent, met so many actors that I admire wholeheartedly, and theatre has put a smile on my face so frequently that I don’t know what I’m gonna do when London isn’t so cheaply accessible to me as it is right now. 

I like to think I’ve made the most of only being a 4hr coach ride from the capital though.

It may seem like a short answer but I’m sure my theatre accounts go some way to explaining just how important it is to myself and others just like me.

It's one of the world's oldest forms of entertainment, so here's to theatre never dying out.

S xo

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THE NYC SERIES: WAITRESS & BROADWAY

New York is a hub for virtually all major industries and the arts is one of the biggest of them all in the city. 

Basically, Broadway is London's West End on a much bigger scale. Yeah, even I was surprised by the amount of theatres. After falling in love with musical theatre around 7 years ago, I'd been eager to see something on Broadway, so after booking my trip I knew I had to start finding a show to go and see.

Turns out, most shows were either ending just before I arrived, or starting just after I left. Sod's law, right? The main shows on my list (that I knew would still be showing) were Waitress & Kinky Boots, one influenced by Tumblr and the other starring Killian Donnelly. I honestly had no idea what to choose.

I decided on seeing Waitress the day before I went to see it, thanks to the ticket app TodayTix (can be used globally, so download it and see what cheap tickets you can pick up!), and I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am that I took someone's advice on Tumblr. Especially for the divine scent of freshly baked pies in the foyer. I'm still craving one!

Based off a film and with the music written by Sara Bareilles, it's full of moments that have you laughing hysterically one minute and then fighting back tears the next. Jessie Mueller is unreal, I'm so happy that I was lucky enough to see her wonderful talent in this role and the rest of the cast were as mesmerisingly incredible too. I'm a new Drew Gehling fangirl right now, I just love Dr Pomatter.

I'll tell you this now, the soundtrack is addictive so its definitely up to you if you want to listen to it. Thankfully I'm no longer crying into my Cheerios over She Used To Be Mine and You Matter To Me.

To the amusement of my friends (yeah guys, I know you're just kidding) I ended up finding myself amongst a tonne of theatregoers outside the stage door and met this sweet chap, William Popp, who plays Mr Nasty aka Earl Hunterson. I was also lucky enough to meet Joe Cassidy who plays Cal and Ella Dane Morgan who plays the adorable little Lulu (no picture evidence for either, soz).

I'm not sure if it was the thrill of Times Square, the buzz of a new city at night, the theatre adrenaline or a mixture of all these combined, but I couldn't resist wandering from theatre to theatre to see the places I'd only ever heard about. How incredible to see these influential places up close?

The following evening, after abandoning my friends on the last evening after dinner, I all but ran over to the Al Hirschfeld theatre to catch Killian Donnelly after the evening performance of Kinky Boots. Yes I did fall and sprain my ankle, but I met this little gem and I'm only so ecstatic about it. I think the highlight was him seeing my phone's lock screen photo of George Bladgen & I and calling out 'Blagdog!'. (My Les Mis obsessed heart cried a little. I just really love Grantaire & Combeferre okay?)

Once again, I found myself back at the Brooks Atkinson theatre just as the evenings performance of Waitress was ending, the kind security guy gave me 5 Playbill's and I was the first to stand at the stage door, so I managed to grab a fair portion of the cast to sign a copy.

Tips / Recommendations

1. Look for tickets on TodayTix

I'm recommending this purely because this is what I used to find my ticket, it was cheaper than Ticketmaster and it was a fairly decent seat too.

I'm not sure how much street vendors charge but shopping around would be a good option.

2. Grab a Playbill

Playbill's are an iconic piece of Broadway, I only wish we had them in the UK, or something similar. A few years back I paid £10 + postage for a How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying one with Darren Criss on the cover which is insane because at the theatres they are FREE. They're available on the seats in the theatres so everyone is given one and if you ask they'll most likely give you more.

When I went off to meet Killian I realised I had nothing for him to sign, I popped my head around the door of the theatre, politely asked them if they'd let me have a Playbill and they were more than happy to help me. The same went for Waitress, like I said earlier, they gave me a stack of them! I've also heard many stories about tourists asking for them at theatres and most have been successful.

Next time I'll theatre hop for them.

3. Wander around the theatres after 10pm

I know this sounds dangerous and irresponsible, and anywhere other than NYC I wouldn't recommend such a thing but there's so many people (!!!), and once the shows let out you have no idea who you'll bump into.

I wandered past one theatre that Nathan Lane was currently appearing at (y'know, Timon from The Lion King?) and whilst I didn't see him, tonnes of people were outside the stage door with cast members. It's very easy to see people there.

4. Make the most of Broadway

I understand that not everyone loves musicals like I do (what a crying shame) but theatre isn't just musicals, find another production or play to immerse yourselves in. Trust me, there's plenty to choose from.

Have you guys heard the Waitress soundtrack of been lucky enough to catch a performance? What shows do you love/would love to see?

S xo

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BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY

There are those cities in the world that make my heart skip a beat no matter how many times I visit, and London? Well London right at the top of that list.

2 weeks back I took to the city on my own for the first time (ever!) to see one of my favourite bands live for possibly the last time (sob sob sob). My mind was reeling with places I wanted to go, things to do and truth be told, I didn't think I'd have time to breathe let alone do everything I wanted to. So maybe spending the Friday afternoon curled up on a double Travelodge bed, eating Yorkie's and watching Graceland, wasn't what I had in mind but after a tiring Paris trip, walking around Covent Garden in boots that crushed my feet and carrying an oversized bag that weighed a tonne, who can blame me?

I'd like to point out that I am still buzzing from seeing one of my favourite albums ever performed live in full and meeting the lovely guys from Cartel. I managed to gush to them about how their music carried me through my teens, how I've adored them since I was twelve years old and best of all, had a good old chat with them, especially Kevin who is def my new fave person. Can you say, besties? 

 London also presented me with my new favourite place, possibly ever - is that much? This place above is actual heaven in a shop, yeah really. I feel like they managed to create everything I wanted in one place without me realising I actually wanted it! You can drink tea, eat cake and listen to some of the greatest musicals tracks ever written and recorded. If that wasn't awesome enough, they have free wifi, iPads on every table and you can request any song you like. I could kiss the person who put on Goodbye from Catch Me If You Can, I totally didn't squeal and beam like the sun.

If you're heading into the city and you're around the Shaftesbury Avenue area, I definitely recommend you head in, even if just for the delicious Pecan, Honey & Banana cake. 

You can find the cafe just opposite the Queen's Theatre, the home of Les Miserables.

July cannot come quick enough when I can properly explore London - and eat a lot more of that cake!

SB xo
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