Tags
A Christmas Carol, Byers' Chpice, Charles Dickens, Kew Gardens, Mr Dickens is Coming!, Newark Airport, Queen Victoria
When I woke up on Saturday morning I realised that I would be flying home later that day – and yet I still had a 2 hour drive and a 2 act show before I could even start thinking about airports. I say ‘when I woke up…’ actually I didn’t really sleep very much, for the storm that had blown in the night before battered the town of Lewes all night, hurling dumpsters around, and bringing trees to the ground. I was rather concerned that when I did peek out of the window I would see a yellow brick road leading off into the distance, and a pair of feet sticking out from beneath the hotel. When it was a reasonable hour I emailed David and suggested that maybe meeting for breakfast would not be such a good idea, and I would take a literal rain-check. His reply came back quickly, and he agreed that it would be better to remained hunkered down in his house that morning.
I waited until around 8am and then went down to breakfast, which at the Inn on Canal Square is a beautiful continental buffet. There were other guests appearing and we all did that most British of things – we talked about the weather. Some thought it was clearing up, some thought it would get worse, some feared that driving would be dangerous, it all made me feel quite at home.
The weather commented on, it was now time for the serious business of breakfast, and I piled a plate up with some fresh fruit, followed by a hard boiled egg, ham, cheese, with some mini pastries, all washed down with orange juice and coffee – it was very elegant and civilised.
When I had finished, I returned to my room and made sure that I unpacked all of the Great Expectations stuff from my roller bag, and instead packed the waistcoats and props needed for my Mr Dickens is Coming and Dickens and the Queen double bill, which I would be performing at Byers’ Choice that afternoon.
At around 9 am there seemed to be a very slight break in the weather, so I took the opportunity to get my bags to the car, and got on the road. The streets of Lewes were deserted as my Jeep splashed its way towards Route 1 (odd that I was on Route 1 in California also), and headed North towards Pennsylvania. Just outside Lewes I saw a sign advertising the presence of ‘The Keyboard Center’, with a large white grand piano mounted onto it, and as I passed the industrial units behind the sign I peered in, to see if there was a large showroom with beautiful instruments, but all I saw was ‘Collision Center. All repairs.’ What do they do with pianos in Delaware? Is there a sort of demolition derby for them here?
The rest of the drive was uneventful, although the weather never really relented, and I arrived at Byers’ Choice in Chalfont, PA at around midday. Byers’ Choice have been booking and managing my tours for many years, and I feel completely at home whenever I am fortunate enough to visit their magnificent facility. I unloaded the car, and hauled my bags into the administrative area of the building. I left the cases in the hallway and then went to Bob’s office where we exchanged a hug of hello and began discussing the week’s events. These conversations are always important, for it helps us to create future tours in as an affective and efficient way as possible. On the present occasion the forward planning also involved my performance at Byers’ Choice in December, as Bob was thinking of relocating the stage in another area of the factory for this year’s event, and we spent some time standing between the work benches, and shipping boxes trying to visualise how the stage and seating would work in various configurations.
When we had finished our short recce, we made our way to the staff canteen which, for the September visit, becomes a really nice studio theatre, seating around 180. Being a company that specialises in creating the amazing carollers, there is an innate artistry within those walls, which means everything is done with flair, and the temporary stage that had been erected could have graced any theatre, consisting of plush scarlet drapes behind a recreation of Charles Dickens’ reading desk. Dave Daikeler, who looks after all of the technical aspects of my shows at Byers’, had rigged up lighting and a sound system, which completed the theatrical effect.
We did a quick sound check, and then filmed a few short video clips to promote various upcoming shows and events (including the publication of my new book, ‘Gerald Dickens: A Life on the Road With A Christmas Carol’)
Having finished all of the pre-checks I went to the conference room with the large table, that becomes my dressing room, and ate a salad with Bob as we continued to chat about this tour and future ones. As the 3pm start time approached, I paced around the deserted offices as the audience gathered, and it was a goodly sized group. When everyone was in their seats, Bob stepped up onto the stage to introduce me (not forgetting to mention that this was part of my 30th anniversary tour, and then left the stage to me.
I have performed Mr Dickens is Coming at Byers’ Choice before, but it was many years ago. The show on Saturday was great fun, the audience enjoyed the silly bits and applauded loudly at the end. After a short interval, during which I changed into the more formal ‘Queen Victoria’ waistcoat, I came back to the stage ready to recount the story of ‘Dickens and the Queen’, As I introduced the piece I realised that the double bill that I had been performing throughout the week was made up of the very first show I wrote for myself (the first versions of A Christmas were based on Dickens’ own adaptation), and the very latest.
After the two shows had finished I did hosted a most enjoyable Q&A session, which involved some quite serious questions about Charles Dickens’ marriage and separation, as well as his relationship with his mistress, Ellen Ternan. The questions kept on coming, until Bob came to the stage and gently brought the session to an end, reminding the audience that I had a plane to catch!
And so my mini-September tour came to an end, and it had been a must enjoyable week, with some beautiful hotels, the chance to meet old friends and make new ones, the opportunity to perform four different shows, and a bit of R&R in between times. Back in the conference room I packed my heaviest costume pieces into my carry-on case, so that my large suitcase wouldn’t creep over the magic 50 lbs mark, closed everything up and went to say my farewells to the Byers family. As I drove away I saw the large sign advertising my performances of A Christmas Carol in December.
Soon I was back in my Jeep driving back to Newark airport, where the whole adventure had begun with my missed connecting flight just a week before. I had plenty of time to return the car, check in and find gate C138 from where the overnight flight would depart. The gate area didn’t seem to be terribly busy, but when we boarded it was a cram packed flight. We were served a meal shortly after takeoff, and then I actually managed to get some sleep (very rare for me), before being woken an hour before we were due to land. I opened the window shade and looked down upon a thick layer of cloud that came closer and closer as the plane got lower and lower, and as we broke through I was rewarded by the most magnificent view of Kew Gardens, with its extraordinary palm houses, towering pagoda and Kew Palace, a favourite home of King George III, and the scene of the bizarre double wedding of that monarch’s sons to carefully selected German princesses, and the start of a ‘baby race’ to produce an heir, a race that was won by Edward, the Duke of Kent and his wife Victoire of Saxe-Coburg who gave birth to a daughter. She was named Alexandrina Victoria and was 5th in line to the throne.
At Heathrow I made my way through passport control. I, being a UK resident, could use the automatic booths, and got through quickly, but I did notice the huge lines that wound back and forward for foreign nationals entering the country. The joys and torments of travelling are the same the world over, and no doubt I shall experience the same when I return to America in just over a month’s time.