Another Stage, Another Story

Recently I met up with the lovely Ross McKinnon, 17, an up and coming musical theatre performer from Glasgow. He's currently on a 2 year course at the Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre Arts (GAMTA), whilst studying at school. Ross was recently awarded a full-time 3 year Scholarship to GAMTA.

I asked him how old he was when he first got into musical theatre, "It's kind of been all of my life, I was about eight when I started, I got into a local drama group  but my mum had been taking me to see shows for years. The first show I did was South Pacific, and from there on it's been kind of constant," he says. "Musical theatre is what I want to do. I went to see Oliver, my first ever show, when I was 4 and it's always stuck with me. I wanted to play the Artful Dodger after seeing it, I can even remember the day when I realised I was too old for the part. Also, my Dad used to take me to see panto every Christmas."

In 2009, at the age of fourteen, Ross made the transition from amateur dramatics to becoming a professional with GAMTA. "It was horrible for me because I really didn't want to leave, I can remember being so upset," he tells me, "but now I know it was the right move at the right time."

For someone so talented and after everything he has achieved, it's incredible how little self belief Ross has. So many talentless people are so cocky, yet he sits there in his Jack Wills hoodie and tells me he isn't even that good. "I got the scholarship and people were complementing me and I'm like 'guys, this isn't me you're talking about?' because I don't believe them. I don't sit there and think "wow, I'm amazing" because I'm not, looking at the people around me I can see how good they are and how hard I really need to work because I'm nowhere near as good," he says with a look of determination. When the reality is his hard work is already paying off, hence winning the only scholarship.

I admire Ross' dedication and ambition, between his hard work at school and theatrical studies, I doubt he has much time left to Facebook, watch soaps and play Xbox like most teens his age.

"Musical Theatre is what I want to do, it's my passion, it's all I listen to on my iPod and it's all I have on my phone, one of my friends insists I should put some 'proper music' on there. My Dad keeps saying I could tell you anything about musical theatre but I couldn't tell you the top 10 in the charts."

When asked if he would consider doing serious drama, he said "There's different ranks in acting and it's like there is; 'Shakespearian actors' then 'Theatre Actors' and then 'TV and Movies' and right at the bottom, musicals. People look down on musical theatre and say it's not serious but it's so much harder. You have to sing, act and dance at the same time. If you do a play, you have to act, yes it can be very intense and most musicals tend to be quite upbeat but there is a whole different side to musical theatre that people don't see at first glance. It is  looked down on it because of commercial stuff but if you really look into it, it's quite serious and in some ways harder. I do like plays, I read a lot of plays but musical theatre is what I want to do."

Most people get nervous having to perform to even a small crowd but for Ross, his nerves really depend on the situation. "At the Young Scot Awards last year I wasn't very nervous because I was so comfortable with the people I was performing with. I just thought it's going to go well, they know what they're doing," Ross tells me. "Taken out of my musical theatre scenario, I do get very nervous. Also a lot of the time changes are made just before a show and that's quite nerve racking. You can't predict how it's going to go. One time we did a show and the main character lost his voice on the night. He had a lot of big notes and just couldn't hit them, we had a panic rehearsal and the show was changed up a lot, that made me really nervous. Usually I'm part of a cast I can trust, you can play off each other and work it out."

Ross found it hard to pick just one favourite performance, "I loved 'Me and My Girl', I did that when I was a lot younger but at GAMTA we did a performance of 'Scrooge', an adaption of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. They wrote it themselves and it was brilliant, I loved it. It was double-cast and it was brilliant, just a brilliant show, amazing music and an amazing part.." he stops to think, "But 13 was brilliant as well, the one where lead lost his voice. I heard his voice was going and I just went on stage and started singing. By the end of the song, I realised everyone else had gathered on stage too, singing.  It felt like a big family came out and supported him and that was a really good night, I would probably say that was the best performance I've had just because I will never forget that."

"Just give me any theatre in London and I'll go," he answers when I ask which venue he'd love to perform in. "I'd love to play in the Adelphi in London just because they have staged some amazing shows. To stand on that stage and think 'wow, the people who've stood here before me'. I think it would depend what show as well, the experience you have and be like 'this is the place, this is where it happened'."

I asked him if there's a part he would love to play and a person he'd most want to perform with, he blushes, "Oh, this is really embarrassing, it's on Broadway just now. I'd love to play Bert in Mary Poppins, that's my dream part, how sad is that?" he laughs. "And as far as people go, Chris Colfer or Michael Ball, I admire them both so much."

He recently featured on BBC's Glee Club for Sport's Relief, "We only did it for a bit of fun, it was for charity and it was an experience. It was brilliant because now I know that I don't like that kind of scene." He continues, "I had an idea that I didn't like talent shows, I would never go on The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent but now I can say I've done it and I didn't like it."

Of course, I had to ask Ross his professional opinion on Glee, "I really like certain things about Glee but then I don't like other things about it. I like that they have brought musical theatre to a wider audience and it's like a 'thing' now," he explains. "Although, I don't like the fact they make out it can be handed to you on a plate if you join the school's glee club, because a lot of people think they can do it and it will be easy."

The industry is very competitive and he's definitely not naive, "I see the amount of people I perform with and how good they are. I went to an audition for a show on the BBC called MI:5 and there were so many people there, literally hundreds, that wasn't the only day they were auditioning and there were only 3 parts going." If he doesn't make it, he would love to teach Drama or English.

I asked Ross if he thought tickets for West End Shows in London are out of reach for most people because of their prices, he replied, "I think it's terrible, I paid £75 for my Sweeney Todd ticket alone so for a family, it's hundreds. However, these shows seem to sell out."

Ross has a lot going on in the next few months, "We're doing a show called Spring Awakening, it's quite an edgy show, with sexual content and it's all a bit grown-up. Then, I'll be leaving school at the end of the year and going to start the course full time. So there's exciting times but first it's my exams," he sighs.

JLS 4th Dimension Tour

Last week (April 5th) I went to see JLS on their tour at the SECC in Glasgow. At £35 a ticket the boys were expected to put on a big show. Going in, I could tell what kind of audience this was going to be. Hoards of young girls ran by every few seconds with their JLS hoodies(£30) and foam fingers(£12), average age of the girls was probably about ten years old.

When I went in, the first support act were already on stage and as I got to my seat their set was just finishing. I was sat at the front of Block LL very close to the stage, on the aisle end at an angle. This meant no one was in front of me, my view was amazing, I could see every move. The second support act Vida came on stage after a short message from Oritsé promoting them. The girls performed a small collection of their own songs but it was clear their "swag" was more important than the vocal or lyrical content. Maybe the act was better from a distance? As the performance went on, their singing got shakier and their debut single failed to impress the arena. Starboy Nathan was the last support act, he had two dancers and really got the crowd going. He performed his brand new single 'Who Am I' and everyone joined in with the chorus. He also performed his big hit from last year 'Diamonds' and the whole arena sang along. 

A security man came and spoke to the people sat in my area to inform us that "the band would walk by" and that we weren't to "jump out or grab them". This got my friends and I extremely excited! After a twenty minute break a video came on the screens explaining JLS' mission, they had to pass 4 dimensions to collect their gems (which were of course their trademark colours). There was then a 10 second countdown and one by one JLS came down, on wires onto a second stage in the middle of the audience. It was very theatrical to watch and the roar of the screaming arena was quite incredible. They began to sing and it was made clear that no matter what, the vocals were not lost. Aston has an amazing range! After a couple of songs it was time for them to walk through the audience to the main stage. Marvin and JB took on my side of the arena while Aston and Oritsé went via the other way. I put my hand out as they went by and got to hold Marvin's hand, just for a second. It was hard to believe that I had just touched Marvin Humes' hand! 

The second dimension of the tour was very colourful and striking to watch. Say what you like about these boys but you cannot deny their talent for dancing, the routines showed a wide variety of dance moves and brought something fresh.

Amongst all of their own hits, the boys performed a cover of Labrinth's 'Earthquake'. This included flying across the stage on wires, faceless dancers, lightsabers and fire! It really felt like I was captured in the moment. When they came down, the band got onto a triangular platform and glided across the audience onto the alternative stage for a second time. 

Whilst the boys continued to blast out their biggest hits with amazing dance routines, security gathered in the aisles once again to prepare for them passing back to the main stage. I was so excited and knew what to expect this time as Aston and Oritsé came by. I actually got to touch both of them, their arms were ridiculously muscley and really very sweaty. The next 5 minutes consisted of me jumping around and swooning over the fact that I TOUCHED JLS!

In the last part of the tour the boys interacted with the crowd a bit more, they did a medley of covers including 'OMG', 'Beautiful People' and 'Yeah x3'. The lads certainly know how to work a crowd. Aston was talking to the fans while Marvin and Oritsé wiped down and then threw their towel into the audience, good banter. They then thanked their fans for everything and came across as very humble and genuine guys. It's refreshing to see such successful popstars actually appreciating what they have. They work so hard and deserve every success. A very happy Glasgow crowd left the SECC that night and I guarantee there were no disappointed fans any other night of the tour. In one word...stunning!

Eaten by the Dozen

Every year Easter Eggs seem to go on the shelves even earlier than the previous year, I'm pretty sure they were in supermarkets before the Christmas chocolate had been cleared off the shelves. Of course, we all bitterly complained to each other about this. Do we really need four months in advance to buy Easter eggs? Doesn't it feel a bit excessive?

Well apparently not.. By Saturday at 2pm major supermarkets across the UK had sold out of all their Easter eggs. The Easter aisles left with nothing but broken bunnies and bashed boxes. People were clueless with what to do, they had no chocolate eggs for their family!

Does this show how last minute we are as a nation? Where did all the eggs go? Surely this means everyone was just buying them in their weekly shopping and eating them as they went along. Now it sounds really greedy but how else did we sell out of millions of Easter eggs?! 

I can remember, when I was younger, going shopping just after Easter and seeing all of the left over eggs in the sale. This year, there were no left over eggs. People were out on Easter Sunday thinking they would still be able to buy eggs. You could say that companies didn't produce enough and, perhaps, that's true but I think the reality is chocolate eggs are no longer an Easter treat but yet another promotion for companies. I read one tweet saying 'why do we even have eggs, I can't remember?' but I bet she still ate a few.

On Point of Principle

As the rest of the family sit down to relax with hot chocolate and brownies, fifteen year old Lily enjoys a bowl of weetabix and soya milk. Why you ask? In January vegetarian Lily became a vegan. This means she can't eat meat, eggs, dairy products or any foods with other animal-derived ingredients.

I wanted to find out her thought process behind this. "Well I've always been a vegetarian and there were a lot of reasons for that" she says, "animal compassion, the environment and the 'factory farming' process. Based on all this I felt it would be very hypocritical to continue to eat animal products. Even when you're not directly killing them, for example male calves are killed just because they aren't needed and it's the same with male chicks. By supporting dairy and poultry farms, you are supporting the slaughtering of animals."

Some people might say that she's very young to have such a strong opinion, to this she responded "I think that age is only a number and people underestimate the potential of young people to form opinions and make political decisions."

Being a vegan isn't easy, when you think about it there's so much that isn't suitable. I was interested to know how strict Lily is. "At home and when I have control over what I'm eating I am very strict with myself. When I go to other people's houses and they have cooked me a meal, I will eat it as usually they will have made an effort to accommodate my diet and most of the time people don't realise that things aren't suitable for vegans" she explains. "Quorn actually contains egg but because they don't have to think about it everyday, people don't realise. It's a lot ruder for me to point it out than it is harder for me to stretch my diet once in a while."

Most teenagers act like it would kill them to give up all of their favourite sweets. "I do miss chocolate, ice-cream, cheese, milk...and cake but you soon get used to not have them and it's easier to give things up than you assume, well I think it is anyway." Lily explained to me all of the different substitutes available, "Dairy free chocolate, it's not the same but it fills my cravings. I also have a recipe for chocolate brownies which is made with soya yogurt instead of eggs and butter. They taste so good!"

Without trying to sound negative I asked Lily if she thought she could keep it up as I personally don't think I could. "I really hope I stick with it" she says positively looking ahead, "the only way I can see myself giving up would be for health reasons."

Lily's Vegan Brownie Recipe

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup self-raising flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup melted vegan margarine

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain soya yoghurt

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Method: Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C / Gas Mark 4. Mix all the ingredients together and spread in a greased baking tray. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool for around 30 minutes in the tin then remove them and store at room temperature.

A Change in the Climate, A Change in the Way We Think

Last week the UK was hit with some lovely warm weather, something we are not at all used to. March here is normally pretty miserable and everyone gets on with things waiting for time to pass and hit summer. As soon as the sun was out, so were the shorts! Everyone stripped off and made the most of the weather.

Sunny weather definitely makes a change to us mentally, walking around I felt a lot happier partly due to the fact I didn't have to dash around to avoid being soaked. The days seem to go a lot quicker when it's hot outside. People around me seemed to be full of energy, general attitude was very positive and people were ready to work. Being Scottish I'm used to the awful weather and it's something we just have to put up with.

It certainly lowers you into a false sense of security, the good weather only lasted a week. Once we've had our glimpse of the good life it's unfortunately back to normality. In a couple of days we could even have snow, which is crazy.

Hopefully summer will be full of lots of sunshine! I find everything about summer very inspiring from clothes, to music, to lying on a beach. I asked people what made them happy and warm weather was a top answer. All year we complain that it's too cold but then all of a sudden it's too hot! Just enjoy it while it lasts, we might not have much time before the gritters are taking over the roads once again.

The Real Funny Guys

On Saturday I was lucky enough to catch an interview with Rob Broderick and James Hancox aka hip-hop comedy act Abandoman the day after they performed at the International Comedy Festival in Glasgow. Winners of both Hackney Empire New Act of the Year 2010 and The Musical Comedy Awards 2010, they improvise rapping to a live audience, no two gigs are ever the same. Abandoman first came to my attention when I saw them supporting Ed Sheeran on his live tour January, when they blew me away with their act. They're two of the loveliest guys I have ever met, we couldn't stop chatting but unfortunately, they had a train back to London to catch. If you met them in a cafe, you would definitely be talking and laughing non-stop for hours.

I was very nervous as it was the first interview I'd ever done but I think it went really well and afterwards they actually wished me the best of luck with my journalism.

We spoke about the difference between playing the comedy circuit and supporting Ed Sheeran on his live tour. At comedy clubs people know what to expect and they're all seated where as on the tour the crowd were hyped and up for joining in at every opportunity. James definitely loves the screaming crowds.

The most challenging question was about their thoughts on what it's like to be a teenage in this generation - is it harder than it was 10 years ago? With the internet and social networking everything is so instant nowadays and very different. I think Rob found it unfair to judge, of course, not being a teenager right now. In my opinion it is a lot harder, now we have to deal with cyber bullying and people hiding behind screens trying to make other people miserable. Not to mention the whole fame side of things, everything is so 'in your face' and hard to ignore.