Flavia Cacace's blog by Flavia_Cacace

After about 4 weeks of rehearsals for Midnight Tango, opening night at the Aldwych is upon us. The last 2 weeks have been really hard, technical rehearsals run from 10 in the morning to 10 in the evening and are quite draining. These “tech runs” as we call them are essential, because they give everyone the necessary time to get all aspects of the show perfect for when we officially open. Everything including costume/lighting/sound and our own performances have to be perfect and you have to keep working at it so it’s the best it can be. We also have what’s called “preview week” which means that we have been performing the show to paying audiences every night but making slight changes along the way. Our director Karen Bruce watches the show and gives us notes and we keep trying new things out to get the show running smoothly.

This may mean making only minor adjustments, which can be quite hard to remember sometimes, but these changes can make a big difference. The audiences in the preview week were wonderful and we have all been looking forward to opening night and getting the show on. After opening night the work load for all of us should be a bit lighter. Intensive rehearsals should ease off and we should have more time to rest and recuperate our tired limbs! Talking of which, I had the most amazing Thai Yoga massage at the weekend. I haven’t had one before and to be honest wasn’t sure what it was, but it was one of the best things I’ve had. It’s a deep tissue massage but with a lot of manipulation and stretching, so I was being pulled all over the place.

At the end of the session they work on all your energy points which really worked. The next day I felt re-energized for the week ahead and will be definitely be booking one of these every week. Also my other half Jimi has been keeping the whole cast going on double show days with some homemade treats. We’ve had flapjacks, chocolate brownies and ginger biscuits and we’ve started to call them Mistry’s mystery bakes. I just hope he manages to keep up the good work! As well as rehearsals we’ve been doing lots of press for the show like radio and TV. We also recorded The Alan Titchmarsh Show a couple of days ago, which will be aired on the 13th March.

Also one thing I want to say is big congratulations to my Strictly dance partner Russell Grant. Yes my Mama Rose will be starring in The Wizard Of Oz in the West End from mid Feb. I am so pleased for him and he has done ever so well. His big dream was to go back to musical theatre and that’s exactly what he’s doing. He always used to say to me that one day he wanted us both to be starring together in the West End. Well now we are and just around the corner from each other, how amazing is that?! See you soon. Love FC xx