Hatstand Opera in Jersey

What a joy. Free WiFi broadband at Guernsey airport.

It's the little things that you appreciate on tour.

Easy flight to Jersey on another little Trislander (there are 10 of us on the flight and the plane seats 16). Taxi to the Arts Centre, put up the set and move the piano (another lovely Steinway grand). The venue is quite tricky to play - very wide and seating raked upwards from stage level. I'm singing a couple of numbers in this programme; now singing and playing at the same time demands a particular type of concentration - working "sideways and uphill" too is quite a challenge.

We are very well looked after by the lovely stage team here, down-to-earth and funny, including Steve who shows dogs. Kirsty has shown a dog at Crufts and has a good old chat with him. Turns out one of his dogs is a Crufts prizewinner.

After the rehearsal we are whisked straight into a BBC Radio interview. Apparently we were so good "down the line" from Guernsey that they want us back for a live chat. We do the usual gentle bickering on air for a whole 15 minutes (that's a lot for a radio show) then back to the venue with an hour to spare. Quick check in at the hotel then a swift bath and back to the Arts Centre for the evening show.

The show goes well with a small, select audience. We get laughs almost immediately (which is what we intend) but there is no "ripple" effect. This is where a laugh starts at one side of the room and spreads across the audience. We like it when that happens because we get an extra few seconds to relax into the show. Very enthusiastic applause all the way through the show, but again because it's a small audience it's very enthusiastic for about 4 seconds. So absolutely no let up from beginning to end in terms of energy. That is the joy of live performing - each show is completely different. And because nothing on this tour is pre-recorded (it really is all live), we can adapt to each situation and each audience easily.

Steve summed up our show with some very apt comments - "highly professional and serious about what you are doing, but having fun while you're doing it."

You can't say fairer than that.


Jeremy is the co-author of Successful Singing Auditions

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