Amongst a few meetings and phone calls this last week I also popped in to see the brilliant Richard Beadle, MD for Bodyguard, and had a little session with our new upcoming Rachel Marron, the gorgeous Alexandra Burke.
Not many people will know that back in 2001 or so I was MD for a BBC TV series called Star For A Night... 4 series in all including a Junior version of the show. A young lady called Joss Stone won the series but a notable runner up was a 12 year old Alexandra Burke!
Of course I have worked with Joss a few times since then, notably at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 60th birthday concert in Hyde Park and in the BBC's Please Please Me, the Recreation of a Classic but I have only seen Alex once before last week when we met backstage at a Royal Variety Show.
Alex is going to be a terrific replacement for Beverley Knight and I think audiences will be 'wowed' with her acting prowess as well as her singing talent.
So I am now looking forward to more rehearsals in the coming weeks and Alexandra's coming of age!!