Pocket Size Theatre and Liza Heinrichs (Captured by Liz) have teamed up again and created our new series 'Coming Home'. In this new piece, we look at the reopening of Theatres in London and around the country and celebrate our industry coming back. We got together some performers who will be some of the first to return to theatres and created this piece to bring some positivity to the theatre industry which has been through one of the toughest years in our lifetime. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the hardships we've all gone through, it's important we pull together as a community and celebrate our beloved industry finally coming back!
The reopening of the West End and theatre in general has been an exciting and also excruciatingly painful time, with the buzz of shows opening around the country and the West End also came the disappointments of cancellations due to venues not opening or for isolation purposes. As hard as it's been, we’re getting closer to the end of the tunnel and what better way to celebrate than with a big concert at the Royal Albert Hall, ‘The Best of the West End’ will play tomorrow (21st July 2021) and will celebrate all things musical theatre.
Alex Tranter will be appearing in the show, he will also be returning to his roles in & Juliet when it reopens at the Shaftesbury Theatre on the 24th September 2021. Alex appears in the ensemble of the show and also covers the roles of Romeo, Shakespeare and Lance. Previously he has also appeared in White Christmas at the Leicester Curve, Eugenius at The Other Palace, The Glenn Miller Story at the London Coliseum and on tour, Closer to Heaven at the Union Theatre and on the UK tour of Our House.
Talking to Alex about the return of theatre he tells us how he is just so excited to get to be creative again, being back in a rehearsal room is just what he needed to reignite his creative juices. He tells us he actively steeped away from trying to be creative as a way of getting through this tough time, “I think to cope, I had to turn all that off. So I am absolutely loving being back in a room, working with amazing people again.” During the pandemic Alex has been working in a call centre to get by, “I hate the phrase “muggle job” because it makes jobs other than performing sound less important. We all have bills to pay, so there is NO shame to have a job when you aren’t in a show.”
The industry has had a little kick up the bottom over the pandemic, with diversity being at the forefront of the things we need to tackle. Speaking to Alex about his he thinks it's so great that there have been conversations happening but the reality doesn't quite reflect this just yet; “I honestly thought that we would be coming back and seeing more diversity within all aspects of the business. Unfortunately, I don’t think it has gone far enough, there is a lot of work to be done. We need to see un-represented stories, creatives, casting, musicians. The fight has not stopped.”
Reflecting on the past 16 months, Alex tells us that he has become so much more grateful for what he has. “I am much more grateful for my freedom, family, friends. I will never take them for granted, ever again!” He tells us about how he has also learnt that as much as he loves what he does for a living, it doesn't define who he is as a person. “I need to separate work from my social life, of course, I will give everything I have but I need to be able to turn it off.”
We asked Alex what opening night he would most like to be at and he couldn’t quite make up his mind, of course, his first answer was & Juliet but there was also a toss-up between Hamilton and Six, “I would have loved to be at Six because that atmosphere would have been ELECTRIC. I also love Hamilton, I would probably cry after the intro, so let’s say Hamilton.”
Alex will be appearing in ‘The Best of the West End’ tomorrow (21st July 2021) at the Royal Albert Hall whilst also returning to his roles in & Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre. The production opens again on the 24th of September 2021 and we cannot wait to see this new show back in the West End.
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