Penny Hubbard - Joined 2005/06 for 'Come to the Cabaret'

New girl on the block at SWAOS

You could feel the excitement backstage as the overture came to a crescendo: I looked round at my new found friends and thought ‘How lucky am I?!’ We were all lined up in our costumes, waiting to go on for the big opening number; thick makeup highlighting our eyes, fiddling nervously with our pink sequin ties (lovely!) and raring to get on stage. Those who had done it for years, winked and encouraged the newcomers like me, whispering “Break a leg and above all enjoy it!”

From the moment when I had my disastrous audition the members of SWAOS had been friendly, kind and supportive. Having stumbled my way through the song from Sweet Charity ‘If they could see me now’ as my audition piece, desperately trying to cope with singing publicly for the first time in 20 years whilst twirling a silver topped cane, the musical director smiled kindly at me: “The dancing was great but I think all the exuberance meant you went a little sharp – would you have a go at the song again but standing still?”. Apparently my second attempt passed muster and I was invited to join the performance of Cabaret as a chorus member/dancer.

We had such fun preparing for the show. Rehearsals took place every Wednesday evening for a couple of hours and then nearer the date we had additional Monday rehearsals as well. I hadn’t performed since my twenties and it was fantastic to be singing again. I learned to tap dance (to my astonishment was allowed to participate in the tap dancing number), learned how hard it was to dance in time in Oklahoma and was thrilled to be asked to sing Barbershop – absolutely terrifying but so rewarding.

It was hard work and required commitment but no more than that needed to run a family or go to work! I spent hours driving round the countryside singing my head off and driving my family bananas. The week of the performance was one of the best of my life. On opening night everyone gave little cards and tiny good luck presents to each other – we got ready round a huge table cluttered with chocolates, hairpins, tissues and other theatrical clutter (yes and the occasional bottle of ‘nerve claming’ plonk!). Everyone helped everyone else – to the extent that when my neighbour Alison needed a quick change between numbers, Sue did up her dress, I buckled her shoes and Kate clipped on her earrings. Team work was everything, the camaraderie was really strong and the common interest in the show meant I felt we all got close very quickly.

The night my family came meant an enormous amount to me: as I strutted forward in ‘All that Jazz’ wearing my extremely short mini skirt, fishnet tights, black bustier and bowler hat, I found myself wondering what on earth my 17 and 14 year old daughters would be thinking, seeing their 46 year old mother making such a fool of herself and exposing her dreadful legs to the world. As I came to the front lights I looked up: I had made the mistake of booking them into seats in row 3. All I could see were two enormous grins from ear to ear: they loved it and in the bar afterwards were absolutely glowing about the whole show. Secretly I think they were rather proud (and perhaps a bit surprised)!

Joining SWAOS was a really good decision and I hope others will take the plunge and come and see how much fun it is to perform with a group of friendly, talented people who encourage and help even people like me who go off key when they are nervous and jig around too much!

Penny Hubbard