HELLO THERE!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!
HELLO THERE!This is the week I am being honoured by Birmingham by being awarded a place on BIRMINGHAM WALK OF STARS ………..to be situated on Broad Street on the spot my father had his antique shop when I was a child.
I am so grateful to everyone who has made this possible. Jasper Carrot, the Birmingham City Council and WestSide Birmingham.
When I was thirteen, I used to sit with Dad in the shop on a Saturday morning watching the TV presenters from the ITV Studios and the actors from the Birmingham Rep Theatre window shop outside and I’d dream that one-day I would be in the same business as them.
I am not sure if my parents ever believed I would have amounted to anything when I was a teenager but even in their wildest dreams I doubt they ever thought their youngest daughter would be honoured by a bright shiny star outside their antique shop in what has become one of the most exciting cities in the UK.
Transformation is a wonderful thing!
TO BE SOMEONE, the film will go into production in 2017 and it will be about The Mod movement today. This is after much speculation about its future due to it being mistakenly linked to Quadrophenia in the press, it is now able to move forward.
The film has no ties with Quad at all but is a MOD story….a really great Mod story. I think it will be well liked when the audience can get to see it in 2018.
Another exciting development is the filming of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. The stage production might be shot in Birmingham.
I hate “hearsay” and prefer not to talk about things until they are 100% but everyone is pulling out the stops to make this happen and again Birmingham Council and Birmingham Film are being heroic…..so fingers crossed …..AND another thrilling aspect about this film is it might be shot at the Birmingham Old Rep Theatre where I went to drama school in the 1970s.
All this is in development but moving very quickly and none of it could have moved this fast without the help of everyone I have worked with in the past month…… the team on John Godber’s film THE LAST LAUGH, Birmingham Council, Birmingham Film, Octopus TV and of course the entire stage production of C&P.
If we manage to get this going I will slot into the production as an actress/ composer and exec producer ………Simon Darlow and myself writing some new material for the show and the TOYAH BAND taking part on stage playing all the music live.
Very exciting and very challenging in equal measure.
2016 has been a great year and from this vantage point 2017 looks even better.
2016 has been a great year and from this vantage point 2017 looks even better.Six feature films are lined up and some great festivals for the band too.
STEVE ORAM’S new film has a healthy budget, which allows him his most ambitious project yet and “we” – his faithful band of actors will hopefully be shooting early summer, again for a 2018 release.
I am looking forward to the quiet of Christmas to have a creative writing period.
In January I am in Seattle with Bill getting ready to start HUMANS 4, so I am really looking forward to the phone going silent as everyone starts to celebrate with their families.
The silence of Christmas is something I love.
It has been a wonderful year and I couldn’t have done it without the band, CHRIS WONG, ANDY DOBLE, JOHN HUMPHREY, TIM ROSE, COLIN HINDS AND PAUL NICHOLSON.
A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL.
Also a huge THANK YOU to CRAIG ASTLEY, DAVIE, KATE WAY and my agents ROCK ARTIST MANAGEMENT and to everyone at DAA.
As well as being a wonderful year it has also been a weird one too, with so many people passing away. Andrew Sachs being the most recent to pass over.
I worked with Andrew in radio drama in the 1990s and he was a quiet conscientious actor with huge intelligence and never once played on his Fawlty Towers fame. In fact if you had never seen Fawlty Towers you would have never been none the wiser as to Andrew being an icon in it because he was so modest he never talked about himself.
Last week I was on the road with the SAS BAND and the show dedicated a whole section to DAVID BOWIE. This was the first time I managed to listen to LIFE ON MARS without losing my composure completely. I chose to sing suffragette City, as this song is so fast there is no time for tears to well up!
One of the best songs in the SAS set was FASHION……my god this is stunning live. My husband’s guitar part on the original is out of this world.
The fabulous Madeline Bell was also singing with the band. Madeline has world knowledge of Soul and Rhythm and Blues but she admitted to me she didn’t know any BOWIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She sang LETS DANCE with the lyrics in her hand. I think this is the first person I have ever met who doesn’t know BOWIE’S work!
Also singing with the SAS BAND was Paul Young who I will be touring with in March on the 80S INVASION TOUR…..which we are getting excited about….15 shows of fun and madness and memories!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERY ONE!
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR
BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE HEARD
LOVE TOYAH
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