06 Feb GODSPELL leading man Chesney Hawkes drops in on Brentwood rehearsals
With regular company rehearsals running every Saturday at Hutton Poplars and over five months until showtime, no-one expected leading man Chesney Hawkes to pop in!
Last week Chesney drove himself to Brentwood to see how things were going in the upcoming Brentwood Centre production of GODSPELL. He had a day between performing on a Caribbean cruise and fronting the Butlins Weekenders, as well as working on his own show, WONDER, and jetting back and forth to LA to keep in touch with his family, including three teenage children.
Cast members were taken by surprise and welcomed him back to the community team. They set about working through the opening of the show, in which the prophets argue over the coming of the Saviour and what that will mean to mankind.
After rehearsals were over, Chesney popped along to see Rocky’s Animals in Ongar Road who have kindly agreed to sponsor GODSPELL in June by providing their family activities with rabbits, chickens, snakes and spiders in the pre-show activities. Chesney did not realise that the attractions included Merlin the python and a red-kneed tarantula until they were taken out of their homes and handed to him – the look on his face said it all.
Rocky said, ‘I saw Chesney in Joseph last year and it was lovely to see him to be able to tell him face to face how good he was.
I am really pleased to be supporting this community venture which is seeking to have up to 200 people on stage and will be set in a human circus. I did ask Chesney if he was afraid of heights and would he consider climbing onto a trapeze, but he declined to answer.
He enjoyed meeting the kids at the Funhouse and talked to them about the bearded dragon and the tortoises.’
Chesney shared pictures on his social media, thanking Rocky for the experience. The company are just hoping he does not shout – I AM THE ONE AND ONLY, get me out of here…
