Natasha's Fan Review of CSWY - Bristol Sat 27th Sept

I arrived in Bristol with my family at about six, so incredibly excited about seeing Fran live for the first time. When I saw the theatre with its huge ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ sign I was even more so, and that was pretty excessive excitement! It was then that I discovered my camera wouldn’t work. Determined not let it ruin my evening, I smiled and attempted to suppress my frustration. After a few minutes, however, I realised the joy of mobile phones, and then I could relax – if I did get the opportunity for photos I wouldn’t have to miss it. As it had taken us nearly two hours to get to Bristol we had packed sandwiches and ate them sat on benches just across the road from the theatre. I was so excited I gobbled mine down in about 10 seconds and then had to wait for everyone else to finish eating. Eventually, when they had finished, we walked around the block to find the stage door so we would know where to go later...
The show itself was absolutely amazing! Whenever Fran was on stage I couldn’t take my eyes off of her – she has such stage-presence and of course that amazing voice! Fran’s part as Lucy has quite a wide variety of roles to fulfil and she coped with these very well. There was quite a surprise when she appeared in a very ‘Viva Las Vegas’ (for all those avid IDA fans) style costume for the Copacabana, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the entire audience! The rest of the cast were also truly excellent, and I was very impressed by the ensemble performers. Chesney Hawkes rose well to the challenge of musical theatre and you could definitely see the chemistry between Scott (Edward Handoll) and Lucy (Fran!).



When the show finished we were out of our seats very speedily and rushed to the stage door to hopefully meet the lady herself. It was my first stage-door ever, and I was so nervous. Armed with my frequent-stage-doorer friend’s lucky Sharpie I managed to get the best spot – right opposite the door. Chesney came out first and was very friendly, signing programmes and having photos taken. I waited in anticipation from Fran to come out. However when she did I almost froze and just stood there. Luckily my mum nudged me hard in the back and got me going. I was the first to speak to her and she was so incredibly lovely to me... I was so happy! It wasn’t until a bit later that I managed to pluck up the courage to ask her for a photo and she realised I had been waiting all that time and was so apologetic, even though it was by no means her fault!
I was so impressed by Fran’s incredible talent and of course her wonderful kindness to her fans and, miraculously, she managed to surpass both my unbelievably high expectations of her, and my even higher hopes! Wow!



Many thanks for sharing your experience's and photos with everyone Natasha. And for anyone else who would like to contribute please feel free to email me.