Guest Blog: Elizabeth Carter On SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME

Save The Last Dance For Me is a musical written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, with hits from Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, produced and directed by Bill Kenwright. The plot follows two sisters, Jennifer and Marie, on their first caravan holiday away from their parents. Set in the 60s the girls discover an American Air Force base near their holiday destination, Lowestoft. The sisters are invited to the airbase club to dance and meet the lively crew. The girls are quickly thrown into a whirlwind of romance, live music and dancing, energetically choreographed by the Olivier Award-winning associate director Bill Deamer.

It's always very exciting on the first day of rehearsals to meet the family of people you're going to be working with for the next six months. As I am returning to the role of Marie there was a mixture of familiar and new faces to meet and greet. We started with a lovely welcome from Bill Kenwright and a full cast read through, with the band, of the show. Cast members who had done the show before sang their numbers with the band, Bill made some amendments to the score and script, and there was a real sense of excitement in the room.

Rehearsals are segmented into different disciplines: dance calls are led by Bill Deamer and his wonderful Associate Choreographer Kylie Cruikshanks; full-cast music calls to learn harmony lines for all numbers are led by our musical director Mike Kantola and assistant MD Sheridan Lloyd; and Bill Kenwright refines and directs in more detail.

Last week we finished rehearsals with a full run of act one. It always feels very satisfying to see the piece come together and further develop the relationships between each character. After a full week of extremely fun work we were all excited for the Easter weekend. I celebrated Easter with a rest in the beautiful Lake District, with a celebratory visit to church and catching up with my wonderful family and friends before our second week of rehearsals.