Dubai Diary 2

We took our first trip to the Theatre that we will be performing in, we got very excited when we saw our banner advertising on the way. We walked through the middle of the very modern man-made Madinat Souk, which was very quaint, if a little fake, and stepped into the grand lobby of the Madinat Theatre. I love stepping on an empty stage in an amply auditorium and opening the doors to the Madinat was no different, there is a vitality that bubbles through the empty space, and knowing that we are about to perform there this week is overwhelming.

The theatre is very beautiful and pristine (if fake – a theme of the sights in Dubai), spacious comfortable seats, mostly ordained with arabic design, lanterns and tiles.

The stage is quite deep but not massive and I’m excited to see it clear without the lights, the acoustics are good, which is one of my main points of focus, so I can understand the level of projection required of my voice.

After seeing the theatre we had a little lunch and enjoyed the Jumeirah setting, again pristine, it was lovely to sit in the sun with a soft sea breeze overlooked by palm trees and the Burj Al Arab.

I am still a bit bemused by Dubai, I have only been here a few hours – it is not as claustrophobic as I expected, and despite the fakeness of everything there is care and breathing space given to the buildings that rise up on to the skyline. The roads are very heavy and the smog sits firmly over the city. I have only been here for 24 hours and I have already been on the same chock-a-block road 6 times, not a highlight.

We went to the Dubai mall in order to go to the supermarket to pick up much needed supplies of peanut butter and honey, which took us nearly an hour to get to! We should probably try to find a closer supermarket! Despite feeling frustrated and tired the Dubai Mall was eye-opening, this is a tourist hotspot and we saw sharks swimming in a giant aquarium and the prestigious Dubai fountain, the largest fountain in the world that sits under the tallest building in the world, the Burj Kalifa. We managed to stay awake long enough to watch the water show, which was utterly spectacular, it did put the Bellagio fountain show in Vegas to shame (which I think was probably the plan!

I haven’t yet caught up on my sleep so generally having waves of nausea and headaches. I hope to get an early night tonight so I can sort out my room and get the much needed sleep. Sleep is very important and I want to be as healthy as possible ready for the shows.

Becky

xx