Chapter 3
I’m going home
I’m going to skip forward a bit as I was sailing through life fine. Audition, get a part,not get a part, stop, work at Harrods, and this cycle went on for 5 years until I got Joseph my dream job. I was working in Harrods at the time in a Prada exhibition dressed in my Prada suit talking/blagging information on the history of Prada. By chance my mum was coming to London, we had got front row to see Miss Saigon to cheer me up as my life consisted of Harrods and not getting jobs. That phone call I will never forget. My agent Gemma phoned and told me you got it, you got Joseph. Those feelings I can never recreate. I had auditioned for this bloody show 4 times. It was now or never. By chance the perfect track had come up for me, the Frenchman who sings Those Canaan days. My body felt like jelly during the call, it was like this electric feeling running through my body. Some people might say oh its just an ensemble member In Joseph but after endless no’s this was the moment I had waited for.
Again let’s skip forward. I auditioned for The Rocky horror show. I was up for cover Frank, Brad and Rocky. I got to the finals and ended up first reserve. First reserve means If the actor who gets the job refuses you end up getting the part. At this point I just thought that’s it I haven’t got it and moved to the Isle of wight with my bf at the time, we were there a day when I got the call. “Jamie you’ve got Rocky” This was another dream show for me. I could finally get paid for being outrageous. The contract was a year and it was European but mainly Germany. I snapped up the chance and said yes, my bf was kind and encouraged me. I felt nervous but I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.
I got to Cologne Germany to start rehearsals and was welcomed by a lovely cast at the airport. Cologne was a dream and the happy part of the contract. It was a busy schedule but that was normal. We then put up the show and then it was onto the covers. My covers were the hardest, The lead, the cute guy who sings a song with an A and Rocky who has to be buff.
As time went on I lost weight, probably around a stone. I looked pale and by the time we were in Milan I was convinced I had some sort of disease. I had no energy and I was cold all the time. My brain was fried and I simply couldn’t do the time warp again. The moment I knew something was up was when I considered leaving the show. Theatre has always and always will be a huge driving force in my life, but at that moment I knew I my health was more important. Trawling doctor google after shows diagnosing myself with every disease. I wasn’t holding anything down and my exhaustion got worse. I just wanted to sleep.
Enough was enough. Snowy Vienna arrived and in the immortal words of frank in his last song in the show I muttered the words to the cast “Im going home” and I did. It broke my heart to leave my dream job. This was where the fun was about to really begin. I thought I would come home have a blood test and all would be fine, I was so so wrong. It was nearing Christmas and my parents were shocked how thin I was. So it began test after test, 5 CT scans, 6 MRI’s and gallons of my blood. All to get the same answer, there is nothing wrong with you its in your head. I was so frustrated and confused. Health anxiety wasn’t something I had heard about. It was crippling, my poor bf at the time had to put up with me being in bed constantly and more interested in cancer sites then him. This went on for 5 months. It was the coldest winter on record the snow fell and so did hope for me. I wanted to be found. But then the sun appeared in April and a glimmer of hope arrived……..
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