Memories of meeting Hayley

[gareth]

It makes it all the more special to me, Belinda, that you sent the tape of the Hornby Talent Quest all the way to the other side of the world !

I know about Four Roses chocolates - they are very familiar in Australia - are those the chocolates you talk about, Belinda?

In that case, don't worry about the chocolates not surviving. They would have made new ones to make up for it ;!

Gerrit

[Belinda]

Hi Gerrit,
Glad to hear there are plenty of Roses Chocolates left in the world,I'd say they are same or similar,i know they have them in the UK .
I talked to you on messenger just after Hayley,Gerald and Isaacs visit,i remember saying guess who just visited. And you were as surprised as i had been.

[roger]

I'm going to have another go....

It was in Llandudno in November 2004 when Keith and I met ridiculously early as we have a tendency to do. We ended up just inside the stage door and were talking to the security guard who Keith had met before. A little later, for reasons which now escape me, they both ventured off somewhere leaving me alone by the door.

It wasn't long before members of the orchestra began to arrive and could not get in unless someone pressed the button on the wall inside. I was the only one there! I could see that they were all carrying one instrument or another and anyway, I recognised most of them as I had already attended three concerts of the current tour. I let them in. Then the inevitable happened....

I heard someone at the door and could see through the window that it was Hayley. I pressed the button and, as she walked in, I asked to see her ID! She was about to show me and then realised the joke and burst out laughing! She stayed around and chatted for a few minutes before Steve arrived and whisked her off. Hmph, he's always doing that!

A few minutes later, I let in Gerald. "Thank you, Sir!" he said with unnecessary emphasis on the last word!

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I hadn't been there. Would she have spent the evening busking perhaps?

Roger

[1littlegirl]

Hi Roger,

What a good story you have there! And what a privilege to push the button for everyone!! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif Especially Hayley!

[baxfield7]

The first time I met Hayley was in Bournemouth on April 1st 2004. As you have read the concert was stunning.
I had contacted the Manager of the Pavillion Theatre to try and arrange a meeting with Hayley as a surprise for my wife,Megan, as it was very close to our 30th wedding anniversary. The Manager promised to try his best and asked me to call back on the evening of the concert. He said that he had tried but due to management constraints, he had failed miserably. I was very disappointed but he suggested that we went to the stage door after the show.

We joined the throng and waited for ages in the cold. This was allieviated to some extent when some of the crew moved some stage lights outside prior to loading into the van. Several of us stood near to the still hot lamps and warmed up a little.

We waited expectantly and joked with various other members of Hayley's entourage as they left and I had a few words with Katherine Jenkins and she happily posed for a photograph.

Eventually The whole Westenra family appeared and we all formed a queue to speak to Hayley.

Our turn came and we had a lovely chat with Hayley. I was amazed at how friendly she was. She signed my copy of Pure and we chatted on for a while. I asked her if she realised that she was only a short distance from Christchurch UK, and she told me that they had seen the signs while driving nearby. She was quite thrilled by that ! When we reluctantly left her to go home, Hayley started to say goodbye, but I interrupted her and said "never say goodbye", she giggled and waved to me with her fingers (all of them !). And then we were gone. A memorable end to a wonderful evening and our first meeting.

Barrie

[postscript]

Hi all but, 'Oh boy!'

Before I got the hang of the site I murmured aloud an intention to share my first meeting with Hayley. I’ve been pushed in the right direction by Richard, so there is no excuse now. However, having located the right thread . . and having read it . . . . I’m not so sure I have anything to say!

So many seem to have already made grander introductions to Hayley than little me.

What perhaps is missing, unless I missed it, is that moment of Hayley in individuals’ consciousness.

Perhaps it is too obvious, so it isn’t worth mentioning? Perhaps it is too much the nature of Hayley that saying ’Hayley’ sums it all up?

Since most reviews wax lyrical on what the meeting with Hayley meant to the writer, I’ll use that as my starting point. Accuse me of simplicity if you will, or being too easily contented.

My first acquaintance with Hayley was one described frequently in ‘The World at her Feet’. I heard THE VOICE and knew I had to know the girl.

I was driving, listening to Classic fm when THE VOICE jerked my mindset out of autopilot but I was on the motorway and there was nothing I could do. It was one of those sequences when the title of the song had been stated at the beginning of the piece, so the next item followed on and I had not paid particular attention to the introduction. Only when THE VOICE came over did I realise I wished I’d paid more attention to the introductory blurb.

That voice haunted me. I had to know whose it was and the record played. I had to have that CD. Stupidly I did not think of noting the time and a random search of the playing list MUCH later didn’t turn up what I thought it was, my mind had been oblivious to artiste, CD title and track.

When I did get to hear THE VOICE again I didn’t know how to spell ‘Westerner’ as I thought it was and could not track it down on the internet for yonks. Now, if you key-in to Google simply ‘Hayley’, the Decca site heads 2,460,000 entries! She has come a long way.

Key-in “Hayley Westenra” and you achieve 494,000 results. When you get into the 700s you start getting oriental languages. Use the ‘English only’ option and you reduce the sites to a ‘mere’ 423,000 Google pages about Hayley Westenra. Clearly, I am not the only person in the world who is simply nuts about the girl.

Well, that’s my start on this subject! Oh, the year was 2003 and there are rather painful reasons for being so preoccupied with personal family needs that it was not until 2004 I was able to start 'pursuing the girl'.

Were it not for that, Roger and I would have met much earlier and I would have joined what I hope Hayley will come to regard as 'her gang' much sooner than formally doing so this month (November 2005).

Peter

[postscript]

Hi folks, again!

Continuing my reflections of Hayley’s effect on me.

I shall call it 'Part Two' and if Hayley herself ever gets round to reading this, she will know the significance of saying ‘Part 2’! Thank you, Hayley, for your indulgence.

Family preoccupations from the time I first became aware of Hayley, until now, some eighteen months on, meant I was increasingly out of circulation as far as the rest of the world was concerned, so it was not until the summer of 2004 that I had my first chance to see Hayley live.

As often happens when I am in London for business or pleasure, I stay over for an evening meal and the theatre. On this occasion I was around the Haymarket and passed The Palladium. Hayley was playing there that night. I thought it must be sold out but whether they were returns or not some seats were available and I grabbed one.

It was the first time I had seen this diminutive figure in life. What are they Hayley? Three inches, or even three-and-a-half-inch heels? I am not sure she is entirely comfortable in high heels but when duetting they do add a better perspective and perhaps psychologically she needs them for that reason when beside an average height, let alone tall, or large-framed singer.

I don’t think she was wearing them at Liverpool a few weeks ago, which was unfortunate, because in my place, third row of the stalls stage left, her head was in line with the bar on the conductor’s podium, which irritatingly got in the way—yes, that is how petite she is. She certainly does not wear high heels in everyday life—at least, not when meeting her public face to face. I am convinced that only someone trained, as she has been, as a ballerina could possibly walk in them as confidently as she does. It seems as if she is walking almost on ballerina’s points.

Now, Sophie, you are absolutely gorgeous in your own right and I hope that one day I will meet with you, so I hope I don’t embarrass you with this description of my next ‘Hayley incident’. During the second part of The Palladium show, when Sophie came on stage a second time, she slipped quietly into the shadows upper stage centre waiting Hayley’s introduction but there was something seemingly apprehensive about her.

Finishing her patter, Hayley turned to the orchestra to nod her okay and then turned to welcome her sister. In a split second she realised Sophie did not have her radio mike with her. Instantly, yet seeming part of the natural flow, she turned back to the conductor and said ‘Oh hang on folks, she’s forgotten her mike’. Then, in the same flowing motion Hayley directed her attention into the wings, saying, ‘Can we bring her mike to her, please?’ and a black-clothed stage-hand quickly nipped on stage to give it to Sophie.

In that instant, the thought in my head was, ‘Lady, you’re not just good, you’re the tops.’ With total naturalness she had turned a minor (and what could have been a significant) faux pas into a triumph. In that moment I determined to do what I had never done in my life before, go to the stage-door and see if I could meet with her. My mind said, ‘this is someone who is going to be very, very big and much later on it is simply going to be logistically impossible for her to be available in person. Now is the time to grab the opportunity’.

One is used to performers commanding a stage in the role they have rehearsed, whether it is as a character or presenter but Hayley, in just being herself, commands instinctively with all her being. She is not a performer wrapped up in a role. You notice this in her asides. She may have prepared the subject of what she is going to say but when she comes to speak, it is with the the naturalness of everyday conversation to someone in the street. This means, sometimes, she stumbles in her flow, which is no fault. It simply brings out that naturalness.

In that moment with Sophie, what was so evident was that upon that vast stage of The London Palladium (and it is one of the largest stages in London), this diminutive teenager was very much in command, wholly aware of every aspect around her, doing nothing by rote. Her wits are about her the whole time, yet there was no sense of a ‘commanding’ personality, simply a young woman being herself. In that moment, she won my respect and my admiration and I knew then there was only one way to describe this artiste—she is, simply ‘Hayley Westenra’, except that there is nothing ‘simple’ about her but, perversely, artless simplicity. That is the brand image. She has substance still to flesh out. She still has to build her core base in the States but what she has to sell is not a singer whose genre is yet to be defined—forget it. She is herself.

Earlier this autumn, when the Graham Greene Birthplace Trust was holding its annual celebration around the author’s birthday, Penguin lent us a range of covers from their archives, depicting how the cover design on one of Greene’s novels changed over the years, as the editions and reprints multiplied and his reputation grew. First edition, the title was important, mentioning the author. Then title and author’s name became equally prominent. Then the author’s name was writ large and it was the title that was incidental.

With Greene, you never knew what you were going to get, his books were diverse in their subject, location, creation. You could be sure of just this: quality, authority, a superb, different and exciting read. Graham Greene was the brand image Penguin came to market.

So, it must surely be with Hayley, once she has established that base ground. You do not attempt to define her as a singer. She is Hayley Westenra. That must surely be the brand image. The girl who will give you: the assured quality of a unique voice, delivered with authority and with painstaking attention to detail. You are certain of core material that you know you will like but you also know she will lead you into something else which may be challenging but it will be a challenge worth accepting. She will take you to new places and show you new horizons, but keeping you feeling you are still on home ground, for she is Hayley Westenra.

Peter

[roger]

Hi Peter,

Many thanks for sharing your personal experiences and feelings with us. You have picked up on details that I had almost forgotten, so many happy memories have been rekindled.

Roger

[Richard]

Many thanks Peter!

I was at the London Palladium show, as I mentioned earlier in this thread. It's nice to see that we both share the same memories of a wonderful evening, but I can't remember if I saw you outside the stage door after the concert. I had to wait nearly two hours for Hayley to come out, but it was well worth it! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Richard

[postscript]

That follows on in due course. Probably Part 4 or 5 of the saga!
Peter

[postscript]

That's nice of you Roger.

I'm glad my witterings please. You are the second person to say so, the first being Joe in the States.

Part 3 follows shortly. I will get to describing actually meeting her soon!

Peter

[Richard]

Hello again Peter!

I enjoy reading your witterings too, so that makes three of us! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I'm looking forward to the next installments!

Best Wishes,

Richard

[roger]

richnorri said:

Hello again Peter!

I enjoy reading your witterings too, so that makes three of us! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I'm looking forward to the next installments!

Best Wishes,

Richard

Steady on, Richard. He'll want his own board next! The "Peter Such Witterings" board!

Keep 'em coming Peter. It all adds to the enjoyment.

Roger

[postscript]

To both Richard and Roger, I love your bantering. Thank you.

No, panic not,
1. I don't in any way wish to hog this one--and your delightful bantering assures me I am not. On the other hand, it is quite a thought! :rollin Many a true word and all that!!

2. What ever individuals' prerogatives may lead them to do in their own appreciation of Hayley et al and thus widen and advertise the demand for this lady's talent, I think there is much to be said for concentration on few subjects rather than too many diverse boards. The more active the boards get, as hopefully they will, the more difficult it will be to keep tabs and feel a part of the mainstream.

3. We mustn't lose sight of the main service that must surely be helpful to many who lack the time to visit as frequently as they might like, so we need to enable people to be informed in a clear-cut and concise manner.

This would seem a good moment to express a vote of thanks to all the behind-the-scenes people who enable this site to function and for the initiative that got it going.

We are all behind you Hayley, loving you and yours to bits.

Peter

[postscript]

Part 3
Well, Richard, we come to the denouement as far as you are concerned--how did we not meet at The Paladium? Although this post isn't the post you might be expecting, that is, my first meeting with Hayley!

I notice it is two weeks since Part 2 of my saga during which an incredible amount has happened, especially in learning more: no, increasing my experience of the Hayley Phenomenon. The frst week was pressure of time while the second week was due to two hotels in succession claiming to have wireless inernet but both incapable of managing their systems! So my disconnection from this site has been serious in the extreme, when there has been so much to share. If I mention only Shrewsbury, upon which Roger has amply waxed lyrical, I understate the Hayley impact on me most recently BUT, to sequence.

Pat 3 on the Hayley pathway for me.

The reason you and I did not meet outside the stage-door of The Palladium, Richard was simply because I wasn’t there! At least, not outside the stage-door itself, located beyond some rather rickety open-mesh fencing, a little way into the theatre’s perimeter.

Being at the stage-door was something I had never done before. I was uncertain as to ‘the procedure’ and whether in fact the little group already there wasn’t part of the ‘clearing out’ operation.

I hovered for some while on the street with another group of people who clearly thought as I did, close to the pantechnicon presumably associated with the Westenra rig. We obviously thought that the most we could expect was a passing wave, or perhaps the odd signing as her entourage grabbed a cab while shielding her from the gawpers.

Sir George and Lady Martin did just that, at which point I realised the crowd round the stage-door itself were regulars who knew the ropes (or were simply more brazen than I), so I edged forward, arriving close enough to hear an announcement that Hayley would be delayed for at least an hour. Right, so it was acceptable to hover around the stage-door itself. It was a fine night but I think there was some drizzle in the air and ‘at least an hour’ could mean two. Richard tells us it did.

At that time, the run to Berkhamsted was badly affected by major engineering works. Late trains out of Euston were not as late as one expects for trains leaving a theatre-land capital. Far too early in the evening (and still applicable at weekends even now) the trains turn into buses. Buses, following rail routes, or at least connecting stations on a rail route are a monumental disaster.

Only a week or two earlier I had discovered what a nightmare journey it can be, especially when the driver is unsure of the route and relies upon the passengers to tell him which road to take. Such an incident provokes debate, adding to the confusion, primarily because the passengers all drive cars but none of them drive coaches and we seemed to end up taking the worst possible route! I could not face that again.

So, reluctantly, after gauging that the crowd of stalwarts were likely to stay regardless and convincing myself that they must be Londoners; were staying at an hotel (an option I did consider for myself, unprepared though I was); or they weren’t using the West Coast mainline as I had to, I wended my way home.

I felt totally dejected. I had enjoyed a wonderful theatrical experience and I did not want it to end. Steeped in a conventional background I wasn’t accustomed to doing absurd things on the spur of the moment.

It had not been until my fifties that I actually rose up and rebelled against the day’s conventions but that is not relevant here—although it might be in an episode or so later on, when dealing with young people generally and the phenomenon that is Hayley as a young person.

I journeyed home, kicking myself for not having said, ‘[censored] it, I’ll stay on’, even if it meant I didn’t get to bed that night.