Hello Dolly opens a week tonight, and rehearsals are now coming thick and fast. The lines I have known for weeks are now second nature, and I have just about mastered what little dancing I have to do when the time comes to actually do it in front of a paying public.

In professional theatre, the cast spend hours every day honing their skills. It’s a job like anything else; if they weren’t actors they might well be doctors, teachers, lawyers or zoo keepers. But for those of us who do it purely for the love of it, rehearsing is something you do after a hard day’s graft.

Minnie, Barnaby, Cornelius and Mrs Molloy watch in horror as the last sausage sandwich disappears

Alright, in my case, it’s not hard graft, and it’s only part time. It’s been a while since I had a full time job. But even so there is never enough rehearsal time for those of us who go on stage purely because we like doing it, so aside from the regular rehearsal schedule, those of us who have the opportunity to do so have been getting together at strange times to perfect our roles.

This has several advantages. Sometimes we go to Mrs Molloy’s House, where we run over our lines with a script in one hand and a sausage sandwich in the other.

Other times will see Dolly, Horace Vandergelder and Mrs Molly in Wetherspoons in Hexham, where we get strange looks from the other customers to go with the bottomless coffee and – er, well, sausage sandwiches.

Mrs Molloy, Cornelius and Barnaby, in the Library, learning their lines and some interesting things about leeches

Last night, we were joined by Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker in a school library. Again, we learned lines, and also found out that a leech has 32 brains (this unrelated fact was gleaned by Dolly in one of her quieter moments from one of the books there). Minnie had brought chilli for those who otherwise would’ve missed their tea.

So you can see that rehearsals are not only driven by an inherent desire to get it right, but also by the possibility of food being available.

I know that this time next week most of us might well be too nervous to eat anything, at least until the curtain comes down on the first night and we will realise all our efforts over the last few months have paid off.

Of course, the names I’ve used in this piece have been changed. If you want to know who’s who, you’ll have to come and see the show.

But I’m afraid all the sausage sandwiches have gone.

“Hello Dolly!” opens at the Queens Hall Theatre in Hexham on Wednesday 8th November and runs until Saturday 11th (matinee only). The box office is open from 10am – 12 noon and 1pm – 4pm, Monday to Saturday. Or you can call them on (01434) 652477