London and Chicargo.

The first a city, the second a musical!

I went up to London on Friday and spent the evening playing Agricola with Richard, Hillary and Helen. It was nice to say hi but we were all pretty pooped. Afterward I actually had a bit of a mini crisis; I couldn't for the life of me remember why I was in the UK and it was all rather overwhelming.

But then Saturday was a beautiful day and reminded me why I like this side of the earth so much.

I started the day by shopping around Camden Markets for stripy over-the-knee socks; an item of clothing I have found it difficult to purchase elsewhere. Oh, you can get over-the-knee socks, but not the incredibly dazzling ones you find in Camden. I got eight pairs :D.

Then I proceeded to have a lovely cuppa at my favourite tea-house (also in Camden Markets - in the Camden Lock Market out the back if you're looking) called YumChaa. This is a place where they have smelling pots of every tea variety they sell out on display so you can choose what you want to drink that day by sniffing it! Heaven! They also sell chocolate brownies that are to die for.

Jason joined me for brunch at Foggs. Of around-the-world-in-80-day's fame. Need I say more?

Then we went off to do tourist stuff - and decided to see and to climb St Paul's Cathedral. I hadn't been inside St Paul's before, it was under wraps the last time I was in London, but it is indeed beautiful. I couldn't take photos inside but the detail was literally awe inspiring - the point I guess. It was built by Christopher Wren after the London fires 300 years ago. 528 steps later you get an absolutely awe-inspiring biew of London too. Hoooowee!


Atferward, the requirement for energy and a place to rest my dead knee led us to a Paul's. Jason will stand testament that I drank the whole of a large hot chocolate in no time flat and the rhubarb flan was as incredible as I remembered... yaum!

We met up with Belinda Knott (incredibly, she stepped off the bus right in front of us whilst Jason was talking to her describing where we were - coincidence incomparable!), and went for a beer, found with difficulty due to the number of closed pubs. I couldn't tell you the name of the bar though, as I gulped my (very tasty) beer in order to get changed so that I could rush off to meet up with Helen and Hilary... who were late.

But I got a few good pictures of the Cambridge Theatre at the Seven Dials (a roundabout with a statue on it with seven dials and seven streets leading away from it). We were there to see the musical Chicargo, and after a hurried dinner at some italian restaurant which looked remarkably like a wagamamma inside, we did so.

It was magical! I am squirming right now as I type due to the exquisite enjoyment I derived from those incredible dancers and singers. The reason we went was to see Ruthie Henshall - a legend of the theatre, and she was absolutely fabulous as Roxy Hart. Not quite as young and naive as perhaps the role required, but her acting was truly superb. And the men.... ooooooh the men! Their hips! They could DANCE!

Wow.

And we topped the evening with cocktails at a hotel bar across from the theatre. I had a cosmopolitan, which was really delicious. Must remember to have that again some time.

So, yeah. A great day. And a good trip. All I need now is a job.

The Hobbit

I saw The Hobbit at the Theatre Royal last Wednesday evening. Before rocking up I wasn't sure if it was actually a play or a musical, but at only 19 quid, it hardly mattered.

It was a slow starter. The story is essentially a road trip so rather difficult to show this on stage. There was a lot of walking on, around and over the set by the actors. I found the same problem with the Grapes of Wrath. Journeying just isn't inherently interesting.

But it got better.

The actors finally found their stride about a third of the way through and no longer seemed to be just wandering around aimlessly. The spider was a real highlight and so was smaug. I especially enjoyed the riddle game between Bilbo and Gollum. Bilbo apparently played Sam in the Lord of the Rings musical. The scenery and props were really good (two tree-looking things on rotatable bases with stairs and doors), transforming from Hobbiton to Mirkwood to Laketown with ease and the cast clambered all over them, and even rope-swung between them. The barrel scene was also well played with the actors getting into the wine kegs and disappearing into apparently thin air. Very cool. I liked the archers too. Good effects.

The actors were very carefully chosen for height too. They were either over six foot or under five so there was a very discernible difference between the 'dwarfs' and Bilbo and the 'men'. It really enhanced the illusion that there were two different races. Although one of the actors who played a man was clearly a sub for the dwarfs.. with such a height difference, it was very obvious what he was intended to be. :D

But then Gandalf fluffed his lines a couple of times, some of the lighting techs were off in their timing and the staging had a few problems too, so although the actors were good, especially Thorin and Bilbo, it just didn't engage me as much as it possibly could have if the flaws hadn't been so noticeable.

My rating for that performance would have to be about 3.5 out of 5. I wanted to like it more than I did. Ah well, experience experienced.

Scrooge!

I saw the musical Scrooge at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth. It starred Tommy Steel, who at age 73 doesn't look a day over 50 and is still as spry as a 50 year old.

It was a very professional production. Steel is a master at comic timing and so comfortable in his milieu.

The stage was awesome, the characters appeared and disappeared magically and damn fast too! and there were lots of flying sets changing the look and feel instantly.

The dancing was excellent. It was mesmerizing watching the cast, one guy in particular who's name I can't find but who's body was like rubber and just did what he wanted when he wanted it done perfectly.

I didn't actually make the connection to the Albert Finney film of the same name until afterwards, but the music was very familiar in places and I could sing along so the memory was still there.

It was a delightful Christmas romp and I enjoyed it immensely.

Wrathing Fantastic

In my first theatrical outing in my new home town I saw 'The Grapes of Wrath' at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.

It was really good. The cast was simply amazing, including Christopher Timothy (who played James Harriot in All Creatures Great and Small), Sorcha Cusack and Oliver Cotton. Cotton as the Preacher was especially impressive, and his acting and story telling ability was incredible - I found myself riveted to him every time he spoke. The American accents were a bit dicey at times and there wasn't quite the consistency of accent across the cast you'd like but the acting was suburb and all the supporting cast members were equally brilliant in all the various (and multiple) roles they played.

The set was minimal and very evocative. With just a few changes, it was quite amazing the range of expression it could achieve. They had a working car that the cast all clambered aboard and which both somehow went forwards and backwards but also sideways and in circles!?! And not initially visible to the audience they had a trough of water in the stage which the cast members bathed in at one point, and later they made it rain and absolutely drenched the cast! Very cool.

Produced by the English Touring Theatre, who brought us The Scottish Play with Patrick Stewart, it was just as impressive. The story was vastly condensed from the book, or so I was told having never read it, but the idea and intent was definitely delivered; you could feel the anguish of the people who were being systematically crushed, and yet feel a great respect for their endurance and tenacity in the face of such hardship.

I went with one of my work-mates and her sister and they were understandably inordinately proud of their local theatre. I shall definitely be seeing more productions there. And I loved the Grapes of Wrath.

Tori Amos and Hairspray... huh?

I went up to London on the weekend of the 11-13 of September to see two very different shows: Tori Amos in concert and Hairspray at the Shaftsbury theatre.

Firstly, Tori Amos is an artist I have long enjoyed - ever since Helen introduced me to her when we were about 18 I think! She is entirely mad though - her lyrics will show you that if her pronunciation of same does not. She has been touted as the inspiration for Neil Gaiman's Delirium, and I can well believe it.

I went with Jason, who, upon my demand for 'Steak!' took me to a lovely adult pub in the wilds of London called the Andover Arms, a cracking good place with a lovely atmosphere and very helpful staff (I will admit to at first miss-reading the name and thinking 'why on earth would anyone call a pub the handover?!?' but decided not to mention this to J who already has an evil sense of humour regarding my use of the English language!). After steak was had (I always get a rush of energy from red meat, sorely needed after the three and a half hour train ride from Plymouth!), Jason expounded his theory on pub goodness, which goes somewhere along the lines of "The excellence of a public house is inversely related to it's distance from the nearest source of mass transportation; the further away it is from said hub, the better it will be." which I think is very true.

Anyway, Tori was to be found at the Apollo Stadium. She played a good mix of her old and new pieces. I didn't recognise a couple of tunes, but the rest were well known and I enjoyed the way she re-interpreted her own songs. The concert started a little slow, but after a solo stint (including Mr. Zebra!) the energy picked up and by the end, the stage had a swarm of fans squished between the stage and first row of seats trying to get close to her. 'Precious Things' and 'Little Amsterdam' were highlights for me as well as the staple 'Cornflake Girl' which she absolutely rocked. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Hairspray on the other hand was a completely different kettle of fish if I can mix my metaphors. Hillary and I went for a girls night out, and excluding the overwhelming heat of the theatre and the phenomenal line for the ladies, it was a really enjoyable night.

In fact, I haven't laughed so much in a musical since I saw 'The Producers' - I was crying from laughter at one point! The parents of the protagonist, Tracy, sing a love duet called 'Timeless to Me'. Tracy's mother, Edna, is played by a man, so the set-up is already ripe for many sniggers. However the father on our night was played by the understudy, Nigel Planer being absent for whatever reason, and this guy either flubbed a line, or exaggerated a gesture, and caused the both of them to spend most of the number trying not to laugh, and for some reason there is absolutely nothing funnier than an actor in a funny situation snorting to suppress laughter. I had stitches!

The storyline to the show is slightly different to the movie version too, all to the good in my opinion. Two new musical numbers made the show fresh for me, and the energy of the dancers was incredible - I was tired just watching them! I won't tell you the story here - you'll just have to find out for yourselves!

All in all, it was a very enjoyable, if very exhausting, weekend away.

A Little Night Music

I really liked this production. I went with Hannah, Paul and Jason. Desiree was absolutely fabulous. I love Sondheim, and ALNM is my second favourite next to Into the Woods. God, the tunes!!! I enjoyed it immensely. The sets were good, I loved how the swingers were part of the set moving and always interesting, and the costumes were fabulous.

This is the first time I’ve seen it live too. I’ve seen the film version and I know the music so well I didn’t think there would be much surprise in it for me, but it still managed to catch me. I had no idea the maid and major domo had a fling for one thing – which is why “And I Shall Marry…” is included. I always wondered where that came from. And I didn’t know that the old lady dies in the end either. Hannah cried.

The only thing I didn’t like was the Brigadier. He came off as silly and nonthreatening and unworthy, rather than the rather stupid but physically impressive and therefore actual potential rival for Desiree shown in the movie and in the music I’ve heard.

The countess was brilliant though, and so was the new wife and Frederick was great, so, yes, a fabulous production.

Tosca in the Round

I was invited by R & H to go to see Puccini’s Opera Tosca at the Royal Albert Hall. It was in The Round – ie, the performance was held on the Albert’s ample floor space – and we had tickets in the Second Tier!

It was slightly uncomfortable being perched so high up but it was a spectacular view and had an accompanying feeling of old world charm. I felt like I had been transported back 100 years to tell you the truth. The 8 seats in the box were perched on little platforms to give us a better view and we had a little antechamber for drinks and coats all to ourselves which had a door that had to be unlocked to let us enter. A little extravagant but oh so nice.

The production was good too. In English, which is nice every so often. I’ve seen Tosca 3 times now but this is the first time I’ve been able to understand all of the nuances. Mind you it was very strange hearing Vissi d’Arte and E lucevan le stile in English. It just didn’t sound right actually.

But it was a lovely evening none-the-less. My heart really does crave opera every now and then… it was food for the soul and I left feeling satiated and oh-so-happy.

A Mad Dash for Three G's

One of the things I love about this city is that eventually everyone you’d ever want to see visits here. I’ve just seen Patrick Stewart in Macbeth, Ian McKellen will soon be playing here in King Lear and this evening I saw Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Pryce!

So – G number one was Neil Gaiman in conversation with Claire Armitstead from the Guardian, at the Criterion Theatre in Picadilly, It was an interview, but really he needed so little prompting, she just sort of nudged him in appropriate directions

I was running very late too. I just made it to the theatre for 1800, which is when it was supposed to start, but like all good theatrical events, it was running five minutes late so it was all good.

Neil is in town for the UK opening and promotion of ‘Stardust’ the movie, which I will in due course see, but he talked of many other things as well. It was an hour’s dialogue – and the crowd were allowed to ask questions at the end too. It was fascinating. He’s a lot nicer and gentler in person than you are led to believe from his writing and he said some very interesting things. Like he writes something to discover what he thinks about a subject rather than to illuminate others, and that he isn’t concerned with offending people when writing; in person he’s squeamish and polite, but the minute he’s in a story he looses his inhibitions and just writes what the story asks of him. He also said that if he ever tried to write something for money it invariably went wrong, but if he wrote what interested or intrigued him, the money just sort of worked itself out.

Richard kept my company at this event, and as we were both due at the Apollo to see a play at 1945, he was understandably concerned that we make that performance in time. However as the Gaiman interview was over by 1900 we had about ¾ of an hour up our sleeves and so decided to go to have a look in a Neil’s book signing down the road to see how long the line was. The signing was happening at the Piccadilly Waterstones (the biggest bookstore in Europe) and when we got there we were told to wait for about 2 minutes and then were ushered into a separate room. I really don’t know how we managed it but R and I ended up first in line for the signing. So of course we waited. And waited. Until Neil finally came in at about 1925. I got some photos and two books signed and Richard got his copy of Good Omens signed, which he’d been carrying around the world with him in hope of such an opportunity as he’d already managed to get it signed by Terry Pratchett it’s other author. So it was a bit of a mad dash for us, over to the Blue Posts to pick up the tickets from Jase and then to make it to the theatre on time, but we did.

So, the second G was seeing Jonathan Pryce in ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ at the Apollo. It was an absorbing play. The dialogue was electric and the actor’s were superb… only, I was a little lost as to what the whole thing was about, until interval, when Jason was able to illuminate me. The film apparently makes it a lot clearer, but essentially the main plot of the play is a competition: 1st prize is a Cadillac, 2nd Prize is you keep your job, and 3rd Prize is you’re fired! So, it’s four door-to-door salesmen in the US competing to sell real estate, and if they don’t get any sales up on the board they lose their jobs.

I found it compelling, but just as I was a little lost at the beginning, so I was a tad under-whelmed at the end. The twist really wasn’t one for me, and although the dynamic between the actors was good, a couple of them kept loosing their American accents, which I found quite jarring. Add that to that the fact that I wasn’t feeling so great and the end result was that I enjoyed it but wasn’t fired by it – no pun intended.

So the third G? It was goodbye to Martin tonight. He’s off home tomorrow and so we had a last beer at the Belgium bar De Hems (I had strawberry beer this time – can’t wait to go to Belgium!) and an Adelaidean contingent photo and then I had to retire.

Sad to see him go but he will be back for Christmas… won’t you Marty??!!

The Scottish Play with a Stewart

Last night, being Thursday the 27th of September, our theatre guru Mr Standing organised a trip to the Gielgud Theatre, to see William Shakespeare's Macbeth staring Patrick Stewart.

It was an interesting interpretation. Stark and very grim, set in a quazi WWI era, with most of the cast in the woollen military uniforms of that time and the witches dressed as nurses to match. It had a relatively bare stage very reminiscent of a bunker, with off-white brick walls that allowed imagery to be played across them, including swirling blood at times which was very effective. The sound effects were very threatening, being a lot of gun shots and sounds of battle, and the sets consisted of hospital gurneys transformed from bed to table and back to beds at appropriate moments. There was a lot of reuse of set pieces for different purposes and recurring imagery as you’d expect – the focus on knives being one of them of course. I especially liked the way that the witches first acted as nurses, then turned up in the kitchen preparing the meat for the feast and then were morgue attendants. Very effective.

Michael Feast as Macduff, although he started slow, really came through for me – I felt with him when he discovered his family had died, and the moment he brought in Macbeth’s head… Whoooeee! Martin Turner as Banquo was also really good as the upright man, and when he stalked along the table at the feast and stood over Macbeth with his shirt all soaked in blood I absolutely squirmed with glee! And Scott Handy as young Malcolm was very impressive too when his big moment came. I’d seen him in A Knights Tale, so his face was familiar, but I was very impressed with his containment at the beginning of the play and his deception of Macduff at their second meeting. Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth was… bloodthirsty. You could feel the ambition dripping off her. She was truly creepy at times. And Patrick… what can I say? The way he moved about the stage kept your eyes fixed on him. He had a real presence, and really looked the part of the soldier in comparison to the other nobles.

All up…well, I adore Shakespeare no matter what, but whilst I admit that Macbeth isn’t one of my all time favourites, I enjoyed every minute of this production. Thank you J!

2nd Night at the Proms

On Saturday night I went to the 2nd Night at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. The first had already sold out, but Wow.... wow wow wow. I was seated on the prompt side of the stage, behind the cellos & double bases and the SOUND!!! I was in row 2, 2 from the end, for Prom 2.


The night's presenter was Richard E. Grant, and the theme of the night was English film music to celebrate the 60th year of BAFTA. And I was in heaven. Amongst music from Harry Potter, Much Ado About Nothing, the Dam Busters and Laurence of Arabia, it was an emotional roller-coaster. I was blown away. Most of the time I was grinning manically, when I wasn’t almost in tears. The hall’s organ was also deployed and boy was it amazing! I cold feel the sound through my feet! And being so near the brass section, we got all the blasts of volume you could desire. It was wonderful!! This was what I heard:

Walton: Battle of Britain - 'Battle In The Air' (5 mins)
Lambert: Anna Karenina – Suite (10 mins)
Vaughan Williams: The 49th Parallel - Prelude (2 mins)
Adler: Genevieve – Waltz (3 mins)
Maurice Jarre : Lawrence of Arabia - Theme (3.30 mins)
Easdale: The Red Shoes - Suite (15 mins)
Arnold: Bridge On The River Kwai – March (3 mins)
Ireland: The Overlanders – March – Scorched Earth (4.30 mins)
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett: Love Theme From 'Yanks' (3.30 mins)
Eric Rogers: Carry On... Medley (7 mins)
Patrick Doyle: Much Ado About Nothing - Overture (4.20 mins)
Stephen Warbeck: Shakespeare In Love (5 mins)
Debbie Wiseman: Wilde – Suite (4.30 mins)
John Powell/Harry Gregson-Williams: Chicken Run (4 mins)
Addison: A Bridge Too Far (3.30 mins)
John Williams : Harry Potter - Harry's Wondrous World (4.30 mins)
Coates: The Dam Busters (3.45 mins)

Lining up for tickets before hand was a minor nightmare: note to self, buy tickets at least the day before the performance next time! I waited in line for ¾ of an hour, only getting my tickets 15mins before the performance started, and there were MANY more people in the queue behind me.

Afterwards though, I had a surreal experience. Unlike almost every classical concert I’ve ever been to, where most of the patrons disappear into their cars and a traffic jam ensues, it seemed to me like the entire audience filed, in very orderly fashion, down the road to the nearest tube station… which was a good 10 minutes walk away. So for 10-15 minutes, I was part of a continuous stream of people walking from The Royal Albert to Knightsbridge Tube Station, and even though it was the middle of the night, I felt safer then than I have ever felt in London. I crossed the road at one stage, and checked out the procession: there were people as far as I could see in both directions. It was very like being in Sydney after the New Years Eve fireworks without any drunks! It was very cool.

London for me though is both Sunshine and Shadow; I both love and hate this city. I was depressed this morning. It was raining, and I am sick of my hostel after only two days and unhappy that I have to go back there, and the server at work went down overnight and didn't come back up for three hours and I have to produce over 1000 maps in the next week and a half... So, not happy. Then I went for a walk during lunch along Charing Cross Road, visited 6 bookshops in the space of 15 minutes before settling on one (needless to say, making a couple of purchases) and came back to work Euphoric... such a strange city.