Now, every single time I go to the opera house, I end up rushing. There are a couple of places like that, and it's hard to say why, exactly. Anyway, I left carefully early last night, took the Tube to Covent Garden station, and queued for the lift. They're replacing the lifts here, and only two of the four are in operation at any given time, so you end up having to wait - or climb the equivalent of 15 stories of stairs. Up to you. I waited. There are doors on both sides of the lift (one set for entry, one for exit), and when we piled in, we stared with mild concern at the exit doors, which hadn't closed properly. After a minute, they did, and we got out of the station without incident.
So proceeded my dash to the opera house. It's not far from the station - just down the road to the piazza and left along the colonnade. The cobblestones can be tricky in heels, though. Then I had to queue at the box office - by the time I had my ticket, somehow it was five minutes to curtain up and they had rung the bell. Honestly! How this always happens to me here I cannot say. Anyhoo, being in the amphitheatre, I had a choice of lift or escalator - I always take the escalator, it gives me a chance to admire this elegant building, which always feels that little bit posher than others. Might be all the uniformed staff, and the unconcerned diners at the cafe, watching us dash to the performance.
This is actually the closest I've been to the stage - when I was here before, it was in the upper amphitheatre. So this was a bit easier, and I was delighted with my, quite central, view:
And I just about had time to catch my breath before the curtain raised and the surtitle screen lowered. Ah, I'd been wondering where that was!
It's a massive stage, with a suitably massive setpiece in the middle. The opera opens with a scene of debauchery, and my but they did make the most of it in this production. Plenty of nudity here, partial and full. Somewhat extra to the plot, but whatever - they do have an excuse.
Which seems like a good point to give an overall assessment. As I say, I've seen Rigoletto before, in a much smaller production - and for my money, that was the better one. Here, they seemed somewhat to have sacrificed intimacy for scale. It's a choice, and not a terrible one - the storm scenes, in particular, are very effective - but I preferred the smaller production. Also, for me, much of the singing fell a little short - with the stunning exception of the leading lady, portraying Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter. Aleksandra Kurzak has the sweetest voice, which soared through the opera house and brought a tear to my eye, at least.
At the interval, I ran into some folks from the office, who were kind enough to share their bubbly with me. Nice to run into people you know at these things, and I hope they enjoyed it. (And the bubbly was much appreciated - it's been a while since I had it and it went to my head a bit. As it tends to do.)
As I left the opera house, I was passed by a fellow with a white, standard poodle on a lead. Enormous dogs with woolly coats that need clipping, you don't see many. But it was hilarious to see this sedate dog go bonkers when he spotted a much smaller dog over the side having a wee. When the small dog was finished, they nosed each other, and it was the most terrific shot.. pity I couldn't have gotten it in time. The moment passed when the big dog got excited again, and the little dog lost his nerve and fled..
Covent Garden station is exit-only while they're fixing the lifts, so I had to make my way back to Leicester Square - me and half the audience, by the looks of it! Anyway, it's not far. As I trotted left down Floral Street, the atmosphere was quite continental, what with the cobblestones and expensive boutiques. Hang a right at the end, and at the junction, take the second left onto Cranbourn Street for the Tube. Which was crammed, but given that the crowds got on there, most of us got seats - I wouldn't advise getting on at a later stop! Too late to blog last night - hence the delay with this post.
Well, I'm booked up for the rest of the week. Tonight, I finally get to one of the James plays at the National: historical plays about Kings James I, II, & III of Scotland. Not James I for tonight though; when I checked yesterday, there was no availability for that at all - I booked James II: Day of the Innocents instead, which is what I'm going to tonight. Mind you, when I checked today, they must have had returns, because I got a ticket for James I! The only date available that I could manage was Monday 27th, but it's worth it - they do say it's the best of the trilogy. And for both of those, I managed to get the cheap £15 tickets. As of now, no availability for James III - watch this space. The National is another place I'm always rushing for, so shall have to watch my time tonight.
Tomorrow night, I'm headed to the Globe again, to see Pitcairn - a drama about what happened after the mutiny on the Bounty - and must remember to bring my camera for the fantastic view when you exit after dark. I was in time to avail of their offer of any seat for £10 with the code PCDWRITE, and I do believe this was the last performance I could make of this, too! And on Thursday, I'm headed to a double-bill of plays in the feminist Calm Down, Dear festival (also in its final week) - Women's Hour and A Girl and a Gun. Then back to Ireland for the weekend. For a rest!
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