Oof, whatta couple of days! So, on Sunday I spent the afternoon at West End Live. Apparently, it's the 11th year of this.. how did I miss it before? Maybe it was on a weekend I wasn't here, and I just didn't pay attention. Anyhoo, what it is, is a couple of weekend afternoons of West End stars performing live snippets from their shows, about 20 minutes each, on a stage in Trafalgar Square. And the day dawned bright and sunny, so I packed a backpack and off I went.
Trafalgar Square isn't on a Tube line - I usually go via the District Line to Embankment and walk, but the District Line was closed through that section this weekend, for planned engineering works. Never mind - Leicester Square station turns out to be just as close, and I took the Piccadilly Line to there and walked. It's an easy walk, not five minutes - just turn left from Exit 1, down Charing Cross Road. You can't miss it!
The entrances were on either side of the North side of the square, and it didn't take me long to get in. I kind of missed the first act - What's It All About? Bacharach Reimagined - and found myself listening to an annoying pair of MCs touting MasterCard (the main sponsor) and the Fortnum & Mason stalls, selling water and ice cream. That's another thing - where were the food stalls? I've never seen an event like this without catering! So I realised I'd have to leave the venue for lunch, and identified a block of the schedule I wasn't interested in, during which I could do that.
Meantime, there weren't many good vantage points to sit, so I stood for a lacklustre performance from The Lion King, whose cast gave just one number and weren't much appreciated. The Commitments, on the other hand, had everyone bopping along, and I made my way over to the other side of the venue for Stomp, always good crowd-pleasers. Oh, and naturally there was at least one ticket booth in the place so you could buy tickets to all these, along with various promotional tents from people like Picturehouse, Forbidden Planet and Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
But, as I say, no food - so after Stomp, I headed off in search of some. Heading down Northumberland Avenue, there's a Prezzo on one side and a Garfunkel's on the other - you know, I have had consistently good quality from Garfunkel's, so I chose them - generally much tastier than my experience of Prezzo. I was quickly seated, and generally well served, despite them being rushed off their feet.. I had garlic bread to start, which comes as a flat loaf, accompanied with a little jug of garlic sauce in case you want more. And I chose the carbonara for a change.. the sauce was a bit indifferent, but the chicken and bacon were delicious, and it filled a spot. And the (very good) wine arrived promptly - glad to see that, they used to take forever with drinks. Dessert was a chocolate fudge cake (natch), which I asked for cold, and which did arrive unheated - but not exactly cold, as it was on a warm plate. Ah well..
Rested and revived, I returned to the square. I'd missed Memphis the Musical for that chocolate cake, but never mind. I joined the long queue snaking down the road. Unfortunately, if you enter later in the afternoon, beware - the queue is much longer, and this time I was queueing for 35 minutes. During which time we were, at least, entertained by the strains of L' Amour est un Oiseau Rebelle, from Carmen. And some stuff from Jersey Boys. And finally, we were in..
I headed to where I'd been last, with the stage to my right. I'd determined that there was no point in trying to see the stage directly - the fountains are in the way, the area in front of the stage is too crowded, and there are large video screens either side anyway. I also quickly determined, with the sun as hot as it was, that I'd better sit. So I did what many around me were doing, and plonked myself on the concrete, somewhere with a decent view of the screen on my side. Sat on my coat, and when I got stiff doing that, lay down with my bag as a pillow. The weather was what you might call variable - clouds scudded across the sky, and when the sun disappeared behind them it turned cool and breezy. When the sun reappeared though, it was like an oven.. and I quickly got a bit burnt.
Dusty was scheduled to make an appearance, but doesn't seem to have - we got a medley of random show songs from somebody I didn't recognise instead. Let It Be, the tribute musical to The Beatles, was full of catchy Beatles numbers, of course - but the guys playing the band themselves didn't excite. They seemed a bit too old, honestly - and somewhat lacking in enthusiasm, I thought. Ah well. This was followed by a number of West End kids acts - which were excellent - a performance from American Idiot the Musical, which made me wonder why anyone would bother seeing this when they could just go listen to Greenday's albums, and a performance from Avenue Q, the puppet show. Surreal. The little girl near me kept time to the music by swinging her Elsa doll around by the long veil she wears. Excellent use of it, that!
The show I saw last year, which returns this year - Briefs - made an appearance, with the obligatory striptease! They kept their briefs on, appropriately. Showstopper! The Improvised Musical did a decent job of constructing an impromptu musical from audience suggestions. Then we were into a cabaret section, where a lineup of stars did a rendition of songs that people had voted for, and which hadn't been featured already that day. Notable in this section were Don't Stop Believing and Memory.. gee, I'd forgotten how much I love that. It brought a tear to the eye. And the show was rounded off, as was the day before, by Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games. Which also involves some disrobing, it seems.. and it seems that long hair for women is in the job spec. Spectacular moves, though.
A good day, all in all. But do try and bring food. And a folding chair would have been lovely - I saw some, and was quite jealous. Me, I'm still a bit stiff from sitting / lying on that concrete all day..
That night, I started this week's film list and didn't have time to blog. Well, I was in Guildford yesterday anyway, and not expecting to go out.. except then, the training course I was on finished early, and there I was with no laptop, and nothing to do save go home! Early. So.. I decided to follow London For Less! again - they were off to Don Giovanni in the Opera House, which you'll remember I wanted to go to on Saturday but couldn't get a ticket for. Well, I managed one for last night - booked a seat slightly to the side in the Lower Amphiteatre. Makes a big difference, being in the lower part - you feel much closer, and the view from the seat was fine. Love that feature of providing a photo of the view from every seat..
So, I had time to eat at home before I headed in. My seat was at the edge, so I could lean out over the balcony to see the obscured corner of the stage. Nice, velvety covering on the balcony too - and a nice little ledge for the castlist (they object to you putting anything heavier on it, in case it falls). The guy on my outside was a real Mozart buff, telling me how he'd seen this in practically every major opera house in the world. Playing imaginary piano during the arias. You know, it's lovely to see someone who gets such pleasure from a performance!
I agree with him - this performance was a treat. This is an opera I haven't seen before, but this was a great introduction to it - the music is gorgeous, and was most beautifully sung. The packed house erupted in cheers and applause several times - and I was frequently carried away by the sheer beauty of the piece. The costumes were stunning, and the action played out cleverly on a revolving stage, with clever visuals that projected on the walls the names of the title character's numerous conquests. And other visual treats. Wow, what a production! A long one, but I enjoyed every minute. Only three more performances - this Thursday, and Wednesday and Friday of next week. As I look, there are 69 tickets available on the official website for Thursday, 8 for Wednesday, and the "last few" for the last performance. Get onto it, if you're interested!
I'd messaged the London For Less! organiser to say I'd be there and it'd be nice to meet the group, and he told me they were planning to be in the Amphitheatre Bar at the interval, and in The Globe pub across the road afterwards. Well, the bar was as crowded as ever at the interval, but I did spot his distinctive cream baseball cap. But he was way too busy to chat, occupied as he was with sorting a refund for someone. I didn't know anyone else there last night, and the bar was too crowded to get to know them, so I left them to it. The Globe is quite easy to find, and I did head there briefly after, but didn't see anyone I recognised. Knowing how long he takes to leave venues, and since I was tired, I headed home - meeting a couple of ladies from the office on the way! Apparently they'd been at the same thing - this is the second time I've met them at the Opera House..
After such a long show, there was no time to blog last night either. Today, I finally finished the film list - but nothing enthuses me for tonight, and although it's Film Nite's last Meetup before summer, they're headed to something I couldn't get to in time from work. You know, I might just stay in.. tomorrow, I've booked for a Science Museum late. The Art & Science group are headed there.. anyway, it's free and I'll see how I feel. Leaving drinks for someone from work on Thursday, and I'm back to Ireland for the weekend..
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