Tonight, I was excited to be headed to see Derren Brown in Showman, at the Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue. Cheapest tickets with Official London Theatre again. And frankly, after last night, I was rather glad to be going on my own.
Looking at eateries nearby, the nearest that looked decent and had availability was Bella Italia - so I booked a table for 6pm. Figured that'd be ok, as it's just down from the theatre, and the show starts at 7.30. I had fun on the bus out there, though - it was diverted, I couldn't hear a word the driver said, either over the PA, or by speaking to us directly. So I was disturbed when he didn't turn where he was supposed to.
I started pressing the bell to get off. Unfortunately, a group of foreigners had accidentally been pressing the disabled bell, and he obviously thought it was just them again. Finally, when we were stopped just north of Trafalgar Square, one of the girls from that group went up to him - obviously to ask him to let them off. All he said to her was to ask her to speak up. She, of course, didn't understand him, and went back to her group. Well, I decided to press the bell again - whereupon he looked back to ask them why they kept pressing it! I interrupted him, said I had pressed it, I wanted to get off. "Well, why didn't you come and say it to me?" Duh... Whereupon he finally opened the doors, and we all got off. To his relief, I'm sure - certainly to ours. I'd complain his attitude, but there's hardly any point - he'd just say they'd been creating a nuisance and confusing him.
So I had to walk from there to Shaftesbury Avenue, instead of just crossing the road. Mercifully, I'd left plenty of time - even with all of that, I was five minutes early! and I hardly needed to book - there was hardly anyone there. I got a table by the window. Mind you, by 6.20 they were turning people away..
I had garlic dough balls, with garlic butter - which turned out to be absolutely gorgeous! Highly recommended. The choice of main was tricky - they were all the same price, and I finally went for the carbonara. Lovely. I had a couple of glasses of what must be among the cheapest sauvignon blanc in the West End, at under £8 for a large glass! Well, I figured, it'd be cheaper than at the theatre - and the plan was also to have dessert. However, the service that had been so attentive when I arrived had now vanished - no wonder, when I signed into the house WiFi, I was asked whether I'd like to work there! They're obviously short-staffed. So I paid and left. This is a real find, however - I'd be delighted to eat here again.
And so to the theatre, where the usher told me to head for the last door and climb the stairs to the Balcony. Now, I didn't expect as many as there were - and I certainly didn't have the energy to count them on the way up - but I decided to count them on the way down. And so I now know there are 80. They seemed to go on forever, with a particularly cruel, long last flight. I was in the front row of the Balcony, and you come in at the back - so I then had to go down more stairs. I was glad of the railing - they are steep, and of uneven height.
As to the seat - well, from the picture, you can see the view is woeful. Happily, the Balcony is so steeply raked that it's no problem to lean forward - otherwise, no-one could see anything. The legroom is nonexistent - good for me, choosing an end seat! I spent the whole night twisted to the side. Was stiff and sore afterwards. But the alternative - keeping my legs pointed forwards - was impossible; I actually had the idea to compare the gap between the seat - in the position where I was sitting on it - and the balcony cushion, and my mobile. Turns out my mobile - 6.3 inches long, I checked - just squeezes into the gap. Tightly. Absolutely terrible seats. But as I say, I managed, by sitting sideways (actually half off the seat) and leaning on the balcony. I found it more comfortable to sit on the ledge beside the stairs for the interval - I'd have stayed there for the entire show, except that I couldn't see at all from there.
Being in plenty of time for the show, I went in search of a glass of sauvignon blanc - the price list, predictably, was more expensive than the restaurant. But when I asked for one, I was told they had no white wine at all! Oh well, I did without. Just as well I had that second glass at the restaurant. At the interval, I saw people coming back with ice creams, which would have been nice - but I couldn't see where they were selling them, and gave up on it. At the end, I saw they'd been at the top of the steps. They'd left the empty stand there. I did take the opportunity to go to the toilet - only to discover massive gaps between the cubicle doors and walls! Great for people-watching.. in either direction..
Well, none of this left me in a great mood for the show. But I have to say, it was excellent! I'm not really familiar with Derren Brown, but he's a mentalist, apart from other things. I hesitate to say much about the show - particularly as he asked us not to reveal anything - but I'll say this. Be it magic or trickery, the man is talented! And I loved the reaction of the hapless young lady that he'd had on before and brought on again - we could see closeups of everything, cameras beam everything to monitors all around the theatre. My, the resigned look on her face, as he asked her how she felt about doing something else, and she remarked that she didn't trust him one little bit! The show also had its poignant moments, and the more traditional mentalism that happens at the end is truly impressive. If the audience members involved were plants, they were terrific actors..
Highly recommended. Runs till the 18th of next month - low availability for all remaining shows. Just be careful where you sit!
