Musical: Bonnie and Clyde

Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Bonnie and Clyde, at the Arts Theatre. Now, most of the group going booked this ages ago - I just booked recently. And I noticed that all the cheapest seats were bench seating, which didn't sound terribly comfortable. But for under £2 more, so £25, I managed to get a ticket in the next band up - in the rear stalls - from Todaytix! See, they have this great £25 ticket offer until Sunday. This offer is highly recommended!

Took myself off in time to eat, optimistic of getting a table somewhere about. Well, my option last time - P. F. Chang's Asian Table - was full: but hey, right across the street was Sartori, and they had no trouble seating me! Now, this isn't the place to come for quiet conversation - or contemplation - but what it is, is a buzzing joint, packed to the gills, run by an Italian, and on the ball when it comes to dealing with crowds. I have to say, they managed very well - the manager, in particular, is on top of everything.

I didn't fancy a starter, so had to wait a while to get fed - had an excellent sauvignon blanc to keep me company, mind. And I had no phone reception, so that was a bit tiresome. But it actually wasn't so long before my food arrived - a scrumptious chicken with mushroom, and a very long Italian name! Yum. I was served, and ate, fast enough to have dessert.. and then I was asked whether I wouldn't mind having my dessert in the window! Eh.. OK. I was offered a limoncello to ease my discomfort. Eh.. OK.

So, I was now sat in sight of the theatre, with phone reception. Gee, such hardship. Sure enough, it transpired that they needed my table to push together with others for a large group. Meantime, for dessert, I ordered a lemon cake.. a light concoction, with, apparently, the flavour of the zest of lemons from the Amalfi coast. Hmm.

I am seriously impressed with their ability to produce high quality food with such a press of people! Also impressed that I got a second free limoncello.. following which, I took myself all the way across the street again, ordered a drink at the theatre bar, grabbed a table, and awaited the others. And we had a great old chat, trying to remember who was in that film we all saw about Bonnie and Clyde, and wondering how they could make such a dark story into a musical. And when we headed down to the stalls, someone had to make an announcement so we didn't all join the queue for the ladies' toilets, whose door is right beside the stalls entrance!

The set is riddled with bullet holes, previewing the story. But oh man, what a show! We had asked how they'd pull it off - we found out! After all, this was a terrific era for music - jazz, ragtime, gospel: and if that isn't enough, we got some hard rock for the hard-hitting prison scenes. Terrific performances, show-stopping songs. We were all completely carried along - just like the entire house, proven by the sound of the enthusiastic applause throughout!

At the interval, those of us with drinks couldn't go outside, where most of the group had congregated. Ah well. The second half started dramatically, when part of the set seemed to collapse, and some hit one of our members, in the front row! (I tell you, the perils of sitting in the front row..) The show stopped, the fellow playing Clyde popped over to ask whether he was OK. He had to be led out, sadly, and missed the second half - happily, he doesn't seem to have been too badly injured, and they gave him a complimentary ticket to come again: and a ride home, I believe! Well, I sure hope he does get to see the rest - it's a fantastic show! just maybe don't sit in the front row..

Highly recommended! Booking until the 10th of July.

Tomorrow, back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group - this time, we're at the Royal Festival Hall, where the Philharmonia is playing Mozart and Bruckner. Which makes this my best week for Meetup since lockdown, the only non-Meetup day being yesterday! The last time I saw this organiser is even longer ago than I saw Didi, the organiser on Sunday! (She's a classical guitarist - I just found her page..)

And then back to Ireland for the weekend. The film for the weekend - is looking like Top Gun: Maverick! in which Tom Cruise reprises his fighter-pilot role of so many years ago. Also stars Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer back as Iceman, Ed Harris as the rear admiral. Now, that should be fun!

Play: Barbecue & Film: Foreign Correspondent

Today, Up in the Cheap Seats watched the last in that series of online, read plays - Barbecue, tickets from TodayTix again, with a minimum donation of $5. Mind you, with nothing on telly last night - I watched it then!

And OMG, I was blown away! Starts off with a (white - that's relevant) family, planning a fake barbecue during which they're going to stage an intervention, to try to persuade their addict sister to go to rehab. Perfect Zoom coordination, as usual. It then switches to a black family - you'll start to notice, although the dialogue is different, that they have the same names, and are doing much the same thing. Hmm..

Plenty of familiar faces here. The brothers are played by Colman Domingo and David Morse, the various sisters by S. Epatha Merkerson, Laurie Metcalf, Kristine Nielsen, and Carrie Coon, among others. Sounds predictable enough at the start - even when it switches to the black family, telling the same story in a different way, it sounds pretty normal. Except when you start to wonder about the names.

There's a (very) short interval - and after that, you fall right down the rabbit hole. As you get the backstory to what's gone before, you slowly come to realise that these two stories are indeed the same, dialogue changed for the black family, to reflect what black people would be expected to say. And in a perfectly delicious sequence, we see interaction between members of the families for the first time - it's no spoiler to say that what's happening is, they're making a film of the white family's story, but decided to cast a black family, for "authenticity".

Beautifully acted, perfectly coordinated, cleverly edited. Lots to say about how black people are perceived, and how you should never trust the movies' version of reality. Hilarious, too - and I just love having my expectations confounded. I was riveted for the whole second half.. right down to the abrupt ending. Highly recommended, showing till a minute to midnight, tomorrow (Monday) - in this time zone. Best I've seen in months.

So - with that watched, and nothing on tv this afternoon that I hadn't seen (again) - it was back to my film list. And good old Sands Films' latest offering was the highest rated on my list - just this week, they showed Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. They're doing a tribute to the late, great Robert Fisk, you see, and this was apparently the film that inspired him to become a journalist. Mind you, with buffering issues, I had to resort to my work laptop again.

The broadcast starts about 8 minutes in, then there's an introduction that might be worth a look. The film itself - well, Hitchcock is always worth watching, for his terrific direction: the Master of Suspense, truly. Made and set in 1939, it concerns a journo sent to Europe to investigate rumours of impending war. And for sure, his acts of derring-do - as he witnesses an assassination, confronts spies, evades murder attempts, and gets the girl - would entice many into the profession. Very enjoyable. Tune into the Sands Film site from Tuesday to see a film about Fisk himself, This Is Not a Movie.

That finished just in time for me to join the chat about the play, which was entertaining and lively - pity it was cut off before we got all our talking done. As abrupt an ending as in the play we were discussing, in fact! But as usual, it was great to see everyone.

Finally, I'm taking my Christmas holidays on Friday - and London Social Detours recently announced another talk for that day, in their British Heroes and Villains series. We get to vote at the end, apparently - whether for the greatest hero, or the greatest villain, I don't know. Still, isn't it great that Meetup has so much stuff on again that I can go to?

Film: A Street Cat Named Bob & Play: Boston Marriage

On Saturday, I planned to head back to whatever was left on the Raindance film festival site. But wouldn't you know it, there wasn't anything - not for those outside the UK, anyway; I believe the shorts are available until the 2nd for those in the UK. Anyway, it took me all my available time that day to check that! So it wasn't until yesterday that I got a film seen - and it was back to trusty Amazon Prime, for the first time in a while, and top of my list was A Street Cat Named Bob.

The true story of a junkie on the streets of London, whose life is turned around by a ginger tom - this is a lovely, heartwarming story, without being schmaltzy. And aww, definitely one for cat lovers - that cat is gorgeous, with his lovely, big green eyes. V nostalgic for me too, as his busking patch is around Covent Garden.. I can't count all the rainy and sunny days I've been around there, weekday and weekend. I had great fun, recognising both buildings and bus routes. Very much enjoyed this. Showing (in Ireland anyway) until the 27th.

Now, with the UK locked down again, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) is looking into online offerings again - and it's from them that I got my next idea! I couldn't make their time though, so watched on my own. Yesterday, the choice was a reading of Boston Marriage, streamed from the USA by TodayTix - available for about the next eight hours. Sadly, as the actual show is over, it won't accept new bookings! Just as well I booked before the show started. Mind you, as I've now watched it, you could always try my link.. password is EmeraldNecklace.

And I do recommend it! Socially distanced, with each of the three actors in a different location, it's seamlessly edited - no awkward pauses; if you turn your face away, you can imagine that they're acting as normal, in the same room. It's a comedy of manners, involving two snooty society ladies and the put-upon Scottish maid of one of them, who provides a perfect comedy foil. Madcap antics abound, but it's the conversation that sparkles here. True, the snooty accents are a bit irritating - but I'm glad I stuck with it. Highly recommended.

Tonight, something popped up that I just couldn't ignore - Wimbledon Music Festival is running an online concert based on the life of a medieval nun, Hidegard of Bingen - half music, half story. Early music - I couldn't resist! The link will remain available for another week, but I might log on tonight anyway. I booked with one of my cheap tickets sites - no cheaper, but it does fulfil my requirement to book something with them. Such requirements could be hard, this year!

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I have every intention of taking the time to see something. And that day, UITCS is watching Emilia - a recording of a past show, it's available till a week after Tuesday. And they're still taking bookings - for the minimal fee of £1! So I've booked that as well. Gee, it feels great to have things booked again!

Play: Rosmersholm

Yesterday and today, it's Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) again. Last night, we went to Rosmersholm, by Ibsen, at the Duke of York's Theatre. Just across from the Coliseum - we were remarking on it on Wednesday night!

One of those you have to pick up your ticket for - sure enough, at the theatre, the long queue was for the box office. Pick-up was easy, and then - despite some of us sitting in the stalls - the group met in the Upper Circle Bar, since most were sitting up there. Happily, with the Dress Circle at entrance level, we were halfway there already, with not much further to climb! As usual, we took over most of the bar, which isn't that large.

My seat was in the very back row of the stalls - my view much improved by the lack of anyone sitting in front of me, thank goodness!

An ominous play this, written over 100 years ago.. with a gorgeous, evocative set. The action takes place in two rooms of the great house of Rosmersholm - mostly in a drawing room that's hardly used, following the death of the wife of the pastor, who is the last scion of the great Rosmer family. There is one scene in the pastor's bedroom - I have to commend them on the set change there, which I didn't even notice! Perhaps my attention was directed elsewhere.

They've perfectly captured the sense of a house - and a family - once grand and now decaying. The walls are patchy, with signs of damp - the paintings, once their dustcloths are removed, are gloomy. The light that passes through the side windows gives a fantastic lift to the scenes, shafts of light from the outside beaming hopefully in. But nothing seems able to penetrate the gloom of these rooms, which has its own effect on the people within.

This play has everything - political upheaval, with an election on the horizon: and social change, with questions about the rights of the common folk, and indeed of women, mixed up with challenges to established religion and moral standards. Each of the characters finds their most deeply held beliefs threatened over the course of the play, and as the sands shift under their feet, the whole thing is rendered yet more disturbing by the sounds of a storm outside, and the housekeeper's insistence that she's seen the "family ghost" - the white horse of Rosmersholm, which foretells a death in the family.

It's absolutely marvellous. Not only the set, but the acting is spot-on, in what is a great production. I found the pastor a bit whiny - but I think he's supposed to be, a man who should represent the greatness of his family, but instead seems to dither, politically and personally, never coming down properly on one side or another. His brother-in-law is suitably annoying, representing the rigid morals of the past, and the young lady who acts as the protagonist gives an impassioned performance as she tries to bring something of light and life into the place - as hinted at by her white dress, in the midst of all these dark colours, in the first act.

Go see, go see - this is worth it. And as someone remarked, quite as relevant today. Runs till the 20th July. 

Tonight, it's Our Town at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, with some folks from last night. Happily, the weather seems to be obliging, with no rain promised, decent temperatures, and indeed sunshine - for now!

Tomorrow, back at last with London Literary Walks - whom I'm shamefully neglecting - for "The Second Westminster Walk".

On Thursday and Friday, I booked with UITCS. On Thursday, it was for The Starry Messenger, at Wyndham's, starring Matthew Broderick. I waited the longest time to book this, because I have theatre tokens, earned from posting photos to Seatplan, and every time I thought of booking it, I was either away from where my tokens were, or it was out of office hours - and they have to be booked by phone, generally. Well, I was to be glad I waited - they finally released really cheap front row seats in the stalls! (Restricted view, it's a tall stage.) And I was within arms' reach of my tokens, mid-afternoon. After being kept forever on hold, I was put through to someone who had to have everything spelled out for her, and emitted a big sigh when I told her I had a theatre token. So she had to log into that site. But it was all worth it, to get a ticket for £2.25.. Of course, I knew something would go wrong: and now the office social is scheduled for that very day. Ah well - curry night it is then, venue TBD.

On Friday, I'm off, with UITCS, to Jude, at Hampstead Theatre.

And on Saturday, back - for the first time in a ridiculously long time - with London Dramatic Arts! We're at King Hedley II, with Lenny Henry, at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. As usual, she closed RSVPs too early, but I asked, and she reopened them. Be good to see them again!