Gosh, Made in Dagenham seems to have been showing forever.. and I wondered whether I'd ever get around to seeing it! Well, I finally did last night. Cheapest tickets available from the official website - although there's a flurry of offers about - and of course, I bought the cheapest seat I could, in the Upper Circle.
I hadn't been to the Adelphi before, but it turned out to be easy - Tube to Embankment, carry on up Villiers Street to the Strand and turn right, and it's on your left. The first train to arrive was advertised on the LCD as going to Edgware Road, but luckily turned out to be headed into town instead, so I didn't have to change. Mind you, we were held so long in Earl's Court ("to even out gaps in the service", of course!) that when another train to town pulled in at the adjacent platform, several people dashed for it. I thought to do the same, but thankfully I was still just outside the train I'd got off when the driver announced that we were leaving now, so I hopped back on.
The Adelphi is no distance up the Strand. It has a grand, Art Deco style. As I went in the door, the guy who checked my ticket informed me that I'd be upgraded to the Dress Circle, and to see his colleague inside for more information. Result! Another good reason to buy cheap tickets. I had to wait quite a bit for her - she was quite busy - but eventually she showed me to the box office, where I was given the same seat number I'd booked - just in the Dress Circle, as promised. Out of interest, the seat I'd originally booked cost £15 on the official website (including fees) - the seat I was upgraded to cost £55 on the same site. How satisfying..
An upgrade to a lower level always at least means fewer steps to climb. As I did so, the announcement said the show would start in two minutes. Hah! I didn't think so, and I was right. Handily, there was a merchandise stall on the Dress Circle level as well as in the Lobby, and I bought a packet of Munchies - I'd only had time for a sandwich before I left, and I was hungry. When the usher at the door of the Dress Circle scanned my ticket (which was the original I'd booked and printed out), of course it said "Wrong Area". And of course, he let me in anyway.
My seat was on the aisle, third row from the back. I was to be glad it was on the aisle - for a £55 seat, the legroom was surprisingly snug! I was beside an elderly couple. From that row, the top of the stage was cut off by the floor of the Upper Circle, above us, but we didn't miss any of the action.
Well, this show is terrific! I'm so glad I didn't miss it. It's based on the true story of how a group of women working in the upholstery department of the Ford plant in Dagenham, in 1969, objected to being classified as unskilled workers, and went on strike. And while they were at it, decided to demand equal pay for women as well, which wasn't the law in Europe at the time.
The production is first class. The sets are inventive, the musical numbers catchy, and the singing top-notch. The couple beside me expressed disappointment to the manager, who wandered by at the interval, that it's closing on the 11th - but these things do happen. Interestingly, the reason he was there was to ask us whether we found the temperature ok. Yes, we did.
Also at the interval, the fellow sitting behind me remarked, in a Cork accent, to the people sitting beside him that he's very sorry, but he's been living and working in Dagenham for six years, and no: they don't all sing like that! I was to find out the reason for the manager's strange question about the temperature when this Corkonian returned, complaining of the extreme heat..
Highly recommended, great fun. As I say, runs till the 11th - shop around for deals, but if you want the absolute cheapest tickets (which worked well for me!), stick with the official website.
My internet is down at home - hence, no blogging from there for now. Tonight, I'm thinking of going to the pictures - and top of the list is a Canadian film called Mommy, showing in the Cine Lumiere, the screen in the Institut Francais. It's ages since I've been there, which is a shame - they have a lovely screen, with plush, comfy seats.
Then for the next two days, it's Meetups - tomorrow, for my sins, I've booked to go on a comedy walking tour of Soho. Assuming my knee isn't playing up too badly - the foot is better, the knee's been troubling me since Friday.
And on Thursday, I'm headed to Wonderfully Wicked Witches and Old Women Late Night at the Courtauld Gallery. Now, I booked this via the Fill My Weekend Meetup group. Honestly, I found it difficult to get a direct link to the event. Funny thing is, I was telling my friend Helen about it yesterday, and she tracked down the link. So I had a look, just to see whether they were sold out on the official website too. Since I got the last ticket on Meetup.
Imagine my annoyance when I discovered that, not only were there still tickets on the official site, but they were cheaper than on the Meetup page! Now, I've already passed over a couple of Meetup events I could get cheaper on my own. So anyway, and particularly because there was a waitlist on Meetup, I posted a message to that effect on the page - people could still get tickets, and cheaper, at the above address. About half an hour later, I got a private message from the group organiser, explaining that the extra charges were to cover Paypal charges (I love it, we have to pay him extra to charge us!) and "group charges" (what, name badges?). And that he was very annoyed there were still tickets available (yeah, I bet!), and had booked these tickets on the assumption they'd sell out.
Oh, and guess what? The message I posted to the site has been removed. I messaged a couple of people on the waitlist directly with the information, but the rest don't accept messages. Ah well, their loss! I am looking forward to the event; I find the topic fascinating, plus there's live entertainment, including Spanish guitar playing. And I absolutely love Spanish guitar. But you know what? I'm very cynical about the approach that the Meetup group organiser is taking, and if I do get a name badge, I may be removing it as the night goes on. And my chances of going to another meetup of this group? Not good at this point.
And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend..
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