Saturday, 29 October 2016

Ballet: Anastasia

Yessiree, another of the Man with the Hat's season at the Opera House. Today was the ballet Anastasia - London for Less Than a Tenner in the slips, Let's Do London - for less! in the amphitheatre. Was looking forward to this one..

Drat it though, it would have to be a matinee, and me up late last night blogging! Well, I slept well at least, dragged myself out of bed, and chose the fast option - train to Waterloo, then a bus. With several platforms closed today at Clapham Junction, the nearest option for a Waterloo-bound train was Platform 7. Never before have I been right in choosing that platform - well, today was a first, and the scheduled train actually did stop there! and was first to leave.

There are quite a few buses from Waterloo that'll take you in the right direction - easiest is probably to head for Stop C, which services two buses. Take either, get off at Aldwych. Walk back, and Google Maps suggests a right turn up Catherine Street, left at the end, then right onto Bow Street. Who am I to argue? Catherine Street was filled with a stream of coaches, trying to squeeze between a recycling lorry and a line of large, expensive-looking parked cars - Bow Street, on the other hand, was full of black cabs. And I passed a whole host of restaurants - which was just painful, as I hadn't had breakfast.

Made it there first again, yay! swiftly followed by Mary - and once the Man with the Hat had arrived, the hordes descended. Got our tickets, headed up..


And doesn't that photo they've used for the stage screen fit well with the décor? (Also notice, beside the mixing desk, the Director's Box, where they put me when I was late, that time.)

As we determined from the free fliers, this performance had two intervals, each almost as long as the intervening bits. So we got to move around a lot. Three acts - the first two describe the royal family's life up to the revolution, and are as gorgeous as you'd expect. Beautiful, turn of the century dresses, graceful dance.

The first act, taking place on a ship, has the most gorgeous backdrop of billowing, sparkly material representing the sea, and ends with the declaration of war; it's highly idealised, a young girl's vision of the world, surrounded by handsome sailors and a loving family. But then, she was never to know much more.

The second act takes place at Anastasia's coming-out ball, much more grown-up, with tiaras and long dresses - but ends with revolutionaries storming the palace. As someone remarked at the interval - very powerful.

The third and final act was what I was waiting for - stark, with a plain, grey stage, a young woman in a mental hospital, the only furniture a bed, and her dressed in plain grey, to match the set. Flanked by nurses, she is shown footage of the royal family, and seems to identify with Anastasia. This is obviously the representation of Anna Anderson, who spent her life claiming to be Anastasia, who had apparently escaped. The whole set has her plagued by nightmares, surrounded by the ghosts of the royal family and lines of gun-toting soldiers. And lines of Romanovs who won't accept that she's one of them. And then there's Rasputin, who has stalked the background throughout the show, and now seems to bar her from the royals - the ballet ends with her defeating him once and for all, and apparently succumbing completely to the idea that she is a Romanov.

I loved it. Beautiful to watch during the first two acts, powerful, haunting. It's an iconic story, the assassination of this young family, and the possibility that the youngest daughter might have survived. Strongly recommended for anyone with an interest in the subject matter. Tickets still available for Monday, and for the 8th and 12th.

At the intervals, by the way, we headed for the balcony, where - for the first interval - we were gloriously entertained by a busker, right underneath, who treated us to showtunes with the most glorious voice.. packed with music, this place!

Afterwards, we headed to the Sun again (and this time I remembered the way, whee!). Upstairs as usual, and the Man with the Hat (who stayed behind to steer others our way) had told us they'd reserved space for us by the window. Sure had - we'd got the entire section! (and a table beside it). Little signs left for us on all the reserved tables:


And when he eventually arrived, he bought us some bottles of wine.. I was, of course, starving, having had - so far - one small tub of ice cream, in total, for the day. So I dined on bar snacks - and despite people's initial reluctance to eat, when they saw mine, there was kind of a rush.. plenty got ordered, in the end. The house wine here is excellent, I'm glad to report - and we had a great old time, sitting and chatting, with no particular place to be for the day. The advantage of a Saturday matinee! Just a pity we were a bit spread out, so we didn't all get to chat to each other. Oh, and caveat: someone (not in our group) took a nasty spill on the steps leading down from the window section - they're quite shallow, and it's not obvious there's a step there.. Anyway, I ended up in the hardcore group that stayed till the end, which came after some ghost stories were told (appropriate for the time of year) that, would you believe, were accompanied by Ghostbusters on the radio. Followed by Zombie, by the Cranberries - well, the title fitted the theme!

And so home, by bus this time, passing plenty of costumed folks, this close to Hallowe'en..

 

Tomorrow, the Man with the Hat has no fewer than three instances of London for Less Than a Tenner, heading off to a guided tour of Billingsgate Roman House & Baths - one each at 12.30, 2, and 3pm. He originally advertised the 12.30 and I booked - then he advertised the 2pm one, and offered us the chance to switch if we liked. So I did, for a bit of a lie-in! He finally put one up for 3pm as well, which is now sold out, I see..

Monday is Hallowe'en (whoopee)! I was supposed to go on a guided walk - London for a Tenner or Less (nothing to do with the Man with the Hat), advertising Funzing as usual, and wouldn't you know, I was on a walk with the same guide last month. Wasn't massively impressed - I finally cancelled it (Funzing gives a refund if you cancel at least 48 hours in advance), and since I had the film list done, decided I'd go to a film that night instead. Horror, natch. Top rated horror, as it has been for a while, is Don't Breathe, about a group of thieves that break into a blind man's home to rob him, but get more than they bargained for.. unfortunately, locally it's only showing quite late at night, but I can grab a showing at Vue West End at 6:30 or a bit later, depending what suits. Much scarier than a ghost walk, I'll bet. Trailer looks great. Actually, Train to Busan is rated higher - but I don't really like zombie films.
 
Tuesday, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club, who are back in Rich Mix, with the appropriately titled Day of the Dead. Includes the excellent Nell Phoenix and - my favourite - Clare Muireann Murphy.
 
Wednesday, I'm at a classical concert called Goyescas: Music in the time of Goya, in St. John's Smith Square. I'm going in the company of Kensington Classical Music.
 
Thursday, I was to go to the much over-advertised free comedy in Hammersmith - called Bonfire Special, and I'd signed up to go with five different groups (just because I can): Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, Random London, London Art Comedy & Culture Lovers, London Live Comedy, and London for a Tenner or Less, who advertised the thing no fewer than three times themselves. However, I just got word today that it's been cancelled for a private event! So it was ironic that I was considering how many groups I might have to cancel - that's exactly what I ended up doing! Still haven't come up with a plan for that night - we'll see.
 
Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend, and we're off to Aida at the University Concert Hall that Saturday. Another thing to remember to print off tickets for - website permitting!
 
On Monday 7th, I've booked for a talk given by a new group, Org London, whose theme is Digital Dystopias: Orwell's 1984 and the Internet Age. Or I might go to a film - we'll see.
 
Tuesday 8th, yippee, I'm back with free comedy in Hammersmith! (so far). Only with three groups so far - Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, London Live Comedy, and London for a Tenner or Less (just the once).
 
Wednesday 9th is back with the Man with the Hat, who's taking Let's Do London - for less! to Southwark Playhouse, to see Orca.
 
Thursday 10th - yes, you guessed it, free comedy in Hammersmith! Think of it as a placeholder. Funnily enough, I'd just booked with London for a Tenner or Less, and only just noticed that Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, and London Live Comedy, were also advertising. Again. So I've booked. Again. What the hey, it's free.
 
Now, on Friday 11th, London Dramatic Arts are off to see King Lear at the Barbican. Haven't seen that since I studied it in school. Well, I'm off to see it too - cheaper, and sat in the very back row! Hopefully, with the maze that the Barbican is, it'll be fairly easy to avoid them.
 
And I did have something to do on the 12th - or rather, the Man with the Hat did, until hardly anyone booked, so he cancelled! Bah humbug. Might go to the Lord Mayor's show, which is on that day. Or perhaps a film..

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