Musical: License to Ill

Whew, whadda day. So, this interview - with California - had to be scheduled to account for the time difference. I asked for 6pm, they gave me 6.30. I asked to compromise with 6.15 - not a chance. Which left me dubious about getting to Southwark Playhouse for 8pm, given that the interview was to last 45 minutes. Mary, bless her, offered me a space close to the venue - she both lives and works close to there - where I could take the call. Well, I'd been told it was a phone call. And then, yesterday evening, the recruiter emailed me a Google Hangout link! So I'd need an internet connection and a webcam, and it was just too much trouble - I said I'd take it at home and risk getting there in time.

As it happened, it was a good thing I kept the phone near me, just in case - because, just after 6, phone me he did! As I was downloading the Google Hangout plugin. When I mentioned that to him, he said we could use that if I wanted - o no, I said, we're on the phone now, might as well stick to it! Well anyway, I think it went pretty well - and 40 minutes in he ran out of questions, mentioned that an hour had been set aside for this (WHAAT?!) and did I want to use up the whole hour? Heh. Yeah, sure. So I asked him five minutes' worth of questions, while putting on my coat. Then I said I was off to a musical. O yes, which one? Well, I said, it's about the Beastie Boys, if you're familiar with them. He paused, and said that all he could remember was that song about the "right to party"? Yup, I said, I bet that'll feature.. and I bet we'll be singing along.

Well, since I moved to Clapham Junction, I've been taking the 344 to Southwark Playhouse. Not this evening - although Google Maps optimistically promised it wouldn't take any longer than any other route, I know damn well it always takes at least 50 minutes. So, this once, it was train to Waterloo, Bakerloo Line to Elephant & Castle. The trains to Waterloo were unusually infrequent this evening, but I managed a nonstop one pretty quickly, and was delighted that the stop in between Waterloo and Elephant & Castle was closed, making my journey just a little bit quicker.

I've gotten lost in Elephant & Castle before, but was delighted to see a map on the platform that clearly showed which exit to take. Equally delighted to see a lift to the surface - it'd been a stressful evening, and stairs in particular I could do without. En route to the theatre, I demonstrated to a couple of Americans how jaywalking should be done.. and behold and lo, I arrived in the theatre lobby just as they were going in to the show. Howzat?! And time to get a drink before the end of the queue got to me. Managed to get a seat in the second row, too.. good timing, it looked like a sell-out.

The show, lest I forget to mention, is called License to Ill, and is named after the Beastie Boys' first album. Well, they were already on stage - one spinning discs, one on drums, two on guitar. Looking like the three (or four) Stooges, with fake beards and glasses. And hats. And they proceeded to lead us through - not only a history of the Beastie Boys, but also of hip hop.

It very quickly occurred to me that they must've written this themselves - they were just too keen! And it seems that yes, they did. Opening night tonight too - and what a night. They really look the part - check out the above linked-to video, they have the same outfits. They can play - I, for one, was bopping along all evening. They were very keen to get the audience involved - we'd kind of been warned about that. Beware of sitting in the front row.. or on the aisle.. if you'd rather stay off stage.

Oh, and YES, of course they played That Song. And encouraged us to sing along - well, I certainly did.. I still remembered most of the words. Loved that, back in the day, and wow, their mention of being played on MTV brought back happy memories. Well, in Ireland we had MT-USA for a few hours on a Sunday - and I devoured it. License to Ill runs until Christmas Eve (what a way to spend Christmas Eve) - and if you ever liked the Beastie Boys, you kind of have to see it! The applause at the end was heartfelt - highly recommended.

Drinks in the bar on the premises afterwards, and so good to chat to the folks, and debrief about my frenetic week. We didn't stay terribly late - afterwards, I was back to the trusty 344, and after a shivery wait, was delighted to find it was absolutely the first bus I'd been on this week that really felt warm! So much so that I could even take off my gloves..

Tomorrow, I'm back with Kensington Classical Music, for a concert at the 1901 Arts Club, to start off December. New venue for me, but nice and near Waterloo, so should be easy for me to get to.
Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend - flights booked up to February at this stage, but I'm not booking any more for now until I know what I'm doing long-term - and on Saturday, we're off to the UL Orchestra's Christmas concert.