This afternoon, London Social Detours (LSD) had a quiz - in the afternoon, on Zoom, so I signed up. We had to be on camera, and write down our answers - and it was interesting, the questions based on London in the main. Happily, there was a royal section, which - of course - I got full marks on. Joint fourth overall, out of 37 - with 20 questions right out of 30; the winner got 24. Not bad, then! Only minor technical quibbles - whenever I turned on my mic, I got static when the others were speaking - so I left it off, mainly. And I got kicked out at one point. Of course, as she's not yet registered, we have a 40-minute limit on meetings - so we have to log in every 40 minutes. And someone still had trouble getting audio! Ah well, it was fun.
I said I'd also try to catch this week's offering from The Shows Must Go On!, where Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals are streamed for free for 48 hours - this week, it's Love Never Dies, a sequel to Phantom of the Opera. As advertised by Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS). I suppose I could have watched it with them - except that they limit the numbers, for technical reasons, and fill up quickly. Anyway, it would've been tight, after the quiz - even though nobody felt like hanging around after it was finished.
Television was unusually good tonight - so it was very, very late by the time I got around to this: but I was in the mood. And it had already been an evening marked by musical offerings. Continuing in that vein, Love Never Dies is a continuation of Phantom, set 10 years later, in Coney Island - Christine, now married with a son, has been invited to sing there, and with her husband's debts, they need the money. But a surprise awaits her - she has unfinished business, and a desperate choice to make..
Fabulously Gothic in set design and plot, with Christine playing, again, the classic, pale Gothic heroine with blood-red lips, it's a breathtaking production. The music, to be honest, doesn't pack quite the punch of Phantom - but that would be hard to top. I liked the music best when it reprised the tunes from the original. And I see that feedback from the group was mixed - for that reason, in general. Me - I loved it. Even though it doesn't match the original Phantom - but it is terrific in its own right - and surprisingly moving.. Available for the next 13 hours or so, from time of writing. Do see! (And Man with the Hat, if you happen to be reading this, that recommendation applies especially to you - you'd love it. This sort of production always reminds me of you..)
Tomorrow, as usual, I'm following UITCS' lead in watching Hampstead Theatre's weekly offering, which this week is the currently topical Tiger Country, set in the NHS.
On Monday, London Literary Walks has scheduled a continuation of the music quiz that was running.. a mistake on the organiser's part, he accidentally made the next bit a separate event! Glad he's still running it - when I saw the first event had ended, I was afraid he'd stopped, and I do enjoy them!
Next Saturday, behold, LSD has my attention again - they're doing an online murder mystery, where everyone chooses a character and (optionally) dresses up. Small fee. Cool! We get scripts, it seems.. And I've been chosen to be Sierra Tango, police constable! Seems it's been booking heavily, and that was all that was left. Fine by me. Must figure out what I'm doing by way of a character image, or fake background..
On the 3rd, back with Hampstead Theatre for The Arrest of Ai Weiwei. UITCS is, of course, seeing it that evening.
Now, the 8th is a bank holiday - so I'll need something to do that day as well. And I was thinking I'd follow UITCS' lead from earlier in the week, and have a look at a livestreamed Showstopper! show, filmed in the Lyric a month ago without an audience (!), now available on Facebook..
..and then they advertised Antony and Cleopatra, screened by the National Theatre from that day. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okenedo. Now, that does sound interesting..
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