English Song

Tonight, back at the City Churches Music Festival - with CT, this time, for a concert of English Song at the lovely church of St. Bartholomew the Great. It'd been too long..

So, I walked - happily, the rain had passed over. And it took longer than Google Maps predicted, but I was in no hurry. The place was only half full anyway - probably due to the ongoing rail strike - and I do believe they started late. Which suited me just fine! It's a gorgeous church, and I was happy to mosey around and take photos, while deciding where the most scenic place was to sit - I had plenty of choice!

Just a single pianist and a singer this evening - and straight through without an interval. Pieces by Vaughan Williams again, along with some by his contemporaries and friends. Now, this is a highly operatic style of singing - which, frankly, I hate. But I have to give her credit - that's an incredible voice, which she doesn't look as though she could make. And the pieces won me over - pretty much. Anyway, they specifically thanked people for coming out during the strike, and I was glad to help. Not sufficiently so to buy their cd, but never mind.. Still, this festival ends tomorrow, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Well, the lack of interval meant that I got back in time to sit out on my balcony for a while, finally! Where I saw we have some guests..

The fox family has three members altogether that I saw, but I couldn't manage to get them all in one shot!

Tomorrow, back to Ireland for the weekend again. There are a few films on that I'd like to see.. now, when I first looked, Elvis was as yet unrated on IMDB. Directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann and with Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker and Austin Butler in the title role, it subsequently debuted with a high rating of 8.1. But in the meantime, I'd become enthused at the next highest rated film - The Black Phone, currently at 7.4, a very high rating for a horror film, is the story of a 13-year-old boy who is kidnapped by a serial kidnapper and killer of small children (Ethan Hawke). Trapped in a soundproof basement, when the disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, he answers it - and finds himself talking to the killer's previous victims. So, you know, I think I might go see that - Elvis has fallen quite a bit in ratings in the meantime anyway. Both showing in Ennis, and at roughly the same time - watch this space!

On Monday, I've booked with TAC to hear an interview with Chris Patten, the last UK governor of Hong Kong before it was handed back to China. Happening at Conway Hall.

On Tuesday, back again with Free Stuff and Free Events, for their Free Tuesday Sing-a-Long for Health and Pleasure. Online, and one where you're muted, so you don't even have anyone hear you sing! Great for the shy.

On Wednesday, I'm finally succumbing to Anything Goes, at the Barbican. Now, I got my ticket for this from Time Out, which is the first place I saw the offer - but it turns out that any number of outlets have £25 tickets! If they're all for the same seats as Time Out, then I'd have to feel sorry for people that bought tickets for £38, which is cheaper than the original price of £45 for the seats on offer! Assuming anyone did. Anyway, with no bad seats here, you'd have to be crazy to pay more.

Next Thursday, back with Bucket List London (BLL) - who obligingly is doing something midweek! I'll have to skip off work early - this is for vespers in Westminster Cathedral, and starts at 4.30. He is actually in Westminster all day, attending Ministerial Question Time earlier - but not only do I have a job to go to, but jeez, I do believe this would just infuriate me! So that, I'm not attending..

On the 1st, back with Civilised London (CL) for dinner at Caravel. Terrific reviews..

That weekend, I'm back with the man with the famous name - Dr. Stephen King (not the writer) is guiding a couple of walks for London Guided Walks (courtesy of Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts). Sadly, not as yet advertised on TAC, so I booked them through the official site (discount of £3 with the code MEETUP3, as usual). Both topics / areas I've covered many times before, but gee, he's such a great guide! So I hope I make these - early. On the 2nd, it's his Southwark Walk.

On the 3rd, it's his Royal Coronation Walk. I just bet he comes up with something I didn't already know..

On the 4th, I'm headed to A Doll's House Part 2, at Donmar Warehouse - sequel to the famous original, where the wife leaves an unhappy marriage; this sequel examines what happens when she returns.

On the 5th - well, I finally saw Up In The Cheap Seats (UITCS)' ad for Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, at the Underbelly Festival! A parody musical, right up my street - I hate how Meetup so often doesn't show me the events I really would enjoy! Just as well I saw this in time, before I booked anything else. So it'll be a hectic evening, with an interview scheduled for 5.30! I'd better quit work early I think, and head home for that - I can't guarantee quiet in the office.

On the 6th, back with CT for a concert by the Royal College of Music Brass Ensemble, at the college on Shelton Street.

On the 7th, back with Guided Walking Tours in Brighton and Sussex, for The London Necropolis Virtual Tour. I pointed out to him that the registration link had the wrong date, and he said it was outdated, and he'd replace it and send me the new link - well, he's removed it, but no new link yet. And then - you guessed it, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again!

On the 11th, I'm going to Favour, at the Bush Theatre - after much effort, as their website wasn't working for days! In fact, it seems to go down sporadically. I chose an unreserved seat, will be allocated one on the day. Anyway, I see TAC has now started selling tickets for this - gee, might be not only the cheapest, but the easiest way to book! Wow, was only there once before, 3.5 years ago..

On the 12th, I'm going to The Southbury Child, at the Bridge Theatre. And now CT is selling cheap tickets for that too, bah. I also noticed that UITCS is going, later in the week - ah well.

On the 13th, back with CL for dinner - this time at The Crown itself, where we usually meet for drinks before heading somewhere else for dinner. Excellent choice. Which marks the beginning of a whole spate of Meetups in a row! When's the last time that happened..?

On the 14th, back with The Garden Talks - this online talk is How Do Languages Evolve?

On the 15th, back with the Classical Music and Theatre Group for the opera Otello, at the Royal Opera House.

On the 16th, which is a Saturday, I had booked with Discover London for a trip to see a cart making ceremony - and then Eleanor, organiser of TunedIn London, advertised a concert through the World Music Meetup, for that evening, at City Hope Church. So now I'm going to both.

On Sunday the 17th, back with BLL - this time, it's a trip to Sandown Antiques Market. Well, I've never been to Sandown, so this could be interesting.

On the 18th, back with North London Friends! for the first time since before lockdown. This is for an Edinburgh Comedy Festival preview, at the King's Head in Crouch End, featuring Lucy Porter and Rachel Fairburn.

On the 19th.. I'm taking a punt that I won't actually be employed that day, and have signed up again - at last - for a walk with Laurence and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners. This is The Magic of Midtown - and as I said to him, it finishes very near my new home! I also promised to let him know if I can't actually make it - although, even if I have started work by then (which would be surprising), perhaps I could take a day off.

On the 20th, I finish my Meetup run with a trip with UITCS to Leicester Square Theatre to see Frankie Boyle, who has a work in progress show.

On the 21st, I'm thinking of heading - at last - to Summer by the River at More London. This is for a free evening of music, curated by Soho Radio. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On the 25th of next month, I'm headed to see The Throne, a comedy about to open at Charing Cross Theatre, in which the Queen gets locked in a portaloo with a staunch republican. Time Out has an offer of £10 tickets for the cheapest seats for this - a saving of more than 50%!

On the 26th of next month - tan-ta-ra! I finally managed to get a decently priced ticket to Jerusalem, at the Apollo. I have heard so much about this, and it's always at the top of the Time Out listings - nearly as hard as Hamilton to get a reasonably priced ticket for, so I'm delighted to get one, if only not to have to look any more.

And on the 27th, back to Summer by the River again.. for Bumper Blyton: Improvised Adventures for Grown-Ups! Improvised comedy in the style of Enid Blyton books.. sounds jolly good!