Musical: The Secret Life of Bees

Well, from last week with no Meetups to this week with (almost) nothing else! Today, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for The Secret Life of Bees, at the Almeida - no seats left in the stalls, when I booked! Seatplan made me wary of the cheapest seats, so I was in the next bracket up..

Ah now, I don't get up this way often enough. And one place that's good to eat up by this theatre is The Bull.. I love their chicken schnitzel, but as I see from my blog entry from the last time I ate there, I was too late for it on that occasion! It's close enough to walk.. but just as I was gearing up to go, the rain started to thunder down. Really, thunder. Yeah - no. I took the bus(es) - just in time to miss one, of course! And then, when I changed, we were diverted.. I was wondering how Google Maps came to predict a 15-minute journey to travel two stops! Well, I wasn't too late to the pub - which was pretty full, but I found a free table by the bar. Secured it with my coat and grabbed the barman, asking hopefully for the chicken schnitzel. Well gee, if I didn't get the last one! As I said, that's revenge for the last time I was there.. And it was served quickly, and was lovely.

A short walk then, to the theatre, and met the others in the lobby (where I didn't notice immediately, but they've introduced a couple of low-level tables, complete with chairs!). They could do with them.. there is a perpetual shortage of seating, here. And we chatted before we went in. Ah me, my first Meetup chat in over a week.. And so to our seats. Seems that those of us in the Circle were in the minority in our group - there seemed to have been a last-minute release of Stalls tickets. Ah well, out into the rain again with us.. (the Circle entrances are outside..)

Decent seat, well done Seatplan! The seats are raised, and there's a bar to rest your feet on. Also a decent view, although we had to lean a few times to catch action happening right under us, and I'd have pitied anyone sat behind us! except there wasn't - the row behind us (Row C) was completely empty. So, the theatre wasn't completely sold out, then - just mainly!

Justifiably. I can't quite remember when I last saw something this good - not this year, I think. An incendiary story, set in South Carolina in 1964, sees a young white girl, abused by her father, run away with the black housekeeper - only to find the bee farming community that once took her mother in. Combine that with the racial issues, the movement to get black people registered to vote - and a story interwoven with the events that inspired Mississippi Burning - in a blistering hot summer, and you get a tale that will get your blood boiling.

The staging is excellent, with a revolving pathway on the outside edge, and simple props providing the backdrop throughout. Everything is lit in a wonderful, golden light - honey-coloured, you might say.

But for me, what swung it was the music - catchy and more upbeat than you might expect from this desperately serious story, it was half musical, half gospel concert! A glorious score - and wow, I have never heard better singers in a musical than I heard tonight. The sheer power of the performance blew me away. As someone remarked afterwards, this will probably transfer to the West End - as far as I'm concerned, it's a given!

Runs till the 27th of next month - you'd be mad to miss it! before it transfers, and ticket prices soar..

Tomorrow, I was to be back with Over 40 Living the Life, for dinner at the Greenwich Yacht Club again. Until I got a message this evening to say that everyone had pulled out - dunno why - and it's been cancelled! Ah well - Plan B, as usual, is a film. Now, I already had the film list done for this week - but that blasted listings site is so unreliable, I had to do it again. And sure enough, I came up with a whole heap of films at the top of the list that weren't even on the list, last time I looked! Standout among them is the NT Live production of Good. This stars David Tennant as a German professor at the outbreak of the Second World War, who is forced to examine his conscience.. Closest showing to me is in the Vue at the O2, which I've booked, to get one of the cheapest seats, under their new theatre-style seating. So delighted to have the chance to see this - I missed it when it was showing live.

On Wednesday, I was thinking film again - couldn't see anything better coming up than what's advertised by The London Movie Club and The Hideout: Horror Sci-Fi Club London! both of which I'm a member of. And both of which, it transpires, are run by the same people! So I've signed up with the Hideout. Specifically, what's happening is Alien Day - a special double bill of the classic, Alien, and its sequel, Aliens, at the BFI Imax! See, the first planet where the aliens land is named LV-426.. So, you know, 26th of the 4th.. Now, I've never even been to the Imax, so this'll be interesting! Also good to meet these folks again - apparently, there'll be a break between films as well, when we can have a chat.

And on Thursday, Helen's in town for a conference - we're meeting for dinner at Colosseo, before I head off to join UITCS again, for The Good Person of Szechwan, by Brecht, at the Lyric Hammersmith!