Musical: Dreamgirls

Tonight, I finally went to see Dreamgirls, at the Savoy, courtesy of Amazon Tickets. This much-advertised show has been in my emails for a long time.. so, about time! Well, the theatre is - as usual for the West End - only a short walk from the office. Which means I left it tight! With the show starting at 7:30, it was after 7 by the time I called a halt to work, changed into something a bit sparklier, and galloped out of the office. It was just their misfortune that a couple of American-sounding tourists waylaid me, asking for directions for the Dominion Theatre, at that point. Flustered, I thought to myself - I know that! I do, indeed, pass it every day.. unfortunately, at that moment, what I associated it with in my head was the one showing Motown - the Musical. Which is how I came to wave them off, most definitively, in the wrong direction. Oops! Felt bad about that for ages.. if they'd only mentioned which show they were hurrying to, I'd have had no problem! I do hope they made it..

Me, I nearly twisted an ankle on all the bloody cobblestones around Seven Dials and Covent Garden - most vexatious when you're in a hurry. Very pretty, very hard on the feet. The theatre isn't really hard to find - head first for the sparkly sign advertising the show, then head down the alley to the hotel - the theatre entrance is just to the right of the hotel entrance. I was delighted to make it just on the stroke of 7:30, and more delighted to see a long queue making their way in - I'd get in now, for sure. My ticket, at this late hour, was swiftly dispensed - and an usher immediately asked to see it, then led me through a code-protected side entrance to the Grand Circle, which I was relieved to find is at ground level - it's been a while, I'd forgotten. Anyway, she said they weren't too busy, so I could sit wherever. So, I sat a couple of rows further down, and in front of the restrictive safety rail. I was just about settled by the time the show started.

Well now, this is the musical that everyone denies is based on the story of Diana Ross and The Supremes. Probably because they don't want to be sued. No, this is the story, not of Diana, but of Deenah, and the fact that most of it also happened to Diana is purely fiction. I'm sure. Anyhow, it's an engaging story of a young, black, female trio that come to fame in the 60s, and how their lives and careers progress.

The music isn't quite as toe-tappingly amazing as the aforementioned Motown - the Musical (maybe the similarity in the shows is why it'd been on my mind), but it's very enjoyable. The dancing of one "Jimmy Early" (Adam J. Bernard) is absolutely stunning, and he was the second-most popular star of the evening. The costumes and sets get more elaborate as the show goes on, and are every bit as sparkly and spectacular as the sign outside. (Expect flashing lights and lots and lots of glitter!) But - if you go for any reason, go for the amazing singing of "Effie White". Played by three different actors - see the cast list for more information, I think we had Amber Riley, but I may be wrong) - and I'm not surprised, I was wondering how one woman could do such damage to her throat every night! Whichever it was, she was utterly spectacular - one of those that you watch open-mouthed. Wow. And a nightly standing ovation is well deserved. Booking till February - highly recommended. Not least for their 5* "ordertorium"service to your seat at the interval - no extra charge - where you can order food and merchandise! 'Twas the only way I could order an ice cream - I didn't have cash - and it was worth the slight wait, for that creamy Losely ice cream..

On the way back through Covent Garden, passed a busker who could have taken a role in the show, she was so good. Gotta love the West End! Tomorrow, I was back with the Scarlet Ladies for a talk on Generation Sex. Until Let's Do This advertised a concert that sounds really good.. at the Apples & Pears Bar. Hey, I do allow myself to change if something sounds better.. and as I say, the Scarlet Ladies are not my kind of ladies. In fact, I've finally left that group. Talk about not taking no for an answer though - I actually got an email from them this morning about tomorrow's event, despite having both changed my RSVP for it, and actually left the group! I've now blocked their emails - hope that works.

On Wednesday, I'm with another new group - North London Friends - for an interview with Michael Palin, at the Knowledge Centre Theatre at the British Library. I was really torn, though - the London European Club is off to an early music concert the same night, and I do love that - but had already booked this, and it is Michael Palin. Hey-ho..

On Thursday, I was back with North London Friends, and another talk on Fake News - different speaker, mind! This is the Fulbright Commission annual lecture, at the British Library. However, much more attractively, Let's Do This are reviving what used to be a regular Man with the Hat event - we're off to St. Martin-in-the-Fields, for some Vivaldi concertos. With a discount, yet! London Concertante, as usual.

On Friday, until the other day I was still technically booked for free comedy in Hammersmith with DiscoverLDN.UK. But, as I say - good atmosphere, but the comedy is usually pretty bad. I was saved - again - by Up in the Cheap Seats, who are off to see Doubt, a Parable, in Southwark Playhouse. Aww.. it's so long since I was there, and I have so many good memories of it from my time with the Man with the Hat!

On Saturday, Helen and I have our 25km sponsored walk, in aid of Haslemere's Cat Protection Society. We're going as Dick Whittington and his cat, respectively, and the route is the Thames Bridges Trek. You can donate here.. Got a pair of Skechers Go Walk 4s last week, woo! Dying to try them out on the walk.

Which will tire me out nicely, just in time for my flight to Prague on Sunday morning! I'm at a conference there, Sunday to Tuesday. (What a nice company I work for!) Gee, but I love Prague - most beautiful city I've ever seen, and I've seen a few. They're putting me up at a nice hotel too, just down the road.

So, I fly back on the 12th September, and on the 13th I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Sadler's Wells, for the Hofesh Schechter Company grand finale.

On the 14th September, I was at another talk with Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts - this one, at Southwark Cathedral, is about the River Effra, South London's Secret Spine. Another free Eventbrite event, this is to publicise a book about the subject, and the talk is again given by the author. Another thing that had no tickets, then it did (no notification)! Now I've changed though, and will be off with Up in the Cheap Seats to Loot, at the Park Theatre. Got the last £20 ticket, yay! Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.

On the 18th September, I was off to Showstopper! at the Lyric. Ticket courtesy of From the Box Office again. I have actually seen this before - but, being an improvised musical, it literally is different every time! But you'll never guess - the Crick Crack Club finally announced their autumn schedule recently, and now, that night, I'm off to Eaten Father, Eaten Mother by Ben Haggerty. In Soho Theatre, first time in ages.

On the 19th September, I was back with the Scarlet Ladies, for a talk entitled 100 Women - Their Breasts, Their Stories. No longer, of course - now I'm joining London Science Talks and Museums Meetup for a talk at the Alan Turing Institute about the future of data in public life. Most pertinent, given the talk I was at on Thursday.

On the 20th September, Funzing (London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night, as usual) and Jennifer Rees again - this time, a fun talk about the Psychology of Batman Villains! The first of hers for which I managed to get a 30% discount.. and it's on nice and close to me again. Seems to be a feature of her talks!

On the 21st September, it was free comedy in Hammersmith - with Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich, Random London, and DiscoverLDN.UK. But yay, I have my alternative at last! Going to some comedy I have to pay for, which will probably be better. Mae Martin is at Soho Theatre. Advertised by a group called Moxie Ladies.. good luck to them, but as they charge extra, I'm going solo.

And on the 22nd September, the same free comedy - with DiscoverLDN.UK. I rather doubt it though - don't you?

On the 23rd September, I was to do the same, but am now headed to the launch of Rob Luft's new album, Riser, at King's Place. As advertised by The London Jazz Meetup. I finally ended up paying their membership fee after booking an event with them the other day, for November, which someone is attending that I know. So I figured it was wiser!

I had booked the same free comedy, with the same group, on the 24th September, but was again saved - this time, by the World Music Meetup! They're off to see Kefaya, in Nell's Jazz and Blues bar, back in my old stomping ground of North End Road! Happy days, when I was working there..

On the 25th September, a group called Theatre and Stuff is off to see Prism, at Hampstead Theatre. They're charging extra to go with them, though - so I happily bought my own ticket. What the hey, odds are I won't know any of them anyway.

On the 26th September, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats - to see Wings, at The Young Vic. Accidentally booked standing, I think.. :-/

On the 27th September, with Up in the Cheap Seats again - for Jekyll & Hyde, presented by the National Youth Theatre, at the Ambassadors Theatre.

On the 28th September, with another new group: London, Surrey and Beyond.. for an event called "A Unique Experience. Olde Pub, Gerry's Private Club, 2 'i's Famous Fish 'n' Chips". Which says it all, really! Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend again.

On the 2nd October, I had booked at Hampstead Theatre, for No One Will Tell Me How to Start a Revolution. North London Friends are attending - and charging extra, so I was going it alone! But now it turns out I'm spending the week in the Stockholm office - back on the 8th.

On the 3rd October, it was free comedy in Hammersmith - nominally. With Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich. So, that was easy to cancel, for Stockholm!

On the 4th October was Up in the Cheap Seats and Labour of Love, with Martin Freeman, at the Noel Coward Theatre. Cheapest tickets from the venue, for once!

On the 5th October, same group - headed to see the Company Wayne McGregor, at Sadler's Wells.

And finally! on the 6th October, headed to see Chekhov's The Seagull, at the Lyric. Third night in a row for that group - almost as busy a group as I am a person! So, four things in all I had to cancel, without refund.. what the hey, I'll doubtless be saving money in Stockholm! Expenses paid, after all.

On the 9th October, I'm finally going to see the show so many people have asked me whether I'm seeing. Ink is showing at the Duke of York's Theatre. 

And on the 10th October, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Ballet Boyz at Sadler's Wells.

Musical: Gypsy

Ah, it's been a long time coming, a trip to see Gypsy! Then, looking for something to do yesterday, I saw that a Meetup group I hadn't heard of before - the London Dramatic Arts Meetup - was heading there. So I thought, well, why not? Now, their tickets were all sold out, so I went looking for my own. Reading seat reviews (always necessary for London theatres), it seemed that legroom would be an issue in the Grand Circle and the view in the rear Dress Circle, so Stalls it was, and I got a seat in the back. I did join the group all the same, and let them know I was coming.

After that horrendous journey on Wednesday, and with the Tube strike ongoing, I was more careful yesterday and left earlier, straight from the office. The most attractive route was to take the #28 straight up North End Road, then catch the #9 into town. However, I could easily walk to the end of North End Road and avoid having to take the bus - and not only would this save me money, but it seemed the wiser option. Indeed, I was right - during my walk, not a single #28 passed me going in that direction.

I arrived at the stop for the #9 just before it did! Unfortunately, it turned out to be a Routemaster, and crowded. I got a seat upstairs. I'm sorry to say that the criticisms are spot on - the air conditioning is completely ineffective, and you can't open the windows on the upper deck - it's like a sauna on hot days. AVOID IN SUNNY WEATHER. During the 1.5 hours it took to crawl its way into town, I mused that it was as hot as the Hell to which I'd happily consign the striking Tube drivers. Mind you, I was lucky to have a seat - we were completely full by the time we got to Hyde Park.

I gratefully disembarked on Strand, crossed the road and entered the blissfully airconditioned Savoy Theatre, to the side of the entrance to the Savoy Hotel - not down the back, as Google Maps would have you believe. There are lots of stairs down to the stalls - with a plethora of bars. There seemed to be one specifically for the rear stalls,and wrecked as I was, I just didn't fancy trekking around looking for the other bar, where the group would be meeting, none of whom I'd met before anyway. So I had my dinner (a packet of sweet chili crisps), and took my drink into the theatre, where I had a seat right beside the sound booth (lovely, no-one pushing past me!). There was plenty of legroom, and I kicked off my shoes and chilled.

The view was just fine, I thought: 

(Mind you, the people in front of me were yet to arrive at this point.) The show opened to the most incredibly long overture I've ever heard, and it was a relief when the curtain rose. Until we were subjected to the Shirley Temple-esque June. In short, the show is about the famous stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee, and deals mostly with her childhood, with her mother (Imelda Staunton) pushing her and her sister, June, around the Vaudeville circuit. June duly runs off with one of the dancers in the show (somewhat of a relief), so mom turns her attentions to her hitherto-neglected other daughter, who, of necessity, ends up as a stripper. And the rest is history, pretty much.

The highlight of the show, for me, was Imelda Staunton - I never knew she had such a voice! The entire audience leapt to their feet to applaud her at the end, and justifiably. All in all, I enjoyed it. Currently booking up to the 28th November, and a decent night out. Plenty of third-party sellers available, but do check prices on the official site first. Oh, and I never did meet up with the group - frankly, I was exhausted and I just crashed in the back for the duration.

Afterwards, I joined a biblical crowd at the bus stop outside. Three #91s arrived in a row, immediately followed by a #9 - which meant that I was ideally placed to squeeze on, as it stopped with the front doors directly in front of me. It was another Routemaster, of course - they focus on particular routes. Now, another disadvantage of them is that you can also enter by the middle doors - which meant people were pouring on simultaneously through multiple entrances. Impossible to control. I soon found myself in a sea of people. Heading upstairs, the people in front of me discovered that there were no seats left on top. You can't stand on top, and there was no way to go back down - so we stayed where we were, on the stairs. I was to find that this was easily the most comfortable place - I had a whole two steps to myself, rails to hold onto, a window to see out of - and I could see the board that alerted us to the next stop. Perfect! And the most oxygen of anyone on that bus.

Unusually for a Tube strike, the bus driver was jokey, and pretended that the bus was non-stop to the terminus. In fact, we didn't stop at a single bus stop until mine, at Hyde Park Corner -  which was handy. We must have waited there for 10 minutes while people squeezed off the bus. It easily took me five minutes to ease my way down the stairs - without stepping on the feet of the poor girl behind me - and through the mass of people between me and the door. Ironically, the #9 that arrived right after us was completely empty..

My next bus stop was adjacent to this one, and I waited for the #74, which would pass within a couple of minutes' walk of home. When it eventually came, it was crammed though, and they weren't letting many on. So many were desperate that I hung back. Checking the bus route map, I saw that the other buses calling there - the #14 and the #414 - passed by Fulham Broadway Tube, which is walking distance from me. And there had been a #14, which had been practically empty. So when another came, again practically empty, and there was no interest from the crowd at the stop - I took that. And ultimately arrived safely home, if stiff and tired. And slightly deaf in one ear, from the woman beside me who was on the phone when I sat down - and stayed on it for the next 20 minutes, yapping constantly (in some language I didn't understand) - she stopped for at most 8 seconds at a time. I counted. I was amazed when she finally stopped entirely..

Oh what a relief, back to Ireland tonight and there's nothing on for the weekend! I need a rest. For Monday, my new group - the aforementioned London Dramatic Arts Meetup - has turned up trumps, with discount tickets for Hang, at the Royal Court Theatre! RSVPs were closed, so I tried getting tickets elsewhere - to no avail. Since they reopened the RSVPs for me before, I thought they might again if I asked - and they did! So I got one. And as I said to them, I'll be much more likely to meet them this time.. Also great that it's a lot closer to home for me. Now, that would've been handy this week..