Musical: Old Friends

Tonight, I was heading to a free carol concert at St. Stephen Walbrook. As advertised by Cultureseekers - who apparently had 74 signed up, as of my last peek. So I figured they shouldn't miss me.. but then Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) suddenly (and quite belatedly, for them) advertised an outing to see Old Friends by Stephen Sondheim, at the Gielgud. And I figured - hey, this concert was free, and I'm going to a carol concert tomorrow night anyway.. I'd like to see the musical. So I booked - UITCS helpfully let me know that ShowFilmFirst (SFF) has cheap tickets. And yay, a number of us subsequently got upgraded - I ended up in the Stalls!

Looking around for an eatery close by, I decided on Bella Italia, about a minute's walk away. Turned out to be an inspired choice - when I went in, slightly late, my heart sank at how busy it was: but they stepped up to the mark! Busy as they were, service was unfailingly friendly and swift, and I got fed two courses, and paid, in an hour flat. And it was delicious - moreish garlic dough balls, and a chicken milanese with garlic pouring sauce, and fries, were absolutely perfect. I only wish I could have had dessert - but my, this is a good bet for eating on Shaftesbury Avenue: highly recommended!

The wine there was at lower than West End prices - so it was in the theatre too, but then, in the theatre, it only comes in one size, which isn't large! I met the others in the Dress Circle Bar, a good compromise, since two of us were now in the Stalls, the other three still in the Grand Circle: so we met in the middle! It's lovely, although with not so much space as it might have, what with the big opening in the middle:


The bar staff looked quite bored too - I guess there weren't enough in tonight to keep them busy! Well, in due course, I took my seat - in the very back row of the Stalls:


Yes, the overhang does block off the upper half of the stage - it didn't cause me too much pain, except that I missed a few things such as, for example, Rapunzel; I saw her hair, but not her face! as she leant from her balcony.

Ah, I was in seventh heaven tonight. This is a tribute to the late Stephen Sondheim, featuring some of his best-known songs from musicals.. and some I didn't know. Musical staging and direction is by Matthew Bourne, I see! Starring are Lea Salonga, Bonnie Langford.. and a host of others. The glitz, the glamour - the songs.. it's just a jukebox of wonders, but my personal favourite, as always, was Send in the Clowns. I just melted. I always do, at that. But it's just one of such a feast of gorgeous, clever, funny, enjoyable numbers..

The night ends with a tribute to Sondheim, displaying pictures of him - helpfully shown on a screen to the side, for those of us who couldn't see the upper part of the stage, where they were also shown. Ah my.. I don't know what to say about this, I love musical theatre too much. All I can say is - if you love it too, then go see this. Runs till the 6th. I had no idea what it was, going in - all I heard was Sondheim, and I was there. Standing ovations at the end were well deserved. So, so glad I saw this.

Tomorrow, at another carol concert - this with Buddies on a Budget. And my last Meetup of the year! This is at the Actor's Church - St. Paul's, Covent Garden. Tickets from SFF again. Anyone who's interested is heading to the Chandos afterwards - and Ivan is planning on joining us, soon as he can make it!

On Thursday, back with CT to the Backyard Comedy Club - hoping for a better lineup - then back to Ireland for Christmas on Friday. Happy Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year! Seriously bad lineup of films over there, that I can see.. don't think there'll be anything before Christmas, anyway!

I fly back to London on the 2nd, and on the 3rd, well, there isn't a lot advertised on Meetup - at the moment, I'm thinking of heading to the Winter Light Festival at the Southbank Centre that day.

And on the 4th, I'm off to see The Time Traveller's Wife, at the Apollo. Handily enough, Seatplan was one of the sites with the cheapest tickets to this - and I was eligible for a Seatplan voucher. So I used it, and got my ticket for £5. Let's just hope, from that high up, I can see something..!

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