Musical: Opening night & Walk: Westminster Politicos
Wow, what a week.. I need the upcoming bank holiday!
Last Tuesday, I was back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) to see Opening Night, a musical with music by Rufus Wainwright. Before it closes! That's at the Gielgud. Mind you, I'd begun to hear bad reports.. I am, however, getting very proactive about booking dinners, and ate in Bella Italia Shaftesbury Avenue for this one. Delicious food and generally really quick service - you can't lose.
Except with the buses. Now, I took the same bus for three days in a row - and the first two days, it was such a disaster that I ended up on the Tube for the remainder of the journey. On Tuesday, it was also rammed with schoolkids, so I ended up upstairs:
All was well until we got to Waterloo.. and the traffic just - died. I was doing something on my phone - busy, as always - and didn't notice until people started getting off the bus. In the middle of the road. The driver was letting them off, because nothing was moving anywhere. I later discovered a broken-down bus waa to blame. Well, at least we were near the station - what a pity I hadn't thought to get off ages ago, while they were changing drivers nearby, but who knew! In the event, I made my way to Piccadilly Circus, and legged it to the restaurant, arriving just a couple of minutes after the 15-minute grace period that usually follows a reservation time.
To find myself in a queue. However, that proved to be no problem at all - they actually have loads of space, and I was seated as soon as I was noticed. Service took a little while to get to me - I tried the app whose QR code is displayed on all the tables, but I think they've disabled it entirely for this chain. By the time they took my order - most apologetically, I have to say - I had decided on one course, which was the chicken Milanese with fries. And some wine.
By the time it came, I had half an hour to eat it and leave - and it was a bit burnt, I'm sorry to say. Plus, my stomach was still a bit dicey - I wasn't up to finishing it. Paid, and left - at least I was a hop, skip and jump from the theatre! Ooh, and by the way, we were nearly all upgraded to the (rear) stalls - seats that would have cost over twice what we paid. We met in the Stalls Bar, therefore - can't say much for either of their white wines. And we chatted before taking our seats. Mind you, the one who got an upgrade to the Dress Circle got a better view, in my opinion!
Anyway, there's a transparent safety curtain, with - as you can see - a gauzy curtain behind it - which is actually left in place as the show started, which is a bit weird, as we couldn't really see properly through it - happily, a little screen to the side of where we were mirrors everything on the big screen on stage, and I found myself mostly watching that. The orchestra is stage left throughout.
The premise is that the star, Sheridan Smith, is starring in a new Broadway show, and we're watching the rehearsals, which are also being filmed for a documentary. So you're generally better off watching the screens - even from the Stalls, they give you a better view than just looking at the stage. She's a bit scatty the minute she arrives, and we never do find out why - there seems to be a relationship between her and her co-star, and then she's constantly pestering the director, to the general annoyance of his wife.. and it just doesn't help at all when a young fan is killed practically in front of her, run over after just having got her autograph! (Not too much of a spoiler, it happens so early on.)
Frankly, this is a woman who seems to be looking for a reason to go off the rails - much like her character in the play, with whom, however, she can't identify. So, injecting the young girl's ghost into the mix seems like overkill. The music is, in general, understated and introspective - and nobody in our group seemed able to come up with an explanation for exactly what is going on. A clever camera trick - which eagle-eyed spectators should be able to explain - removes the "ghost" from the footage, which might just have been the most interesting aspect of the thing. We were warned that we'd be filmed on the way in - yeah, they show a brief clip of people entering, at the end of the show, when the play is supposed to be having its "opening night". It's just a wide shot of the lobby, nothing to worry about, and deleted after each show. They also, it seems, shoot a bit with Sheridan Smith, outside the theatre before the show. Hmm. Doesn't make up for a show that's just.. lacking. Having said that, it's an enjoyable enough way to while away an evening, if you're bored. Runs to the 18th, now.. and someone did remark, afterwards, that the cast all looked a bit miffed. Ah well, roll on the next..
I've been delayed in starting the blog all week, I've had so much to do on the film list.. Anyway, last Wednesday, I was to be back with The London Horror Book Club - they were doing a book I thought I'd like - well, I certainly was interested in the free sample, so I bought it. It's The Fifth Child, about a couple living in domestic bliss, having four children, and all is sweetness and light.. until the fifth arrives.. This was in The Prince of Wales, Drury Lane again. A few months since I was last with them. I finished the book on the plane back last Sunday night - it's not terribly long. And while it's undoubtedly well written, it doesn't work at all as a horror book! So I said sod it - there are going to be a lot of Wednesdays I can't go to London Literary Walks, so why not do that instead! This one was Westminster Politicos, and we were meeting in The Red Lion, which I know I can get food in, but it's insanely busy - so I booked to eat there beforehand.
No delays in Waterloo this time - the bus just took forever to get to Aldwych! and then there were no sign of the others I could have caught. So, Tube for the last bit. I arrived just after my booking time - there's an upstairs dining room, but confusingly, the outside door to it is locked from the outside, you have to enter through the bar! (Follow the sign for the toilets.) I was seated without delay - actually, several people were seated without bookings; 6pm on Wednesday seems a good time to try.
Not the most extensive menu ever - I remembered Fuller's (who run this pub) pies being good, and plumped for the steak and ale. Which came stamped with a little cow!
Unfortunately, either my memory was faulty, or something's changed - this was tasty, but by virtue of the addition of far too much salt! I managed most of it, but couldn't finish it - which was a shame, service being so friendly. When I suggested getting a second glass of wine there (quicker than downstairs) and taking it downstairs to meet my friends, he suggested I take the other stairs.. which is how I know that street door is openable from the inside! Anyway, behold and lo, by 7 the pub was a lot emptier than when I'd got there at 6! so I managed to grab a long table at the end. And how lovely - an old friend of mine, who used to go on these walks too, in their first incarnation, was in town by chance, and was on this walk as well! Ah, what a lovely reunion..
Well, we hung on in the pub until our guide had finished his drink, and off we popped. First stop was right beside our table, where he explained how the pub appears in David Copperfield.. and then we were off to Parliament Square:
..where we paused beside Abraham Lincoln, to reflect that the Americans evidently preferred him seated:
We seem to have passed a large Indian gathering:
We do love it when people leave the curtains open, and we can peek in:
We stopped outside the offices of The Spectator, the oldest weekly magazine in the world. And, of course, it wouldn't be a proper walk without some intriguing passageways:
We learned how the nearby "Two Chairmen" pub refers to the men that used to carry sedan chairs, in which gentlemen were taken home after a night out:
And, of course, we ran into some famous names:
..and some attractive pubs:
..as well as the rather infamous Fabian Society:
And so to The Albert for a nightcap:
As you head upstairs, there's a veritable rogues' gallery of former Prime Ministers!
Ah, so glad I went on this..
Last Thursday, back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group, for the opera Lucia di Lammermoor in the Royal Opera House. My sometime companion from UITCS came too, and suggested Balthazar, just down the road, for dinner beforehand.. new venue to me, I said I'd give it a go! Watch for the next instalment, when I get a moment..
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