Musical: Ride the Cyclone

Last night, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), and again at Southwark Playhouse - the Elephant venue this time - for Ride the Cyclone, the story of six teenagers killed in a freak rollercoaster accident, and suspended in limbo, who are given one final chance to prove why they deserve to return to life. My last time with the group this year. Headed out in time to eat - and in a wonderful coincidence, the bus happened right along.

I checked, and The Rockingham Arms is one of the closest places to eat - not quite as close as the Toulouse Lautrec, but doesn't require booking, nor confiscate your deposit if you're more than 15 minutes late. Plus it's cheaper, and less fussy. So I took myself off there - it was busy, but I found a table near the window and had ordered in about a minute, was served in five. And the chicken katsu is crispy here.. the sauce was a little congealed, but that's forgivable. I was a bit early, so had a second drink - I knew that'd be cheaper than the theatre. Ended up having to rush it, and was still a little late to meet the group - it was so hard to drag myself into the cold!

Had my ticket scanned at the entrance, and found the group just past that - just in time to go in, as it happened. Unfortunately, by the time I booked, only side seats were left:

To watch the actors, and hear, it was fine - however, there were also projections on the stage curtains, and a kind of crystal-ball machine overhead, the genie played by someone I could hear, but whom it took me a while to notice perched over the curtains. A screen across the way apparently showed him, but I could hardly see it - and as for the projections, forget it, I hardly knew they were there.

That didn't stop this being a 10/10 show for me! I love musicals anyway - and with each teenager having to give an account of themselves, they all have different backstories; there's the gay poetic one, the SciFi nerd, the angry Ukrainian pining for the fiancée he left behind.. there's the bossy, self-righteous organiser, there's the shy, large girl - and there's a Jane Doe, whom nobody else knew, but who had just joined the school and was also killed.. and each gets their own solo number.

Oh my, the songs are terrific, the dance numbers are beautifully choreographed. The gay guy does a magnificent French cabaret-style number, complete with wardrobe change, the SciFi nerd has himself as the hero on a planet populated by cat-women (what's not to love?!).. the Jane Doe, who actually sports a truly scary costume (based, as our organiser reminded me when we were chatting about it later, on Corpse Bride), sings about not knowing whom she actually was. (Huh? That much doesn't make sense to me - just because her classmates didn't know her didn't mean she didn't know herself! Perhaps she forgot when she was decapitated.)

And the singing.. oh my, there are some great singers, but Jane Doe is head and shoulders above the rest. Utterly stunning. And with all of this, we also get a really moving description of each teen's life - I was moved to tears a couple of times - and at the end, they have to vote on which one gets to return to life..

One of the more enjoyable parts of the night for me was the view I had of a completely enraptured couple in front row centre, utterly delighted through the entire show. A standing ovation at the end, which I couldn't but join in, and the cheering got louder when Jane Doe re-emerged, without the scary costume. Fantastic show, can't recommend it more highly - it seems an age since I saw something as good. Runs to the 10th.

Afterwards, it turned out I was the only one who wanted a drink - so I ended up drinking alone, although the organiser did come over to have a chat before he left. I had fun watching the actors come out, sign programmes, have pictures taken with the fans.. got home quite early, but then got booking things and by the time I'd finished, it had run too late to blog, last night.

Today, I was supposed to be in the office - but when I woke, I could tell this would be one of those days that I'd spend a lot of time coughing.. so I made the executive decision to work from home, on this, my last work week of the year. (My boss said that was prudent.) This evening, something I waited a long time to hear about.. some time ago, I was at an amazing mediaeval music concert by Rune at the church of St. Bartholomew the Great - at which they advertised a mediaeval carol concert in the same venue. Well, it's finally on the church diary, and happening this evening - twice in fact, at 6pm and 9pm, free, no tickets required. They're also livestreamed on their YouTube site, and kept there for two months. The church opens an hour beforehand - and they recommend getting there early. I'm thinking of heading to the later one, and was thinking of eating in The Old Red Cow beforehand -  emailed for a booking, only for them to get back to me and say they're fully booked. Most of the restaurants around there are too pricey, and those that aren't were booked up by then - but I managed to get a table at Alfonsina, which is a steak restaurant, not too far away. Oh, and I'll be taking Strepsils with me.. they were a lifesaver last night..

Tomorrow is the Crick Crack Club's Christmas Carols show, at Hoxton Hall, starring Ben Haggarty, Tim Ralphs, and Steph Brittain, with Sheema Mukherjee on music. Booked the nearby Breeze Bistro for beforehand, and have been waiting ages for confirmation.. so I've given up, and booked The Blues Kitchen again.

Saturday sees my last Meetup of the year, with London Museums from A-Z (LoMAZ) doing their 2025 Xmas Pub Crawl! Not listed as an official Meetup event, it was advertised on their WhatsApp chat for people who have already attended a LoMAZ event - so restricted to people who've both attended an event and signed up for the WhatsApp group, and people they choose to invite. Now, Helen is also coming to town that day.. and when they amended their plans to include a pre-crawl lunch, she said she'd join us! So, we start at Nando's London Bridge, then it's off to Hays on the River - you never know, she might stay with us for that, it's near London Bridge - then the Globe Tavern, The Old Thameside Inn (one of my favourites), The George (another of my favourites), The Bunch of Grapes (a short walk away), and the Bermondsey Bierkeller (which also does wine, I checked). And all walking distance from my home, lovely! What's also nice is that we've planned 90 minutes in each, so it's not too rushed.. there's forward planning! (and they've been reworking the lyrics to the 12 Days of Christmas .. not sure whether my throat will be up to joining in, after all this coughing..)

..and I'd better have packed before I head on all that.. because I'm catching a flight from Gatwick at 9.15 the following morning.. to Bergen! where I'm catching the Hurtigrute.. doing the classic voyage, to Kirkenes and back - AKA BKB. 12 days, 11 nights, returning on New Year's Day. You see, with my mother having died this year, that's my last close relative gone, and I was damned if I was spending this Christmas, whatever about future ones, alone, here or in Ireland. It was actually Mark who set me to thinking about it, bless him - and it didn't take me long to come up with this, which so many have recommended to me as one of the world's most beautiful voyages. It's real bucket-list stuff, so I spared no expense - happily, they have no single supplement, and equally happily, they include the flights (Norwegian Air). I booked an outside cabin (with full window), a wine package (a bottle a day), and seven excursions..

Now, I ordered a whole lot of warm clothes for this trip (as you can imagine) - had them delivered to a pickup point, and he bloody lost some of them! including the thermal underwear I ordered. That could be a problem.. Well, I needed to pick some more stuff up there - and when I gave him a sad look, and without too many people waiting this time, he had a good root around.. and lo, produced a stained envelope from the back.. which turned out to be the missing undies! HALLELUJAH! Not only that, but checking the envelopes for combined orders, it now turns out it was all delivered.. what a weight off..

On Monday, I'm off to see Alnes Lighthouse. William the Conqueror's great-great-great-grandfather apparently hailed from here. Or maybe not.

On Tuesday, I'll be on a guided city walk in Trondheim.

On Christmas Eve, I kid you not, I'll be on a Sámi adventure - including feeding the reindeer! It took someone else to point out to me that I'd be setting them up for their big journey..

On St. Stephen's Day (AKA Boxing Day), I'll be at the North Cape (Nordkapp) - weather permitting. Seas are rough up there.

I arrive in Kirkenes, on the Russian border, on the 27th - apparently we can take photos, but can't cross! ;-)

We're in Hammerfest on the 28th.

And I'm at a midnight concert at Tromso Cathedral on the 29th.

So, Christmas and New Year's on the boat! Just what I wanted.. and a guarantee of seeing the Northern Lights, to the extent that if I don't, I get a free cruise. Ooh, and I mustn't forget, I promised postcards to someone..

So, back on New Year's Day - not as early - and taking the next day off, because it's a Friday - and back home to Ireland for the weekend, because it's been too long. The next two days are with CT - on the 5th, I'm back at the Hen & Chickens for Shake It Up: The Improvised Shakespeare Show.

And on the 6th, I'm at a comedy show - Live Next to the Apollo, at Riverside Studios.

On the 7th - my first Meetup of the year - I'm back with the Horror Book Club - assuming I get the book read in time! It's The House on the Borderland - and they're meeting in the Prince of Wales, as usual. Now, considering the lack of progress I made with Hogfather for my work book club.. we'll have to see.. it's over a year since I was last with them for a book review! (As to Hogfather, we met today (me virtually), and it turned out I was one of the ones that read most.. I had a last-minute sprint, and got to 71%..)

The next two days, I'm with CT at the Backyard Comedy Club.. again, it's been a while!

Then, four days in a row of Meetups, including five in total. On the 10th, two Meetups.. firstly, a walk titled Southwark: Seedy and Sublime with none other than Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay! Haven't seen him since September, would you believe..

And that evening, back with The Hideout for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Venue and timings TBC, but it'll be somewhere around Leicester Square. 

On the 11th, back with LoMAZ for T is for Thirst: In Search of Freshwater, an exhibition at The Wellcome Collection. Advertised, would you believe, while I was looking at my phone but not especially busy, in The Rockingham Arms last night - and this being the next unscheduled date in my diary, I was one of the five to snap up a place in the first minute!

On the 12th, with UITCS again, for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - a dark comedy set in Iraq - at the Young Vic. Booked for Bar + Block Southwark beforehand. Ooh, another place I haven't been in an age..

And on the 13th, I'm back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group for The Makropulos Affair, by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, at the Barbican - one of the group with a wildcard ticket couldn't go and kindly offered it for free, so I snapped it up. Eating at Cote Barbican beforehand. And gee, you guessed it.. Haven't been there since September, but was with the group slightly more recently, in October..