LONDON TRIP REVIEWS

Feb 98

I decided to late January to take a quick trip to London to see a few shows.

London was much warmer than usual, 45-60 degrees. It was sunny 2 days and partly cloudy 4 days with a little drizzle two days. It also seemed cleaner this time. There also seemed to be more than a few extra tourists on account of the weather. Anyway I went to London for the theatre. I saw 9 shows in 5 days arriving on 18-Feb and flying home on 24-Feb.

18-Feb-98

Arrived late thanks to United so I was unable to squeeze a matinee in. Checked into the hotel and laid down as I did not sleep on the plane and to think about theatre. I decided I needed something to keep me awake and as much as I prefer plays to musicals, I decided to get the musicals out of the way first. I walked over to the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand to see if I could get a ticket to Chicago. I walked into the box office and asked if they had a return ticket and was told that they were sold out but that I could queue up for any returns. No sooner did I walk over to the queue sign than they called me back over. Was I interested in a ticket in the third row center. What a stupid question! This made me happy for several reason not the least of which was because I had a great ticket to a show that supposedly one cannot get into. Chicago is also one of the few musicals I can say I truly love and I had time to find something to eat before curtain.

Chicago is basically the same show as on Broadway though I did notice a few changes, nothing I can really remember or that changed the show. Just a comment here or there. Ute seemed to be doing her impression of Bebe. I wasnt until the 2nd act that I saw her own take of Velma. Its not to say she wasnt good, she was, but I didnt expect to see Bebe there. Apparently she and Ruthie are not the best of friends. According to the Times, Ruthie wasnt happy that Ute won the Olivier and stormed away from the table after the presentation. They didnt speak until after that evenings performance. They also showed two pictures of Ute in and out of makeup/costume. All I can say is out of costume, we are talking Cruela de Ville here, hair a mess and big bags under the eyes. But I digress. Ruthie did a quick impression of Anne but quickly took off with the role. She was really lucid and having a lot of fun with Roxie. She and Ute played off each other well enough but I did feel a bit of a chill between them. I especially enjoyed Henry Goodman as Billy Flynn. As much as I liked James Naughton, his Billy Flynn wasnt a Tony Award winning performance, Im sorry. He was shady but not very sleazy. Henry was really sleazy, like a taller version of Joe Pesci. Nigel Planer was also good as Amos. As far as the gypsies were concerned, the women were equal to the woman on Broadway but the men werent quite as good. They seemed a little younger and not quite as polished. The actor who portrayed Fred Casely played the cha racter as a 12 year old jerk instead of a 25-30 year old jerk. Michael Berresse was much, much better. Not to mention, these guys need some sun. I know they are English but really, white as sheets.

19-Feb-98

I began the day with a quick trip to the West End to secure tickets to Martin Guerre and Jesus Christ Superstar. While I was standing in line, I decided since there were so many tourists, I had better get all of my tickets today or as many as I could. So, I ran around to the theatres to secure the tickets. I would have to return to the National Theatre for day tickets as the two shows I wanted to see there were also sold out. I left Sunday open and figured Id find something Off West End or on the Fringe to see. I'd already seen the three West End shows with Sunday performances. That done, I decided to do my usual Welcome to London walk. This consists of walking up to Buckingham Palace to say hello to the Queen, through St. James Park which is one of my two favorite parks, over to Westminster Abbey to say hello to St. Edward the Confessor, by St. Stephens Tower (containing Big Ben) and Parliament, up Whitehall to say hello to Mr. Blair, to Trafalger Square, the West End and Covent Garden. However, since I was already in the West End, I decided to do it backwards. I got as far as St. James Park. I left with plenty of time to get to the Prince Edward Theatre. I hopped the Tube but the Tube decided to have a breakdown. So, I got off at Charing Cross and ran. The lights were just dimming as I got to the theatre and rather than climb over people to my seat, I simply sat down in the nearest vacant seat.

I had heard a little of Martin Guerre but didnt know quite what to expect. I remember seeing Miss Saigon right after it opened in London and all I heard was Les Miz. I didnt hear Les Miz so much after I saw it again six years later.

Anyway, the story was easy to follow enough but there just wasn't much enthusiasm in telling the story. The matinee leads, Glyn Kersake, and Ma-Anne Dionsio portraying Arnaud and Bertrande were fine and did a good job of singing. The costumes were okay but the set was rather annoying, a skeleton of a house that moved on a moving circle on the center of the stage. While it kept my attention, they didn't draw me into the story or make me care enough about their plight. And I did hear Les Miz once or twice.

After the show, I Tubed back to St. James Park and continued my tour. Its lovely that the traffic no longer goes between the palace gates and the Victoria Memorial. A nice walking plaza. I walked back to the theatre district via Picadilly and walked through Covent Garden. It all seems like walking through Times Square anymore, getting too crowded for me. I'm not a great fan of Andrew Lloyd-Webbers more recent works but I do enjoy some of his earlier works such as JCS, Evita, and even Joseph is entertaining. I have seen Jesus Christ Superstar a couple of times but this production was the best, excellent. For some reason Everythings Alright was deleted except for a couple of lines. Glenn Carter who portrayed Jesus was very good and had a pleasant singing voice. He previously portrayed one of the apostles before taking over the role. I didnt really like Ramon Tikaram who played Judas. I guess Im just use to Carl Anderson in the role and have a hard time seeing anyone else sing Judas. Ramon just didnt have the passion needed for the role. The set was unique. It was circular and rather looked like the Coliseum in Rome. There were also two rows for the audience to set in above the action. The costumes were a mix of period, the sixties and modern day. It all worked very well together. It was like visiting a good friend.

20-Feb-98

I dont do a great deal of tourist things anymore in London. I walk around a lot and try to visit areas and things I previously missed. So, since the curtain at the Aldwych isnt until 7:30, I decided to spend the day up on Hampstead Heath. I love parks and since I had all day, I had to first visit my other favorite park, Regents Park. It is lovely even in winter. Clean, green and lots of squirrels. I walked from bottom to top and over to the Chalk Farm Tube station on Primrose Hill. I took the Tube to Hampstead and walked over to the Heath. I didnt have a map so I simply walked. The Heath is huge and it isn't groomed like Regents or St. James Park. It is left to grow. I wandered around the ponds, up hills and down grassy knolls. I finally came to the Information office and bought a map. There was much more to see but since I was close to Highbury, I thought I might as well saunder over to the cemetery to see Lenin. He hasnt moved. Sir Ralph Richardson and George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) are also buried there. Its an old cemetery and very interesting.

I walked back to the Heath and over to the animal enclosures. After a rest it was back down to the Tube station and onto the Aldwych Theatre on the Strand in central London.

A few weeks ago, there was a thread regarding favorite American playwrights. I didnt post because my favorites are British. Amys View is by one of my favorites, David Hare. Amys View is about the relationship between a famous actress and her daughter. The actress, Esme is played by Dame Judi Dench known to many Americans as the Oscar nominated actress in HM, Mrs. Brown and as M in the 007 movies. The daughter Amy was played by Samantha Bond. Both were superb. The title comes from a series of articles that Amy writes when she is young. While not a comedy, it has several funny lines which Dame Judi delivers brilliantly. The story is interesting as it covers the daughters revelation to her mother that she is pregnant by her boyfriend, the boyfriend then husbands contempt for the theatre and rise to directing violent/action films which Esme abhors, and finally an attempted reconciliation of Esme and the husband after Amy dies. The play is excellent and may transfer to Broadway next season. I highly recommend it both as a well written story and for brilliant performances.

21-Feb-98

Since Saturdays are always my theatre marathon days, I usually lay low and conserve my energies. However, I had to be up early and at the RNT by 9:30 to get in line for a day ticket to The Day I Stood Still. Only a few people were in line so I easily obtained a ticket. I did some shopping in the bookstore which I always do as it is a favorite of mine and got back to the theatre by the 2:30 curtain.

I always do three shows on Saturdays in London and New York. I'm a theatreholic what can I say. Hello, my name is Rodney and I'm a theatreholic. Hi, Rodney.

I've even done four in one day. All it takes is a little organization and cooperation from the various shows. Mind you, one cannot see three or four Hamlets or Angels in Americas in one day but three comedies are easily digested. Anyway, The Day I Stood Still is by Kevin Eliot who wrote My Night With Reg a few years back and which I didnt really like. This play is similar in that it is about someone who falls in love with someone while very young and spends his life obsessing about it. His characters seem to become rather isolated. The play has three scenes , the first in 1983, the second in 1997 a nd the last one 25 years earlier. At first we see the main character, Horace and the isolation he has created for himself. His god son shows up in 1997 and tells Horace about his breaking up with a young boyfriend at school. The final scene shows Horace going through the same thing 25 years earlier with his godsons father, falling in love with a man he cannot have. I liked this play better than the earlier play. It seems better thought out. The performers were fine especially Adrian Scarborough and Cullum Dixon who portray the older and younger Horace. As the theatre is quite small, the set was minimal but conveyed the isolation Horace was in.

The Day I Stood Still was out at 4:15 so I had 45 minutes to get to the Queens Theatre up on Shaftesbury Avenue for my next show, Shopping and Fucking. If you can get past the title, the play is about a group of young drifters whose lives revolve around drugs, nightclubs, and microwave food. They are dependent, vulgar, and vulnerable and the plot takes them through a breakup, botched drug sales, phone sex, and a reconciliation. It not a pretty site to say the least. Many critics loved the show but I was rather bored with these people even though it probably paints a rather accurate picture of a group of social outcasts. The performers weren't anything special and the set very minimalistic though it did have large neon signs in a backdrop flashing the wor ds Shopping and Fucking. I found it annoying and bothersome.

It was out by 7:00 so I had an hour to grab a sandwich and walk over to Theatre Royal, Haymarket Theatre to see Dame Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins in A Delicate Balance. I saw the play on Broadway two seasons ago but didnt really like it. I love the roles and actors, Rosemary Harris, Elaine Strich, George Grizzard but not the story itself. I understand the premise of paranoia and the demands put on friendship but found the play rather hollow. The actors here as on Broadway were faboulous. Dame Maggie played Claire the drunk. Most thought shed play Agnes the sister who was actually played by Eileen. Dame Maggie has such great comic timing and she plays a fabulous drunk. The rest of the characters were fine, especially Sian Thomas who played Julia. I think she was much better than Mary Beth Hurt on Broadway. Sian was paranoid and hysterical without going over the top. Mary Beth simply overacted. A great way to end my marathon.

22-Feb-98

Having seen all three West End shows that have Sunday performances, I decided to take in an Off West End show. I decided on one called An Empty Plate at the Caf‚ du Grande Boeuf at the New End Theatre in Hampstead. However, since it didnt start until 3:30, I decided to do visit the Royal Academy and its current exhibition of England Art Treasures. For some reason, Id never been to the Academy. The exhibition was of great art treasures from museums throughout England, a lovely collection from Italian Renaissance paintings to Post Impressionists paintings. Very nice. I had time to walk over to the National Portrait Museum, a favorite and look at some photographic portraits. A quick walk through the National Gallery and it was time for theatre.

The Tube ride up was quick. An Empty Plate at the Caf‚ du Grande Boeuf is a comedy about a wealthy expatriate American in Paris who owns a small restaurant which employs a Matred , waitress, waiter, and chef. The restaurants sole purpose is to fix dinner for this man. It is not open to the public. However, one night, the man come in and doesn't want to eat. He says he has decided to kill himself because his girlfriend won't marry him. The staff tries to get him to eat but he wants to tell them what happened. So, they serve an imaginary 7 course meal while he tells his story. Its a fun show and the actor portraying the matred is really great. He's paranoid, wide eyed, and obnoxious. As the various courses were served, the smell of the food was pumped into the theatre. It made one very hungry. One of the best theatrical effects I've ever experienced. Thank god there wasn't a French restaurant on the way back to the Tube or I'd have eaten all night. I decided to have a cheaper meal and call it a night to catch up on my sleep. However, I had a copy with me of my friend Davids adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorns House of Seven Gables which will be produced in LA later this year. It grabbed my attention and I couldnt put it down until I had finished. So much for the extra sleep.

23-Feb-98

Up early again so that I could get a ticket at the RNT for the evening. It was colder than it had been so I had to bundle up. That finished, I visited some colleagues of mine in London and had a drink with them. Nice to be able to have a beer at noon without anyone making comments. Then it was time to shop. Hello Harrods! Hello Selfridges! Goodbye Money!

The Invention of Love is by another of my favorite playwrights, Tom Stoppard. The play is about A.E. Houseman, a contemporary of Oscar Wilde. They were at Oxford together and knew each other but werent exactly friends. The play is set in 1936 as A.E. is being ferried across the River Styx, glad to be dead.

Through memories, he relives his life. He recalls being at Oxford, making two lifelong friendships, and meeting Oscar who was just able to burst onto the London scene. At university, he meets and falls in love with a classmate who as you might guess is straight. While flattered, he obviously cannot return the feelings. A.E. purposely fails to get his degree and goes to work in HM Patent office for ten years. He spends his time writing poems and articles on Greek and Latin classicism all the while keeping the flame for his lost love.

He finally publishes a book of poems at the end of the century along with his series of articles on classicism. The play was very good but complex. I purchased a copy and need to read it. I usually have to see and read Stoppards work a couple times before it all sinks in. Same thing with Arcadia. The great John Wood plays the older A.E. while Paul Rhys plays the college aged A.E. Both were excellent. I ended the evening by slowing walking back to the West End and back to the hotel to pack for the trip home.

24-Feb-98

Fly home.

(Feb 1998 / Rodney_R_Anderson / )