London Trip (with picture links)

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 11:42am

By popular demand (request) ~ I'll put it here too, even though it's on the West End board.

****

So, I got back last night ~ a bit jet-lagged, but it was a great trip! :)

Landed on Saturday and took the National Express bus from Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station, then walked around the corner to check into what's now The Grosvenor (it was the Thistle Victoria when I booked the package). Amazingly they had the room ready, so I was able to get into my room and chill for a little while. Decided to go pick up the tickets for Billy Elliot, and discovered amazingly that it was literally right around the corner. Yay! Ok...I'll spare the details of the wandering around to see things. On with the shows.

I'd arranged to meet my friend outside the Victoria Palace ~ and almost ended up leaving a ticket for her at the box office. she'd had 3pm in her head ~ thankfully I'd called her and said 2:30. Closest I've ever cut it getting into our seats at 2:25 (I'm normally obsessive about getting there early to settle in). But we made it. I'd gotten the tickets through lastminute.com, and they were good. Grand Circle, row G, seats 38 and 39 ~ so we were on the side, but really didn't miss anything. The theatre is gorgeous! At intermission I bought a programme. I thought about a shirt, but I wasn't sure what the rest of the weekend was going to look like, so I didn't (my one regret as there wasn't a way to get one later in the trip). We saw...Trent Kowalik as Billy, Danile Fitzsimons as Michael, and I think Scarlet Embleton as Debbie (it could have been Amy Duggan ~ they look similar in the programme and from the distance I couldn't be positive.) We also had Kate Graham as Mrs. Wilkinson (according to the slip in my friend's prgramme ~ mine didn't have one), and I think it also said Tessa Worsley was in as Grandma. Trent in particular blew me away. God that boy has talent out the butt. Daniel had some pitch problems in "Expressing Yourself" but he was charming enough it made up for any pitchiness. Overall I loved the show! :) I was prepared for a more reserved audience given what had been said on here, but I found them extremely enthusiastic (of maybe Billy's an exception because of the children?) and cheering. The dancing was amazing. I hope it'll do well on Broadway, but it'll be interesting to see how it does. There were just some things in general that I'm not sure will play overly well ~ nothing specific, just generalities. Don't get me wrong ~ I really do want to see it do well. And I hope it does. :)

After the show, Helen needed to go and check into her hotel (she got a last minute deal somewhere so she could hang in London and take pictures before taking the train back home), so we agreed to meet at the Royal Court for The Vertical Hour. That was a very surreal experience as I saw the play on Broadway 10 times and knew it pretty well. I can break it down into the good, the so-so, and the ugly.

The Good
* Anton Lesser as Oliver. As much as I like Bill Nighy, he really didn't offer any different take on the character of Oliver from the third preview to the closing performance ~ which in some ways is good, but it's also interesting to see growth and changes in a character. So I liked the opportunity to see someone else's take on it. He was really good ~ I liked what he brought to the character, a little more warmth overall than Bill's performance.

The So-So
* Indira Varma as Nadia. Ok, no big secret this was going to be the toughest sell for me as I absolutely adore Julianne Moore and was one of the few who really got what she was doing with the character in the NYC production. That said, with the technical, academic stuff, Indira was fine. She definitely mastered an American accent (made obvious by something coming later in the Ugly). I did find her to be a little on the abrasive side, which is what ruined her for me in the second act. The slow psychological breakdown of Nadia is crucial. Obviously that's Julianne's bread and butter, but I was open to giving Indira a chance. And it almost worked. Almost. She'd have a moment of tenderness/emotionality but turn around and it was the abrasiveness all over again. That didn't work so well and I think made the character less sympathetic.
* Tom Riley as Philip. He wasn't bad (sorry...had to quote the play there), but he really didn't bring anything new to the role. Honestly if I'd closed my eyes (which I was afraid to do because I was really tired by this point) I could have sworn it was Andrew Scott on stage. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it landed in the so-so category. He and Indira really didn't have that many things that made them seem couple-y. That was an issue with TVH here for a little while, but as the play went on (and definitely by the same point in the run here) Andrew and Julianne added little non-verbal moments between their characters that made them believable as a couple. I never fully bought Indira and Tom as a couple.
* The set. Lots of actors doing the changes in full-view of the audience. They attempted a tree with branches hanging from the ceiling, but I'm sorry. Nothing beats Scott Pask's amazing tree as backdrop for the set in Shropshire. I'm not sure how much I liked turntable staging on this one.

The Ugly
* The students. Both of them. Granted, the student scenes have always been the weakest of the show ~ and I admit that. But these were God-awful. Joseph Kloska attempted an American accent and succeeded SOME of the time. But far too often he slipped back into his English accent. Additionally, Dennis was FAR too aggressive ~ Dan Bittner played him as the rich college kid who pretends to have it all together but when push comes to shove is really insecure, though he tries to hide it. That worked for the character. Standing and looming over Nadia with raised voice and being aggressive really doesn't. Seriously, any professor would have been pressing a safety button or calling to a colleague for help the way he was acting. I was scared for Nadia in that scene. WAY too aggressively over the top. And on the flip side was had Wunmi as Terri. Talk about dead. She had no inflection in her voice whatsoever, and rather than coming across as heartbroken (as Rutina did on Broadway) she came across as couldn't care less and actually snotty and spoiled. Just...not good.

Still, overall it was a good night, and it was interesting to see another take on it.

The rest of the trip was good ~ just wandering around and seeing things on my own mostly. I did do the Eye, which was cool. And Sunday night I did a Jack the Ripper Walk which was interesting, but I really wish I'd stayed at the other tube stop and done the Haunted London one. Oh well...something for another trip. :) And Monday I made it over to Dress Circle to check that out. It was a lot of fun!

Thanks everyone for all your help!!

Picture Links ~
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40607&l=5c990&id=642326320
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40610&l=b858f&id=642326320
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40613&l=45e75&id=642326320

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 4:16pm

Sounds like it was a great trip! Glad you enjoyed yourself!

[jaystarr]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 4:21pm

Jordy- That's a great idea - just link it on facebook- you know your friends are the only one who will be able to see those pics..(but since were friends on facebook) I was able to open it up....

I guess.. that's what will I do next time...if I go on a trip...or If I want to post my shirtless pictures for whatever reason! so my thread wont get deleted ...AFTER ALL MY HARD WORK!

Great pictures btw... I love your hotel....thanks for sharing... I will go to facebook and leave you a message there..

PS. Dont worry about posting this on Main Board.. Were Main Board posters .. so I guess.. its appropriate... I might do a 10/10 Special Report on West End Theaters next year....good idea!

J*


Updated On: 2/22/08 at 04:21 PM

[jaystarr]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 4:33pm

Damn! girl.. You got tons of pictures.. I love all of them specially the picture of Big Ben and West End Theaters.. YankeeFan did something like this too last year and I LOVE all his pictures of West End..... I should have posted my Atlanta pictures too via facebook in my FOX THEATER THREAD...at least only my friends --that I accepted and have access to my account can view it..

That's what I am going to do next ...so I can post any sh*t I want too! TOTAL ARTISTIC FREEDOM!

J*
Updated On: 2/22/08 at 04:33 PM

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 10:51pm

Yeah... I'm figuring I'll need at LEAST one more SD card before Dublin in April.

Thanks! :)

The coolest thing is that I've discovered that the director of Billy Elliot is actually a member of my church. Or his wife is anyway. :)

Oh...and the links are the ones you can give to anyone, not just facebook friends.

Updated On: 2/22/08 at 10:51 PM

[MrBundles]

Posted: 2/23/08 at 1:21am

aw..that makes me REALLY miss London.

Looks like you had fun!