Cultural Experiences: Harry Potter Studio Tour

After the Last Night of the Proms, we had to be up bright and early the next morning to get to the outskirts of greater London. We were out of the house at 8am, headed for Watford Junction, just a few stops out of Euston station. Then, on a bus, to Leavesden Studios and the Harry Potter studio tour!!!

It was absolutely awesome. Once we were in (I mean, that wasn't awesome, but oh well), there was a short introductory video, then we stood in the Entrance Hall and opened the doors to the Great Hall! The Great Hall had 2 tables, and all the House uniforms as well as many teachers costumes. I was already in awe...

After that it was all self guided. They were running a feature on costumes, so there were many more costumes available than usual. Suits me just fine as a seamstress! 

They also had the Forbidden Forest open too, which was very cool (lots of moving parts and animatronics ). I bowed to Buckbeak, but he didn't bow back so I ran away!

About halfway is the Backlot Cafe, the place to get your Butterbeer! We had a cup each (I got mine in a souvenir tankard), as well as a waffle cone of Butterbeer ice-cream. The Butterbeer was really yummy, although I think that the ice-cream was even better!

Following the cafe, you have to go through a courtyard to the next building. In that courtyard are some exterior sets, including the Knight Bus, Privet Drive, and the Potter house at Godric's Hollow. You can walk through most of them too!

The second half was much more focused on effects than costumes and props, which was interesting too, if in a different way. There were also concept illustrations, and models of creatures like the basilisk and Thestrals.

The last room was possibly the best part of the whole thing... A 1/24 scale model of Hogwarts Castle! It's absolutely beautiful, lit in a lovely way, as you can walk around it and look at it from all angles (and take many, many photos!)

Then, of course, your can't leave without going through the shop... Terribly tempting. I was very restrained this time - I got a Hufflepuff postcard (for me), a Gryffindor postcard (for a friend), a golden snitch necklace, and a chocolate frog. Would highly recommend the chocolate frog, btw. It's solid chocolate, and comes with a card (I got Helga Hufflepuff!!!).

I really really loved the experience, and am already looking forward to going again with my brother at Easter (Hufflepuff bros!). Any Harry Potter fan should see it.

Theatre Trip: BBC Proms #75 (Last Night of the Proms)

(This didn't post, weirdly. I still want a record though, so better late than never!)

Royal Albert Hall
Date: 9th September (Saturday), 7:15pm
Seats: Promming (Gallery)

Program: Flounce (Wennakoski), Budavari Te Deum (Kodaly), An Impression on a Windy Day (Sargent), Finlandia Hymn (Sibelius), Tristan and Isolde - Prelude and Liebestod (Wagner), Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance (Adams), Pardon My English - 'The Lorelei' (Gershwin, orch. Pail Bateman, arr. James Holmes), Happy End - 'Surabaya Johnny' (Weill), Lady in the Dark - 'The Saga of Jenny' (Weill arr. Olov Helge), Fantasia on British Sea Songs (arr. Henry Wood with additional numbers arr. Paul Campbell, Michael McGlynn and Gareth Glyn, Rule Brittania! (Arne arr. Sargent(, Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D Major ('Land of Hope and Glory') (Elgar), Jerusalem (Parry orch. Elgar), National Anthem (orch. Bliss), Auld Lang Syne (trad., arr. C. T. Davie)

Performers: Nina Stemme (soprano), Lucy Crowe (soprano), Christine Rice (mezzo-soprano), Ben Johnson (tenor), John Relyea (bass), BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Notes: After purchasing our tickets well in advance, we were just left waiting for them to arrive! They finally arrived in the mail a week ago (they do that to prevent scalping). Then, o Friday, I rushed out of work as fast as I could and headed straight to the RAH to get my queue ticket! Even though the queue tickets became available at 12pm, at around 4:30pm we got #78 and #79, which was pretty great! Even better, we didn't have to be back in the queue until 5:30pm on the Saturday (15 minutes before the doors opened), which meant we didn't have to spend all of Saturday in a queue. Very handy.

So we arrived at the RAH to queue at 5:30, to find it very organised. We got our spot in the 61-100 section, and didn't really have to wait too long before the doors were open and we were in! Up the massive stairs again (last time for a while), and because we were less than 100, we easily managed to find a front row spot. So so exciting!

The first item on the program was a BBC commission and world premiere, which was very modern (as you'd expect) and quite interesting - you could hear the 'flounce's in the music. After that was the Kodaly, which was quite lovely, but not that memorable, I guess. Finlandia I was vaguely familiar with, but I really liked listening to the Finnish words and following along. The final piece before interval was the Wagner, which I wasn't familiar with but quite liked.

During interval some of the Prommers decorated the conductors stand ready for part 2, which started with Adams. I didn't particularly like this one, it was a bit weird. The next 3 were right up my alley though! 3 songs from musicals from the 40s and 50s (Gershwin first, then the two Weill), which make me want to look them up. They have fun melodies and interesting lyrics!

Then, the traditional Last Night fare, starting with Wood's Sea Songs. This year they were different, with added songs with new arrangements from Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The new arrangements were beautifully sung and lovely to hear both Celtic and Welsh too! I also particularly liked Danny Boy, which had close Whitacre-esque harmonies and sounded really lush. The other five pieces were the usual ones and we did all the right things (bobbing up and down, whistling, stomping and of course singing at the tops of our lungs!!!) We just relistened to the hornpipe, and what we couldn't quite hear, but the lead violinist put in James Bond into his solo! So unbelievably cool/ Rule, Brittania was one of those crazy moments where everyone feels like part of one massive organism - it's hard to explain.

The soloist was quite good, but the cool part was for Rule, Britannia was that she came out dressed like a Viking (Valkyrie, actually, says the commentary). After the Sea Songs, the conductor gave his speech about the role of the conductor and how it has changed. It was interesting, and he was quite an engaging speaker.

Then, Pomp and Circumstance! I know this super duper well, but it's always exciting. And as a Prommer, you get to hum, then sing as loud as you possibly can! It's such a fun atmosphere! Plus, there's an encore so you get to do it even more!!!

Following that is Jerusalem, which is another bonding moment. But the ultimate bonding moment for the audience? Sing the national anthem, backed by the BBC Symphony and Chorus. So great, even though they used a strange arrangement from 1969 that nobody knew.

Then, the finale, Auld Lang Syne, where we all hold hands as we sing and look forward to next year already.

NEXT YEAR, THE ARENA!

(And no, you can't see us in the BBC broadcast, but our voices are in there, I promise!!!)