Cultural Experiences: Wimbledon 2019 Day 6

Another year, another trip to Wimbledon for the tennis! It was just Jess and I this year, and we got to the queue around 5:15 to receive what I realised looking back was the worst queue number yet... Oh dear. But it seemed fine at the time. We napped our way through the morning and I spent about an hour total queueing for the bathrooms (kind of mental), and then about 10:30 we really started to move! On the way in I picked up my programme and got a free Wimbledon radio for having an Amex card. We then got in with our Grounds tickets (about 11:15), and headed straight to Court 17 to catch Sam Querrey playing John Millman, an Australian. We queued up for a while with some other Aussies (there were a lot and I talked to a few of them!) for a while, before getting in in time for the third set. It was nice to cheer on an Aussie, but unfortunately that was the final set as he lost shortly afterwards.

By that time it was just after 1pm, so we picked up some lunch and found ourselves a spot on the Hill to watch Ashleigh Barty play on the big screen (she was on Centre Court). I had a delicious sausage roll and Hibiscus ‘drink’ which was like sweet cordial and I loved! Ash dominated against Harriet Dart (from the UK) and beat her in straight sets with some great points. She really is an excellent player and I hope she can win Wimbledon this year!

After that we weren’t super sure which court we wanted to go and see. We wandered around, bought some balls from the second hand store (did that last year as well), went to the gift shop (candles again, I love the grass scent!) and went down to the Southern Village which is where the VIP area was last year (it seems like this year that its across the road instead). Robinsons, the squash/cordial brand, had a stand with their summer special flavour which is Strawberry, Cucumber and Mint. It was so good and we each bought a bottle which came filled with it, fresh strawberries and mint and free refills!

Then we decided to head over to Court 3, where the Bryan brothers were playing in the doubles. We stayed there for most of the match because it was excellent. Towards the end our plan was to leave and head to Court 12, where Ash Barty was due to play in the doubles with Azarenka, but play was suspended in the match two before theirs. It turned out that a spectator had had a medical emergency and even a defibrillator was needed so play got suspended for several ours and they had evacuated the court and the players. So with a match and a part of another before Barty was due to play we decided we weren’t going to be able to catch that one. There was also a mixed doubles which had Andy Murray and Serena Williams playing together, but at 5:30 that still hadn’t been scheduled on a particular court, so we decided to head home. We picked up our strawberries and cream (free with HSBC!) for the walk home along with a refill of squash.

Once we got home I checked the order of play and realised we had made the right call - the Barty/Azarenka match was rescheduled onto Court 2, which had already finished for the day, and the Murray/Williams mixed doubles was put onto Centre Court. With both of those ticketed courts, we wouldn’t have seen them anyway, so instead we watched the Barty/Azarenka match on iPlayer while eating Five Guys burgers for dinner. A lovely day had by all!

Theatre Trip: The Starry Messenger

THE STARRY MESSENGER

Wyndhams Theatre

Date: 4 July (Thursday), 7:30pm

Seats: Grand Circle, Row A 17-18

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: There were two reasons we booked this show. One was that it has Matthew Broderick in it, who is of course very famous for many things (my favourite of these being The Producers) and the fact that tickets went on sale at £15 on TodayTix! We were up in the Grand Circle, which is higher than we usually sit, but we were front row center up there, so actually the view was pretty good! Certainly no complaints for £15.

This is potentially the longest gap for me between seeing a show and writing my review, and that is simply because I don’t really know how I felt about it. The show is about Mark who teaches astronomy (you find out later that he missed out on having a career in astronomy) and his life. Except that his life isn’t very interesting, at least for most of the show. He is just living his life, with his wife Anne and son Adam, and teaching at a planetarium in New York. He then meets a woman called Angela who comes to the planetarium looking for a class for her young son, and Mark begins an affair with her. However, this doesn’t happen until almost the end of Act 1, which made for a not very engaging first act. In the second there is a catastrophic event which affects Angela, and by extension Mark, and he reassesses his relationships, his behaviour, and his place in the world.

Weirdly enough, my two favourite perfomances from this play didn’t come from either of the ‘names’ in this show. Rosalind Eleazar (Angela) was fantastic, conveying the awkwardness in the situations and feeling really like a full, real character. We saw almost more of her than Mark during the show, and as she worked as a nurse, she looked after Norman (played by Jim Norton) who was funny and cynical and honest in the way that only the critically ill can be. Together especially, they were the highlight for me.

Elizabeth McGovern played Anne, the wife. She is best known for playing Lady Cora in Downton Abbey, and actually, I think her character in this had more agency than Anne did. She was just portrayed as the slightly annoying, but loving wife when they’ve been married for many years. The scenes she did get she was great in, but despite being married to the main character she really didn’t seem like a main character during the play. I would have liked to see more of her.

Matthew Broderick... Having grown up mostly knowing him from The Producers, it was a bit strange to see Matthew being in a romantic relationship (I know that he’s married with kids in real life, but I guess that’s just my bias coming out) and I actually found it quite weird to watch him kissing Angela on stage. In terms of his acting he was great, but he really has a type with such a distinctive voice and boyish face that he really wouldn’t translate to many other plays. I think you’d have to really get the right role, and I’m not 100% sure this was it.

I came out of this show feeling very... confused. I still am a bit, I have to confess. I don’t know what I was supposed to take away from The Starry Messenger, and that worries me. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t think it was amazing either. I wouldn’t recommend it as I think you can get better for your money, but it wasn’t a disappointment. So... I guess it was fine? And unlike a lot of the shows I’ve seen (musicals and plays), it disappeared from my head almost as soon as I got home from the theatre. So yeah. Go and see it, I guess? Maybe it just wasn’t for me.

Theatre Trip: Waitress #2

WAITRESS #2

Adelphi Theatre

Date: 28 June (Friday), 7:30pm

Seats: Stalls Row N 4-5

(Seen with Jess!)

Understudies: Charlotte Riby (Becky)

Lulu was played by Annabelle Jones in this show.

Notes: Jess and I have seen Waitress once already, but on this Friday, having been yet again unsuccessful getting tickets to Six, Jess managed to snag a pair of seats for Waitress. We just really wanted to see theatre on Friday!

Since we had seen it last, many of the main cast had changed. In fact, Dr Pomatter (David Hunter) and Earl (Peter Hannah) were the only main roles who hadn't changed/had an understudy on. Both of those guys were great again - I'm not a huge fan of Earl, but that's just how the musical wants you to feel about him. David Hunter is perfection! His vocals are great and improved by his new Jenna as their voices blend super well. I also love the way he plays the role, so adorable and constantly putting his foot in it. So I was very glad to see him again.

Ogie is now played by Blake Harrison. The first time around, I had found the actor wayyy over the top and was turned off by that. Blake was slightly toned down compared to previously and this was a great improvement, but I still find him a bit unnecessary as a character. But like I said, I felt like Blake was better and I did find myself laughing a few times.

Dawn (Ashley Roberts) is now a Pussycat Doll! I felt all through the show that she really had a good voice - but that she was hiding it. She seemed to be making herself smaller physically (hunching over, maybe because usually the actress who plays Dawn is so short?), and her singing never seemed like it was her full potential. I didn't think she was bad, necessarily, but Laura Baldwin was so amazing I think it would have been a hard act to follow.

On the other hand, our only understudy for this slow as Charlotte Riby, who was the understudy for Becky. I remember being wowed by Marisha Wallace last time, but even before her big number I had the idea that Charlotte might be someone to watch. She threw in a couple of riffs in the very beginning of the show which really made me sit up, and then she slayed her big number!!! It was so great.

The main change in the cast was Jenna. She is now played by Lucie Jones, who I hadn't heard of, but it turns out I have heard her sing before... She represented the UK at Eurovision in 2011! I wasn't really fussed on seeing her based on name alone, but I watched the West End Live performances (I was sick a couldn't go this year...) and she seems pretty good... Turns out she was spectacular! I enjoyed Katherine McPhee, but I really connected with Lucie's portrayal of Jenna. She was more open and connected to the other characters, where Kat felt disconnected and distant. I'm sure this was a purposeful choice, but Lucie's portrayal was much easier to connect to. Plus, she put in some amazing riffs. Her She Used to be Mine had me wanting to give her a spontaneous standing ovation, which I haven't wanted to do in quite a long time... She was phenomenal. Which I know I say a lot, but I preferred her to Kat.

The show itself was great, as usual. I do think Bad Idea is my favourite number - and David Hunter and Lucie Jones made for a lovely couple. I just really believed more and felt more invested in this performance than the first time I saw it. And I might need to see Lucie again...

Theatre Trip: Jessie Cave - Sunrise

JESSIE CAVE: SUNRISE

Soho Theatre

Date: 3 June (Monday), 7:00pm

Seats: Balcony, Row Z 9-10

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: This show was another recommended show that I heard about on the Theatre Club podcast, and it really piqued my interest. I knew who Jessie Cave was, but only through the same way most people do - as Lavender Brown in Harry Potter. She was great in this, but it was only briefly mentioned in this show.

This show is much more about her current life - still trying to get back with her ex-boyfriend and the father of her two children, while also being anxious and worried and trying to date and move on and be a regular person. It does sound hard, but she had a really great way of harnessing the funny side. She talked very frankly about sex, nursing and her life and I really appreciated the brutal honesty she had towards others, but mostly towards herself.

While this is a one woman show, it's quite cleverly done. Jessie incorporates conversations with her ex and the other guy she dates by holding up pillows, which have drawings of their faces quilted onto them. These were even apparently made by her mum! She has a clever way of then being able to "hold a conversation" with them.

One thing that was quite surprising about this show was the length. I guess I'm used to full plays, musicals and casts of at least several people, but this was only an hour! In fact this was the perfect length because you literally didn't have time to get bored. Plus it's quite a lot for someone on their own to do more than this. It was refreshing going to the theatre and being done by just after 8pm though...

Jessie has a really interesting personality and outlook on life. She frequently reminded me of me in a lot of ways - not the kids or the relationships, but in her awkwardness, anxiety, worries about not being productive enough, pretty enough... Enough. I think it really gets to the heart of who she is, and she's a lot like the rest of us. Only she's brave enough to get up on stage and talk about it!

Theatre Trip: Man of a La Mancha

MAN OF LA MANCHA

Coliseum Theatre

Date: 29 May (Wednesday), 2:30pm

Seats: Stalls, Row C 7-8

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: I was introduced to this show by the Theatre Club Podcast, and although it had already been on my radar, I had heard mostly negative things about the show. But it was reviewed positively on the podcast so I figured we'd give it a go. Jess and I went to the matinee showing during half term, and although we got our tickets through the TodayTix rush, the tickets aren't selling well so the rush seats are prime seating in the stalls which are worth up to 400% what we paid!

I was a little conflicted about this casting. They had cast Kelsey Grammar in the lead role, and I really had no experience of him as a stage performer. His acting was great and I thought he was a great character, but vocally he just didn't have the chops. He was mostly in tune, but it lacked the oomph that I wanted and it was quite often flat. I think though that this show needed a "name" to help sell tickets, because it's a show that hasn't been on stage really at all since it was first on in 1968. It would not have done well without a mainstream name to help things sell, I just wish they could have found someone who was a bit stronger vocally. However, they did a great job casting everyone else. The ensemble was fantastic, but the main reason I had come to see this show was Cassidy Janson, who was playing the role of Aldonza/Dulchinella. She is sharing the role with the opera singer Danielle de Niese, but because I have seen CJ in many roles (most notably as Elphaba in Wicked and in Chess last year as Florence) I really wanted to see her play this role. It worked out well because CJ does all the matinee performances and it's currently half term. She was brilliant - she truly is a superb musical theatre star.

The plot of this show is a little... Mad. It's set in a prison where the prisoner is putting on a play. The play is about a man who is mad and believes himself to be a knight (Don Quixote). So it's a play about a delusional man within a musical. Luckily this works because the songs and lyrics lean into the crazy and the show as a result was much funnier than I expected, with funny songs as well as lines. I did enjoy the plot as I didn't know what to expect and I think that was a positive for this show.

The real highlight for this show was the music and the orchestra. Being a musical about a Spaniard, the music is very heavily flamenco inspired and the Coliseum really took advantage of that by using a 40 piece orchestra to play... And they were fantastic! A sweeping score with trumpets and multiple guitars to really enhance the Spanish flavour of the show. I love a show with a full orchestra.

So this show was a lot better than I expected. The reviews I read implied it would be kind of a train wreck, but I found great music played by a beautiful orchestra, a funnier than expected plot, an incredible supporting cast and a fabulous lead female performer. I just wish that Kelsey Grammar had been stronger vocally.

Theatre Trip 50: Ain't Misbehavin'

AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

Southwark Playhouse

Date: 21 May (Tuesday ), 7:30pm

Seats: The Large, Row C 11

Notes: When listening to the Theatre Club podcast, they recommended the show Ain't Misbehavin'. When the tickets became discounted, I picked one up for just £15 for Tuesday night. It was kind of a whim, and I am very grateful for that.

This production was at the Southwark Playhouse, a new theatre to me. It has a full bar out front and many people were bringing drinks into the show as well. There are two theatres in the Playhouse: the Little and the Large. We were in the Large, although it was still quite small, with what must have been 100 people max in the whole space. It had a real community feel and was a really intimate feeling performance.

I was seated next to a group of older people (although it was a much older audience overall) and the man next to me kept interrupting the show. I realise that he was probably just overexcited but he kept saying "wonderful", "well done" and other things during the numbers. He also clicked/clapped along when no one else did, and even got told off for tapping his wine glass on his metal chair by the people in front. It did ruin the experience a bit for me as it kept bringing me out of the show and back into the real world, but I was able to (mostly) ignore it. Other than that I didn’t mind going to the theatre alone, and that’s probably good because I’ve booked a couple more solo shows over the next few months!

The music for this show is all the music of Fats Waller, who wrote most of his music in the 1930s and 40s. Jazz is not a musical style which I am familiar with but it was bouncy and bouyant and just so full of life. I only recognised one song, which I had sung in my school choir days, and that was ‘Handful of Keys’ but we had sung it in a very different style and so I barely recognised it.

The show had a cast of only 5 and they were all referred to only by their real names - Adrian Hansel, Renee Lamb, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Landi Oshinowo, and Wayne Robinson. And they were fantastic! On for pretty much every minute of the show, there was very little dialogue so it was all singing, all dancing all the time. I think my favourite performer was Renee Lamb, who was so physical and extremely sassy throughout! Her voice was familiar to me as I have been listening to the cast recording of Six on repeat and she was the original Catherine of Aragon in that. All the perfomers were fantastic but I think for me tonally and in terms of the timbre of her voice Renee was my highlight.

Because of the physicality of this and because there are so many songs, the runtime of this show was quite short. Each act was 45 minutes with a 20 minute interval in between and actually that was the perfect length. I didn’t look at my watch once which is always a good sign! A fantastic way to spend a Tuesday evening and a brilliant way to spend 15 pounds. You couldn’t get a more different experience from my last 15 pound show (American Idiot) if you tried!

Theatre Trip: American Idiot

AMERICAN IDIOT

New Wimbledon Theatre

Date: 17 May (Friday), 8:30pm

Seats: Dress Circle Row G 7-8

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: When TodayTix had a £15 sale on, I had a look through tickets and was reminded that this show was coming to Wimbledon on tour. For £15, why not? This musical is using the songs from the Green Day album American Idiot which was an album I was obsessed with at one point in my teenage years. So this was a great way to spend a Friday night!

The music of this show is all the music from the Green Day album American Idiot. While I always thought it was more of a concept album, this musical has lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer of Green Day), and he also co-wrote the book so it is very closely linked. In fact, there are also b-sides from that album and a few songs from their other album 21st century breakdown.

This did lead to issues with the plot though - it was never very clear what the characters were doing and where their arcs were headed. In fact, I got the whole way through the show without even realising what the names of the characters were (St Jimmy was obvious, but it took other characters within the show referring to others by name for me to work it out), especially for those characters who aren't named after songs (Whatsername, Extraordinary Girl).

The cast was pretty great for this. They all had a fantastic energy which allowed them to really have the energy required for the umping around and head banging. The main trio - Tom Milner (Johnny), Joshua Dowen (Tunny), and Samuel Pope (Will) - all had their respective strengths and were all perfectly cast given their storylines. I think my favourite character was St Jimmy (Luke Friend), as he was so full of life and even a rebel when compared to the main three. I also really liked both the lead females, as played by Sam Lavery (Whatsername) and Alexandra Robinson (Libby) as they were very engaged and emotional (particularly Libby).

The staging of this production was interesting in that it didn't change for the whole show, but a few set pieces would come in and out during the show. There was a bit more suspension of disbelief than most other shows. There was a smaller part of set which was up above the main stage, which allowed for two stories to be taking place simultaneously. The upper floor was half this set, and half the band, which left when they weren't playing, but were on stage for a lot of the show. And honestly, I think the band was the best part of this show.

Unfortunately, for some audience members they clearly didn't pay attention when booking - I spoke briefly with a lady in the bathroom queue who had booked thinking this was a concert by the actual Green Day. I don't know why you would think that Green Day would play the New Wimbledon (sorry Wimbledon), but they did seem both confused and disappointed. And I think quite a few people were disappointed, because there were definitely more empty seats after the interval.

And I think I might agree - it definitely wasn't great, but given we only paid 15 pounds and the New Wimbledon is such a lovely theatre, I definitely don't regret it. Glad to have had it as a theatre experience, as always.