Theatre Trip: Waitress #5

 WAITRESS

New Wimbledon Theatre
Date: 10 September (Friday), 7:30pm
Seats: Stalls, Row O39
(Seen with Richard, Jess and Linda!)

This is my FIFTH time seeing Waitress, but I'm glad I had the opportunity! I wanted to see it again on the West End before it closed, but unfortunately due to Covid it closed early at the Adelphi. But now we're back in theatres, it's back - only this time, on tour!

We met our friends for dinner before hand at the Five Guys in Wimbledon. After burgers we headed over to the theatre. It was a long line because of the checks to get in (all of us are double vaxxed at this point, however Richard wasn't 2 weeks out from his second yet so he did a lateral flow test to get in), but we got in in plenty of time and even had time for the bathroom!

The cast was almost the same as on the West End - Lucie Jones still playing Jenna. I really love her Jenna and still think she is my favourite portrayal I've seen of this part. However, this was my first time seeing Matt Willis as Dr Pomatter. He was nowhere as good, I thought as David Hunter, which is a shame - but I guess they needed a 'big name' for the tour? His on-purpose fumbles were much less cute and came across to me as more annoying, which was a shame.

Ogie was amazing - I didn't get his name though! He was eager and perfectly over the top and he made me smile so much. He was also the highlight of the show for Richard, who otherwise thought it was an unremarkable show (his loss!). Evelyn Hoskins is also still my favourite Dawn as well and I felt like her vocals were really great on this evening. They made a really excellent couple with both of them making the same level of nerd and cute together.

This is the first time I've seen a different Becky. Sandra Marvin was nowhere near as good as Marisha Wallace (who is currently in Hairspray as Motormouth Maybelle - coming up next week!), and I actually found her a bit hard to understand. Again, Richard (who was seeing it for the first time) found it hard to hear her lyrics, and I didn't have the same trouble but I guess I know all the words already which helps me!

Overall, it was a good show and I'm glad I went, but there also seemed to be some issues with the sound. I'm not sure if it was because it was on tour (and a different setup), or individual mics, or where we were sitting, but it was nowhere near as crisp and clear as it was on the West End. I guess as well this is the first time that I've seen a West End show and then the same show with the same cast (or, almost) in a different venue, so maybe I'm just noticing it for the first time? Who knows, but I do love Waitress.

And this write-up is late, because work is being extremely busy at the moment, but in just a few days I'm off to see Hairspray after work and I am very excited! I've never seen it live but I love the movie so what could go wrong?

Theatre Trip; Constellations

CONSTELLATIONS

Vaudeville Theatre
Date: 4 July (Sunday), 5:30pm
Seats: Stalls, Row R9
(Seen solo!)

Following on from my last post, the very next day I took myself to the theatre! I had decided to see this play alone as a little treat to myself for that weekend (of course, that was when I didn't know I would be going to Wimbledon!). As is usual with plays for me, I knew nothing about the content of the play but only the actors.

This is a two person play which they actually had 4 different casts. This meant that each cast brought something different to it as well - one couple was younger, one older, one gay, and one interracial. I was watching the older couple, featuring the phenomenal actors Peter Capaldi and Zoe Wanamaker! I could not wait to see them in person.

The play revolved around a theoretical physicist and a beekeeper who bond at a barbecue over a love of honey. It jumps around through different phases of their relationships and they play each moment out multiple times. It was really interesting to watch, but unfortunately, it wasn't the best play for my current frame of mind. The play was really interesting, about the relationship as seen through the multiverse. They replayed different scenes with slightly different reactions to show how different scenarios would pan out. I liked that a lot and it made for quite a few great laughs!

The framing device was the thing that got to me - it was framed around the fact that Zoe's character had a big brain cancer that she would only survive for a year, and that she was considering assisted suicide. It hit pretty hard given what else is going on in my life right now, but it was still a great experience. I am really glad to experience seeing Capaldi and Wanamaker live, especially Wanamaker having seen her in My Family and Harry Potter!

My seat was in Row R, which I assumed would be pretty close, but actually it's such a tiny theatre that R is the second back row in the stalls. It was fine in terms of the view, but sadly there was a very tall man right in front of me so I did have to move around quite a lot to be able to see all the time. He moved a lot too so I had to keep compensating! It was distracting but I didn't miss any of the action.

Next up I am (hopefully) going to see Joseph in a week and a half - glad to be seeing a musical, and one I haven't seen since 2008! So excited to be going with a group of friends too as we have 4 tickets!!!

Cultural Experiences Repeated; A Day at Wimbledon!

I adore Wimbledon. I have been to the tennis multiple times (this year is my fourth year but fifth visit in total!) and I had attempted to get tickets for the 2020 Wimbledon. Of course that did not end up happening, even though in the end I did get tickets in the Ballot (for a weekday, which I had to give up anyway because work!) so I had assumed that for 2021 I wouldn't get to go, even if it was on!

For tickets this year it was all online, and I did try (on 3 tabs simultaneously!) to get tickets but I totally missed out. The online queues were really long... So I assumed that I wouldn't get anything at all - until I had a tip from someone at work. There were actually tickets going up on sale the day before for different courts! So I quickly messaged to make sure that I had a friend to go with (of course I did!) and starting on Thursday night, right after I heard about this, I checked every 5 minutes. You had to be quick enough to get the seats in the basket, which I wasn't for the first few ones, but then around 10pm on Thursday night, I got some!

Next it was about getting ready. Wimbledon is part of Part 3 of the pilot scheme, so all we had to do was make sure we take a lateral flow test within 48 hours of entry. Of course, I'm testing twice a week for work anyway so it was just a matter of timing it so that I did one on Friday morning.

On the day, we packed all our stuff - sunscreen, hats, umbrella, raincoat, water, tickets on our phone, email of the Covid test results... and Linda and I met at Wimbledon station around 10:30am. We caught the train to Wimbledon Park and walked through the big park to the courts! Test results checked, tickets checked, security checked... And we were in! We decided to start with a lap of the area, and as we were doing so, it started to rain! So we watched (as by now it was after 11 and outside courts play had started) as the ball kids pulled the court covers up and play was suspended, before continuing our wander, this time with umbrellas up. We headed over to the shop and picked up some souvenir bits (towel, notebook, keychain and programme for me!), then decided to start our eating with strawberries and cream! By the time we had finished eating those it had stopped raining, but we then decided it was lunch time. We had our lunch, got some tinned gin and tonics, and extra snacks, bathroomed up, then headed to our seats!

We were in block 302 - which sounds quite far away but was actually closer than expected! We were behind and to the right of the royal box and had a really good view of the action without needing to do the head turning thing. Up first was Coco Gauff. I couldn't believe she's only 17! She won in straight sets with some really great points.

We were really excited though for the other 2 matches - next up was Roger Federer, and he was playing a Brit - Cameron Norrie. It was a really tense match (much closer than the score let on!) and Norrie did a great job. The combination of Fed and a Brit made for a very intense crowd - lots of oohing and aahing and really tense cheering!!! Luckily Fed came through in the end and won. That match ended around 6pm and at that point most people went home, I think partly because of the football match that started in just a few hours.

But next up with the womens world number one - and she's an Aussie - Ash Barty! Her opponent was not a very good sport, she actually got a warning from the umpire for banging her raquet! She also was very visibly getting annoyed at herself as she started losing and that didn't help her. It also doesn't help that Ash is phenomenal with great placement and really great use of her slice backhand - plus a serve which is almost as fast as the men! She also came through and won, hurray!

Play on Centre Court finished around 8pm and there were only matches on the other ticketed courts still going. We headed for one last lap and wander, and ended up leaving around 8:30. We decided to walked directly home, only stopping at the fish and chip shop on the way to pick up some dinner! The most phenomenal day at the tennis with great company and amazing play.

Theatre Trip: Walden

WALDEN

Harold Pinter Theatre

Date: 3 March (Thursday), 3:00pm

Seats: Stalls, Row D19

(Seen with Jess!)

Well, it has been a a minute! In fact, I worked out it has been 63 weeks and one day since my last theatre show in March 2020 (The Red Shoes). It feels like longer though. For a while I ‘broke up’ with theatre because it just made me so sad to listen to shows knowing I couldn’t see any. But now we’re back!

I have about a half dozen shows currently booked, which span the next 6 months or so. Some very exciting ones - Tim Minchin on tour, Sutton Foster in Anything Goes, Joseph, and of course (finally) Hamilton, which was refunded then rebooked then rescheduled and now is finally on the books for December. But this was a last minute booking, just a couple of weeks out - Jess was over to watch the Eurovision broadcast when we booked in!

The COVID protocols were very good. We checked in to the theatre using the app when we arrived, sanitised out hands on entry, had our temperatures checked on entry as well, and of course we kept our masks on the whole time we were inside (unless we were eating or drinking). So we felt very safe. When we were waiting in line out the front, we got given new tickets! Jess had booked the Balcony for £12 a seat, but it must have been a quiet day because we were given tickets that moved us up to the stalls, on the edge of row D! A much better view, for sure.

I didn’t know much about the play going in. We had booked it because Gemma Arterton was is in, but it turned out to be a really deep and thoughtful piece. It is about twin sisters who work/worked for NASA, one as an architect and one as a botanist. The one who was the architect had moved out into the country and invited her sister to come and visit after returning from a moon mission. It exposed the history between the sisters, their past traumas, and the reasons behind their lives. I’m not explaining it well, but it was really emotional and everything unravelled in a really interesting way. Add in the fiancé and the fact he’s an advocate for saving the Earth instead of leaving it for other planets and it made it even more complicated. We both left feeling really reflective and wanting to think more about it.

Like I mentioned, Gemma Arterton was the main actor in this play. Her character spent the whole time on the edge of a breakdown and she did an amazing job of being on edge. There were also a lot of tears and a lot of tension which was acted out really really well! I just wish that the stage door would have been open as I would have loved to tell Gemma and the other two actors how fantastic they were!

While it was a deep way to restart my theatre going experiences, I was so glad to be back in a theatre. Given I’m testing twice a week for work, I’ve had my first vaccination, and the safety protocols at the theatre, I felt perfectly safe and look forward to going back to more shows - I just need more theatres to reopen!

Theatre Trip: The Red Shoes

THE RED SHOES

New Wimbledon Theatre

Date: 11 March (Wednesday), 7:30pm

Seats: Upper Circle N8-9

(Seem with Chloe!)

This week, I saw my first ballet! While one favourite movies is still Centre Stage (so good!), I have never actually seen an actual ballet in its entirety before. And that’s something I’ve wanted to change for a while. This feels like a stepping stone to that experience, as whole this is a real ballet, I’d still like to have the full special theatre and fancy evening out ballet experience, I think.

This came about in a really interesting way. Back at the beginning of March, I Skyped my family and my grandfather recommended Matthew Bourne as a choreographer. He had been to see his version of Romeo and Juliet at a cinema screening in my hometown, and when I looked I saw there was this show on in Wimbledon soon. But I didn’t book it, and then that night my sewing friend Chloe got in touch saying that she wanted to go and asking if I’d like to go too! So she picked up the tickets and we went together.

I really enjoyed the ballet! It was a story I was vaguely familiar with, which I think helped me to understand. I definitely wanted them to start speaking at certain points (it almost felt like they should) but of course they didn't. I think the part that we appreciated the most, as sewists, was the costumes. It was amazing to see how they looked really good as clothes but then also functioned as dancewear. And some of them were so gorgeous! There were definitely a few that I still have on my mind (the 40s style tea dress in a blue striped linen...).

As far as the casting goes, there are at least 2 people for each part in the program, so I went through and circled each for my future records. I don't think I can really speak about favourites though, given I know nothing about ballet and don't know who the dancers are either. Everyone was really lovely and it was a very cool experience.

My next intended theatre experiences are on the 25th March and the 3rd April (&Juliet and Blithe Spirit, respectively), but given the state of the world at the moment, I don't know what is going to happen and if theatres will even be open by then. Here's hoping...

Theatre Trip: Prince of Egypt

PRINCE OF EGYPT

Dominion Theatre

Date: 7 March (Saturday), 2:30pm

Seats: Stalls Row V Seats 10-12

(Seen with Jess and Karla!)

Young Miriam, Leah and Hebrew Girl played by Mia Lahka.

Young Aaron, Young Egyptian Boy and Young Midian Boy played by Taylor Jenkins.

After last night at Endgame, we met up again at midday (just over 12 hours later!) for our next show! Karla was really pleased that we could fit in 3 shows over the two weeks she was here, as she only had 1 planned when she left! We started with a little Primark shopping trip and lunch before heading just to the Dominion Theatre. For what is I think the first time ever, we had to pay to check bags as we had bought a little too much!

I knew barely anything about this show. I obviously did know that it was a animated movie back in the late 90s, and I'm sure I saw it at the time, but I don't remember anything about the rest of it. I was also familiar with the story, as it is the story of Moses - to be fair, I didn't know that story well until my last job when I had to teach it! I learnt it well then, that's for sure, so I knew what the plot was going to be. But unusually for me, I didn't know any of the music or any of the performers going in.

Or so I thought. It turns out that both of the leading ladies in this show I knew of. Tzipporah, Moses' wife was played by Christine Allado, who had originally played Peggy/Maria in Hamilton in the first West End cast, and Miriam, Moses' sister was played by Alexia Khadime, who I had actually seen as Elphaba way back in 2008! So that was a nice surprise. Both women were spectacular, but I think the star of the show for me was Christine Allado - she was sensual and raw and so very strong. I really really loved their performances.

The leading men were good, however I wasn't as wowed as I was by the women. Liam Tamne played Ramses and he was very strong, showing a good progression of his emotions throughout the show. Luke Brady played Moses and I thought he was very good too - he definitely grew on me throughout the show.

I do think though, that the best thing about this show was the show itself. The music was really great! Composed by Stephen Schwartz, who also wrote Wicked, I could tell that but only in a couple of moments during the whole show as generally the music was extremely strong. I also appreciated that the score incorporated the use of Hebrew into the vocal parts for when the Hebrews were singing (and I was a bit embarrassed that it took me so long to realise what that was!)

The stage craft was by far the stand out. Throughout the show, there are quite a few 'magic' tricks which the High Priest and Moses do during the show which was really cool. The choreo was amazing, using people to replicate water, sand and the burning bush as well as having them dancing during actual dancing scenes. The dancers were all fantastic and they worked so well together in sequence to form the things they had to form. And even the stage got in on the act! At interval when I went to look at the orchestra pit, I noticed there were some crash mats underneath the edge of the stage. I figured they were for just in case, given during Act 1 some of the characters were sitting right on the front edge of the stage, but it turns out the whole thing moves! I won't say how or when because I don't want to completely ruin the surprise, but it is a genius piece of stagecraft and I loved that about it.

At the end, I commented that it felt like I was watching a movie. It felt lush and full and it was so new and complex in the staging, that it was a really cool experience. I'm so glad I saw it, although I don't think I've fallen in love with it the same way I have with Wicked or Waitress. And I don't feel the need to see it again super soon, but if I had a friend who asked, I definitely wouldn't say no! I really would like to see that stagecraft again, and I'd pay even more attention to the background details next time.

Theatre Trip: Endgame and Rough for Theatre II

ENDGAME and ROUGH FOR THEATRE II

Old Vic Theatre

Date: 6 March (Friday), 7:30pm

Seats: Lilian Baylis Circle Row E15-18

(Seen with Jess, Viddie and Karla!)

This was a night! It was a long week but I was excited for the theatre tonight. Originally, Richard was supposed to come, but he was feeling super tired so he let me offer his ticket to Karla and she was free, so it was girls night! As usual, we met at a McDonald's (Waterloo, as it's super close to the theatre) for a quick dinner first. I loved being back in my old neck of the woods!

This play was actually two plays, both by a playwright called Samuel Beckett. I actually know nothing about Beckett or his plays, and we had bought these tickets well in advance due to the actors in it... Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe!

Alan Cumming is one of those actors most people have heard of but don't know what they're from, but I know him from recent things, like the Good Wife, but also things from my childhood: primarily, the Spy Kids and Josie and the Pussycats movie! And then of course, Daniel. Harry Potter. It has been a dream to see him live and finally it's happened!

The first play was only 25 minutes, and it was called Rough for Theatre II. It was a really shory and interesting play with a third man on stage the whole time, silhouetted in a window and ready to jump. The other two characters (Alan and Daniel) were discussing whether to let him jump or not by analysing his life. I really enjoyed it and it was rather funny in an absurd way.

Actually, both plays were absurd, although I think I preferred Rough for Theatre II. After the interval, there was the longer play, called Endgame. I also found it quite funny, although it was much more weird. I'm actually not sure I can fully explain it, but on this particular Friday night I was in just the right mood for that kind of crazy humour, and I was in hysterics!

After the show, we went out, around and waited in a queue. They checked our tickets, then let us back into the foyer... To meet Daniel Radcliffe! It turns out most evenings he does signings after the show. We waited our turns and when it was mine as he signed my program, our conversation went like this:

Me: "Can I ask you a stupid question?"

DanRad: "Of course, go right ahead."

Me: "Does it hurt, going up and down those ladders all the time every night?"

DanRad: "Actually, less than you'd think. You do get used to it too. I like doing the ladder tip every night though."

Me: "Oh, I thought that was a mistake!"

DanRad: "A lot of people think that, and I love that. That's made my day!"

And then he took my phone and took a selfie.

After we just talked for a while, losing our minds and posting our photos all over the internet. He was so nice (like Natalie Dormer!) and I still cannot believe that I got to meet Harry Freaking Potter! Life made.