Theatre Trip: Preludes

PRELUDES

Southwark Playhouse

Date: 9 September (Monday), 7:30pm

Seats: The Large, Row C10

(Seen solo!)

Notes: Another solo show, which I had booked purely on an ad in the bathroom from my trip to Once on this Island, and back at the Southwark Playhouse! This time the staging was arranged in one corner with only two banks of seating. This time I picked row C after being a bit too close to audience interaction at Once on this Island, and it was just about the perfect spot.

Dave Malloy is the composer of this show and I must admit that that was a drawcard for me - not because I had experienced any of his works, but precisely because I hadn't! I had heard a lot about him, primarily about his work Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (a smash hit in NY in the last few years), and also through my theatre podcasts where they always say amazing things about him. So, given I knew it was by a composer I wanted to experience, and featuring music by a classical composer I really admire, I was sold.

I did a little reading before I arrived at the theatre, brushing up on the life of Rachmaninoff (although I already knew a little about it) and listening to my favorite of his pieces, the Piano Concerto #2. I was in the orchestra playing this years ago, when I was much younger (I must have been 14 or 15?) and it really stuck with me at the time. Ever since then, I come back to it every few months. I have distinct memories of feelings I had while playing it, and the emotions I felt during that time. I do for a few of the pieces I was a part of, but I don't usually have the chance to experience them again in this way.

The music in this show is amazing. The musical numbers fall roughly into 3 categories: pure extracts from classical works, songs inspired and influenced by particular compositions, and original songs. The classical works are mostly Rachmaninoff, but also feature Beethoven, and the mixed numbers really blended them well. The totally original numbers were more unusual, and if I had to choose favourites, it wouldn't be them, but I definitely could see how they fit the story and the moments they were placed in. This combination was clearly not for everyone, because the man next to me wasn't the only one who left during interval.

I did find the opening to Act Two particularly hard to move past, with its crazy strobe lighting and electronica music, but it works in context. With so much variety within one show of musical genres, it could be hard to understand.

In terms of the plot, it takes place during the 3 years of Rachmaninoff's depression - three years in which he barely wrote anything and completely lost his motivation. He ended up seeing a hypnotherapist, and the show take place during these sessions, with flashbacks to the past and hallucinations. In particular, it was interesting because there were really two of him on stage. He never played the piano himself, but there was an alternate version of him that did all the piano playing (and yes, almost entirely real and live, which is a feat in itself) and he often spoke to characters on stage, but who weren't technically in the moment that was being portrayed.

There weren't a huge number of actors - they covered the biggest people in the life of Rachmaninoff. Dahl (Rebecca Caine), his hypnotherapist, was a fully trained opera singer and was really good, as was Natalya (Georgia Louise), Rachmaninoff's cousin and his future wife. The Master (Steven Serlin) was a more fluid character who played a few roles, but Chaliapin (Norton James) was really good as Rachmaninoff's best friend. Then there's the two leads - Tom Noyes played Rachmaninoff, the version of him who was stable and rational and did the piano playing. Keith Ramsay was Rach, the modern version in therapy - he was really good and captured the vibe so well! It was an amazing cast overall with no particular stand out members in a really solid ensemble.

Actually, in the end, I think I may have been the exact target audience of the show. With my love for musical theatre, my appreciation and background in classical music, and in particular my prior experience of Rachmaninoff and the Piano Concerto #2, I think I am right in the centre of the Venn diagram of potential audience members. As it stands, I'm currently trying to work out a way to get myself back to see this again before it closes next month, but unfortunately it is a busy month with guests coming and other things on. I will try and make it work, because my honest and genuine first thought on coming out of the theatre was: I NEED to see this again.

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell Am See - Day 4/5

It’s race day! While the Husband didn’t start his race until 11am, we headed to the start around 9:30am in order to get prepared and so that I could try and get a good spot to watch the state . This didn’t work at all because I couldn’t see the race start for all the people, not to mention the fact that everyone is wearing black wetsuits, white swim caps (in his age group) and goggles, so it’s virtually impossible to tell who is who!

Either way, I watched the start of the swim and until most of the people in the white caps had at least started the leg back, then I decided to head back to the apartment via a supermarket to get lunch (I felt guilty about yesterday so I had a salad). I had a few hours to eat, chill, do some creative stuff, before I got the notification that Husband had headed through the cycling checkpoint which was the last one before heading back into town. I got ready and headed into town (literally a minute away), but actually I still missed him! He must have been going really fast...

So instead I headed back to the apartment for more chill time, and then headed to a different spot of the race to watch Husband on the run leg. We had looked at the map the night before and worked out a place that I could go to see him in both directions, but once the race had started I couldn’t work out how to get there and picked a different spot. The first time he ran past, he didn’t even see me (even though I thought I was super obvious) because he was so focused on the running and wasn’t expecting me where I was. So then I waited a little bit before he came back past, actually seeing me this time. He made a comment about how hard he was finding the run, although I think by that time he was already recovering a little bit. Then I moved over to the finish, and had a prime spot to cheer and scream as he came running past to the finish line!

I was so so proud of him, and I met him as soon as I could afterwards and we walked (he stumbled) back to the apartment. It took about an hour for recovery and a shower before we were able to get up and walk back to the start to get his stuff. As he was picking it all up (I couldn’t go help as I wasn’t a competitor), the heavens opened and it started to rain. By the time he was done, it was POURING! We ended up walking back in a horrendous rain storm, which mostly lasted until we got back to the apartment but meant we got completely soaked and so did most of the stuff. After that Husband was feeling so tired and ill that he couldn’t even bring himself to go the few minutes out for dinner, so we ordered pizza online and I walked into town (in the rain, best wife here!) to pick it up. We didn’t even stay up that late.

The next day doesn’t even deserve it’s own entry because it was so uneventful. We messaged the owner of our apartment on Sunday to ask about getting a late checkout, which was fine, so the next day we got up late, had a hotel breakfast (walked to a local hotel), and then headed back to chill and pack. We left Zell am See around 1:30 and drove back to Munich for our flight. We didn’t get back to Wimbledon until 10pm, but we were happy to be back in our beds and with the kitties!

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 3

On Saturday I got to sleep in while Husband went to the race briefing first thing in the morning. I didn't think that many partners that weren't racing would go so I stayed in the apartment (although apparently a lot did go), so I was just ready to go out when he returned.

Then we had most of the day to do touristy things, so we headed out to a cable car. There are a lot of cable cars in this part of Austria (mostly to double as ski lifts in the winter time) and we planned to head up to 3000m, the highest point you can get to locally, and to see the visitor centre up there as well. So we headed to the Panoramabahn Schaulfelberg and went up as high as we could get, but it wasn’t until we got to the top that we realised our mistake! We got off at only 1200ish metres, and when we got to the top we noticed a map on the wall that we had missed at the lower level. It showed all the cable cars, how to get in between them, and which ones were open. All the ones we wanted were open, but we weren’t on any of them! The cable car we had gotten on didn’t connect to the top and we ended up just having to go straight back down.

Unfortunately, by that time we didn't have enough time to get to the correct one for the 3000m summit, given that would require driving and then a few other cable cars. We did have some more time though, so we headed back into Zell am See to one of the two cable cars that was in the town, the Schmittenhohebahn. This one took us to the summit behind the town itself, on a very large cable car that was designed by Porsche! It was a super view, we explored at the top (there was a lovely chapel up there too) and had lunch at a ski hotel at the very top (I made a very mature choice and ordered chicken nuggets).

Then we headed back to the apartment so that Husband could organise his things for the race. There was a time slot in which participants could go to the swim start and practice/experience swimming in the lake, and also around the same time Husband had to drop his equipment in the transition area for the bike and run legs of the race. I decided to work out how to get to the start on public transport... There was one local train which you could catch one stop for free and then it was a 10 minute walk to the start - but then it turned out that it was also just a 20 minute walk! So that was frustrating, but actually good in that I worked that out for us before race day (especially with only one train every half hour). Husband cycled on ahead to get started. By the time I joined him I was wishing I had brought my swimsuit, given it was super warm and sunny! They had actually closed the pool though as it was too busy, and by the time I got there Husband was finished anyway, so we walked back with ice cream instead.

We got back to the main part of the lake near the town just in time to see the daily display of music and water show, which was lovely. Then Husband decided that pizza was best for dinner, so we found an Italian place for dinner (there were a lot in the town) - although in the end he ordered pasta and I ordered pizza! We had a lovely lake walk as dusk fell and headed to bed nice and early to be ready for race day.

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 2

Friday happened to be more about me than the Husband in the end. I decided that I would also run a race this weekend - the Iron Girl 4. 2km race, which was held on Friday. But first I had to register, so the first thing we did on Friday morning was to go to the conference centre and register me for the race, as well as picking up the Husband's registration pack for his race (on Sunday). Given we were in town then, we picked up pastries for breakfast (I had this delicious pastry that was a combination of a cinnamon roll shape, but with baklava type filling, which was great!)

Then Husband decided he wanted to drive most of his bike course (80km total), to have a look at the climbs and the road conditions. We stopped in a small town called Dienton (about 80% of the way up the climb) so that he could ride down but then mostly so he could ride up the climb and decide how hard it would be on the day. While he did that, I went for a walk through the town, then climbed a hill in the outskirts of the town to visit a lovely little church. It had really cool wrought iron headstones in the graveyard, but the gate was closed so I didn't go in. However, there was a walking trail which went up further and into the forest, which I followed until it got too muddy for my converse. It was a delightful way to spend an hour or two!

After that we drive the rest of the bike course, stopping in a town bakery to pick up some fresh rolls and ham for lunch. We think it was Maishofen, but we didn't make a note of it at the time... Then we headed back to Zell am See for a quick rest before my race!

It was a lovely place to race, running through the cobbled town before heading about 2km out of town along the lakeside path, then turning around and coming back. I actually ran practically all of it, which was a record for me, and I even made it 1.3km before I saw the winner coming back the other way! In the end, I ran the 4.2km in 27:27, which was pretty quick and I was very pleased with the result (about 200 out of 270 ladies). Plus, I have a new finisher shirt and a medal now!

Then I only had time to shower and change, really, before heading back to the conference centre for the pasta party! Basically, it was a huge buffet with lots of types of pasta, and they used it as a welcome dinner, with a few speeches and discussion about the race and the Iron Man organisation. It was pretty delicious and a great reward after my race!

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 1

The last weekend of the summer, we were headed to Europe for the Husband to compete in the Austrian IronMan 70.3 in the lakeside town of Zell am See

We were up early at 5am for our 9am Heathrow flight, which we made just in time! We were actually flying into Germany, so we landed in Munich, which is a lovely small-ish airport. That made it easy for us to get our car. We even got a free upgrade to a van, when the guy behind the counter saw that we had a bike bag with us. I think we would have been fine without a van, but it certainly made it easier!

Then we made the 2.5hr drive through Germany, to Austria, and over to Zell am See. Just before we entered Austria we stopped at a service station for a special motorway sticker (which I don't think we actually used in the end, but better to be safe than sorry) and some fresh rolls with salami. Then we made it into Zell am See, heading straight to our apartment.

It was a really nice little studio apartment with quite a lot of space, and we were so centrally located, a 2 minute walk from the conference centre, centre of town and the finish line! We decided to have a rest though before heading into town for a walk around and dinner. We ended up at a restaurant where I had the best dinner - fettuccine with mushrooms that had been picked from the local forest that afternoon, and a local gin made with local botanicals and made 10 minutes up the road! So delicious...

Theatre Trip: Once On This Island

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

Southwark Playhouse

Date: 13 August (Tuesday), 3:30pm

Seats: The Large, Row B15

(Seen solo!)

Notes: This was my second trip (and in fact, second solo trip) to the Southwark Playhouse and it is a very cool venue. Each time the seating arrangement changes, depending on the needs of the show. In fact, the chairs simply lock together, as shown when an usher removed two seats in front of me to make a space for a lady in a wheelchair (very clever and means they get a great seat!) This time it was rather different to Ain't Misbehavin', as the stage was long and skinny and ran the length of the theatre, with seats on both sides. This meant the cast performed in multiple directions at once, which was very well planned and organised.

One thing that was also affected by the chair layout was the set. The floor was painted with a map of the French Antilles, where the musical is set, but all the set pieces were moved on and off by cast members - tyres, boxes, and a ladder on a wheeled platform which was moved around. I thought this really suited both the space and the feel of the show, where most of the cast are peasants and have very little. 

The only thing I knew about Once On This Island going in to the show was that there had been a recent revival at the Circle in the Square theatre on Broadway, and that it had had rave reviews. So I knew very little. Plot wise, it's kind of like a cross between Romeo and Juliet and The Little Mermaid. Because of where it's set, the music almost all has a calypso island feel which gives the whole show a feel good vibe. The only contrasting music is the French sections which have a European waltz feel instead. This makes the difference between the two worlds feel even stronger.

As this is a British Theatre Academy production, it is also an amateur production (I mean, it was fantastic, but I believe amateur means they didn't get paid and I don't believe they did). Despite that, the cast was amazing. Some of them didn't have the strongest voices, but they sang really well and their dance moves were incredible! Highlights for me included Chrissie Bhima (Ti Moune), Jonathan Chen (Asaka) and Elliot Gooch (Armand), whose performances really stood out for me.

I am so glad to have been back to another great show at the Southwark Playhouse! In fact, right after I got home I booked another show there for next month! £16 preview tickets, great productions, and a great theatre... What could go wrong?

Theatre Trip: Jesus Christ Superstar!

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Barbican Theatre

Date: 7 August (Wednesday), 7:45pm

Seats: Circle, Row CC3-4

(Seen with Richard!)

Notes: This was a reasonably late booking, in that we booked on Saturday night for this Wednesday evening performance. Both Richard and I love Jesus Christ Superstar, both having been exposed to it in childhood (separately). In my case, it was one of the few musicals my Nana had on VHS and that I used to watch on repeat (also Pirates of Penzance, the Mikado, HMS Pinafore, and Cats, primarily), even though I was much too young to understand it. It was one of the musicals which helped bond Richard and I when we first met, and we saw it in Sydney on tour when the arena tour came to Australia which was awesome.

This production we are really lucky to have seen - I thought we had missed it! It was on in 2016 in the Regents Park Open Air theatre, then it was back in 2018 (which we missed out on) and then it went to Chicago, and now it's back! This time around it's at the Barbican Theatre, which is a new venue to us and really cool. So between this being a highly successful production and our personal histories, I was very excited for this performance!

There were basically no discounted tickets available for this show due to demand, so we ponied up full price for Circle seats in Row CC (a row of 4). We were only overhanging a few rows back, although we were right on the edge. This is listed as restricted view, and it was but we only missed about 3 minutes of singing, if that, when Judas was on part of the band set above the stage. Other than that it was actually pretty great, and I would definitely sit there again! It might have been better to sit on the other side, as a lot of action was done facing towards the other side, but definitely worth the money.

The set itself was quite industrial and minimalistic, with lots of crosses in the architecture as well as a very large one on the stage itself. There were a few different levels (even if they are only a few steps up) and then the band was on stage a full level above. Some action did take place up there in front of the band. It was very well thought out and as the stage isn't big, they made great use of the space.

They also used the space well for the choreography. It felt more like timed movement than choreography, in the sense that it was more guttural and felt less like dance moves (if that makes sense). I felt like it was very effective, as well as some of the visual choices. My two favourite examples of this were when Judas took the money, they dipped his hands in actual silver (paint?), and they remained stained for the rest of the show. Also, during the whipping, the whole cast took turns to "whip" Jesus by throwing handfuls of glitter violently at him. It was visually compelling and enthralling to watch.

This cast was pretty much incredible!!! I'll start with the only one I was disappointed by, which is also my least favourite musical theatre role (perhaps ever?), Mary Magdalene. The actress playing her, Sallay Garnett, had a very 'smoky jazz club' vibe to her voice which just didn't suit the role, go with the others in the cast, and meant she didn't fully sustain many of her notes, which was a shame.

But the others? Phenomenal. Simon (Tim Newman) really blew me away with his Simon Zealotes number with crazy good vocals and many riffs! He was an unexpected surprise. Also unexpected was the only actor I (thought I) knew going in - Nathan Amzi, who I had seen a few times in Heathers as one of the adults. He played Annas, the assistant to Caiaphus, and his voice was so intense and strong. Plus he pulls great faces!

His leader, Caiaphus, was the first one to blow me away. His vocals were so great and he sang all the lowest of low notes like you're supposed to (but not all actors do, because they're super low) and he was really enigmatic. It turns out he's been the only Caiaphus through both the Open air and the Chicago productions, and I can see why!

Robert Tripolino played Jesus and going in to Act Two, I wasn't 100% sold on how good Gethsemane was going to be. He was good in Act One, but not quite what I had hoped. But actually, he came good! His Gethsemane was amazing - not note perfect, but his emotions overcame that for me in his performance and I thought he was fantastic!

But the real star was Ricardo Afonso, who played Judas. As soon as I heard his voice I recognised but I couldn't place it. When I read his bio, it said he was in the original cast of We Will Rock You  - which I saw twice in 2008! So I'm pretty certain I saw him play Galileo back then which is where I know his voice from. But wow. His Judas is INCREDIBLE. He was so intense and riffs were amazing and there were multiple times my jaw actually dropped because he was so incredible.  I actually don't think I could describe it properly, and I certainly didn't feel like my clapping and cheering and giving a standing ovation did his performance justice.

If you can get there, RUN, don't walk - it's not on for long!!!