Nicole schreibt...

Another trip to London by Eurostar, this time from Welkenraedt, the next station down the Belgian intercity line, which is less grotty than the tiny one in Eupen and has proper parking. It also cuts a mind-boggling seven minutes off the journey to Brussels! Another "new" was the fact that London wasn't my final destination this time (well, at first) and I moved on from St. Pancras to Victoria Station and onto a train to Brighton. Theatre logistics, as usual, being the culprit, as I really wanted to see Matthew MacFadyen live on stage and his latest show "Jeeves & Wooster" was in Brighton this week - moving to the West End only next week, so spending a day in Brighton was still cheaper than extending my stay in London for another two or three days. In fact it was cheaper in total since the theatre ticket and the hotel were cheaper, making up for the train fare to Brighton and back! The transit between St. Pancras and Victoria Station also went smoothly and I arrived at the seaside around 4pm just as planned. checked into the Travelodge quickly (room with a view even - see the picture!), then headed for a walk along the beach, since I don't often get to be at a beach and I had been to Brighton only once before (In summer. Freezing my butt off.) I returned to the room for a bit then, before heading out again, this time for dinner and the show at the Theatre Royal, which had the size of a pleasant mid-sized London playhouse (not sure how they host big tours like Priscilla in there though).

So, "Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense" was (according to the programme) the first full West End play adaptation of the famous Wodehouse books and the idea was Bertie "staging" some of his adventures in theatrical fashion with the help of Jeeves (who recruited a third guy for help). It was well done, in my opinion, fast-paced, with lots of funny ideas - although I don't know if "Pride & Prejudice" will ever be the same having seen Mr Darcy draped in a window curtain, wearing a lampshade on his head to pretend he was Bertie's flame Madeline Bassett. Admittedly much of the plot raised only smiles with me while the audience hooted with laughter, but then I've never been one to laugh loudly in the theatre or cinema - and I did chuckle quite frequently at the antics on stage. I had gone to see this for Matthew MacFadyen and he sure didn't disappoint, either as stoic Jeeves or in the farcial roles Jeeves pretends to play (or in doing a silly little dance during the curtain calls!) He was well matched by Stephen Mangan as Bertie with the biggest horsiest smile I've seen in a while and lots of energy (though he did remind me a lot of Hugh Laurie's Bertie - comes with the part I guess). Praise also to Mark Hadfield as "Seppings", the third guy who covered several parts as well including Bertie's batty aunt in an outfit that looked very much inspired by Queen Mum. As entertainment goes it was a very nice and fun evening out, nothing AMAZING, but light and pleasant fun with three excellent performers and definitely worth trooping down to Brighton for.

After a decent night's rest and one last walk along the beach, it was off to London proper for a shopping tour around town. I didn't only visit my regular haunts, but also managed to actually find shoes I had seen online a few months ago and fallen in love with - sold in an amazing little shop in Carnaby Street. Worth checking out!
First show in town was "From Here to Eternity", based on the book and movie of the same name and the first project in ages Tim Rice bothered writing lyrics for. The previews had already spawned snarky re-titlings like "From Here to November" and "From Here to Mediocrity" and indeed the first act was pretty dang dull with me pining for a song of "South Pacific" caliber to come along. I grumbled a bit about having paid full whack for this show since the logistics had made queuing for day seats rather impossible and there were no discounts yet to be had, but luckily the second act improved LOTS with all the good tunes stuffed into this and the plot finally kicking into gear (and up several notches with the attack on Pearl Harbor). If they had had a few more good tunes in act one, this show would definitely have potential to be great, but as it is, sadly, it's "okay" at most — and they won't shift all those pricey seats at £70 for something that's "okay". The cast was decent enough, though I wasn't too keen on the lead guys - Robert Lonsdale with his high-pitched voice and lack of stage presence and Darius Campbell with all the charisma of a block of wood. But maybe that's unfair, since I didn't really care for their characters in the classic movie either. I don't mind so much that I had an "okay" evening at best, I mostly mind the wasted opportunity to create a GREAT show here along the lines of South Pacific - I mean, Tim Rice wrote for ALW and Benny + Bjoern, surely he knows what makes a good song on a musical stage? Ah well.

It seems to have become a tradition to spend Saturday mornings queuing for Day Seats and this proved no exception. After a quick breakfast at the Costa across the street I settled in at the Apollo Theatre at around 8.20 for the wait and for an afternoon ticket to ""The curious incident of the dog in the night time"", the National Theatre's successful adaptation of Mark Haddon's bestseller. Come 10am I had secured my £12 front row seat and went for another wander around Covent Garden's shops (the only purchase being a £5 travel guide to the Channel Islands, hah) before returning to the Apollo to meet a friend for lunch at the nice Indonesian place in Great Windmill Street. Then it was time for the matinee and back to the Apollo once more. I was amused to realize that my seat was one of the "prime number seats" that were covered in white cloth and had a slip of paper sticking in it: If the letters of your name added up to a prime number you could win a prize, but alas, mine didn't. Still, it was a fun idea, setting the mood for what must be the most imaginative staging I've seen in a long time (and the kind of stuff I used to love musicals for back in the days when those were creative). Haddon's book became a bestseller by providing an insight into the mind of a boy suffering Asperger's, a mild form of Autism and the stage version really captured that well. Not to mention the amazing performance of Jack Loxton as Christopher, the kid in question. He's the alternate Christopher and I can definitely see how it would be nigh on impossible for one performer to do two shows on one day in this extremely demanding role. Do I sound awed? I damn well was. It was just a really really great, perfect play I can heartily recommend as it captures you on so many levels. One final thing: When Dad brought the puppy out on stage as a gift for Christopher in the end, the audience went into a collective "Awww!" which was sweet. As was the adorable puppy. And the rat Toby. Which was indeed a genuine living rat. All together now: "Awww!"

From the Apollo I slowly worked my way through Leicester Square, along the Strand and across the river to Southwark, where the evening show was waiting for me, Kander/Ebb's last musical "Scottsboro Boys", A true story, based on the horrible miscarriage of justice in segregated Alabama in the 30's, where nine innocent black boys were accused of raping two white girls — and weren't even released when the girls finally admitted they had made it up. Kander and Ebb have always been good at writing about difficult political stuff in an entertaining fashion as they did so well in "Chicago" and "Cabaret" and this was along the same lines, using a "minstrel show" as a frame and storytelling device. Which I am in two minds about really. Partly it worked very well, turning a very serious and shocking political case into a very entertaining show and turning cliches on their heads,— but partly it didn't really sit well with me to combine the sad story and the boys' ruined lives with cheerful smiley goofing around. Not that it should have been another weepy full of "woe is me" ballads - the few moments of naked grief and underlying anger were all the more powerful for it. Somehow it was just an odd mix, but definitely a show worth seeing full of amazing young performers, some of which had already been part of the Broadway cast like Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon who reprised their parts as Mr Bones and Mr Tambo (who, in turn, played several other parts in the "minstrel show" like the guards and lawyers). Kyle Scatliffe who stood centre as Haywood, one of the boys, was from New York as well while most of the others were home-grown talents - and all of them really quite amazing and full of energy. Not an 'easy' show to be sure, but so much better than most of the big "commercial" shows currently blighting the West End.

Overall it felt like a really good mix this time — with two musicals and two plays: One musical a big "epic" show (that could have done with more great songs) and the other small and smart, one play a really gripping modern fresh drama and the other a gloriously old-fashioned slapstick comedy. So, bring on January and it's mix of Shakespeare, modern drama and musicals :)