Nicole schreibt...

London September 2017

I had not really planned to be back in London so quickly, but somehow I fell victim to FOMO and just didn't want to miss what promised to be the theatrical hype of the autumn season: "Follies" at the National Theatre. But of course as so often with them their repertory doesn't match my existing trips, so I convinced myself that another quick weekend trip wouldn't hurt. I consciously opted for the later Eurostar on Friday afternoon, which only just gave me time to check into my hotel - the ultra-modern cute "Hub by Premier Inn" at King's Cross this time - and head on into the West End for a quick meal. My first outing was to a show I had not really expected to revisit: "An American in Paris", based on the movie of the same name, but with added recycled Gershwin tunes. It was all the hype in New York during my last trip there (well, before the Hamilton juggernaut really got going) and I was lucky enough to snag a half price ticket on my last day in Town. However, a mix of false expectations (I had pretty much expected a classical ballet, not a musical with a few ballet bits) and a shitty seat on the side of the stalls meant, that I came away really disappointed. In fact I was rather annoyed when this of all musicals announced a transfer to London. But I did sit up and take notice when they announced that while the Broadway leads would be transferring initially, Ashley Day would be alternate Jerry Mulligan (the Gene Kelly part in the movie) and later take over fully. Now I don't fangirl often in my age, but I saw young Mr Day when he understudied Elder Price in "Book of Mormon" a few years ago and was utterly enchanted, so I was happy for him to have landed this juicy part and also of course wanted to see him. So here I was, at the freshly scrubbed-up Dominion Theatre, which had been clogged up by "We we rock you" longer than anyone cares to remember.
Now here's the surprising thing: With my own expectations managed and corrected and a fantastic seat in the second row (sold for only £29,50 as restricted view since you miss a tiny bit of the dancers' footwork), I enjoyed the show a lot more. I had also watched the movie again, so it was easy to see how much the stage version actually improved on that. Where in the movie it was never clear to me why all the men were falling over the incredibly bland Lise (Leslie Caron) and why Jerry didn't like the much nicer and more assertive (and richer) Milo, here the characters were drawn a bit differently and most importantly, Lise (played by understudy Kristen McGarrity here) was really so cute and lovely that you understood the attraction. It may not be the greatest musical and I still don't really like the modernist abstract look of the great ballet in the second act (which was a kitschy-but-cute assembly of the worst Parisian cliches in the movie), I did find myself perfectly entertained now. Which might of course have to do with the lovely Ashley Day, who did not disappoint my expectations either, but on the whole I just enjoyed it all a lot more now from a much better seat that allowed me to really appreciate the fabulous projections in the background, and with the corrected expectation that while it does have (fantastic) balletic elements, it's still mostly a musical.
Despite the shortness of the trip, I had another item on my list I needed to tick off: The "Tunnel" exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands, which was closing this weekend. The exhibition showcases all the archaeologic finds from excavation work for the new Crossrail running through London's underground (also known as the Elizabeth Line). The museum is in the former Docklands which were transformed into London's new banking quarter with gleaming skyscrapers in the 80s and 90s. Not an area I ever found myself keen on visiting, but since it was Saturday, the overpaid business types were not around and I found it all rather charming with some bits by the water reminding me of Singapore without the stuffy tropical heat. The museum itself is situated in one of the two last remaining original warehouses of West India Quay, where once all the goodies from the Caribbean were unloaded and stored. The others were flattened during the Blitz, so once again I had the pleasure to walk through a museum that ended with The Germans Fucking Shit up. It was well worth a visit though, documenting the development of London's modern docklands from the first quays in 18th century to the decline and end in the 70s and 80s when modern container shipping necessitated a new deep-water port further out. Among the highlights was a whole section dedicated to the development of the colonies and the sad story of slavery and a recreated alleyway called "Sailorstown" that conjured up an image of the Docklands during their heydays in 18th and 19th century. The Crossrail exhibition was smaller than I thought, but still fun to see (especially since it was all free):

Here's the full skelly of one of the countless plague victims of 14th century (who probably never thought he'd end up in a museum) and oodles of pottery from a Victorian pickle and jam factory on the site where the Astoria Theatre in Soho stood later before in turn being demolished for the new Crossrail station at Tottenham Court Road. Since there was still time, I strolled around Canary Wharf (which I now knew was called this because fruit and greens from the Canary Islands had been unloaded there once) and the gleaming (and surprisingly busy) shopping mall in the bowels of the skyscraper, then took the tube to Southwark, where I strolled around Borough Market for a while. Mostly because I had booked a "meal deal" for lunch at the Menier Chocolate Factory and it was still too early for that, but I didn't want to spoil my appetite with a bigger meal. So the market with its many offers to taste bits of cheese and salami and olive oil dipped in bread was just perfect - and I ended up buying some seriously expensive Welsh cheese, which I then had to lug around with me all day. I hadn't really been sure what to do for the Saturday matinee on this spontaneously added trip and settled on the new musical adaptation of "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole", everyone's favorite book (later series) of the 80s by the late and much missed Sue Townsend. Considering it's only a fringe theatre, the Menier has become fairly pricey recently, so I had decided on the aforementined meal deal which at least also included a lovely two course meal at the in-house restaurant. Yummy it was indeed, salmon fishcake and spinach followed by berry trifle. Which of course promptly sent me into a post-lunch stupor during the show. But tiny moments of inattention aside, I really enjoyed this a lot. It stayed close to the first book and most importantly, kept Townsend's humour intact. I was especially impressed by the young leads, Benjamin Lewis as Adrian himself and Asha Banks as Pandora, a young lady with so much charisma that I'm sure we'll see her again as a grown up performers in a few years. The adults were just as fun, especially John Hopkins' over the top sleazy Mr Lucas, with who Adrian's mother Pauline (Kelly Price) runs off to Sheffield, only to return at the end of the show. The mix - first the hilariously botched silly Nativity play by the school class, followed by Pauline's return to husband and son, was for me what always exemplified Britain's storytelling for me - one moment you're laughing yourself silly, next you squish a tear in your eye. The music was admittedly not very memorable, but to be honest, I think is the kind of show that's never been meant for a big West End stage or international success - but will happily be taken up by smaller theatres, am dram and schools all over the country. Personally I loved the trip back into my own youth, recognizing so much typically 80s stuff in Adrian's room I had myself and relishing in Pauline's 80s wardrobe that could have been mine, too.
From the Menier I could do my favorite walk along the south bank of the Thames to the National Theatre, enjoying a nearly perfect warm late-summer evening in London. Now I know I said that I had arranged this trip chiefly to see "Follies" and yet I admit that I feel luke-warm about the show itself (and Sondheim in general, who always seems to think he's just that bit cleverer than he really is). The story is that a bunch of former Follies dancers assemble one last time in their old theatre before its torn down, reminiscing about the past, but (since this is Sondheim) it can't just be about that, it has to be five sizes bigger and be All About the Decline of the American Dream in the 50s and 60s and the Meaning of Life and Human Folly. Now the idea of the reunion of the former dancers is great and so much of the show is truly fantastic - the shoddy run-down theatre arranged on the huge round stage of the Olivier Theatre, the mix of today's elderly ladies (and gents) and their shadowy glamourous young selves and a cast of amazing first-rate performers from the currently inevitable Imelda Staunton as Sally, West End veterans like Janie Dee (Phyllis), Philip Quast (Ben) and Tracie Bennett (Carlotta) to young hot things like Zizi Strallen (young Phyllis) and Herbert von Karajan's own muse, legendary opera singer Dame Josephine Barstow (Heidi). So, what's the hitch? "Follies" is fantastic when it actually IS about the Follies dancers and their lives. Fabulous performers like Geraldine Fitzgerald (Solange), Di Botcher (Hattie, who sings the classic "Broadway Baby") and Dawn Hope (Stella) get their moments to shine and Tracie Bennett truly brings the house down with "I'm still here", that great survivor's number. But in-between these, the show time and again comes to a crashing halt when the relationship drivel of the central quartet - Sally, Phyllis, Ben and Buddy - comes to the forefront. I find very few things so tedious as people going on about their shitty failed romances and I can't stand whiny needy women like Sally, whose entire lives orbit around "a man". Okay, I know that Sondheim wants us to know that Sally is delusional and half-mad, but even so, all that stuff could have been right out of some TV movie or soap opera about shitty marriages, so I would have much preferred to cut that down and give the other great performers more chance to shine and focus on what makes this show unique, the past of the Follies dancers. Credit to Imelda Staunton: When she first appeared, I thought I was truly Imelda-d-out after seeing her in short succession in three other shows, but she did make me see Sally the character and not "Imelda once more". Pity that her big moment "Losing my mind" is a number, that just pisses me off with its whole "I luuuuurve you sooo" whinge. Janie Dee was struggling vocally and I had really expected a lot more from her great number "Could I leave you?" so it didn't help that the supporting cast seemed to be so much stronger. In the end I'm glad I have seen this (for the cast alone) and add "Follies" to the ever-growing list of classic shows I've finally seen, but I have no desire to ever see this again. And so this quicky trip ended with the usual trudge across Kent, Northern France and Belgium and some unneeded excitement when the Eurostar was so much delayed, that I only caught my connection thanks to a quick sprint across Brussels-Midi station. But I'll be back again in five weeks anyway, when I have a date with a certain wizard and his friends, Captain Flint and Margery Tyrell...