Thursday . . .

Thursday is a school day, so there isn't as much going on. Class was interesting in that we had a speaker come in and talk about Ayurveda, which means, "The Science of Life." It has been around from over 5,000 years, so I wouldn't call it a fad. Some of it I could kind of get, but some of it is a little out there for me.

Our class had dinner together and headed to a show. The class was going to see "Priscilla," but before I knew that, I was able to buy a ticket to "One Man, Two Guvnors," which just opened Tuesday. It is interesting that when a show opens, they only have about 3-4 days to rehearse with the full set. Then, they have 5 or 6 preview nights before they have the "press night." For this show, press night is this coming Tuesday which means that I was at one of the preview nights. Tickets were much cheaper and I had an amazing seat! It was such a fun show. A lot of physical humor and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This picture is the view from the Waterloo Bridge as I was walking back from the National Theatre! Have I mentioned that I love London?

I'm glad to have done something really fun tonight because it is my last show for the week. Tomorrow, I'm heading out of town to North of London. Compassionate Friends is a worldwide support organization for parents who have lost children. They are having a "Supportive Weekend" this weekend at Whirlow Grange, which is a beautiful conference and retreat center. I am looking forward to a slow weekend in such beautiful surroundings and I think that it will be a good time to share my life with Christopher with some people who understand my loss.

I doubt that I'll have internet access over the weekend, so there probably won't be an update until Monday!

A Theater-filled Day!

Wednesday started off with a tour of the National Theatre here in London. This was a class trip, although not a class that I am enrolled in. However, one of the students, Jenn, has a conflict on Wednesdays when they take the class excursions and so I am her fill-in! I am so thankful as this was amazing. Also, I already have a ticket to a tour of the BBC in a couple of weeks! Thanks, Jenn!

I think that what made the tour all the more intersting is that last week I saw "Rocket to the Moon" in this same theatre. The National Theatre actually includes 3 theatres. It is a repitrarie theatre which means that there can be more than one play on a particular stage at a time. Not at the same time, but the sets are all there for two shows and one plays about a week and then switches out and the other place for a week or so and then back again. They have to be able to switch out sets in one day - like 8 hours! The idea is that as a national theatre it should have shows that reach the widest audience as possible. I was able to go on stage at the Olivier Theatre which is named after Sir Lawrence Olivier! It is the biggest of the three. The interesting thing about it is that, unlike most theaters in london, it is not rectangular, but rounded like a Greek open-aired theater! The total angle of the seating is 118 degrees. This is the same angle that our peripheral vision includes. This way, when you are standing in the center of the stage to give a monologue or speech, you have the entire house within your vision! I'll tell you, they think of everything!

On the way back, I stopped at the "Rock & Sole Plaice" and split fish and chips, which was wonderful! The portions are huge and I love it, but am glad to be able to share it with someone!

Something like 70-80% of the costumes, props and sets for productions at the National Theatre are made "in house." There is a metal shop, a carpentry shop, an armory, a scenic studio (where the sets are painted, and the prop department. It was amazing to see on of the horses from "War Horse" up close and personal! Totally amazing! The one that we saw was Emily, Joey's mother! Her role got cut a few weeks before the show opened at the National. So, there she lives. Sets are recycled as much as possible. Props and costumes are kept to be used for future shows and are "hired out!"

After that wonderful tour, I was anxious to go to the show! I went to see "Love Never Dies" at the Adelphi Theatre which has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Some says that this is a sequel to Phantom of the Opera, but I've been told that Webber doesn't say that's not true and I'm guessing he would know! As you can imagine, it was wonderful.

In the evening, I saw another powerful production, "War Horse!" If you can imagine, it had "puppets" that were life sized for full-grown horse! It required three puppeteers for each of the big horses and they were able to carry a man on top of the horse!

Obviously, I am loving the theater. I think that it is most exciting to me that London is such an easy place to be active even by myself. I have no problem going to shows at night and walking. It is just an amazing place!

Tuesday

Tuesday's are kind of a slow days because they are interrupted with classes, of all things. Somehow, I managed to be an hour and a half late to class. I could make a good case as to why it wasn't my fault, but it was. Now I have a system where fellow-classmates and I confirm and verify so that I know what I am doing. I told them that this should be an encouragement. You, too, can be a doctoral student even if you are unable to read and correctly interpret an e-mail from you professor! Oh well, time to let it go.

When I did go to class, we went to the Grant Museum Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. This was not exactly my cup of tea as it contained something like 70,000 specimens which date back 170 years! Apparently when Robert Edmond Grant came to London to teach anatomy (Charles Darwin was one of his students), there were no specimens to use so he started his own collection. He was convinced, on his deathbed, to donate this collection to the University, where they are still used today. Again, not my thing, but interesting nonetheless!

From there we headed to the Wellborn Trust Museum's Dirt Exhibit. The full title of the Exhibit is "Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life." Sounds appealing, huh? I didn't spend a lot of time there, but saw enough. London apparently had a real problem with dirt in their past. My professor told us that when she was here in the 1970's, she would have black stuff around her nose when she got home after being out for a day. And when she blew her nose, there was black in the tissue. Enough said.

My evening was topped off by going to "Blithe Spirit," which was vey funny. I am loving the variety of shows that are around town. A couple of interesting things around the theaters. First of all, no photographs are allowed. I understand this totally during a performance so as not to distract, but I am not sure I understand why you can't take pictures of the inside of the theaters. They are beautiful buildings? The other thing that is "cute" is that there are little Hagen Das ice cream carts that come out at intermission. The a little cup (like we used to eat as kids with a wooden flat spoon) cost 3 pounds, fifty. That is over $5.50!

I have finally accepted the fact that I am one who is able to just go to the theatre and enjoy the show, especially when I like the story. I am not a critic and will never be. I think that I am just too simple and I like it that way!

Monday, Monday

This Monday was a very productive day! I did a load of laundry, folded it AND put it away! It is amazing what I can do when there is another person sharing my room! I had just thrown on my Berkenstocks when I was doing laundry and then when I put the clothes in the dryer, I decided that I'd go to the bank to get cash (to purchase what else, but theatre tickets!). Seemed like a good idea. From there, I thought I'd going by the post office to get stamps in hopes of mailing some of the many post cards I had purchased. By the time that I was at the post office, I realized I had managed to grow a blister on the bottom of my foot about the size of a quarter. I wasn't about to let that stop me! So, I tied my tennis shoes as tight as I could and off I went!

First stop, Buckingham Palace! I decided, however, to take the bus! I'm getting pretty good at it, if I may say so myself. Walking through Green Park, I noticed this "thing" in the middle of the side walk. This is the first time I have seen anything with Princess Diana's name on it! After I saw this one, I saw another near Buckingham Palace! I guess it is a little awkward since she was the ex-wife!

I thought this was kind of cute. Walking back in front of Buckingham Palace, there was what appeared to be a newly married couple getting who were using Buckingham Palace for their wedding photos!

I am amazed at how many tourists are here! Both times that I've been near Buckingham Palace, there are just thousands of people! You know, I've heard (back home) that the people here resent how much the Monarchy costs, but I have to wonder if anybody has ever figured out how much revenue they create! Everything you buy here includes a 20% VAT (value added tax) and I can tell you that there is a lot of buying going on at the shops related to the Monarchy!

When I got back, there was work to be done for school. Yes, I do have to do work for school. I went over to Pret, which is my Panera here in London! I was all ready to set up shop when I realized that I failed to bring the converter-thing that lets me plug my computer into their electrical outlets! I did manage to get some reading done!

Of course, not day is complete without going to a show! So, I decided to see "The Mousetrap" which is the world's longest running show, now it ints 59th season. I attended the 23,364th performance! After seeing some of the exciting stuff that I've seen, this was a little slow, but it was good. Eventually, this run will come to an end and I'll be able to say that I was a part of it!

American Music in London!

Sunday, was a day of American Music in London! I went to a matinee performance of "Jersey Boys" and an evening performance of "Thriller." Although the same kind of show, they were entirely different. Jersey Boys told a story and Thriller was more of a concert with minimal details provided. If you think about it, with cable TV, we all know exactly what the Jackson's were all about. We've seen more videos of Michael Jackson through the years that we have of most anybody else. As a result, there is no way that you could have somebody "play" him in a live performance. It is too easy to find where they wouldn't get it right. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, on the other hand, weren't so visible! The actors who played them were simply amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed the everything about it and I was amazed at all the songs those guys did. I had no idea!

What a contrast in audiences! I would say that for Jersey Boys, I was in the youngest quartile while at Thriller, I was in the oldest quartile! It was pretty funny to see one show following the other. The most fascinating thing to me was that in Thriller, the audience was from everywhere. It seemed to me like there were more non-English speakers than there were English speakers! I had no idea what a world-wide sensation Michael Jackson was. It was pretty incredible! The kid who sang Michael's part of songs from the Jackson Five days was wonderful and probably got the biggest ovation! I'm glad I went!

Just in case anybody is wondering, I did spend most of the morning doing work for school. I do remember my primary purpose for being here!