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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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We’re warned at the start of the show with an upbeat number that this is not the usual sort of musical. And it turns out to be just that. But with boundless enthusiasm and energy from its two leads, who deploy a range of voices and breathtaking energy to create a series of voices for puppet characters, a bedtime story becomes a silly oddball tale about four souls stuck in purgatory. With puppets. And various toilet humour references. It’s currently playing at Upstairs At The Gatehouse . The piece starts as a bedtime story. Daddy (Mark Underwood) is about to read a bedtime story for Louise (Sarah Louise Hughes). But her stomach felt funny, and soon, she went to the bathroom. Then, for reasons that seem to only make sense in the confines of the show, they start telling the story of four people who died in unfortunate circumstances in the bathroom. Depicted as puppets, they’re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesn’t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...
Music: LSO and Elgar

One of the nice things about London is that

  • You can go online Sunday morning and see what's on, and book a ticket to see an evening of Elgar. It was the Elgar Violin Concerto and Symphony No 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox (conductor) and Tasmin Little (soloist for the violin concerto). It was a fabulous performance.
  • You can get a cheap seat at the Barbican to see it. Mine was £5 because I couldn't see the full orchestra, but I could see the double basses very well (for what that was worth) and the sound was excellent.
  • You can show up to the concert wearing any old thing including sandals with socks. I didn't, but the man next to me was in sandals. He was with his wife and they looked like they had been together for some time so that may explain why they let themselves go.

Incidentally I wore a smart new jacket that I picked up yesterday for a song while doing some retail therapy. Forgot to bring glasses however so I have no idea if I was being noticed...

One thing about London audiences, they can be a noisy lot. Tonight there was:

  • General coughing and spluttering throughout the performance. I wondered given the average age of the attendees whether there was an ambulance on standby as some didn't sound like they were going to make it to 10pm.
  • Someone's alarm going off for at least thirty seconds during the second movement of the Symphony that the acoustics of the Barbican Hall picked up perfectly for everyone to hear.
  • Someone perfectly timing a loud AAAAH-CHOO! just as the music went quiet. If people are that comfortable to sneeze loudly they should be encouraged to burp and fart perhaps as well.

You also have to pity the performers. As the moment they finish many people in the audience leap to their feet. Not to give a standing ovation, but to get out. It has become a growing trend I have noticed at various venues here in London. No applause just a stampede out the building. Afterall, parking can be such a bitch...

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