In our next to last day in London, we met with Anna Sullivan in the morning to talk about the current state of London Theater. I was really impressed with how much the UK cares about its theater - to the point where quite a large amount of it is government subsidized. After the end of World War II, the British government decided that Arts, Theater and Dance were important enough for the national morale that they would underwrite some performances and theater companies with tax dollars... and the public has been overwhelmingly in favor of this decision ever since then.
After our lecture, we went on our last walk with Roger Bowdler and our path took us from the London Eye on the south bank of the Thames all the way down past the Millennium Bridge and into Southwark. As soon as we left Roger, I took the tube and met my family at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. We went and had some dinner and then we decided to try to get tickets to see Oliver tonight. We walked up to Leicester Square and were luckily able to get some of the last tickets in the Grand Circle. We then walked up to the Covent Garden market and browsed the cool boutiques there until the show started. When we got to Drury Lane Theater Royal, we found it to be a really, really beautiful old Proscenium Arch Theater with beautiful entrances and a massive stage.
The show itself was fantastic. Fagin, played by Russ Abbot, was fantastic. He became a really sympathetic character by the end but was never malicious or frightening. Nancy, played by Kerry Ellis was also a high point of the show. At the end of the show, the crowd gave the cast a standing ovation but the stayed on the stage and started bringing out balloons. Then they dropped down a picture of the original writer of the show and escorted an old man on stage. That old man was Ron Moody, the original Fagin in the first ever production of Oliver (which was on the West End) and who also starred in the Oscar-winning movie version. He gave a really funny speech, filled with Irish Toasts (Here's to her. And what she won't do, her sister will. So here's to her sister). After that, Moody joined with Russ Abbot and the rest of the cast for one final number (Pick a Pocket). The finale was really amazing and we were so lucky to be there for the event.
Finally, I went back to Regent's and enjoyed my last hours as a teenager. Here's to 20!
Cheers!
-Simon
No comments:
Post a Comment