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
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
London 24
Our group woke up really early this morning and headed off to The Palace of Westminster or, as it is more commonly known, the Houses of Parliament. When we got to Parliament, we took a tour around the buildings and got to go into House of Lords. Unfortunately, the House of Commons was closed for some meetings. After visiting the actual Houses of Parliament, we went to the newly designed Portcullis building. It's a really cool hyper-modern building designed by the same architect who drafted the Millennium Dome and the Millennium Bridge. There we met Angus Robertson, the leader of the Scottish National Party in Parliament, the third largest minority party in British Parliament after Labor and the Liberal Democrats (who are now allied with the Conservatives).
Our talk with Angus was really, really interesting. He's a very funny guy who was gave direct and honest answers to all of our questions but we could tell he was really good at taking questions because he gave really detailed and comprehensive answers. Robertson's goal as the leader of the SNP is to not have a job anymore... in London that is. The SNP is aiming for Scotland to be given full independence from Britain and it's made really remarkable strides to this goal in Angus' time with the party.
Most importantly, though, he was very candid with us about how parliament works in Britain and shared really funny stories of other MP's (Members of Parliament) in the House of Commons whom he works with. He also pretty objectively compared the US and UK government systems and pointed out pros and cons of each (the UK has a house of parliament that is completely unelected but, rather, appointed by the monarch - the House of Lords... while in the US, we can't name the last president who wasn't a millionaire because of how out of control campaign finance is. Robertson has a limit of 11,000 pounds (roughly 17,000 dollars) to spend on his campaign... so he goes knocking on doors grass-roots style and does really well in the polls).
On our way out, he took us through the semi but not really secret passage that connects Portcullis House to Parliament and then we went back to Regent's for a quick lunch and then a discussion of Salome. Then, we met Simonetta Calderini again and discussed the documentary "Generation Jihad" about Britain's homegrown terrorists and the amazingly connected internet age that they operate in. Our discussion ended up debating parental censorship of childrens' internet usage and the conflict between personal freedom and government responsibility.
As soon as the discussion ended, I went back to the Westminster tube stop and met my parents and little brothers at Westminster Abbey. I took them back to Baker Street and we went to the Sherlock Holmes house and museum. It was really fascinating for me as someone who just only slightly knows the series. My little brothers, however, have been reading the books and were really enjoying the museum, save for the jet lag they were feeling from their flight from the US. My dad, however, seemed to enjoy the museum the most. He grew up reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books and knew each one in the series by memory!
I then took my family back to Regent's to show them where I've been living this past month and gave them the gifts I got them (mom's birthday present, dad's father's day gift and stuff for my little brothers and sister).
I then showed off my little brothers while the rest of our group was competing in their world cup tourney (Griffindor won) and then took them to the refectory for some lunch. I ended up walking them back to Baker Street just before 7pm as they were meeting Vova back at his house and were visibly tired from their flights. I went back to Regent's sports bar and watched the Spain-Portugal game with Paul and a bunch of students from Spain who, like myself, were very excited when Spain won.
Viva Espana!
Check back soon!
-Simon
Our talk with Angus was really, really interesting. He's a very funny guy who was gave direct and honest answers to all of our questions but we could tell he was really good at taking questions because he gave really detailed and comprehensive answers. Robertson's goal as the leader of the SNP is to not have a job anymore... in London that is. The SNP is aiming for Scotland to be given full independence from Britain and it's made really remarkable strides to this goal in Angus' time with the party.
Most importantly, though, he was very candid with us about how parliament works in Britain and shared really funny stories of other MP's (Members of Parliament) in the House of Commons whom he works with. He also pretty objectively compared the US and UK government systems and pointed out pros and cons of each (the UK has a house of parliament that is completely unelected but, rather, appointed by the monarch - the House of Lords... while in the US, we can't name the last president who wasn't a millionaire because of how out of control campaign finance is. Robertson has a limit of 11,000 pounds (roughly 17,000 dollars) to spend on his campaign... so he goes knocking on doors grass-roots style and does really well in the polls).
On our way out, he took us through the semi but not really secret passage that connects Portcullis House to Parliament and then we went back to Regent's for a quick lunch and then a discussion of Salome. Then, we met Simonetta Calderini again and discussed the documentary "Generation Jihad" about Britain's homegrown terrorists and the amazingly connected internet age that they operate in. Our discussion ended up debating parental censorship of childrens' internet usage and the conflict between personal freedom and government responsibility.
As soon as the discussion ended, I went back to the Westminster tube stop and met my parents and little brothers at Westminster Abbey. I took them back to Baker Street and we went to the Sherlock Holmes house and museum. It was really fascinating for me as someone who just only slightly knows the series. My little brothers, however, have been reading the books and were really enjoying the museum, save for the jet lag they were feeling from their flight from the US. My dad, however, seemed to enjoy the museum the most. He grew up reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books and knew each one in the series by memory!
I then took my family back to Regent's to show them where I've been living this past month and gave them the gifts I got them (mom's birthday present, dad's father's day gift and stuff for my little brothers and sister).
I then showed off my little brothers while the rest of our group was competing in their world cup tourney (Griffindor won) and then took them to the refectory for some lunch. I ended up walking them back to Baker Street just before 7pm as they were meeting Vova back at his house and were visibly tired from their flights. I went back to Regent's sports bar and watched the Spain-Portugal game with Paul and a bunch of students from Spain who, like myself, were very excited when Spain won.
Viva Espana!
Check back soon!
-Simon
Monday, June 28, 2010
London 23
Today was largely a recovery day for Brandon and me. I Skyped with Erika and read Mrs. Dalloway until 2am last night (left it unfinished) and then woke up at about 10:30 this morning to finish the 90 pages I had left before and then after lunch. We met as a group to discuss the book, which I really loved, from 2 to 3:30pm.
Virginia Woolf's writing was really fantastic in the book. Her eloquent stream of consciousness writing offered us amazing glimpses into each character's unique viewpoint and made her underlying theme - of solipsism and the miracle of any real human connections - hit home much harder because we knew each character's outer and inner, semi-rational selves. Yet, as Jon pointed out, Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style led to many imitators but those imitations were often awful and unreadable. This is because Woolf very carefully picked and placed every detail of the stream of consciousness that came from each character because each detail or clue in their thoughts was put in for a reason. Nothing in Mrs. Dalloway is superfluous or accidental. It takes a true master to craft a work like this - one that spends nearly 200 pages talking about one day in the life of a hostess and a war veteran and didn't leave me, as a reader, bored at any point.
After our discussion, we scattered and Tyler and I watched the Netherlands beat Slovakia in the Round of 16. Tyler spent a few years of his childhood in the Netherlands and still has family friends who he's visiting this summer there so naturally his team tie is quite tight. Unfortunately, my nation has bowed out (we discussed this at length earlier) and so I'm adopting Spain as my team of choice. This is purely opportunistic and bandwagon-esque of me since Paul, Matt and I will be in Spain during the semis and final matches so we hope Spain will stay around for us to cheer them on.
After dinner, we went to see Salome put on at the Hampstead Theater and it was really awful. I know Oscar Wilde took a departure from his usual comedy style to write this dark show about Salome dancing for Herod and then demanding the head of St. John the Baptist in return. However, the director, David Lloyd, set the show in a post-modern apocalypse with unnecessary sexuality, nudity, disturbing graphic actions and really, really, above all, unbelievably annoying characters. The actors, no doubt, played these parts to perfection but I really ended up hating everyone onstage just because it took them 10 lines to say the same phrase over and over again... and it seemed to be a stupid, indecipherable phrase in the first place. I hated the performance and I'm being kind in my criticism here.
Tomorrow morning, we're going to the Houses of Parliament and meeting with a representative from the Scottish National Party.
My parents and brothers are arriving tomorrow as well so I'm excited to see them all for the first time in a month and a half.
Check back soon!
-Simon
Virginia Woolf's writing was really fantastic in the book. Her eloquent stream of consciousness writing offered us amazing glimpses into each character's unique viewpoint and made her underlying theme - of solipsism and the miracle of any real human connections - hit home much harder because we knew each character's outer and inner, semi-rational selves. Yet, as Jon pointed out, Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style led to many imitators but those imitations were often awful and unreadable. This is because Woolf very carefully picked and placed every detail of the stream of consciousness that came from each character because each detail or clue in their thoughts was put in for a reason. Nothing in Mrs. Dalloway is superfluous or accidental. It takes a true master to craft a work like this - one that spends nearly 200 pages talking about one day in the life of a hostess and a war veteran and didn't leave me, as a reader, bored at any point.
After our discussion, we scattered and Tyler and I watched the Netherlands beat Slovakia in the Round of 16. Tyler spent a few years of his childhood in the Netherlands and still has family friends who he's visiting this summer there so naturally his team tie is quite tight. Unfortunately, my nation has bowed out (we discussed this at length earlier) and so I'm adopting Spain as my team of choice. This is purely opportunistic and bandwagon-esque of me since Paul, Matt and I will be in Spain during the semis and final matches so we hope Spain will stay around for us to cheer them on.
After dinner, we went to see Salome put on at the Hampstead Theater and it was really awful. I know Oscar Wilde took a departure from his usual comedy style to write this dark show about Salome dancing for Herod and then demanding the head of St. John the Baptist in return. However, the director, David Lloyd, set the show in a post-modern apocalypse with unnecessary sexuality, nudity, disturbing graphic actions and really, really, above all, unbelievably annoying characters. The actors, no doubt, played these parts to perfection but I really ended up hating everyone onstage just because it took them 10 lines to say the same phrase over and over again... and it seemed to be a stupid, indecipherable phrase in the first place. I hated the performance and I'm being kind in my criticism here.
Tomorrow morning, we're going to the Houses of Parliament and meeting with a representative from the Scottish National Party.
My parents and brothers are arriving tomorrow as well so I'm excited to see them all for the first time in a month and a half.
Check back soon!
-Simon
Sunday, June 27, 2010
London 22 - Hard Rock Calling - Hard Day's Night!!!
Today concluded the most unbelievable, whirlwind musical weekend of my life. Brandon and I just got back from Hard Rock Calling Day 2, headlined by Paul McCartney, and came back exhausted and absolutely thrilled.
After a long, deep sleep, I woke up around 10:30 and got stuff ready for the trip back to Hyde Park. We left Regent's around noon and went to Tesco to get both lunch and dinner (sandwiches for each with crisps and lots and lots of bottles of water). We took the tube to the correct station this time and got to Hyde Park by 12:45. We made our way to about the same spot as last night and dropped our bags to claim our turf before having our lunch sandwiches. The show began in earnest and seemed to go quicker, at least musical act wise, than last night.
More Than Me, a new rock band from Buffalo, NY, opened the day with a great but fairly short set.
They were followed by Joshua Radin who is a folk music, indie rocker but played a really enjoyable, easy to listen to set.
Next up was Elvis Costello who, in his constant theme of reinventing himself, became a bluegrass musician. He was solid but I'm just not as much into his style of music.
My second favorite group of the night followed Elvis. They're called Crowded House and they were a very famous group from Australia who were huge in the 80s, then broke up, and recently got back together. They played a really great style of space and eclectic rock with excellent rhythms and the lead singer was a great showman. They were on while England-Germany was being broadcast on a screen behind us and England was losing pretty badly. He asked what he should do since there wasn't precedent for this kind of performance and someone yelled back at him "cheer us up!" So they sang for a while and were really great.
Crosby, Stills and Nash were the final act before the headliner and they were definitely a crowd pleaser but their harmonies just weren't as together as they should've been. It seemed like at some points they were going through the motions but at others, Crosby and Nash definitely tried to rock out. Still, their music was, again, not really my cup of tea and I just sat getting more and more excited for Paul.
Paul came out at 7:48pm and for the next two hours and 32 minutes Hyde Park was his - 50,000+ went crazy on Beatles nostalgia and loved the chance to see a living musical legend. Brandon and I were just 30 feet away and really loved every minute of it.
I was lucky enough to see Paul in the Back in the USA tour 8 years ago in St. Louis but he looked and sounded even better now than back then.
A little ways in, Paul offered the "show's only wardrobe change" and was proud to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions. After some great guitar sessions and Beatles classics, he jumped on piano to play some more.
Above is Paul performing Blackbird and before that was Gotta Get you Into My Life.
He continued with the song he composed for John Lennon and made an emotional speech about his good friend before the song.
He also paid homage to George Harrison with several Ukelele numbers, including George's famous "Something".
Paul's drummer, Abe Laboriel Jr, is definitely my favorite member of his band. He's a fantastic drummer but, even better, he sings backup falsetto tenor-1 vocals for Paul. I definitely remembered him from the show 8 years ago and was really glad to see him again.
As the night wore on, the performance just got better and better. Paul and the band wowed the crowd with a pyrotechnic show during "Live and Let Die", the famous Bond song.
After the fireworks were over, Paul and the band led the massive crowd in "Hey Jude" before leaving the stage to a thunderous ovation, begging them to come back.
They quickly came back to the crowd's delight for an encore with Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, Day Tripper and Yesterday.
After these songs, the group left again but came back for one more encore with a raucous Helter Skelter and then Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to say goodbye.
Be sure to click on any of the photos if you want to see them bigger.
After the show, Brandon and I slowly made our way back to the tube station and were held up in a giant queue of people trying to cross the road. The police officer who was overseeing the crosswalk was surprisingly blunt but also really funny. "We're holding you here for your own safety so the tube station doesn't get too congested... and also for my own entertainment. You in the back of the line... that's funny. Come see what your tax dollars do at work! Thanks for contributing to my salary."
After a long hike to take a really short tube trip, we finally got back to Regent's and promptly hit the showers to wash off a day of crowd gunk and sweat from the hot, hot London day.
Time for more Mrs. Dalloway. Wish me luck!
-Simon
After a long, deep sleep, I woke up around 10:30 and got stuff ready for the trip back to Hyde Park. We left Regent's around noon and went to Tesco to get both lunch and dinner (sandwiches for each with crisps and lots and lots of bottles of water). We took the tube to the correct station this time and got to Hyde Park by 12:45. We made our way to about the same spot as last night and dropped our bags to claim our turf before having our lunch sandwiches. The show began in earnest and seemed to go quicker, at least musical act wise, than last night.
More Than Me, a new rock band from Buffalo, NY, opened the day with a great but fairly short set.
As the night wore on, the performance just got better and better. Paul and the band wowed the crowd with a pyrotechnic show during "Live and Let Die", the famous Bond song.
After the show, Brandon and I slowly made our way back to the tube station and were held up in a giant queue of people trying to cross the road. The police officer who was overseeing the crosswalk was surprisingly blunt but also really funny. "We're holding you here for your own safety so the tube station doesn't get too congested... and also for my own entertainment. You in the back of the line... that's funny. Come see what your tax dollars do at work! Thanks for contributing to my salary."
After a long hike to take a really short tube trip, we finally got back to Regent's and promptly hit the showers to wash off a day of crowd gunk and sweat from the hot, hot London day.
Time for more Mrs. Dalloway. Wish me luck!
-Simon
Saturday, June 26, 2010
London 21 - Hard Rock Calling Night 1
Three weeks in, what a day. Thanks to the USA soccer team for a great run. Bob Bradley - stop starting Ricardo Clark and Robbie Findley. Clark can't keep up with the game on the international level mentally and Findley stunts the offensive speed.
But enough about Soccer. This morning, Brandon and I woke up, got lunch at the refectory, packed ourselves dinner (sandwich and chips) and headed over to Hyde Park for the Hard Rock Calling festival.
Micki Free American Horse Trio. Free was a headliner in a few groups over his career and was really, really excellent. He was musical and worked the crowd really well as he's a funny guy with a unique personality. The American Horse Trio is his return to his Native American roots and he represented that side at the end with a dance performance from several tribes from his local Florida.
Micki is in the black vest and jeans. In the middle, Micki introduced a guest bass player who apparently decided to join the Trio at the last minute as a "wonderful surprise" for Micki. He warned he might pee himself in excitement and nervousness as he introduced Rolling Stones bass player, Bill Wyman. Wyman is 78 years old... and it shows. He can still play the bass pretty well, but he literally showed no emotion on stage at all. But kudos to the man who is almost as old as my grandparents and it was great to see a Rolling Stone or a "Rolling alone stone" as Free called him.
Next up was a vocally impressive but relatively generic female gospel duo called Mary Mary. Apparently they've won 3 grammys so this goes to show you that I know nothing about music awards.
Following the duo was Corinne Bailey Rae who I didn't know very well by name, but I instantly knew her songs when she started. Her voice is amazing - so pure, soothing and honest.
She sang songs from her brand new album as well as her famous hits like "Put Your Records On" and and "Like a Star".
She was followed by British and Internationally known artist James Morrison who, again, I didn't know by name but was really, really glad to hear. He played with really great passion and enthusiasm and seemed grateful for the opportunity. His voice sounded excellent and I'll definitely be looking up his stuff soon.
As Morrison played, we began to appreciate just how early we got to the main stage because we had really excellent spots, just a few rows from the front (though rows disintegrated as the night wore on) and in dead center. Around and behind us the crowds just kept getting bigger and bigger.
Morrison continued to wow the crowd and got repeated ovations as he sang and then left the stage. He was followed by Jamiroquai who I knew from their song "Deeper Underground" but not much else. Jamiroquai was phenomenal. Front man Jay Kay is beloved in London and for good reason. Their songs bring back funk to the 2000s and all of the 50,000 fans were grooving to their rhythms and Jay Kay's great voice. He came on stage wearing the biggest headdress I've ever seen and a big black robe that he shed later in the hot June day.
Their music was incredibly fun and easy to groove to and enjoy. Unfortunately, for some, this led to too much grooving. Next to where we were standing was the most awkward and handsy couple I've ever seen. They were both horrific dancers who just resorted to groping each other and running into everyone around them - myself included. Thankfully they moved elsewhere after Jamiroquai finished their set. At this point, the crowd got even larger.
After a fairly long delay to get all of Stevie's band's instruments on stage (Seriously... there were 4 drum kits, 6 keyboards and a grand piano), we finally saw the living legend come on stage. We heard him first, however, singing and playing the keytar.
He even broke out the harmonica for "Isn't She Lovely". Over the course of the night, he played all of my favorite numbers including "Isn't She Lovely", "Signed, Sealed Delivered", "Higher Ground", and "Superstition". As an unbelievable and unexpected bonus, Whitney Houston did a duet with Stevie on their number, "We Don't Know". It was a complete surprise to everyone in the audience but they sounded really, really good.
But enough about Soccer. This morning, Brandon and I woke up, got lunch at the refectory, packed ourselves dinner (sandwich and chips) and headed over to Hyde Park for the Hard Rock Calling festival.
Micki Free American Horse Trio. Free was a headliner in a few groups over his career and was really, really excellent. He was musical and worked the crowd really well as he's a funny guy with a unique personality. The American Horse Trio is his return to his Native American roots and he represented that side at the end with a dance performance from several tribes from his local Florida.
Following the duo was Corinne Bailey Rae who I didn't know very well by name, but I instantly knew her songs when she started. Her voice is amazing - so pure, soothing and honest.
She was followed by British and Internationally known artist James Morrison who, again, I didn't know by name but was really, really glad to hear. He played with really great passion and enthusiasm and seemed grateful for the opportunity. His voice sounded excellent and I'll definitely be looking up his stuff soon.
He flashed his trademark smile and after a massive ovation from over 50,000, Stevie got down to business on the keyboards and later the grand piano (but only after playing the keytar while lying down and the night was gone to Wondermania.
Wonder even wowed the crowd with "Fingertips" and sounded ageless.
By night's end, Wonder brought on the full band and serenaded the crowd with a birthday song before concluding the unforgettable evening. Brandon and I then made our way through the massive crowd and walked back to Regent's from Hyde Park, amazingly not getting lost on the way. Kudos to us for that.
Paul McCartney, Crosby Stills & Nash and Elvis Costello tomorrow... can't wait!
-Simon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)