Matilda the Musical

While in London Saturday night I got to see Matilda the Musical! It was incredibly fun and clever. Photography isn't allowed in the theatre, but I did sneak a photo of the set before the show. It was adorable. 

And if you want more of a taste, here's a trailer for it. The Headmaster Trunchbull character was so funny I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it!

Singin' in the Rain

 Last night I saw Singin' in the Rain in London's West End with my friend Becky, and it was great! They flooded the stage a couple of times and splashed people in the first few rows (not us!), and the dancing was the best I've ever seen. Amazing.

Then we went to Chipotle for a delicious late-night burrito before the long ride home in the middle of the night. Definitely worth losing a few hours of sleep!

Les Miserables

 Over the weekend we saw a West End musical for the first time since Gavin was born. We saw Les Miserables and had a great time! But first we ate lunch at Bodeen's, an American-style barbecue place. The next photo is apparently the best sandwich in London (it really was delicious).

The tickets were Jacob's birthday present; he LOVES Les Mis. 

When we first saw the West End production of Les Mis in 2008 we mentioned the theatre was basically in Chinatown; because of Chinese New Year there seemed to be even more colorful lanterns this time. It was a great day, and thankfully we saw the matinee and made it home before the snow got really bad.

Halloween weekend

Our Halloween weekend probably started Thursday night when we watched the Gerard Butler movie version of Phantom of the Opera. Jacob had never seen it, and he needed to be up on the plot in advance of our Saturday plans... Anyway, Phantom is definitely a creepy, Halloween-appropriate selection.

Friday night we attended the Halloween activity at church for which we made and decorated these cupcakes. We think they're pretty great. :) Also at the activity we handed out goodies to trick-or-treaters from our car. Jacob was ultra-embarrassed that I decided to hand out juice boxes (100% juice) rather than contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic by giving candy. He assures me our house will get egged if I do that when we get back to the USA.

Saturday we went to London with Becky & Mike. (You'll likely remember Mike from this post, but we've done lots of fun things with them that have featured on the blog.) We saw the brand-new West End sequel to Phantom, which is called Love Never Dies, also written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It opened in March of this year, and it was definitely Halloween weekend-appropriate. It takes place on Coney Island about 10 years after the events of Phantom of the Opera. The show was incredible, and the guy who plays the Phantom (Ramin Karimloo) is super-talented. We also loved the special effects, and some of the songs really featured Webber's genius.

[The show was at the Adelphi Theatre, which you might remember we've visited before (in 2008) to see a West End show. ]

You can see from the above photo that we didn't dress up for Halloween. We ate yummy Mexican food (below) before calling it a day. It was a great day, for sure.

"...I want some more"

Saturday we went to London, but we didn't really take any pictures. Here's what we did: ate yummy Brazilian food for lunch, watched Oliver in the West End, then ate yummy Mexican food.

Here's a video from the fabulous production of Oliver. Watching the video will make you feel like you saw the whole thing. :)
[This is the same Oliver production I saw in January, but it was just as good the second time!]

London fun

Saturday we had a fun day in London with Jacob's coworkers Marcia and Becky and Becky's husband Mike.

We ate an incredible lunch at Barraco Cafe, a Brazilian restaurant Jacob found online. He introduced us to Brazilian dishes he loved in Brazil. My favourite was the Coxinha de Galinha (left), a doughy, breaded ball filled with wonderfully seasoned chicken.

Becky, Mike and Jacob saw Lion King, which Marcia and I saw last year together. Marcia and I saw Oliver in the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Jacob said he was entertained by Lion King but felt it was designed for a juvenile audience, and he wasn't impressed by the talent of the performers. (He'll always maintain that nothing compares to Les Miserables on the West End.) On the other hand, I was MASSIVELY impressed by Oliver and found the talent --really everything about the production--to be top-notch. The kids in the show were especially fabulous.

After the shows we stopped at the Primrose Bakery to eat some delicious cupcakes. Jacob and I shared a lemon one and a chocolate one (left). We love living so close to London!

To be, or not to be

Saturday we saw a production of Hamlet in London starring Jude Law! He was incredible in the role!

[We did have a few frustrating transportation snags on our way to the play and had to watch the first act from the lobby because we were late.] ):

For those of you who might not know, I'm a huge Shakespeare fan. Seeing a production of Hamlet in London is such a dream come true, and Jude Law was just the icing on the cake. I love the entire play, but some of the writing in Hamlet particularly excites me; here is a sampling (I'm totally skipping the really well-known passages from the play that everyone knows) ...

• Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks (Act II, scene ii, Hamlet)


• Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind (Act III, scene i, Ophelia)


• I must be cruel, only to be kind (Act III, scene iv, Hamlet)


• When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions. (Act IV, scene v, Claudius)


• I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum (Act V, scene i, Hamlet)


• There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will (Act V, scene ii, Hamlet)

Defying Gravity

Mom and I saw Wicked in London last Wednesday. It was my second time seeing it, and I loved it even more this time! It's so much fun! The songs are fantastic, and I can't wait to go back and see it again!

We also rode on the London Eye and saw beautiful views of the city.

Phantom of the Opera

Mom and I saw Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre in London today, and it was great! Phantom's premiere took place at Her Majesty's Theatre (in 1986), and it's played there ever since. The plot is, of course, a little creepy, but the production was really good!

Lion King

Yesterday I went to London with Jacob's fabulous coworker Marcia, and we saw Lion King on the West End! (Jacob was unable to go because he's been really busy finishing up his Master's program. He's ALMOST finished!)

The production is currently playing at the Lyceum Theatre (above), which was actually managed by Bram Stoker in the 1870s-1890s. I wouldn't say this production had the best vocal talent we've seen on the West End, with the exception of the lady who played Rafiki (the baboon), and maybe the kids who played the very young Simba and Nala. They were really good. But the part that really blew me away was the costumes. They were absolutely incredible. Since I can't really describe them, here's a video I found on YouTube (from the very production of Lion King I saw) that shows the scope of the costume genius. The way they did the giraffes was my favorite.

Wicked

Last Saturday we went to the Apollo Victoria and saw Wicked in London's West End! We loved how clever the show is--the writing is incredible! And the cast of this production was extremely talented! We had seats in the very front row, so we could also see the orchestra director getting into the music, sometimes even singing along to the (fabulous) songs.

The girl who played Elphaba (the "wicked" witch) just returned this month from playing the role at the Gershwin on Broadway in New York--her voice is incredible! And the girl who played Glinda (the "good") was so funny; we LOVED that character.

We enjoyed the way this musical made us look at things in a different way--not just the witches of Oz, but issues of perception and popularity and image. It was witty and wonderful! And Wicked :)

Colourful things (such as coats, apples and autumn leaves)

Friday night we saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London's West End at the Adelphi Theatre. It was a fun show to see, and we were particularly impressed with the amazing dancing! (Interesting tangent--the actor who plays Joseph in the production won a BBC reality TV competition to play this part. He has a great voice.)

Before the show, we ate dinner at this (also very colourful) Brazilian buffet. The food was ok; Jacob says it didn't showcase the potential of Brazilian cuisine (which Jacob thinks is some of the best cuisine in the world).

Saturday morning we went to Audley End House and Gardens for Apple Weekend. The house's extensive kitchen gardens were once used to feed the residents of the mansion, and they still grow plentiful fruits and vegetables. The stars of the weekend were, of course, the apples, which grow in dozens of varieties and in many sizes (see Jacob going in for a bite of a huge apple below). We tasted the local apple varieties and sampled some wonderful apple juice. We also tried a chicken and apple salad that was delicious!

The following photo is dedicated to my Mom (who loves pears); we really liked the way the pear trees have been grown against the wall like this. And the pears themselves look beautiful!

In addition to the fact that apples are in season, here's another indication of autumn: gorgeous leaves in our garden. Happy autumn!

All the world's a stage...

When we moved to England one of my priority destinations was Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Shakespeare birthplace (above) and other related sites. We finally made it! Before I talk about our wonderful day in Stratford (Monday), I'll talk about what we did Saturday.

We went to London and saw our very first (but certainly not our last) West End production: Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. We both thought the production was amazing--the singing, dancing, acting, pit orchestra, set, etc. I can't adequately emphasize how incredible it was!
As you can probably tell from the above photo, the Queen's Theatre was near Chinatown. We enjoyed walking through Chintown in London. Here's a photo of Jacob there.



Now for Stratford. Below is the house where Shakespeare was actually born, and we stood in the very room--totally awesome! The house itself was interesting, as it's the original house from the 1500s (with a few additions over the centuries), and there was an interesting presentation about glove-making, the profession of Shakespeare's father.

(Can you tell I was absolutely elated to be there?)

The next house is is called Hall's Croft and belonged to Shakespeare's son-in-law, who was a doctor in Stratford-upon-Avon. The house was also his medical practice, and it's believed he was actually Shakespeare's physician (which acquaintance probably led to his marrying Shakespeare's daughter).

The house where Shakespeare spent his final days (New Place) was destroyed and is now a beautiful garden. Adjacent to that garden is the amazing Great Garden where we saw a series of statues (by American sculptor Greg Wyatt) of Shakespeare's plays/characters. Here's the one of Falstaff (always a favorite Shakespeare character).

This is Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried (and was baptized and worshipped during his life). We saw his grave with the famous epitaph, as well as a first-edition copy of the King James Bible.

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.