Last week, as some of you may know, was our Spring/Easter Break! I decided not to travel (like Sara, who will update you soon I'm sure). So I stuck around London for the most part. I did have a few adventures though:
1. Havant
Since they found out I was off to England, my grandma and great-aunt have been on me to contact one of my distant cousins who has lived here for years. So I emailed my cousin Margaret! She and her husband, Merv, invited me out to their home in Havant (a small sea-side town south of London). I caught a train early Sunday morning and ending up spending the whole day enjoying the company of family.
When I got there, Margaret started on lunch, and then we took a quick trip to the beach...in a car...This is a big deal, because I have not been in a car in a very, very long time. I got a little carsick actually, and I still can't get used to driving on the wrong side of the road! The beach was a little windy, but gorgeous!
Returning home, we ate a feast that Margaret prepared. Grilled chicken and fish, roast potatoes, the works! To top it off...homemade apple crumble and sweet tea!!! I was very happy. After dinner we took a walk in their backyard, which is a little cove off the sea. In the pic below, their house is the one farthest on the right:
Back inside, we talked about the family and pulled out pictures and stories to swap. Throughout the day we had discussed every aspect of theatre and stage management, as well as the differences between British and American culture. It was fascinating and very comforting to be with family. I was very glad we followed through with meeting up.
2. Internship Overtime
Since I was around for break I volunteered to help Helen, my supervisor, with anything that needed to be done for my internship. I met her in the British Library to talk about the week, and that was an adventure in itself. The British Library houses a copy of every book ever published in the country. This seems very hard to believe, but anyone with a library card can honestly order up any book that has ever been published in Britain. If that isn't enough, they house an exhibit full of original manuscripts. I walked past the Magna Carta, original DaVinci sketches, and a hand-written copy of the original Alice in Wonderland. It satisfied my nerd fix.
Throughout the week, I helped to coordinate some auditions, write to famous people, and meet some too! Helen and I returned to Cambridge last Saturday to attend a tribute show for an old friend of hers and famous poet, Adrian Mitchell. It was an intensely odd show with a jazzy, laid-back feel, but I really enjoyed it. After the show, we spent an hour or two in the bar, meeting and greeting some of the actors and reuniting with one of the Cambridge students I worked with for Agamemnon! He is a musical theatre fanatic and actor, so we chatted for a very long time.
3. More Theatre
Speaking of theatre, I have seen several more shows since my last post...
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof--James Earl Jones gives a fantastic performance in this straight-from-Broadway play. I had to stand in line for three hours to get a ticket. But I did!
Enron--I wasn't expecting to see this Broadway hit here, but when another show was sold out, I decided to give it a try. I think it may be the best play I've seen here. Flawless, smooth, witty, and smart! Like having a history lesson through a funny, moving night of theatre! See it!
The Mousetrap--Sara and I finally saw London's longest running show. I believe we saw something like performance number 23,703. It has been running over 50 years. I was in this play in high school, and seeing it all again made me miss my days onstage.
Studies for a Portrait--Attended opening night of this revived play with original music by Boy George. It was a fierce, modern view on relationships and homosexuality. Loved it.
Wicked--Our theatre professor took his class to see Wicked for free! I wasn't complaining. This was my fifth time seeing the Ozmopolitan musical onstage, but it never gets old.
Priscilla: Queen of the Desert--A combination of Mamma Mia! and La Cage Aux Folles, this dance club musical about transvestites on a roadtrip in hillbilly Australia is one of London's hottest new musicals. It was like a party through the entire musical!
4. Thorpe Park
I wanted to do something outside of London since Sara was off exploring other countries. I landed on going to an amusement park. I love roller coasters, and figured if I went by myself I would be able to ride to my heart's content. That is exactly what I did! It was a dreary day when I arrived at Thorpe Park, but that just meant shorter lines and fewer children! I went on a rampage, riding every ride at least twice, most three times.
The big draw to this particular theme park is:
This fierce coaster combines indoor theatrics (like meeting the puppet from the movie), with major thrills. You are dropped at a 100 degree angle into spinning saw blades at the highlight of this ride.
That wasn't all the park had to offer though. Three other huge coasters kept me busy (and dizzy) all day. Saw: The Live Action Horror Maze is a new attraction to complement the Saw Ride. In this haunted house, actors create scenes from the movies in front of your eyes, while jumping out to scare you to death. they were allowed to touch you in this horror maze, which was disturbing. When things reach out to grab you in the darkness, it is never a good thing...
It was also a special festival at Thorpe Park while I was there...Cirque du Freak! A traveling freak show throughout the park showed off fire eaters, acrobats, and a variety of odd characters. I stopped often to take in the shows, and my day at Thorpe Park proved to be a unforgettable.
5. Marlowe
We are now deep into the rehearsal process for Marlowe, the show I am stage manager for while I am here. I only have two weeks left in London, which means only two weeks with the show. Opening night is the first week of May. So I am busy getting ready to transfer the show into someone else's hands. We did however, get some very exciting news! Marlowe has been invited to perform at Shakespeare's birthday festival in Stratford next weekend! So I am off to Stratford Friday and Saturday to support our cast of talented actors and hopefully sell our show to the public! I'll keep you updated!
It has been a very, very busy few weeks, and it does not get any calmer from here on out. Trying to get in everything we haven't yet done in the next two weeks will be a constant scheduling nightmare. But we will keep you informed as our time here in London comes to a close so quickly.
Cheers!
Venturing inside the massive palace, we took a self-guided tour of all the 17th century chambers. Below is the famous Hall of Mirrors:
I failed to mention that the temperature was just above freezing with the wicked wind chill, but we had to spend some time in the gardens...Well, "some time" turned into hours and we walked through every part of the massive estate. Some of the gardens were closed for the winter, and many of the fountains were off, but you could still get a wonderful idea of just how grand it would be to parade around them as a king or queen. Practically no one else was out in the gardens, so it became a sort of video game-esque adventure with Sara and me exploring mazes of hedges, trees, and statues. Constantly imagining scenes from Tomb Raider or Zelda, we were blissfully happy little kids again!
But after spending most of the day in the main gardens, we had not yet explored Marie Antoinette's favourite haunt: La Petite Trianon and its grounds. Emerging from a beautiful forest path, we stumbled right onto a pond-side village--a beautiful contrast of quaint British farmhouses and quirky towers only Marie Antoinette could dream up.
We spent a lot of time taking in the farm and the wooded pathways around it (up to the closing hours of the estate!) but it was simply amazing. 
A long, long walk back to the main palace and then off to catch a train back into Paris! I enjoyed every minute of my birthday. It was so much like being set loose in a giant park for a day. Perfect. I will return to Versailles someday! I hear that it becomes intensely more beautiful as all of the flowers come into bloom. I can't wait!
