Catching Up

Hello everyone. Blake here. It has been ages since we have had the time or motivation to update the blog, but we should get back into the swing of things now. It has been a really odd two weeks, definitely a roller coaster of ups and downs.

So Sara and I just got back from Midterm Break. We spent four days in Paris and Versailles! We hit most of the major landmarks and it I also had my birthday there! Sara took hundreds of photos which she is not done editing, so as soon as she finishes them, we will have the full rundown of the trip.

This past week was the dreaded return of classes and work. We had a very difficult midterm exam in Musical Theatre History welcoming us back, but it is just a reminder I guess that we are technically here to study a little bit. Last Friday I was asked to help out with a rehearsal in Cambridge for my internship. So I caught an early train by myself and got my first look at the beautiful city. I spent some time before rehearsal walking around the city past the designer shops that are next to ancient buildings. Then I met up with Helen to go to Emmanuel College for rehearsal. This is what you see as soon as you walk through the gate:

It was like entering the world of Harry Potter (a lot like Oxford) and super cool. The theatre space we used for the day was described to us as "not the best" and the college apologized for it a few times. But it ended up looking like this:

Sooo awesome. Anyway, I hadn't realized that this rehearsal for the Cambridge Greek Play Agamemnon involved university students! It was one of the best days I have had in England, spending time with theatre kids my age and talking about musicals, the West End, etc. with other people as obsessed as me.

After a day of mask work and choral chanting (all in Greek by the way) the cast, Helen, and I headed to unwind at the pub. The kids chuckled a little when I ordered a Coke, but then we started talking...and talking, and talking...

I ended up being asked to go to dinner with a girl and boy at one of the university dining halls. So I walked through more beautiful courtyards and spent another hour or two discussing everything from Next to Normal the musical to Sarah Palin and Bass Pro. (They were fascinated by American things.) Anyway, I am headed back to Cambridge later this week and am planning on meeting up with theses kids again. So great to meet new friends!

Saturday, Sara and I had tickets to a Queenspark Rangers professional football game! (English football that is--our soccer.) We got to the crowded stadium just in time for the kick-off and it was quite the experience. Mobs of police officers were on site to keep the physical confrontations between fans to a minimal. The opposing teams' fans shouted some very harsh words back and forth. The most surprising thing were the small children standing beside their drunken fathers joining in on flipping the other team off. I suppose football is part of a solid English upbringing. The game was exciting and very interesting to watch. We sat in a section specifically assigned to Queenspark fans, so we cheered them on. It ended up a tie game, 1-1, and they do not generally have overtime, so we didn't exactly win...but we didn't lose!

Saturday night I spoiled myself and saw two back to back shows with chocolate gelato in between. Both shows (Lord Arthur's Bed and Naked Boys Singing) were very brash, but very good. I got all dressed up and enjoyed my night out on the town.

Sunday was a very, very lazy day. We both had papers to write so basically stayed in all day.

So it is back into the routine, back to class and work and being exhausted at the end of the day. We will post the Paris trip when Sara finishes the pictures, so look for that soon(ish).

Cheers!

This Post Comes in Five Parts

SARA HERE. :D
And as the title states, this post will be coming to you in five parts.

Let us first begin by stating that this week started very low in theatre, and ended very high in theatre (and we say this in both production value and financial perspectives. See below for more details.)

Part One: Blood Brothers
We really have nothing to say about this. Although, Blake would like it to be known that Melanie C gave an exceptional performance.


Oh, wait. My bad:



Part Two: The Misanthrope
Blake and I bought £10 standing view tickets for this show, which starred Keira Knightley and Damian Lewis. It was an amazing production and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially Blake - it's one of his favorite scripts, so he was definitely curious on how they would handle such a modern take on it. They incorporated a lot of present-day jokes and puns flawlessly. Not to mention, the whole standing view experience was actually really, really neat. I wouldn't mind doing it again, I'd say.


Part Three: Alice in Wonderland
As we were sprinting through Leicester Square to catch The Misanthrope, we stopped by the Odeon theatre and decided to purchase tickets to watch Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in 3D in the theatre where they held the world premiere.


I'd say we both enjoyed the movie, although there were bits and pieces that could have been better. We're hoping to see it in IMAX while we're here, but all of the weekend shows throughout March are sold out! It'll just have to be a weeknight event, then.


Part Four: Saturday at the Thames.
On Saturday, Sara felt like she was lacking in photographic evidence of her time in London, so Sara went out and took pictures along the Thames river. The points of interest included the London Eye and the various activities going along the walk - living statues, street performers and acrobats!












Part Five: Love Never Dies
Blake and I woke up early this morning with the plan to go to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and buy the £10 day-of tickets. Well, they only had six...and the three people in front of us each bought two. Shoot.
So, we decided, since we were close...let's go check out Love Never Dies.

20 minutes and a small hole in our pockets later, we had two tickets to this evening's performance. Which just happened to be the last preview performance - it opens to the critics tomorrow.

I have decided to say nothing about it, because what I expected did not happen, and I don't want to spoil that experience for anyone. However, we can both be quoted as saying:

Blake: "Andrew Lloyd Webber is a genius. Love Never Dies was exactly what a sequel to Phantom should be and so much more. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to see it again!"

Sara: "I don't want to say anything because I don't want to spoil it. But just know that there is no other musical on earth or in history that has been designed like that show."

Love Never Dies will be transferred to Broadway this November. Just...throwing that out there. :)


Tomorrow is the first rehearsal for Marlowe, and we'll both be there. And then Wednesday is our first big trip... PARIS!


Ciao!
-Sara

Week In Review

Blake here!

Can you believe it is already midterm? One more week of class and we have our spring break! We did not have a remarkably exciting week (hence the lack of posts) but there were a few highlights...

A VERY IMPORTANT DATE!

On Thursday, I got up at about 5 AM, packed my book bag, and ran to Leicester Square in the West End. Leicester Square (pronounced Lester) is the center of the West End theatre district, but also houses two gigantic cinemas that often host world premieres. Well...this Thursday was the royal world premiere of Alice in Wonderland!

Sara was working all day, but I got to the square at about 7 AM, just in time to get a spot right on the red carpet. Well actually, the carpet was green! People were dressed up all around me, some of them pretty impressive.

Leicester Square was transformed in a matter of hours into a Wonderland of its own. Hundreds of posters were put up, the green carpet rolled out, and giant topiaries put up to welcome the stars.

And the stars were out in full force. The full cast of the movie (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Anne Hathaway, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, and others) was there for the big debut, and I was inches away! Also appearing were Avril Lavigne, Sharon Osbourne, and the man himself...Tim Burton!!! This was also a royal premiere, so Prince Charles made an appearance! This is a pic I snapped as Johnny came by!

It was rainy and cold and I stood over 12 hours in the same spot, but it was worth it. Just being there and seeing the stars was amazing, but I got autographs from Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and Sharon Osbourne!!! It was definitely a day to remember!

Check out the BBC interview on the green carpet here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8537854.stm

(If you look really closely, you can see me over the left shoulder of the actors. I was directly across from the press box, wearing a gray sweater and dark coat.)

NEW THEATRE

Monday, after a loooong day of classes, we got out of our internship class early. Just early enough that if I sprinted to the tube, I may be able to catch some theatre in the West End. Sara wasn't up to it, so I took off (actually running down the streets of London). I was hoping to see A Man of No Importance, but when I got to theatre at 7:31, I found that there was no Monday performance. So I quickly went over all the shows I remembered seeing on the way. I ran to An Inspector Calls down the street...no show. Then I ran to The Little Dog Laughed...and found a 7:45 show with student tickets in the stalls! Perfect! What I did not realize was how much of an impact the show would have on me. It was one of those things that seems like it is speaking directly to you. Powerful, edgy, sexy, funny--it was just what I needed! I will be going back to see it again with Sara sometime.

Tuesday we saw a dance/theatre show called Breathing Irregular. It was a very powerful new show that put together stories of 999 phone calls with dance. (999 is the British 911).

I did make it to A Man of No Importance on Wednesday. Again I went alone, but I had dead center third row seats and enjoyed it very much. As I sat there laughing at jokes aimed at Brits, I felt like I was laughing at my own country.

I think that is something to be mentioned, and pretty much sums up our week. We are so settled in our life here. It seems odd that we would spend a whole day waiting in line or a whole day indoors doing absolutely nothing, but that is just what we did this week...

SLEEPOVER!!!

This weekend Sara and I had nothing to do so we simply did nothing! All of her roommates were gone for the weekend, so I crashed at her place for two days. We watched a lot of Olympics, and cooked a fantastic breakfast one night. We also started the Romeo X Juliet anime series, which I have become addicted to. Sara has plans for us to cosplay as Romeo and Juliet someday. I can see it...

Hours and hours later, we had accomplished absolutely nothing and it felt wonderful!

So off to another week of class...but we are close to spring break and we have finally made a decision on what we are doing over break...Paris!!!

More on that soon.

Cheers!

It's been a long time...

Blake here!

So...it's been over a week since our last post and there has been a ton of stuff keeping us from blogging. Here's a brief breakdown:

Thursday/Friday/Saturday: Internship work. A lot of internship work. Office stuff, working from home, being in the theatre, etc.

Sunday: Valentine's Day. Spent traveling to Exeter to help manage a Live Canon show called Valentines and Verse. It was a really interesting show with love poems and songs, followed by a dinner at the theatre's restaurant. At this dinner, guests could order a poem, and an actor would go to their tables and perform them. It was remarkably cheesy, but well-received and a great way to spend the day.

Live Canon presents
Valentines and Verse
Directed by Helen Eastman
Following the success of Pimms & Poetry, Live Canon return to celebrate Valentine’s Day with the best of English love poetry. Featuring live a capella music, sparkling performances and the poetry of John Donne, Thomas Moore, William Shakespeare, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Emily Dickenson, Christina Rossetti, William Blake, Vita Sackville West and others, this is a fantastic way to hear, see and experience poetry.
A special Valentines Menu is available pre-show, or dine with us post-show and order a poem to be performed at your table.
“What an extraordinary art form poetry is, and what justice Live Canon does to it!” EXTRA, EXTRA
http://www.livecanon.com/

Monday: Class followed by Sister Act: The Musical. I went by myself to this one while Sara worked, but it was a blast! Imagine the movie we all love rewritten to be a Broadway spectacular. The show ended with a 30 foot tall, disco ball Virgin Mary. I loved it.

Tuesday: Class again followed by Les Miserables. After paying an arm and a leg for student tickets (which are the cheapest full view seats) we landed in the fourth row for this classic musical. Sara was not really a fan, and I was slightly bored, but I could definitely see the appeal and was blown away by several scenes in the show. Also...we cast Marlowe! So we are off and rolling on that production.

Wednesday: A trip to the Imperial War Museum for class. It was really interesting to see how England displays its war history. It is definitely not the "look what we did" attitude of the U.S. which was refreshing. It took a historical approach with well crafted exhibits and really showed the impact of war on culture and society. One of the most interesting things was the amount of children there. This week was half-term break for young people here and flocks of them went with parents and grandparents to all the museums in town. We had a long discussion about their presence at the war museum, a little concerned that the displays of tanks and guns may be glorifying war in their minds, while really trying hard to make adults see the history. Something to think about...

Thursday: After a very short run to my intern office, I had a glorious free night. I practiced up for what was to come on Friday...

Friday: The Rocky Horror Picture Show!!! After working in the office and rehearsing all day, I literally ran home (grabbing McDonald's on the way) to get ready for Rocky. I quickly transformed myself into what would be called a "butch Columbia" (one of the characters from the show). Once I was all made up, we ran to the tube (in full costume) and made it to the theatre in plenty of time to mingle with the other crazies. One woman actually gave me a hat to wear with my costume, which I gratefully accepted. So...the premise of a live Rocky Horror is yelling things at the screen during the movie. I'm going to count this one as "Theatre Seen and Done" because it really was an event. Well, apparently the good people in London do not obsess over the movie as I do, so I ended up (with help from my roommate Jeremy) providing almost all of the audience participation. I had a British girl ask me to take a picture with her because she thought I was a "legend" for knowing the movie so well. I even think Sara liked it (at least a little). I can't wait to do it again!!!

Blake and Sara with friends Jeremy and Mollee at the Rocky Horror Picture Show! We had a blast!

Saturday: I took a car trip to Chipping Norton. It may have been the quaintest place I have been to in my life. While there, we browsed in a local market, found a wonderful local restaurant, and took some time to explore.

This is the Chipping Norton Theatre. The entire city was lines and lines of this style of old hillside buildings.

I stumbled across some truly amazing scenery. This beautiful church was just down the road from the theatre, completely hidden by trees until you are right up on it.

We were here to perform the children's show Pick 'n' Myths. I am stage manager for this show through my internship, so I was responsible for moving into and preparing the space, finding and looking after props, and keeping the actors comfy. The show was great with about 40 kids with their parents and grandparents clapping and singing along.

This is the set--imagine 40 people sitting on the floor and chairs while three actors tell stories from Greek mythology and play music to accompany.

The show will be travelling a few other places while I am here, so I will revisit it shortly.

As you can see, I have been very, very busy. There is no reason why it should ever be this long between posts again. So look for another soon.

Cheers!

Birthday Week!

Sara here!

My birthday was on Tuesday, and Blake surprised me with two tickets to Cirque du Soleil's Verakai performance! It was absolutely amazing - one of the best shows I've ever seen. There were two "clowns" that had random acts between scenes, and they were hysterical; Blake and I couldn't stop laughing. Some of the things that the performers did were absolutely astounding, and sometimes slightly terrifying. At times, the performers would have spotters or mats beneath them, but other times...they had absolutely nothing! It added so much to the performance... Verakai closes this weekend, and another show will be on while we're here. I really want to go to it, too!


Not to mention, I've now made it a new goal to score a job with Cirque! Whether it's design or just board operation...I would love it!

Wednesday night we saw a production of Richard III for our Fringe class. It was a great show with really, really talented actors. The space reminded me a bit of the Balcony Theatre back at MSU, so that was a bit nostalgic.

Then tonight (it's been another theatre-heavy week!), we sent to go see "The Woman in Black", a horror play that's been playing for 21 years on the West End. It was the coolest show I've ever seen...I've never seen a horror play before, but I absolutely loved it! The actress that played the woman in black was so creepy and pretty terrifying...I jumped a lot and squeeked a couple times (never screamed, just eeped! :D). I actually think "The Woman in Black" is my new favorite play...there was just something about it that I really enjoyed. Not to mention, the sound, lights and set were really fantastic! An all around great production. :) Which we were expecting...I mean, 21 years on the West End! Intense!

The only downside to this was that we seemed to have gone on the high school night...there were so many high school students there and they were really overly dramatic and kind of ruined some moments for me. Sigh.


Unrelated to live theatre, Blake went to the Valentine's Day European premiere tonight and saw some actors - Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and Jessica Alba! I was working at King's Head all day, so I missed it. Alice in Wonderland is having a premiere here in a couple weeks, and we both plan on attending that. :)


Until next time~! <3

More and more theatre...

We have been remarkably busy seeing theatre this week. Here is the run-down...

Tuesday: The Phantom of the Opera
Our Musical Theatre class is planning on going to Love Never Dies (the sequel to Phantom) later in the semester, so we decided to expose Sara to the joys of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The show was fantastic--a brilliant cast, practically flawless sound design, and of course the chandelier! Unfortunately, before the show Sara's wallet was stolen...It made the show less appealing than we may have hoped, but good news!!!...Someone found it and turned it in! Twenty pounds were missing, but she regained her cards, driver's license, etc. It will definitely be a performance to remember for many reasons...

Wednesday: Doctor Faustus
Our Fringe Theatre class joined up with CAPA's Shakespeare class to see a fringe production of Doctor Faustus. this play is written by Christopher Marlowe (the namesake of the play we are working on) and involves a guy selling his soul to the devil. This adaptation was...interesting...a good modern-based concept ruined by bad direction and actors who liked to get a laugh at any cost. But it was mostly tolerable and a fantastic fringe theatre experience.

Thursday: Medea
This Thursday and Friday, Blake was in Oxford again with his internship. This time working with the Onassis Programme's production with the Northern Broadside's Theatre Company of Medea. This classic Greek tragedy was revisited and rewritten for this performance, bringing in modern implications and musical underscoring that included harmonicas and even an electric guitar. The script worked so well with the direction that the product became a Greek tragedy that was fun to watch. Hard to believe, but incredibly true. Blake will speak more about the Oxford trip in a future posting coming soon.

Friday: Stay With Me Till Dawn and Knuckleball
Sara was "too tired to see a show" Friday (whatever) (Sara's Note: Sara had been busy designing/running a show all week, so Blake can shh. ♥) but Blake went to a double bill fringe theatre performance. Basically, an award winning theatre above a bar in far eastern London performed two separate plays one after the other with a short interval between to change the set and get people to make purchases at the downstairs bar. The shows were powerful and provocative to say the least. The first was about a pedophile and murderer, the second about a boy who underwent a sex change to win over his straight best friend. Interesting "night-out" content. But they were very well performed and one of the actors has auditioned for Marlowe. The coolest thing was the full on pub theatre experience. Sitting on folding chairs in a theatre that sat about 60, the audience all sipped on pints of beer and glasses of wine (often several) during the performance. Between shows it was a quick run down to the bar for more and by the second show a few of the audience members were wildly applauding some of the most unusual parts of the show. It was great fun and we will definitely be revisiting that theatre for future productions.

Brighton

Sara reporting!

On Sunday I went on another tour to Brighton. It's a lovely sea-side town with a classic pier and delicious food! I tried their famous doughnuts, which were absolutely delicious, and of course had to sample a bit of their fish and chips! It was the best yet! So fresh and tender, you couldn't ask for better!

It was terribly cold, however. This was especially true when we were next to the sea. But with a view like that, I dealt with the cold. :)


Aside from the visit to the pebbled beach, we also visited the Royal Pavilion. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside so I don't have any pictures to show, except one of the exterior:


The Pavilion was an interesting experience. It was built in the Indo-Saracenic style prevalent to 19th century India. It also incorporated a very Oriental style inside. The rooms were very busy and, I personally felt, a little cheesy. Some of the interior decorations, the dining room and music room in particular, were fascinating and breath taking, but the strange mix of Indo-Saracenic, Oriental, Gothic and Victorian styles were a bit confusing and hard to grasp.

I enjoyed my time in Brighton and would love to go back with Blake once it's a bit warmer. It's very different from London and has a very bohemian vibe to it. There were so many strange and fantastic boutiques and stores, I could have stayed all day just window shopping!


In news unrelated to Brighton, my internship has been keeping me busy the past couple of days! I was offered the Sound Designer position for their current afternoon show, which is running this week! It opens tomorrow, and I'll be running the board for each performance. I'm really lucky and grateful for this opportunity, and I look forward to potentially designing more shows while here in London! :)

Until next time~! <3