A Review of Much Ado About Nothing--Wyndhams Theater, London

I gave myself a big birthday present last week and went to London to see David Tennant in Much Ado About Nothing.  Because of some circumstances somewhat beyond my control I was able to see the play twice during the time I was in town.  It was my favorite actor in my favorite play and it did not disappoint.

David was so energetic, so in the moment, so charming and charismatic in the role—both times.  The play was set in the 1980’s in Gibraltar, though the new location was never expressly stated in the play—the soldiers were still visitors in Messina, as Shakespeare wrote.  There were a lot of fun references to the 80s—a Maggie Thatcher mask, a Princess Di wedding dress, etc. and some really wonderful music very reminiscent of the decade but with the Bard’s words.  The play was hilarious, more so than I have ever seen it.

The supporting players were for the most part very good.  I especially liked Tom Bateman as Claudio—a role which often is very bland and forgettable—and Adam James as Don Pedro.  You could really feel his pain when he was rejected by Beatrice and ended up the only one without a partner at the end.  I was not very fond of Elliot Levey as Don John.  He was very mannered and I never lost the impression that he was an actor trying to be someone else—not a good sign. 

I like Catherine Tate fine.  I’m not British so I can’t say I have seen her in a lot of things other than Dr. Who, where I thought she was very good.  But in the performances I saw she seemed very languid--like she was tired of playing this part and wished the run were over.  When she was hoisted about the stage for the gulling scene she soon became tired and just hung there—and it seemed like that was her attitude overall. That compared to David’s gulling scene which took a lot of comic timing and physical dexterity.  And he did it perfectly both times—to the point where I was as surprised the second time and as entertained as the first time I saw it.

I know David and Catherine are great friends and their partnership was one of the reasons—and likely the biggest reason—for the play being done at all, but I couldn’t help think about what sparks might have flown if someone who was really present in the play—who had the same energy level and sexiness as David Tennant-- were playing opposite him.  That would be something to see.  David had to create a lot of the excitement himself.  When in the last scene Benedick and Beatrice finally kissed, that should have been a big catharsis for the audience, but it wasn’t.  Even for the dance in the end, David was jumping all around and having a whale of a good time—Catherine was not as enthusiastic and again seemed tired.

I don’t know if Catherine was having a bad week—maybe she started the run on the same energy level as David-- but they really seemed mismatched the two times I saw the play.  Getting David Tennant in a big romance on stage should have been very stimulating, if you know what I mean, but instead it was a tour de force performance played to a performer who did not give as good as she got.

Having said that, it was still very well acted, very funny and very entertaining all around.  Now if it can only come to New York with--sorry—a new actress.

Royal Wedding Day

I hope you won't be too disappointed to hear that I did not venture out into Central London today to go to the Royal Wedding.  There were just going to be too many people there and I could see more on TV.  The closest I got was the planes that flew over Buckingham Palace flew over my flat about a minute before.

The wedding was very nice, as far as I can tell.  Many of the commentators here were all aflutter over the TWO kisses on the balcony--a big deal for the generally reserved British.  On the other hand, I have never seen so much kissing in public places as I have seen in London over the last eight weeks.  Of course, a lot of it could be coming from the many, many foreign people here.

Yesterday, I was exhausted after Mary and Chuck left--and a little hung over, to be honest.  But I decided to go out in the afternoon and explore some areas that I had not seen as yet.  I was thinking I would take my own pub crawl, but a glass of wine at the first stop-- The George Inn, near London Bridge on the south side of the Thames-- almost knocked me out, so it was just a walk after that.

Here's the George Inn, located through a small entrance on Borough High Street.

The George Inn has been around for a very long time.  It was mentioned in Dickens' book Little Dorrit.  It is also very close to the building site for the Shard, which will be the tallest in Europe when it's completed and can be seen from almost everywhere in the city.

This picture was taken from the George Inn yard....

And this one from down the corner.

I then started to walk along the river and came across the Hay Galleria, a shopping center that was once a wharf.

It's quite beautiful.  Here's the story of the wharf from the plaque in front.

And it has a sense of humor, as shown by the sculpture in the middle.

It looks like a combination of a fish and a boat.  Very cool.

The Galleria is just a few steps away from the London City Hall, the office of the Mayor of London.  The building is called Darth Vader's helmet for obvious reasons.

I had remembered a London Walks guide telling us that there was an observation deck that the mayor allowed people to visit, so I went in.  I was quickly stopped by a none too friendly guard who told me the deck was only open in September (probably when the mayor is on vacation).

I also wanted to explore the area just on the other side of Tower Bridge.  It looked very old and interesting.  And so it was, with some modern twists.  Here's Tower Bridge itself--

not ancient as you might think, but built in Victorian times to match the Tower of London, which it sits beside.

I walked under the bridge on the south side and came to this street, which I thought was very interesting looking.

Very old, I think--with some modern updates.  A pop into a courtyard revealed this place.

My guess it these are old manufacturing buildings given a modern face, but I could be wrong.  If they are modern, the builders did an excellent job.

A look into the estate agents office showed that everyone is playing off the Royal Wedding.

If you are trying to compare prices, a pound is about a $1.60. (You'll be able to read the prices if you click on the picture for a larger version).

I also really liked this promise in a restaurant window.  The owner knows what the people need.

I went across the bridge at that point looking for St. Catherine's Wharf, where my sister Ada, my niece Alicia and nephew Andrew had a drink years ago when we traveled to London.  I have to say, I did not remember the marina looking like this.

The place was enormous, with vessels from clipper ships

to huge yachts.

London obviously does not have a shortage of rich persons. I did find our drinking spot, The Dickens Inn.

I walked past the Tower on my way back and got this picture of the east side, away from the tourists and with the bridge in the background.

I meandered through the city to get home and tried to get into the church that had been closed on my walk on Tuesday but unfortunately, it was still shut.

It's my last full day in London and I am probably wasting it in front of the TV.  But I am trying to access my visit here.  I have done so much in the two months.  And I did not do some things I wanted to do, like visit Scotland.  I think getting sick with a bad cold and then the dizziness ate into my plans a bit.  But I have no regrets about anything.  I have done less thinking about my future than I planned, but may be that's good.  This time has been an incredible wake-up call about the things that life can hold, if we do more than sit on the couch.

People have asked me what has been my favorite thing about London or England.  I can honestly say that all of it has been fabulous.  Every day has brought new experiences, new sights, new perspectives.

I want to thanks all of you who have been reading every day.  It has meant a lot to get your feedback and your emails.

And I want to especially thank Mary Johnson who has been so wonderful in handling my real estate business while I am gone.  I know she will be especially happy to see my return.

The London Eye

For the uninitiated, the London Eye is the huge ferris wheel that you see in so many pictures of the city.  It is right across the river from Parliament.  Pods on the wheel accommodate about 25 people each.  Fortunately for us, we did not get there until about 6:30 and most of the students and tourists were gone.  There were only about 15 people in our car.  The wheel moves continuously and takes about 30 minutes to complete a cycle.  Here are some of the views from the pod.

We were on the first capsule after the empty one that is supposedly #13, which they thought no one would get into, so they left it out.

Looking east toward the City.  If you click on this picture, you should be able to see St. Paul's and the "gherkin" the building that Londoners think looks like an upright pickle.

Parliament as seen through the mechanism.  I have another picture, but its not as clear.....

Unfortunately, you have to take pictures through the glass.

This one is looking toward South London.  The tall building with the slanted roof is in Elephant and Castle.
As you can see, there are few really tall buildings in the city.

On the way back, I couldn't resist taking this photo--the old contrasted with the new--as all of London is.

That's a lamppost on Westminster Bridge.  The light was so nice, I also took this one of Big Ben.

Mary and Chuck left this morning for France and I have just two days left in London before I leave on Saturday.  Wish I could stay longer.....

Tomorrow I will be watching the wedding from the comfort of my flat.  London promises to be crazy and you only get a glimpse of the couple on the route, while you can see the whole thing on TV!

This Week

I'm afraid I've had to wind down some this week in anticipation of my leaving on Saturday.  I have been putting off buying any trinkets and presents until now, but the time has come.

Chuck, Mary's and my friend from Chicago, arrived on Monday morning.  After taking a bit of a nap, he and Mary went on the boat cruise again--without me since I have done it twice already.  Chuck has never been to London, so he needs to see all the spots like St. Paul's, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, etc.  Mary is going to be tour guide for him and I am doing some shopping.

Here's the intersection of Regent Street and Oxford St, the biggest shopping area in London, all dolled up for the wedding.

I won't go into what I bought since many of the people getting the gifts are reading this blog.  Suffice it to say, there are a lot of things to be bought this week with the picture of William and Kate on them.

Tuesday, while Mary and Chuck took the tour bus around the city, I went on another walk.  This one was supposed to be of the interiors of certain old buildings in the city.  Our guide was Jean, one of my favorites.

She had a tough task because, not only was she filling in someone else, but at least two of the places we wanted to see were closed.

Still, there was plenty to look at on the walk, which started at the Tower of London.  I found out that the black turrets on the top of the corners of the White Tower were put there by Christopher Wren in the 17th Century--the tower itself is from the 11th.  Wren seems to have had his hand in almost everything in London--to the city's benefit, I might add.

One of first stops was supposed to be the interior of St. Olave's, a medieval church near Tower Hill.  But it was closed.  We did get a feel for what religion was like back then with this gate.

Charles Dickens called this church St. Ghastly the Grim.  Here's a closer look.

I missed getting the sides of the gate which show skulls on stakes.  Lovely.

We also passed through a new building with these startling statues of horses.  Very impressive.

Across the street was a sidewalk with writing giving names, places, dates, statistics, etc. about the history of London.  You had to be a contortionist to see it all.

Unfortunately, faithful reader, this is where the battery on my camera gave out.  The one picture I wish I could have given you was the view from the sixth floor roof of a building just across the street from St. Paul's.  You could see a  very large chunk of the city from that vantage point.

I met Mary and Chuck near Leicester Square and we went to dinner at a very nice steak house near the theater where we were to see Les Miserables.  I had gotten the seats when I first got to London and unfortunately, they were not great--in the Upper Circle.  We had to lean over to see the stage.  For the second act, we actually went higher up to some empty seats.  Despite that, the show was glorious.  I had never seen it before and was amazed by the production, the singing and the emotion of the show.  We got home at about 11:30 but stayed up til after midnight just talking about the production.

So today Mary and Chuck and I spend their last day here before they are off for France.

Marylebone and Westminster

Well, I guess it was bound to happen.  Mary and I went on a London Walks tour that was terrible.  I'm sure the area we walked in, Marylebone, which is near Regency Park and Paddington Railway Station, is very nice, but our guide was weird, skeletal and oblivious about what we wanted to hear about.

Here she is, Helena, though you can't really see her face very well.  Take my word for it, she is as thin in the face as she is in the body.

We did get to see a few interesting things, like the house where Marin Van Buren lived while ambassador to Britain.

We also found out the name Marylebone come from St. Mary's by the Tiburn.  St. Mary's is the local church and Tiburn is a tributary of the Thames that used to run through the area and now is mostly underground. London used to get a good deal of its clean water from the Tiburn and some of the buildings still indicate that Lonbon owns that water.

There were some other lovely buildings on the walk,

and some interesting shops....

but Helena really lost us when she spent 20 minutes talking about the pictures in this gallery---outside of the gallery before we went in.

There were so many paintings inside, we could have used the 20 minutes to see the pictures, rather than the 15 minutes we had.  We left the tour soon after and went to the pub for an early dinner and some wine.

Today we had better luck.  We started at Westminster Abbey at the Easter services, which were very nice.  Here's the bells ringing after the service.

There are lots of preparations for the wedding on Friday apparent at the Abbey.  The Methodist Center across the square is covered with camera stands

And there is a big reviewing stand just below it.

We had lunch along the Thames after the service and then went back to Westminster for another London Walks tour, this one guided by jovial Scotsman Graham.

That's him in front of the statue of Oliver Cromwell, who led the revolution that eventually resulted in the execution of King Charles I.  But the monarchy was back in about 20 years, after he died.  He was buried at St. Margaret's next to Westminster Abbey.  When the king was reestablished, Cromwell's body was exhumed and he was beheaded and his head was displayed for 25 years, after which it was buried with the rest of his body.  (The English love the bloody and macabre!)

Westminster is the area behind Parliment and Westminster Abbey.  There were great views of Parliament and the river.

And some walking down really lovely streets.

Yet another neighborhood I would be happy to live in.

Then it was off to the pub again.  And home to soothe our aching feet.

Brighton

One of the places I wanted to visit when I came to England was Brighton.  It's a seaside community that was very popular in Jane Austin's day and still is.  Only one hour from London by train.  So as Lydia Bennett said to her family in Pride and Prejudice, "I want to go to Brighton."  And Mary was kind enough to say OK.

The first thing you notice about the place is that it is huge.  Rows and rows of houses on cliffs that overlook the sea or on hills that slope down to it.  People were everywhere on Friday, a bank holiday in England.  We later learned that there are about 500,000 permanent residents and many more who come for the day, the weekend or the week.

This is the street from the train station leading to the beach.  Note the street lamps.

The street closest to the beach is lined with very tall buildings in the "Regency" style.

The beach itself is filled with pebbles, so there were fewer people on the beach than there were on the.....(I can't say boardwalk, because it was concrete) beach walk.

(That's some kind of sculpture on the beach and the husk of an old pier out in the water.)

The first thing we did is find a restaurant for lunch.  My guidebook had recommended Jamie Oliver's Italian so we went there.  (Jamie is known as the Naked Chef and is a big celebrity here)

The food was good but nothing spectacular.

Then we took a bus tour of the city and got off at the Royal Pavilion, the handiwork of the Prince Regent, eldest son of King George III, the mad king and our nemesis during the Revolutionary war.  The Regent, who gave his name to the Regency period, was a "lover of fine food and women."  And he must have had a bit of his father's madness, because this is what he built in Brighton.

It looks a bit like Disneyland and a bit like the great palaces in India.  The weird thing is, on the inside it's all Chinese.  And over-the-top does not really give the place its due.  It defines the word gaudy.  For instance, in the banqueting hall, there is a one-ton chandelier that is held at the ceiling by the claws of a dragon.  And that is just one of the many dragons on the ceiling.  The music room has huge lotus-blossom lamps and apparently had carpeting that was so deep you could lose your shoes in it.  And all the colors of the rainbow in every room.  It was quite overwhelming.  Unfortunately, no photos were allowed.

We went back to the beach and had a diet coke while we watched people being hurled into the air on these contraptions that were like bungy cords.

We were right by the Brighton Pier which appears to be an amusement pier with roller coaster rides.

Of course, there were less violent rides on the beach as well.

The whole day seemed almost surrealistic--at the beach in England at the end of April and it was probably 75 degrees and there were loads and loads of people there.

At about 7PM, we made our way back to the train station for our one-hour trip back to the real world, or as close as we can get to it in Shoreditch.