Because, because, because, because, because...

'We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz'

I'm in a nice little sandwich shop, perusing the range of homemade soups and thinking which one I fancy for lunch, when my bag starts singing the above. I look around sheepishly - the guy behind the counter asks 'would you like any help choosing a soup, madame?' 'Ermm, no thanks' and I sort of grin at him, buy a cherry muffin and a coffee, and depart.

I blame HMV. I only went in there to see how much the Dr Who Season 2 box set was*, when my eye was caught by a cover bearing ruby slippers. So I picked it up - a two dvd set of the original film and extras, with a bit on the front saying 'press here', which then lit up the Emerald City and played the song. Maybe another time, I'm thinking, until I realise, it's only £5. £5, well, that's not much more than the price of a cocktail in the Evil Eye, so, sold!

Only don't lean against something when it's in your shopping bag!

*£59.95 in fact - its £5 cheaper in Virgin, and cheaper still on line. I haven't bought it...yet.

What is this feeling?

I sat up last night watching Children in Need, just so that I could see the cast of Wicked performing 'What is this feeling?'. You do have to put up with an awful lot of dross, but it was worth it in the end. Neither Elphaba or Glinda were the actors I saw last Saturday. Last night it was Idina Menzel, and the Glinda standby actress, Annalene Beechey, who, in the extreme close-up of TV, was less assured in her role, but I still loved it.

I thought Idina was amazing, her whole performance in that short extract portraying Elphaba's isolation at that part of the show, but also her intelligence. Her timing was impeccable, and I love the fact that she'd 'de-greenified' after the show, only to put it all back on in the tv studio, so that it would be 'fresh'

And just how much did I love her Wicked Witch cackle at the end of the song? A lot - I don't think Kerry Ellis did that!

What is this feeling? Oh yes, it's another obsession.

It's not geographical...it's a state of mind

I know Nik has already blogged about this, but I can't let today go by without a bit of reminiscing.

Three years ago today I set out with trepidation on a journey that, in so many ways, has brought me to where I am today. It was a Sunday, and a number of times I wondered what the hell I was doing, going to York Station to meet a bunch of strangers, to travel to Middlesbrough to watch a Christmas Lights switch on. Yes, three years ago it was ‘Boro Lights, and the beginning of the Northern Division. A day of glitter, fake snow, Brian Clough and ‘Oh, My, God, he’s got his guitar!’

So many ‘if’s’. If I hadn’t gone that day, and met Corinne, Nik, Ali and Shona*, I would never have gone to Harlow, if I hadn’t gone to Harlow, it wouldn’t have made pretty much everything else seem sane by comparison, and I doubt I’d have gone to London to see Griffin light a candle in Trafalgar Square. If the fledgling ND hadn’t created the Radio Tour, I’d never have done the second epic tour. If people on that tour hadn’t kept giving Al gifts for James, we’d never have decided to go an see James when he came to York, and give him things for Al***. If we’d not gone to see James, we wouldn’t have been totally charmed by him, and decided to go to Eurovision. If James hadn’t have gone into JCS a whole other story wouldn’t have developed, and I wouldn’t have seen the show 21 times, and got very drunk with actors. And, to come full circle if I hadn’t got back my taste for musical theatre, I quite probably wouldn’t have been to see Wicked last Saturday. Everything connects.

So, if I’d not done any of these things, and met that very special bunch of wonderful, crazy people, known as the ND, I wouldn’t be the same person that I am today. And, you know what, I don’t think I’d change a bit of it.

Happy Third Anniversary ND

*I didn’t actually meet Cat that day, even though we were standing just a few people apart, that came two weeks later at our first AGM.
**Not that we did – he was just too lovely

Autumn colours

I was in Scotland for a few days last week, in Dumfries and Galloway, which quickly became known as ‘the land that time forgot’. It’s the corner of south west Scotland that most people pass by as they head for Glasgow, Edinburgh and the highlands, so it’s very un-commercialised. We first realised this when trying to find a pub to stop for lunch on the way up. Many villages just didn’t have one, and when we finally found one (with a very friendly cat, who joined us for lunch), it had décor that looked like it hadn’t changed since the 70’s, and we were the only customers, apart from a couple of locals, but it did serve lovely homemade soup.

The whole area was a bit like that – old fashioned shops, the type that sell a bit of everything, and grey houses. We stayed in a little country hotel along the coast, which was simple, but comfortable, and served huge amounts of food at dinner – so much so that I never managed to finish two courses. I did manage a few wee drams of single malt though (lovely!)

We had quite a bit of rain (well, it was Scotland), but had a lovely sunny day on the day we’d planned to go walking. Oh, yes, I walked, and through the countryside, not just round shops! It was over two miles, which was quite a long way for me, particularly when not punctuated by a pub or a coffee shop. I was relieved to find a nice little gift shop in the village we walked to, though, phew!! It was very peaceful, and pretty, and we had a lovely wander along the beach in the autumn sunshine, with the sun on our backs, listening to the waves break on the shore. My friend even recorded the sound on her phone, to listen to when she’s back in London. It was hard to believe it’s November.

We even saw red squirrels in the wild – though there was nearly one less of them as one dashed across the road in front of the car.

In these halls

‘Would you mind if we go to RSAMD*?’
‘Not at all…after all, David Tennant went there!’

It’s my first visit to Glasgow, and we only have four hours, so not enough time to visit the galleries, so it’s sightseeing and shopping for us, plus a visit to the above building. I’m impressed, it has at least two theatres, is next to another, and is very central, though I’m less sure about the music students singing opera in the corridor, clearly for our benefit.

I pick up the Alumni magazine – it’s full of people like DT, Alan Cumming, Robert Carlyle, James McAvoy, and John Doyle.

‘So, has anyone from your year become well known?’
‘S is doing very well on TV…in Romania.’

Time for a trip to the Willow Tea Rooms, I think.

*Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama

One short day in the Emerald City

*with apologies for blurriness, but both were taken on my phone

Ever since I saw excerpts from ‘Wicked’ on the series about the history of the Broadway musical, I’ve wanted to see the show. It’s about the Wicked Witch of the West, what could be better?

Since it opened at the Apollo Victoria, I’ve wanted to see the ‘first run’ cast with Idina Menzel who created the role of Elphaba on Broadway, as she’s only in it till the new year. And so, we booked tickets for yesterday’s matinee, and I found myself with V at York station at 7am yesterday morning. The night before, I was on line and checking out a few sites, and spotted that Idina had been off ill for a couple of days…oh dear…but at least we didn’t get to the theatre before finding out. It turned out she was still sick, and we were to see Kerry Ellis, who takes over from her in January. I was glad, though, that we’d not gone for the top price £55 tickets, and had in fact got £15 tickets in the Circle, which whilst some distance away from the stage, had great sightlines, as there was an aisle in front of us.

They’ve refurbished the theatre since we saw 'Movin Out' there, and it’s now the Emerald City, decorated in green and silver, complete with ‘witchified’ cocktails (and, sadly, warm wine in plastic glasses, which the theatre snob in me objected to!)

The set, the costumes and the lighting were fantastic. It was one of those shows where you could see where the money had gone, even if I couldn’t work the significance of the huge animatronic dragon over the proscenium arch. And there was a real sense of excitement through the auditorium as it started.

I’m not going to spoil the show for others by talking in detail about the synopsis, but it opens just after the melting of the ‘Wicked Witch’ and then tells the backstory of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. All the central characters were excellent, and once I’d got over the momentary disappointment that Kerry Ellis wasn’t Idina, she was great, with a tremendously powerful voice (and boy, do you need one for this show!), though I’m not sure what happened in ‘Defying Gravity’, as she failed to levitate, thus we lost probably the most dramatic effect of the show. Miriam Margolyes was excellent as Madame Morrible, tutor turned Wizard's spin doctor, who sees Elphaba as her route to power. Adam Garcia (very cute) was a dashing hero, moving from airhead to the romantic hero who saw beyond outward appearance, and Helen Dallimore a suitable ditzy Glinda, with some gorgeous frocks.

The songs, with a couple of exceptions, take the story along, rather than being stand alone ‘showstoppers’, and by the end, yes, once again I was in tears. I was also the owner of a souvenir programme**, a cd, a t shirt and a lapel pin! Oops!

It was all I wanted it to be, and more, and I’d happily go and see it again. After all, as it was a matinee, I didn’t get to wear the ruby slippers!

**for once, very good value, I thought.

Two households, both alike in dignity

It was my drama class last night. We’ve missed the last two weeks because of half term last week, and then the week before they were opening the new drama studio. Rude, I call it, not to have invited us! It’s called The Cube, and we were supposed to be in there last night, but as the heating wasn’t on, and it was a bit of an ‘Ice’ Cube, it was back to the dining hall for us!

We were doing voice work, and Shakespeare. As the tutor (Kate) said ‘there’s someone here who likes Shakespeare…’ J piped up ‘that’d be Val’. We were doing the Prologue from Romeo and Juliet, one line each, in all different styles, cowboy and horror film being particular highlights!!

During our break…‘It’s so difficult to follow, I wished they’d just give us a few lines from East Enders’

I held my tongue.

Afterwards, we started on Hamlet. Kate said that she’d seen the play 43 times (respect is due, as I tried to tot up how many times I’ve seen it, and only got to about 12). She gave us ‘To be, or not to be’ to learn as homework, (well, up to ‘Ay, there’s the rub’) and I was getting really excited…until I realised that I can’t get to next week’s class, so I won’t get to play Hamlet.

She’s also really keen that we do a play next year, and had two suggestions, one of which, ‘Our Country’s Good’, I would love to do. I think everyone else will go for Willy Russell’s ‘Stags and Hens’ though.