But I know what I like

I have a bit of a problem with modern art. I mean, to me, the impressionists are modern, and I only really 'got' them after a trip to the Musee D'Orsay four years ago. I pretty much like my art to be representational, or at least a fairly recognisable depiction of something.

Yet when Cat said that the new Mima was opening yesterday, with fireworks, and the offer of champagne, it sounded good to me. As it was we missed the fireworks, and had to queue to get in - but as a hardened 'queuer', it didn't seem too long, although I could have done without the large scene showing a film of a footballer which was supposed to be art. It's a beautiful building, with clean white lines and lots of glass which fills the place with light.

I did enjoy some of the first exhibition 'Draw' (which, perhaps unsurprisingly was drawings - by one famous painter paired with another modern artist). There are just some bits of modern art I don't get - one exhibit was a piece of black elastic, pinned the length of a wall by two drawing pins - at first I was looking for where the art work was! There were some Picasso drawings, one called Weeping Woman, where I just thought, 'I'd be weeping if I looked like that'!

But, there were others that I really liked (ok, they were the ones that did look like something) and I loved a huge piece by DJ Simpson, which filled one of the rooms. And I think it's great that 'Boro has such a fabulous space. It looks like it has a nice cafe too! But I really think the gift shop needs development - some lovely 'arty' (and expensive) things, but no pens!

Also, did I mention it has a really good fountain?!

I still think the moral victory was ours

I've just got back from a quiz night. Now I do love a good quiz, and this one was at a school in the shadow of York Minster. Very civilised too, as they provided supper and wine. Apart from the friend who'd invited me along, I'd never met any of these people before, but did that stop me being loud and competitive? Hmmm, that would be a 'no' then.

It was probably one of the longest quizzes I've been to, with 12 rounds, and breaks for the head teacher to go to the cellar for more wine (its that sort of school!). It was quite a bizarre concept in that, if your team was first at the end of the round, one team member had to answer a 'bonus' question. If you got it right, your score remained the same, if you got it wrong, the team lost two points which were awarded to the team in last place.

Some rounds we did well on (books, geography, history, art, tv and film and famous faces), others not so well (I pretty much opted out of 'science, nature and technology', and 'sport'), but we were frequently in the lead, and had to go for the bonus. I was selected to answer on 'books*'. Sadly, when the question was 'what kind of pig is the Empress of Blandings'? I didn't have a clue, as I've never read the book, plus, I don't know any breeds of pigs - all I could think of was 'a black one'!. Conversely when another member of our team had to give the Christian names of all 3 BeeGees and forgot Barry, I was groaning.

At the end of the last round, we were leading by one point, and it came to the tie break. One of the two people on the team who hadn't answered a bonus so far went up. She happened to be French. The question was 'who was Harold Wilson's Press Secretary'? No idea, so we lost two points, and another team sneaked in and won. But, as the prize was a very ugly trophy, I wasn't too worried.

Me, competitive? Well, I may have punched the air a few times when we got questions right!

*I think it was because I was the only person who recognised the opening line of Little Lord Fauntleroy - and it was a lucky guess on my part!

Looking for the right kind of Doctor

After our disappointment at not seeing John on Thursday, and a pretty sleepless night not withstanding (remind me not to stay in Cardiff Travelodge again when its student night at Walkabout, and it’s open till 4am!), we were determined to follow the rest of our plans and see the Dr Who and Torchwood sites around Cardiff. Combined with a bit of shopping, of course.

So, map in hand, and fortified by a huge, and incredibly cheap, breakfast in a fab little café, we headed off, past Howells Department Store ('ooh, its where Rose worked, that got blown up'!), to find the shops.

Later, we headed down to the Bay by car, as it would have been a very long walk, there may have been squealing when we first saw the Millennium Centre, and the ‘Torchwood fountain’*. We took in Mermaid Quay, taking a photo of the Restaurant where Chris Eccleston’s Doctor had dinner with a Slitheen, and then went over to the Millennium Centre – sadly you couldn’t get to the Torchwood paving slab/lift to stand on it, as they were resurfacing that bit (how rude), so we had to improvise as above.

The foyer area, as used for the hospital in New Earth, was rather stunning (it also had a gift shop**, but it was a bit lacking in Dr Who memorabilia). No cat nuns either!

Then it was over to the Dr Who exhibition, which was fabulous, as it had on display David Tennant’s pyjamas and dressing gown, his suit and overcoat (how skinny is he!!), K9, a Cyberman and even a Dalek – which was actually pretty intimidating, or perhaps that was just my traumatising memories from childhood. It focussed very much on the recent series, with just mentions of previous incarnations of the Doctor, with lots of actual costumes and props. Very exciting - in fact I even got excited when told I had to wear an arm band (getting it off later was another story!)

We sat and drank cocktails looking out at the Bay, pondering that at any point someone could walk past, though sadly they didn’t... and thinking (and hoping and praying) about seeing John that evening. Oh well!

The people of Cardiff were lovely, really friendly and very helpful, from our taxi driver who sounded just like James Fox, to pretty much all the waiting staff we encountered, and the man who offered to take our photo outside the Millennium Centre. There didn't seem to be the cynicism about tourists that you get in other cities - York being one.

*I know that isn’t actually its name, but it is in my head

**which is actually quite funny, as the Doctor says it should have a shop and goes on about just where he would put it!

The non non-stalking of John Barrowman

About a year ago, around the time that he was (unfairly) eliminated from Dancing on Ice, there was a discussion about non-stalking* John Barrowman, given the opportunity. So, once we knew he was doing panto, it was pretty much a given that we would be going , even though it meant a trip to Cardiff** in January.

So last Thursday, in the middle of all the dire warnings of gales, and 'only travel if your journey is absolutely necessary'***, Corinne and I were on the road. It was quite a scary journey, and we did see at least 3 lorries that had been blown over in the wind, but we arrived safe and sound, if pretty tired.

Still, the thought of John revived us, as did food and drink, and we took our seats. Just before the show went up, there was an announcement. 'As John Barrowman has a severe throat infection, the part of Jack will be played by...' Corinne and I looked at each other with a mixture of shock, and horror. Where were the signs? Surely this couldn't be true, we hadn't come all this way not to see him?

But, it was, and we had. I think for at least the first 15 minutes I felt shell shocked, and numb. When 'Jack' entered, and there was a joke about a dalek that fell totally flat, my heart sank even further. It was clearly a production that was built so much round John, and his performance, it wasn't going to work without him. The fact that it was at its funniest when things when wrong tells the tale, and it wasn't a patch on York Theatre Royal panto (but then, no panto is, and I was making an exception for John). Being true Yorkshire, and having paid for the tickets, we stuck it out, but it really didn't get much better, and it felt as though there were songs missing, that John would have sung.

As we sat in the bar afterwards (a drink was definately needed at this point) I still really didn't know what to say - except that, as we were staying two nights, we could check if he was playing the shows on Friday.

Friday morning, we called in at the theatre, and reserved two tickets for the evening performance. They were expecting him to be back, as he'd been off 3 days, but advised calling later to find out for definate. Later, 'no, he's not doing the matinee, but it's 99% certain he's doing the evening show'. About 5.15, we called at the theatre - 'yes, he's definitely on'! So tickets were collected, and we headed for the bar, and much needed doubles.

We arrived back at the theatre about 15 minutes before curtain up. 'Val, the signs are back!' And, to my dismay, the signs saying that John was ill, which had not been there earlier, had been put up again. The box office confirmed that he had come in, but almost immediately had gone home again 'we could kill him'! So, we asked for a refund, as no way were we going to sit through that again, and spent the money on a really nice meal instead.

So, John, I really hope you're feeling better, as you must have been really ill to miss so many shows. You missed us too, this time. But there will be other shows and other times. It's a long game.

The above picture, therefore, is the closest that I got to John!

*copyright Corinne

**which is a bl***y long way

***theatre = necessary in my book

Off to see the Wizard

Quite a few months ago, I first mentioned the 'Off to Oz' nights that the WYP were having, as being my main motivation for buying the ruby slippers (not that I needed much of an excuse!)

Finally, last Wednesday, the day came around, and I was just a little bit excited about this - ok, I sort of planned the day around my preparations.

I was a little surprised when walking into the theatre not to see very many people in costume, and for all of, well, a few moments, I felt a bit conspicuous, but that soon passed, and I was posing for photos (I did have a hat, but it was a bit small, and kept falling off, particularly when I tried to swoosh around quickly - well, a cloak like that one demands space).

There was a bit of confusion about who I was until I flashed the legs ('ah, the Wicked Witch of the East'!) - I should really have had a dark wig, as it seemed the blonde hair suggested Glinda, whereas, quite clearly, I was wicked! Trouble is, I was enjoying myself so much, I couldn't stop grinning, so didn't actually look that menacing - my 'sister' (above) was much more convincing.

The cloak was a bit of a hazard in getting to my seat, and it got stood on quite a few times, but no way was I taking it off. While the performance was billed as 'singalong', we only got the words to songs like 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road', and 'Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead', so weren't encouraged to singalong to others.

I really enjoyed the probuction - an excellent set, and some very good performances. We saw the understudy 'Dorothy' who was very good. And Martin Callaghan stood out in all the roles he played - genius comic timing, that man!

Afterwards we sat in the bar and took more photos (and I swooshed a bit more!). It was all quite fabulous.

Swooshing

I went to Costume Hire on Saturday.

‘Is this a professional visit?’ ‘Yes, I need to be a wicked witch, no comments, please!

I’m wandering up and down the rails, looking at old costumes and reminiscing about them – here are the ‘Bedevilled’ dresses, matching late Victorian gowns in black and red velvet – I’ve worn both of them in my time. There’s Miriam’s* dress from The Cherry Orchard, and here’s the skirt we used for our play about Elizabeth Fry.

What I really want is a cloak, as I know I’ll never get into any of the dresses, so I’m searching the rails – plain black would work, but it isn’t very dramatic, but I pull a few out and try them on. I then go to the panto rails, and pull some cloaks from there. One is fabulous – black and ‘distressed’ with a huge boned collar and spikes edged with silver. I love it, but I know I can’t wear it or I’d have someone’s eye out in the row behind me.

And then I find it. It’s a vivid turquoise/emerald colour, lined with red, and has a black feather collar. I put it on, and I’m swooshing around (there really is no other word) in the limited space available. It’s slightly too long for me, being made for a man over 6 foot tall, but oh yes, it will work.

I can’t wait to wear it now.

*As in Margolyes, currently appearing in Wicked

Hey ho, the wind and the rain

Fuuny weather, isn't it! A few weeks ago I wrote about floods in York, and lo and behold, we have them again - witness, the 'riverside' walk by the Kings Arms pub - the white blobs you can see in the water at the top of the railings! And I'm quite amused by the lifebelt, which is fastened to the railings, just floating on the water.

The wind is another matter - I was wearing one of my 'sale bargain' dresses today, which has a flowing and lightweight skirt, and it was blowing a gale in Tesco's car park. Hmmm, I can only hope that the lights inside the shop were too bright to enable those going through the checkouts also checking out the display of underwear!

Tell me it's not true!

I'm at work, suddenly one of the staff comes in and says 'is anyone here's phone 'drama queen'?

I resist asking him why he's messing about with bluetooth when he should be working, and rather sheepishly stick my hand in the air.

'Did you know that I could download everything off your phone if I wanted?'

I look rather confused. I tend to leave bluetooth switched on, but rarely use it, and thankfully have never had anything offensive sent to me. Can this be true? I can't really believe it, but I make sure I turn the bluetooth off sharpish!

A colleague then tells me that he amuses himself by sending messages to people saying that if they present their phone at the bar, they'll get a free drink.

Afternoon tea at 11.30am*

That’s when they start serving it at the Ritz, and that’s what time we’d booked* for to fit it into our hectic schedule. It was fabulous, sandwiches with the crusts cut off, (including cucumber sandwiches, which I don't like but which always make me think of Algy in The Importance of Being Earnest), scones and delicate little pastries, with the supplies constantly replenished by attentive waiters.

It looked beautiful, decorated for Christmas, and while we ate, a pianist played songs such as 'A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square' - wonderful. There was a comedy moment as Maggie Thatcher walked in for lunch just as we were leaving - you can’t fault our timing.

We'd been taken up to London** in a coach, which took us to, and collected us from, each venue, so we also had a bit of a tour to fill in time before arriving at the Royal Albert Hall for a Christmas Sing-along concert. And then later, we drove out to Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, for dinner and dancing

The reason, the birthday celebration of a friend of mine. Her husband had arranged it all as a surprise for her, and it was a triumph of organisation. It was a wonderful day, even though I had the most awful cold, and felt like I was dying by the end of it. But, for the evening, at least, I actually wore the ruby slippers. Cue comments such as 'there's no place like home' and 'I guess you're not in Kansas anymore'.

*My last 'catch up' blog. As a friend said on New Year's Eve, it already seems ages ago.

**I say 'up to' as said friend lives in Sussex

Have a little patience

Not one of my strong points, as anyone who knows me will agree. So the end of Torchwood last night was tantalising. Just how long is it now till Dr Who starts again?

We seem to have had ‘Who’ related programmes across Christmas and the New Year, with the Sarah Jane Adventures also debuting yesterday. Aimed at kids (as opposed to a family audience, as Dr Who is, and yes the two things are different) there were still enough ‘Who’ references to make me go ‘awwww’.

And then, the last two episodes of Torchwood. If I’m honest, the series has been a bit hit and miss, some great episodes, and others not so great (and one too gory for me to watch), but I enjoyed these two, including finding out how Jack became Captain Jack Harkness. I worry for a ‘team’, however, who show such willingness to turn guns on each other, and actually to fire them!

But then that ending*. It seems that all Jack has really been waiting for is ‘the right kind of Doctor’ and maybe that’s why he’s kept the rest of the team at a distance.

*which I’m not going into in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet.

Reflections

Well, it’s the time of year for it, isn’t it, but also for looking forward. Last year I made a list for myself of things I wanted to do; get a new job, see lots of theatre, lose weight, have a holiday, do some work on the house. Well, I managed all of them except the weight part, but then I’d have to put a bit of effort in for that. Maybe this year!

I perhaps didn’t so much get a new job as leave the old one, but I don’t regret it. I got the kitchen re-fitted – it’s not actually finished of course, it still needs the tiles, and new flooring – the latest bet is that it will take me about 3 years to get that done.

I did see a lot of theatre. 36 productions by the end of the year, and there were only 3 shows that I saw twice. The best were probably The Duchess of Malfi at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Titus Andronicus at the Globe, and Wicked.

And of course, I did go to Italy on holiday.

For 2007, I’m already in danger of taking on too much, with work in different part of the country, and I’ve also committed myself to another Open University course which starts in February. The Christmas period was supposed to be my time to do some preparatory reading, but all I’ve managed is about 3 chapters of Frankenstein. I’m also continuing with my drama class, which hopefully will lead to a production, so I guess one of my wishes this year is to get back on stage*, somewhere, anywhere.

*It was nice, though, in the pub on New Year’s Eve, when introduced to a friend of a friend, to be asked ‘I think I’ve seen you on stage…Have you played the Georgian Theatre at Richmond?’