Let the sunshine in! Hair

The New York Broadway cast is in London until September doing Hair at the Gielgud Theatre so I went to see the show and absolutely loved it. The Gielgud is one of the many London Theatres that do either "Under 25s" tickets or student tickets at a reduced rate so my friend and I were able to get seats in the center of row H for less than half price.

The stage itself was really awesome. Everything was incredibly colorful. The brick back wall was painted to match the technicolor truck that the band sat in. The entire cask was decked out in colorful hippie attire too.

Gavin Creel, who played Claude, is actually 34 but played a very convincing teen!

Sasha Allen, who played Dionne, was an amazing singer. She has been a back up singer for Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Usher, John Legend, and is releasing her own album. She had the first lines in the show.

I think Hair may very well be my favorite show yet!

Enchanted Palace Exhibit at Kensington Palace

Overall, this exhibit was really silly. Kensington Palace right now has this Enchanted Palace Exhibit about the seven princesses of Kensington Palace going on. I wanted to see the palace so I went, and I heard that a lot of designers designed clothes/hats for the exhibit, which they did, but it was still really weird. My friend bought me a ticket but I think it was relatively expensive.

The second floor of the palace is decorated so each room is themed after one of the princesses who lived there: Mary II, Anne, Charlotte, Caroline, Victoria, Margaret, and Diana. Each of the princesses has a formal gown either worn by them or designed to represent them on display. The rooms are decorated not in the style that they normally are when the royal family is residing there, but more like a theme park. There was a room filled completely with hats that was kind of neat.

Kind of like the Ben Franklin House: corny tour, cool building.

The part of the tour I liked most was the Victoria area because her room's were where she actually resided (Diana and Margaret lived in the Clock Courts on the other side of the palace so their rooms weren't really where they lived). I saw the real staircase that Victoria walked down when she became Queen and learned that the film The Young Victoria was actually filmed at Ham's House, not Kensington Palace. There was an impressive painting of Victoria's wedding to Albert in her bedroom and her actual bed, dressing table and mirror.

The Palace

Victoria's drawing room.

A cool room in the palace...

One of the designer dresses, for Anne.

The Natural History Museum

I LOVE THIS MUSEUM! On my street and only two blocks down, I decided to go check out the Natural History Museum for a couple of hours that I had free this afternoon.

The museum itself is beautiful.

ANDDDDD there are amazing dinosaurs! I haven't been to the Field Museum in Chicago so I had a very fun afternoon. And what makes this museum better than the Field Museum is that its free! There's lots to explore in the museum (imagine the size of a museum collection that is 129 years old).

Notable sights include a lot of dinosaurs (T-Rex was closed though, but hopefully I'll be back), woolly mammoth skeletons (some found literally just a few kilometers from London) and a giant blue whale skeleton and a life-size blue whale statue.

I also learned some interesting facts. Most marine reptiles became extinct 65 million years ago except crocodiles and turtles. Also, the average UK citizen drinks 54L of soft drinks a year and the average UK family consumes 624 cans a year. That means the Klein family consumes roughly 6X more soft drinks than the average UK family!

I didn't get to go in an exhibit I really want to see: The Deep Ocean's. It takes 60-90 minutes to go through apparently and I didn't have time, but I'm definitely going back!

The White Guard

Our Dartmouth group went to see The White Guard this evening at the National Theatre located on the Southbank. I was really impressed with the show. Set in Kiev during the Russian Civil War, the show followed the Turbin family: a sister Lena, who was the only female in a cast of 27 and whose husband worked for the Russian White Guard (on the side of the Czar), and two brothers who were members of the White Guard. Even though the play followed a family on the losing side of the war, the show definitely had its comedic moments. The actual stage was incredibly impressive. The set rotated between the Turbin's living room, the palace of the Ukrainian headman, a Ukrainian war unit and a White Guard base camp, and the way that the sets moved was awesome. For example, when the Ukrainian war unit scene was finish, the stage moved under ground and the Turbin's living room slid forward. I definitely enjoyed this play.

The National Theatre is a very cool place. Out in front of the theatre they occasionally show movies and anyone can sit and watch, and the theatre has an amazing gift shop with a large collection of play and posters. In addition, for every performance they set aside 20 to 30 tickets each morning for students that they release at 9:30 am. So even though Tennesee William's Spring Storm is sold out all summer, as long as I get to the National before 8:30 and wait in line, I can get a student ticket for just £10. And I forgot to mention the best part... the tickets they set aside are in the front row.

An image of the finale in the Turbin's living room.

How to comment!

Okayyy so I've been getting lot's of complaints in regards to commenting on this blog (mostly from my mother...) so here it goes. It seems that if you want to leave a comment, you have to have or create a google account. Fortunately, its really easy to make one and only takes a few seconds: https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount .

***All my instructions below are for going the google way. But if you already have an aol/aim account, you can do the same thing, but from the "post as" drop down bar select aim account and login that way.

back to google instructions:

Once you make an account, you can click at the bottom of any blog entry that you want to leave a comment on where it says "0 Comments" or "2 comments" etc.

Clicking here will take you to a comment box. Once you type in your comment, it will ask you to "comment as" and you should select out of the drag down box your google account. If you're already logged in, you'll see you're name. If you're not, select google account as shown in the picture then click post comment.

If you were not already logged in, when you click post comment it will take you to a page that looks like this. Sign in with your google account here. Clicking sign in will take you back to preview you're comment.

If you preview your comment and want to post, then click post comment. You have to enter the words that appear in the box, but once you do and click post comment, Wooolah! You have successfully commented!

YAY!

Double double toil and trouble: Macbeth

I saw Macbeth last night at the Globe Theatre which was very interesting. The Globe is located in the Southbank area and built about half a block from where the theatre would have stood in Elizabethan England. The round, open-air theatre is built identical to how the Globe would really have appeared in 1599 and includes room for a standing yard as the theatre would have in Shakespeare's time as well. Standing tickets to all the Globe performances are only £5, but then you have to stand for an entire 2 and a half hour performance ie lots of fainting (only one person fainted during this performance). Fortunately, I was there in time to get a spot to lean against the back wall. Since the theatre is outside, its only open in the summertime and does a series of performances all in the same theme. This summers theme is Kings & Rogues and the shows going on include Macbeth, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (which I hope to see, Prince Hal in part 1 is apparently such a babe that he has groupies), Henry VIII and a few others briefly.

I really enjoyed Macbeth. The production used fake blood really, really well, and with blood being one of the motifs in the play that is so often repeated, I thought that the blood was clutch. There was a lot of live music and the actors-mainly the witches-moved through the audience quite a bit. Lady Macbeth was a red head, as were a lot of Shakespeare's villians, and I thought she did a good job with the part (not everyone I was with agreed). Macbeth was a hunk and often shirtless, and though he seemed a bit tired toward the end of the performance, was a good Macbeth. The three witches were amazing-great makeup, acting, even the way they moved was eerie. One of them was a midget, one was slightly short but average height, and Hecate was really tall so they looked really good together. Overall, definitely a good performance to see at the Globe; I went with my LAMDA group and apparently there a quite a lot of not so good shows that are put on there, but this one was worth seeing.

Macbeth is supposedly sold out all summer, but there's a line outside you can wait in for tickets and the usually have enough for everyone who shows up for standing room. My camera died so I don't have any pictures of the theatre itself, but I do plan to go back for another show so next time!

Benjamin Franklin's House

Basically, Benjamin Franklin's home in London from 1757 to 1775 can be thought of as the first American Embassy. His house at 36 Craven St. is the only remaining residence of Benjamin Franklin today and very cool to see. He lived in London with the family of Margaret Stevenson and his one son and grandson moved with him. His wife Deborah stayed at home in the colonies. While he was living here, aside from working as a scientist, inventor, political journalist, and philosopher, Franklin acted as a colonial agent trying to broker a deal between England and the American Colonies about the appropriate level of taxation and representation. The house has been completely restored to its 18th century allure and opened on Franklin's 300th birthday to the public for tours. It cost £5 (student rate, £7 for adults) to go on a 40 minute tour of the house. I thought the tour itself was pretty corny. The tour started with a 5 minute video in the basement about the basics of Franklin, and then a guide dressed in 18th century attire walked us from the basement up through the first two levels of the house. In each room, a projection would play and the tour guide, acting as the daughter of Margaret Stevenson, would talk back as part of the play. I would have rather just read information on panels along the house, but I guess some people must like this sort of quasi-play-tour... I asked the people and they said that they get mostly Americans on the tour. Overall if you love Benjamin Franklin like I do, I'd recommend going to see the house, but skipping the tour. Upstairs is pretty much the same as downstairs and you'll save yourself some money.

His house, outside, 36 Craven St. Only a two minute walk from Trafalgar Square, but hidden so you'd probably need a map.

A room on the second floor. Almost all of the rooms seemed to have fireplaces.

National Portrait Galleries

I decided to go exploring this morning and got off the tube at Leicester Square (in Central London, north of the river) and stumbled across the National Portrait Galleries. The National Portrait Galleries is a free museum attached to The National Gallery that has the largest collection of portraits in the world dating back from 1505 all the way to the present day. The gallery is arranged in chronological order so you can literally walk through British political history. Of the over 1,000 portraits, some that I thought were the coolest were:

• a Shakespeare engraving taken from either the Second or Third Folio (1632 or 1663). This engraving is image of Shakespeare that you would have seen if you've ever a picture of him.
• an oil painting of Paul McCartney done by one of his brothers friends, Sam Walsh, called Mike's Brother (1964).
• really cracked oil paintings of both Emily Bronte and the Bronte sisters
• Andy Warhol's portraits Queen Elizabeth II. He painted four identical images of the Queen, all in different abstract colors, which was very interesting.
• A room of drawings of Lady Jane Grey, which I found very interesting just because of her story. She was part of a plot in 1553 to keep England Protestant and was queen for only nine days. No portrait of her was done in her lifetime, so all the drawings/paintings that exist were done after her execution in 1554.
• There was this room filled with a collection of paintings called the "Kit Cat Club" portraits which was apparently the most influential club of the day in England. The Kit Cat Club was very pro parliament, pro protestantism and against the monarchy, and in 1725 one member, Sir Godfrey Kneller painted 44 portraits of the clubs members.
• Other notables: Jonathan Swift, Thomas Hobbes, Brian Eno from Roxy Music (who I may be seeing July 17) and a collection of portraits by the American painter Alex Katz

The size of the gallery makes it just right for my attention span (I spent 2 hours there). Even though I'm not really all that into art museums, I really enjoyed walking though here because I was looking at all these people who I had studied in history. The galleries are right by Trafalgar Square, so its a very easy place to just pop into. All and all, definitely a cool place to walk through.

Camden Town

Friday Night I went clubbing with my friends from LAMDA at The Proud Galleries in Camden Town. The actual venue is both an art gallery and club and is in an area of Camden Town called Camden Stables, which is just that: stables. Camden Town was a very happening cultural area of London during the 1960s and remains a very young and more well known trendy neighborhood today. One of my friends who is from London described the area as "you get a lot of the asymmetrical haircuts there." My friend also suggested drinking before you go to the club because we had to pay an £8 cover to get in and once inside, it was £7 for drinks. Inside each of the stables was converted into either a bar or a private room to relax in. Attached to the stables area were two gigantic dance floors each with a different DJ. The DJs playing Friday night were both not too great. Both played a lot of old songs-at one point Sweet Home Alabama started playing... In one of the rooms, the DJ would play really great dubstep (sort of English techno music?) for forty minutes, then would take a break, play 80s music and bring out dancing girls. It was definitely an interesting night.

Ditch

I saw Ditch tonight at the Old Vic Tunnels in the Southbank area. The Old Vic Tunnels are by far the coolest venue I've ever seen. The tunnels are tunnels 228-232 beneath the Waterloo Station and have been converted into a full theatre with a bar and a huge art exhibit related to the show. Though the theatre was great, Ditch itself was just so-so. The show was written by Beth Steel who I'm not familiar with, but there were a lot of holes in the script. The story was set in the near future in England where a military regime has taken over the entire state. The cast consists of four members of the "security" force who try to catch illegals on the countryside and two women who are sort of refugees with them. The lighting and tech were great, but some of the cast members had really thick accents and were a bit hard to understand. One of the tunnels outside of the theatre that connected to the street was completely covered in graffiti that was a block and a half long and so awesome. What was really cool though was having the chance to hang out with cast members at the bar next store afterward. One of the guys in the cast graduated from LAMDA last August and is starting to film an HBO series in two weeks. I also met a guy in a Blackhawks jersey at the play who apparently grew up on the South Side of Chicago too.

Some of the art outside the show

One of the exhibits inside the tunnels outside of the actual auditorium.

The theatre itself. Very cool.

Enjoy the weekend! Up next, Macbeth at the Globe and hopefully a dubstep show.

Dirty Dancing

I saw my first show today with a friend from LAMDA, Dirty Dancing. The show was directed by James Powel at the Aldwych Theatre with Hannah Vassillo as Baby and Martin Harvey as Johnny Castle. Many of the West End productions offer day of student rate (i.e. extremely discounted tickets) tickets so I was able to purchase mine at 7 pm for the 7:30 show for only £15. The seat was supposed to be limited view, but because England one the world cup and all the country was out celebrating, there were a fair amount of empty seats and we sat in the first row center of the balcony. I love the film Dirty Dancing and was very impressed by the dance numbers in the piece. The set involved a revolving circle stage with was very cool and I thought worked well with the dancing. In addition, the set included a huge digital projection screen which the director incorporated really well. The first act somewhat felt like it was on fast forward, but the major numbers, like "Hungry Eyes" and "The Time of My Life", were great throughout the show. Vassillo's American accent was pretty good, but Harvey's could have used a bit more work. All in all, if you loved the movie, I'd recommend seeing the piece.

On a last note, according to by singing instructor, I'm not tone deaf. I just "have difficultly hearing, identifying and recreating pitch." I have to work on a Lute song (songs from the late 16th and 17th centuries meant to be accompanied by an instrument) for next week.

Musical Animal Funtime

As class was wrapping up for the end of the first day, I decided to ask one of the British students, Isabelle, if she knew of any good improv groups. Perfectly enough, she responded that her improv group, Musical Animal Funtime, was having an open rehearsal for friends and family this evening and she invited me to come. The rehearsal was at 8 pm near London Bridge at a Pub called the Horseshoe Inn and Ryan, a Dartmouth '12, and I went to check it out. Musical Animal Funtime is the first long form improv group (the style of Whose Line) in London. It was only their second show. Ryan and I gave them some feedback since long form improv is a lot more popular in the US. I've always really enjoyed improv, and the group's leader, Cecil, said it would be totally great if I came to their next rehearsal.

After the show, Isabelle, Cecil and one of the other group members joined Ryan and I for drinks at the pub. All three were about 24 and act in London. They had great suggestions of plays to check out in the area and to read as well. Cecil is acting in a play called "The Toad Poems" that runs tomorrow, the 22nd, through the 27th at the Etcetera Theatre that I am hopefully going to check out.

Now I have to be done blogging because I've got to read all of the Merchant of Venice still for class tomorrow...

LAMDA DAY 1

Today was my first day at LAMDA for the 8 week Shakespeare Course. I had no idea what to expect, but I was amazed by how incredible the program is. Class starts at 10 promptly and goes till 530. We have a 15 minute break in the morning and afternoon, and an hour from 115 to 215 for lunch. The 3 Year BA/BFA students at LAMDA are in school M-F 9 am till 9 pm, so I think 10 to 530 isn't too shabby. We spend half the day doing Shakespeare scene work and the other half doing two of either Historic Dance, Text Analysis, Acting, Voice or Singing (for those of you who have heard me sing... oh boy). Today was mostly orientation work, but tomorrow morning begins with Text/Singing.

There are 24 students in the workshop from literally all over the world. We spent the morning getting to know everyone and in the afternoon divided into the the groups that we will be working in for the next 8 weeks. I completely lucked out and am the only student from Dartmouth in my group; the other six Dartmouth students are together. It's really great to work by myself because I had the opportunity to meet so many new people. I was assigned the role that I'm going to be working on for the next few weeks-Portia in Merchant of Venice. My scene partner is a junior at Yale. There are 3 other Americans in my class, a boy from Dublin, a girl from Istanbul, a girl from Malta, a boy from Paris, and four kids from England. I found out that I am not only the youngest in my group, but that I also have the least experience acting Shakespeare as well (I have read more than most of the group, but as my professor dropped out of school at 14, he doesn't care much for Shakespeare as literature). My scene work professor, John Link in addition to being an actor/director/producer/teacher, is also an artist and his portraits of Shakespeare's characters are on exhibit at theaters all over London. LAMDA is one of the best acting conservatories in the world (I learned from a first year in the 3 year program that roughly 3000 auditioned for the 27 spots) and their alumni are all over the world.

Hopefully school stays as promising as orientation made it seem.

A Humble Aboad

I moved into where I'll be staying for the next ten weeks this morning in suite 37 at the Crofton Hotel at 14 Queen's Gate Road in South Kensington. The location is amazing-the nearest tube station is just 3 blocks away at Gloucester Road, and Hyde Park is only half a block away at end of my block. Sana helped me move everything here so after I dropped my things off, we went and grabbed lunch at Tesco, which is basically Dominicks, but where lots of students grab meals on the go. I also got a pay as you go phone! I can receive texts and calls for free, and have to pay 5p a minute to call the US, which is much better than what AT&T was going to charge me! My number here is 07771278893.

Sana informed me that I'm staying in a very "posh" neighborhood. The hotel has been converted into University Housing and is filled mostly with BU students. My two suite-mates are both Dartmouth Students, a senior and a sophomore, but only one has arrived so far. There are two other girls in another room and two other boys from Dartmouth here as well. The seven of us have a fully equipped kitchen to share. My suite is two stories-you enter on the top floor, which is my room, and down the stairs is my two room mates space and our bathroom. It's a pretty sweet setup. Our building has 24 hour security as well, but I checked with security and guests are allowed if anyone would like to visit! My group is going out to dinner in half an hour, so hopefully I get some nice pictures of the area and the neighborhood to include tomorrow.

The front of my building.

My bed and room. I didn't pick out the curtains...

The strange stairs that lead down to my suitemates room. The yellow sign on the right reads "mind the step"

Where my suitemates sleep. I think I lucked out.

Arriving in London

After a wonderful 2 hour ride to Dallas Fort Worth then 3 hours at the airport then a 9 hour plane ride, I finally made it to London! My friend Sana Jamie from when I visited here before came and met me at the airport and helped me lug my two 50.0 pound suitcases on the tube to his house. I can't move into my place till tomorrow so I'm staying by him this evening in Harrow.

I watched my first two "football" games today. America played in the World Cup today versus Slovenia in the afternoon and tied 2-2. The game gave me an excuse to wear my USA soccer jersey, but Sana wouldn't allow me to wear the jersey out to the pub to watch the English play this evening. We went to his family friend's bar to watch England vs. Algeria, and I learned all about why American football is apparently inferior to football in the rest of the world! They tied 0-0 also well, so America and England remain tied. The next English game is Wednesday night. I also purchased a drink legally for the first time as the drinking age here is 18! Quite an exciting afternoon--but ready to sleep off my jet lag!