(no subject)
I SUCK at posting so here's a quick (LOL quick, most of these bits I started writing and then abandoned so hopefully pulling them together is quick but the post might be quite long!) update.
On Saturday I took Mum for her Christmas present which was a tour of St Pancras station followed by a cup of tea (well I promised her a cocktail but we were both in the mood for tea).
(more pictures on facebook.
That definitely counted as my beautiful thing of the day, several days worth in one go! It was absolutely fascinating and the hotel is so beautiful inside. I'd highly reccommend popping in for tea or a drink and at least seeing the Booking Hall and Lobby.
Then on Sunday it was a two service day and then I headed into London in the GLORIOUS sunshine to meet seiyaharris and we promptly spent all afternoon underneath Charing Cross station in the dark... it was totally worth it though.
Singular Sensations: Stiles & Drewe @ Charing Cross Theatre
The Singular Sensations series is basically Edward Seckerson chatting with various musical theatre personalities and this time round it was Stiles & Drewe and we couldn't resist. It was clearly the best week to start as well because along with Stiles & Drewe speaking & performing we also got performances of their music from Michael Jibson, Caroline Sheen, Cassie Compton AND Anna-Jane Casey <3
They talked about how they met and how they started composing together and told some wonderful stories about the various projects they'd been involved in (and their ongoing obsession with producing musicals about animals- Wind in the Willows and Goldilocks are on their way!). They're both such wonderful storytellers and seemingly such lovely people that it was an absolute joy to hear them talking about their lives and the people they've worked with along the way.
Particular facts/moments I remember include them askign the Shermans why Practically Perfect wasn';t a song in Mary Poppins as it sounds like a song title- apparently it was! But when Glynis Johns turned up thinkign she was playing Mary Poppins they were hurridly asked to write a song for Mrs Banks and so their version of Practically Perfect turned into Sister Suffragette!
Apparently they were very keen to make sure the Shermann brothers were okay with them working on Mary Poppins as they knew it was hard for them being shut out :-/ They talked about other composers/lyricists too (Tim Minchint hey liked, they were disappointed by Rufus Wainwright's attempt at opera and Andrew Lloyd Webber... well Ed Seckerson was pretty rude but Drewe said that after Betty Blue Eyes ALW just said "well I couldn't have written Pig, No Pig which is a very strange comment in many ways! Also they talked about their ongoing love for Stephen Sondheim <3 I was also very excited to hear how their musical version of Travels With My Aunt was going and we even got to hear a wonderful Calypso number from it <3
We had songs from the Just So Stories and Betty Blue Eyes and Soho Cinders (Let Him Go rather than They Don' Make Glass Slippers as I'd been half expecting). Cassie Compton also sang a wonderful song that's going to be in Goldilocks called Cause I'm A Girl and Anna-Jane Casey sang a song from a musical they're writing for America called Soap Dish (based on a film I'd swear I've never heard of).
Mostly though I just loved hearing them mess around on the piano and play off each other and all the songs were beautifully done (they sang Magic Fingers which always makes me want to cry <3) and then they finished with one of their Cabaret songs- Nouvelle Cuisine- which I've always loved.
Oh and then they had a collection for the Teenage Cancer Trust and holding the buckets were Mark Anderson (Union boys ftw) and Gavin Creel! ♥
Then we stood on the balcony at the front of the Festival Hall and watched the sun set with a very nice glass of wine and I couldn't really believe it was only March... so whether you count Stiles & Drewe or the sunny day that was a pretty great day for beautiful things all round.
Monday was back to work however there was one very good moment- I'm going to be employed full time from April! Admittedly my fifth day is only going to be on a year contract rather than permanent as the rest of my hours are BUT STILL <3 I am a very happy person to finally have reached this point.
Oh and also the Olivier Award nominations were announced... Generally speaking I'm happier with them than a lot of other theatrical awards recently but there are still any number of issues starting with why is the Best Actor category so white in the year of Chiwetel Ejifor, Adrian Lester & Lenny Henry (admittedly I didn't see Fences but I've heard good things!)
No but seriously- why no Adrian Lester? I guess maybe they didn't want two Othello actors in the same category but OH WAIT if Bendict & Johnny could both WIN for the same play that can't be it :-|
Much as I adore Judi Dench her spot should have been given to Linda Bassett in Roots because she was absolutely stunning and Judi Dench wasn't really stretched in peter & Alice (speaking of which I think Chimerica might be the only new play worth of its nomination :-P) Oh and in the Best Supporting Actress where is Deborah Findaly!?
One thing that's lovely to see is 3/4 of the Best Director nominations being women and I never saw Richard Eyre's production of Ghosts but any of the three women would be worthy winners.
In the musical categories I was really glad to see The Scottsboro Boys get so many nominations (especially Kyle Scatliffe) but I was a little sad neither of the lead guys in Merrily got nods to accompany Jenna because all three were amazing.
What else? Cush Jumbo is a genius and I very badly want her to win <3 and I was a little sad Gabriel at the Globe didn't get anything but then it's hard to categorise is and Globe stuff tends not to do so well (it will be fascinating to see if that carries across into the Sam Wanamaker for next year's awards!)
So a bit Swings & Roundabouts which I guess is usual!
And now it's Tuesday and I have spent the day removing the old wardrobe from my room & taking it to Emmaus (a local charity that renovates old furniture and sells it) and then driving to Ikea to buy a new one (and miraculous buying NOTHING ELSE) and now it's almost Rainbow time which will be interesting because we're down a leader again and my new leader/young leaders are still rather uncertain of themselves and also because we're doing yoga but I'm sure everything will be FINE.
Also today's beautiful thing was probably the Elderflower Cupcake I had at Ikea <3
On Saturday I took Mum for her Christmas present which was a tour of St Pancras station followed by a cup of tea (well I promised her a cocktail but we were both in the mood for tea).
(more pictures on facebook.
That definitely counted as my beautiful thing of the day, several days worth in one go! It was absolutely fascinating and the hotel is so beautiful inside. I'd highly reccommend popping in for tea or a drink and at least seeing the Booking Hall and Lobby.
Then on Sunday it was a two service day and then I headed into London in the GLORIOUS sunshine to meet seiyaharris and we promptly spent all afternoon underneath Charing Cross station in the dark... it was totally worth it though.
Singular Sensations: Stiles & Drewe @ Charing Cross Theatre
The Singular Sensations series is basically Edward Seckerson chatting with various musical theatre personalities and this time round it was Stiles & Drewe and we couldn't resist. It was clearly the best week to start as well because along with Stiles & Drewe speaking & performing we also got performances of their music from Michael Jibson, Caroline Sheen, Cassie Compton AND Anna-Jane Casey <3
They talked about how they met and how they started composing together and told some wonderful stories about the various projects they'd been involved in (and their ongoing obsession with producing musicals about animals- Wind in the Willows and Goldilocks are on their way!). They're both such wonderful storytellers and seemingly such lovely people that it was an absolute joy to hear them talking about their lives and the people they've worked with along the way.
Particular facts/moments I remember include them askign the Shermans why Practically Perfect wasn';t a song in Mary Poppins as it sounds like a song title- apparently it was! But when Glynis Johns turned up thinkign she was playing Mary Poppins they were hurridly asked to write a song for Mrs Banks and so their version of Practically Perfect turned into Sister Suffragette!
Apparently they were very keen to make sure the Shermann brothers were okay with them working on Mary Poppins as they knew it was hard for them being shut out :-/ They talked about other composers/lyricists too (Tim Minchint hey liked, they were disappointed by Rufus Wainwright's attempt at opera and Andrew Lloyd Webber... well Ed Seckerson was pretty rude but Drewe said that after Betty Blue Eyes ALW just said "well I couldn't have written Pig, No Pig which is a very strange comment in many ways! Also they talked about their ongoing love for Stephen Sondheim <3 I was also very excited to hear how their musical version of Travels With My Aunt was going and we even got to hear a wonderful Calypso number from it <3
We had songs from the Just So Stories and Betty Blue Eyes and Soho Cinders (Let Him Go rather than They Don' Make Glass Slippers as I'd been half expecting). Cassie Compton also sang a wonderful song that's going to be in Goldilocks called Cause I'm A Girl and Anna-Jane Casey sang a song from a musical they're writing for America called Soap Dish (based on a film I'd swear I've never heard of).
Mostly though I just loved hearing them mess around on the piano and play off each other and all the songs were beautifully done (they sang Magic Fingers which always makes me want to cry <3) and then they finished with one of their Cabaret songs- Nouvelle Cuisine- which I've always loved.
Oh and then they had a collection for the Teenage Cancer Trust and holding the buckets were Mark Anderson (Union boys ftw) and Gavin Creel! ♥
Then we stood on the balcony at the front of the Festival Hall and watched the sun set with a very nice glass of wine and I couldn't really believe it was only March... so whether you count Stiles & Drewe or the sunny day that was a pretty great day for beautiful things all round.
Monday was back to work however there was one very good moment- I'm going to be employed full time from April! Admittedly my fifth day is only going to be on a year contract rather than permanent as the rest of my hours are BUT STILL <3 I am a very happy person to finally have reached this point.
Oh and also the Olivier Award nominations were announced... Generally speaking I'm happier with them than a lot of other theatrical awards recently but there are still any number of issues starting with why is the Best Actor category so white in the year of Chiwetel Ejifor, Adrian Lester & Lenny Henry (admittedly I didn't see Fences but I've heard good things!)
No but seriously- why no Adrian Lester? I guess maybe they didn't want two Othello actors in the same category but OH WAIT if Bendict & Johnny could both WIN for the same play that can't be it :-|
Much as I adore Judi Dench her spot should have been given to Linda Bassett in Roots because she was absolutely stunning and Judi Dench wasn't really stretched in peter & Alice (speaking of which I think Chimerica might be the only new play worth of its nomination :-P) Oh and in the Best Supporting Actress where is Deborah Findaly!?
One thing that's lovely to see is 3/4 of the Best Director nominations being women and I never saw Richard Eyre's production of Ghosts but any of the three women would be worthy winners.
In the musical categories I was really glad to see The Scottsboro Boys get so many nominations (especially Kyle Scatliffe) but I was a little sad neither of the lead guys in Merrily got nods to accompany Jenna because all three were amazing.
What else? Cush Jumbo is a genius and I very badly want her to win <3 and I was a little sad Gabriel at the Globe didn't get anything but then it's hard to categorise is and Globe stuff tends not to do so well (it will be fascinating to see if that carries across into the Sam Wanamaker for next year's awards!)
So a bit Swings & Roundabouts which I guess is usual!
And now it's Tuesday and I have spent the day removing the old wardrobe from my room & taking it to Emmaus (a local charity that renovates old furniture and sells it) and then driving to Ikea to buy a new one (and miraculous buying NOTHING ELSE) and now it's almost Rainbow time which will be interesting because we're down a leader again and my new leader/young leaders are still rather uncertain of themselves and also because we're doing yoga but I'm sure everything will be FINE.
Also today's beautiful thing was probably the Elderflower Cupcake I had at Ikea <3