Andrew in "Dracula"
As promised... might be a little waffley, you know how I am when it comes to Andrew ;)
After a bit of a nightmare over my hotel (went online Friday night to get directions to it from the tube station and found a page full of really bad reviews for it. Spent next half hour trying to find somewhere else but all the cheap places booked up and couldn't afford those with vacancies so decided to chance it. Turned out OK, bit shabby and in need of a lick of paint but otherwise a good choice as only 2 mins walk from the tube station) and then the train journey almost from hell (sat still for 40 minutes because some idiot children decided to play on the lines somewhere between Watford and Euston. Police tried to remove them and they seemed to think it amusing to run away. All lines in and out of Euston had to be closed) I finally arrived, checked into the hotel, freshened up and got changed. Short tube ride to Leicester Square and found the theatre (not easy to find... PJ, I can give you some directions)
After collecting my ticket, I wondered if I should just hang around, go in search of the stage door or go and get something to eat. As it started to rain, I decided food was the best option ;) Went back half an hour later, great timing as Andrew was stood right outside the main door with Max Wrottesley and a few others from the cast. At this point, I also ran into Jess (who used to post on here as JessTemple but hasn't for a while) and she went over and asked Andrew if it was possible to get a photo with him. He was gracious as always and said there would be more time after the show for autographs and photos... off they all went inside and we joined the queue (well, we WERE the queue at that point lol)
The theatre itself is split into two. The main theatre had a show on too, but we were directed down some stairs into a basement where "The Lounge" was. They'd really gone to town decorating the stairs and making it a part of the show too, you felt like you were entering somewhere spooky from the start. From the rehearsal photos that were being tweeted, it seemed that they were on a stage, but the Lounge is basically just a room. They'd set out about 4 rows of chairs (at a guess about 50 seats) and the performance area was about 3 metres.. meaning the actors were extremely close. It was definitely intimate.
It is a considerably small world. Whilst waiting for the play to start I got chatting to a lovely young lady next to me. Turns out she's a fan on twitter and tumblr and recently had some of her artwork retweeted by Hannah Spearritt. She was showing me her watercolour painting of Rex that she had on her phone... amazing! Then I could hear the lady on the other side of me chatting to Jess about fanfiction, so I asked who she was. Rubytronix from FF.
The play was fairly true to the original book, although they did omit a few things and rearranged some things to make it fit better. Some of the action also took place behind a white screen and done in shadow - the first glimpse of Andrew was in such a scene, no mistaking him though LOL You'll be pleased to hear he was using his own accent to a certain degree, just a "posher" version of it. Then he came through the curtain and stood there... black tight jeans, white frilly shirt slightly open at the neck and a grey waistcoat... stood there in front of us less than a metre away!!!
There's some quite lengthy dialogue in this, very impressed given they've only been rehearsing it for a couple of weeks.
The highlights for me were the scenes Andrew did with Max (Dracula). There's definitely a dynamic between them that worked and would love to see them work together again. Max seemed perfect as the Count, creepy but suitably charming and a little bit sexy with it. Andrew's portrayal of Harker was that of a young gentleman who has bettered himself through education and risen up the ranks of his profession, but also with a sense of humour and very much in love with his wife. The chemistry between him and the actress playing Mina also worked incredibly well, and some of their kissing scenes were quite intense.
Then the angst kicks in, poor Harker is tortured by the things he sees at the Count's castle and is seduced (twice) by three of his "brides" (lucky ladies get to run their hands all over Andrew's body) And at one point, Harker drops to his knees clutching his crucifix and begging for the Count to release him... so close you could feel his breath on your face! You all know how well Andrew does "tortured" and "angsty", and seeing it up close in real time is just a joy to watch.
Of course, good always wins over evil ... with a twist in the tale that isn't in the book.
After the show, people slowly milled out. I've been following the director, Adam Morley on twitter, and he came out to ask people to move on. I went over to say hi and introduce myself. He thanked me for coming and obviously remembered I'm an Andrew fan because he said "Andrew will be out shortly, wait by the stairs."
I almost missed Andrew! Decided to pay a visit to the ladies thinking they'd be a while yet, and when I came out, he was already chatting to a group on the stairs. I was able to get an autograph for a special friend before he made his way up to the main entrance where the rest of the cast were already chatting to people. Outside, I got a photo with him and then went over to chat to Max (and got his autograph too)
And then it was all over. I believe I heard Adam say they were all going on to a party and the cast were starting to try and move away, so goodbyes were said and I headed off back to my hotel.
After a bit of a nightmare over my hotel (went online Friday night to get directions to it from the tube station and found a page full of really bad reviews for it. Spent next half hour trying to find somewhere else but all the cheap places booked up and couldn't afford those with vacancies so decided to chance it. Turned out OK, bit shabby and in need of a lick of paint but otherwise a good choice as only 2 mins walk from the tube station) and then the train journey almost from hell (sat still for 40 minutes because some idiot children decided to play on the lines somewhere between Watford and Euston. Police tried to remove them and they seemed to think it amusing to run away. All lines in and out of Euston had to be closed) I finally arrived, checked into the hotel, freshened up and got changed. Short tube ride to Leicester Square and found the theatre (not easy to find... PJ, I can give you some directions)
After collecting my ticket, I wondered if I should just hang around, go in search of the stage door or go and get something to eat. As it started to rain, I decided food was the best option ;) Went back half an hour later, great timing as Andrew was stood right outside the main door with Max Wrottesley and a few others from the cast. At this point, I also ran into Jess (who used to post on here as JessTemple but hasn't for a while) and she went over and asked Andrew if it was possible to get a photo with him. He was gracious as always and said there would be more time after the show for autographs and photos... off they all went inside and we joined the queue (well, we WERE the queue at that point lol)
The theatre itself is split into two. The main theatre had a show on too, but we were directed down some stairs into a basement where "The Lounge" was. They'd really gone to town decorating the stairs and making it a part of the show too, you felt like you were entering somewhere spooky from the start. From the rehearsal photos that were being tweeted, it seemed that they were on a stage, but the Lounge is basically just a room. They'd set out about 4 rows of chairs (at a guess about 50 seats) and the performance area was about 3 metres.. meaning the actors were extremely close. It was definitely intimate.
It is a considerably small world. Whilst waiting for the play to start I got chatting to a lovely young lady next to me. Turns out she's a fan on twitter and tumblr and recently had some of her artwork retweeted by Hannah Spearritt. She was showing me her watercolour painting of Rex that she had on her phone... amazing! Then I could hear the lady on the other side of me chatting to Jess about fanfiction, so I asked who she was. Rubytronix from FF.
The play was fairly true to the original book, although they did omit a few things and rearranged some things to make it fit better. Some of the action also took place behind a white screen and done in shadow - the first glimpse of Andrew was in such a scene, no mistaking him though LOL You'll be pleased to hear he was using his own accent to a certain degree, just a "posher" version of it. Then he came through the curtain and stood there... black tight jeans, white frilly shirt slightly open at the neck and a grey waistcoat... stood there in front of us less than a metre away!!!
There's some quite lengthy dialogue in this, very impressed given they've only been rehearsing it for a couple of weeks.
The highlights for me were the scenes Andrew did with Max (Dracula). There's definitely a dynamic between them that worked and would love to see them work together again. Max seemed perfect as the Count, creepy but suitably charming and a little bit sexy with it. Andrew's portrayal of Harker was that of a young gentleman who has bettered himself through education and risen up the ranks of his profession, but also with a sense of humour and very much in love with his wife. The chemistry between him and the actress playing Mina also worked incredibly well, and some of their kissing scenes were quite intense.
Then the angst kicks in, poor Harker is tortured by the things he sees at the Count's castle and is seduced (twice) by three of his "brides" (lucky ladies get to run their hands all over Andrew's body) And at one point, Harker drops to his knees clutching his crucifix and begging for the Count to release him... so close you could feel his breath on your face! You all know how well Andrew does "tortured" and "angsty", and seeing it up close in real time is just a joy to watch.
Of course, good always wins over evil ... with a twist in the tale that isn't in the book.
After the show, people slowly milled out. I've been following the director, Adam Morley on twitter, and he came out to ask people to move on. I went over to say hi and introduce myself. He thanked me for coming and obviously remembered I'm an Andrew fan because he said "Andrew will be out shortly, wait by the stairs."
I almost missed Andrew! Decided to pay a visit to the ladies thinking they'd be a while yet, and when I came out, he was already chatting to a group on the stairs. I was able to get an autograph for a special friend before he made his way up to the main entrance where the rest of the cast were already chatting to people. Outside, I got a photo with him and then went over to chat to Max (and got his autograph too)
And then it was all over. I believe I heard Adam say they were all going on to a party and the cast were starting to try and move away, so goodbyes were said and I headed off back to my hotel.