Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular
Hello! :)
I went up to Sydney last Sunday to see the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular at the Sydney Opera House and it was amazing! You can read all about my trip and see some photos behind the cut :)
My friend Cheryl and I drove up in the morning so we got to stop for breakfast at McDonalds on the way :) The drive to reach the hotel was pretty uneventful thankfully. We were driving further into the city then what I'm used to but we were also driving on motorways most of the way so it wasn't as complicated as what I first thought it would be :)
We checked into the hotel and they had a valet parking service which was exciting. Here are some pics of the room which was really lovely :)
The great thing about this hotel was that it was so close to the Opera House so it only took about 5 minutes to walk and we were at Circular Quay. So after getting settled at the hotel, we went for a wander around Circular Quay and The Rocks before stopping for lunch.
Touresty photos:
After lunch, we then headed back to the hotel room to rest and then got ready for the show. When we arrived at the Sydney Opera House, it was really busy but thankfully I had preordered our merchandise packs so we didn't have to wait in queues for too long.
Here is a photo of me with a dalek :D
Here are some photos in the concert hall before the show.
The show itself was absolutely brilliant! I have adored the music from Doctor Who since the show was brought back in 2005 so it was amazing to see it performed live :D It started off with an introduction from Matt Smith and then the orchestra started performing a few of the songs. Similarly to the UK shows, the music was accompanied by clips from the show being displayed on a big screen as well as people dressed up as aliens/creatures walking on stage and amongst the audience. These included cyberman, silurians, the ood, sontarans, the silence as well as others. There were also appearances by the daleks later on and a weeping angel briefly towards the end which was super creepy haha
Listening to the music brought out all the emotions that I felt when originally seeing the episodes so it just goes to show how big a role music plays in setting the mood of a scene. There were definitely more than a few tears shed as well as plenty of laughter that night. I was very happy that they performed 'This is Gallifrey' which accompanied the Doctor's multiple regenerations as it is one of absolute favorite pieces from all the soundtracks :D Other highlights were when the daleks came out, having just taken over the concert hall and demanded that Ben Foster perform Dalek music, also when they performed Amy's theme as well as a selection of music from the latest episode, 'The Angels Take Manhattan'. Alex Kingston and Mark Williams were presenting and they did a great job. Some of their interactions with each other and us as the audience were hilarious! :D Murray Gold came out towards the end of the show and said a few words which was awesome and then they wrapped up with a few more songs including of course, the famous theme song.
More photos:
Here is a video I found on Youtube that shows clips from a rehearsal as well as interviews about the show if anyone is interested :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wfh2cyC8jE
After the show was over, we wandered back out to the entrance and I had a quick look through the rest of the stuff they had for sale. At the time, I was thinking that I might like to try and meet Alex Kingston and/or any of the other Doctor Who people but I wasn't holding out much hope because I was expecting the entrance they had reserved for guests to be a lot harder to find. As it turns out it was just around the corner from the main entrance haha There were quite a few people there already and Murray Gold had just come out! I got my program guide and marker and hovered around till he came past me. He signed my program guide and I told him that his work was amazing or something like that :) Cheryl got a photo of the moment too :D
After that, someone who worked there had said that people hoping to see Alex wouldn't be able to because she had left about 20 minutes prior so when Murray and others (Ben Foster, Caroline Skinner) left, most of the crowd started moving away too till there was only two small groups of people and myself waiting. I was almost going to go as well till I saw a car had just showed up that looked like it was there to pick someone up. It also occurred to me that they were just saying Alex had already left in the hopes that most of the crowd would leave. I have no idea how long we were waiting. Cheryl had left to go get some dinner but she later told me it must have been about 30 minutes. Eventually, someone came out to direct the driver to back into the loading zone and then we could actually see Alex coming down stairs inside the building and heading towards the car!! After seeing how few people were still waiting, she decided to come out and meet us after all which was so nice of her to do. I couldn't believe my luck! She is such a genuinely nice person in real life too. There were a couple of younger girls there who asked for hugs which she gladly gave and she signed things and took some photos with people, always with a smile and kind words for her fans :) I was a bit star-struck so I don't think I got much out other then thanking her and asking for a photo haha but it was an amazing experience just to meet her! :D
My photos and autographs:
After Alex left, I headed back to the hotel. I was still fairly excited about the whole experience of course and couldn't wait to tell Cheryl about it :) I also called home to tell my Dad who is also a fan of the show and he was all impressed and totally jealous that I got to meet Alex Kingston haha After that, I went to sleep :) In the morning, Cheryl and I went down for some breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then after packing everything up, we started the drive home.
It was a really amazing trip all up. Road tripping with Cheryl and seeing the show was all so much fun and of course being able to meet Alex and Murray was so awesome :D
Now, I'm looking forward to Christmas which I will be spending with my family. My holidays started today too so I'm officially free for two weeks \o/
Thank you to bigj52, pam81 and mysweetprince_ for the lovely Christmas cards that have arrived in the mail over the last couple of weeks! <3
I went up to Sydney last Sunday to see the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular at the Sydney Opera House and it was amazing! You can read all about my trip and see some photos behind the cut :)
My friend Cheryl and I drove up in the morning so we got to stop for breakfast at McDonalds on the way :) The drive to reach the hotel was pretty uneventful thankfully. We were driving further into the city then what I'm used to but we were also driving on motorways most of the way so it wasn't as complicated as what I first thought it would be :)
We checked into the hotel and they had a valet parking service which was exciting. Here are some pics of the room which was really lovely :)
The great thing about this hotel was that it was so close to the Opera House so it only took about 5 minutes to walk and we were at Circular Quay. So after getting settled at the hotel, we went for a wander around Circular Quay and The Rocks before stopping for lunch.
Touresty photos:
After lunch, we then headed back to the hotel room to rest and then got ready for the show. When we arrived at the Sydney Opera House, it was really busy but thankfully I had preordered our merchandise packs so we didn't have to wait in queues for too long.
Here is a photo of me with a dalek :D
Here are some photos in the concert hall before the show.
The show itself was absolutely brilliant! I have adored the music from Doctor Who since the show was brought back in 2005 so it was amazing to see it performed live :D It started off with an introduction from Matt Smith and then the orchestra started performing a few of the songs. Similarly to the UK shows, the music was accompanied by clips from the show being displayed on a big screen as well as people dressed up as aliens/creatures walking on stage and amongst the audience. These included cyberman, silurians, the ood, sontarans, the silence as well as others. There were also appearances by the daleks later on and a weeping angel briefly towards the end which was super creepy haha
Listening to the music brought out all the emotions that I felt when originally seeing the episodes so it just goes to show how big a role music plays in setting the mood of a scene. There were definitely more than a few tears shed as well as plenty of laughter that night. I was very happy that they performed 'This is Gallifrey' which accompanied the Doctor's multiple regenerations as it is one of absolute favorite pieces from all the soundtracks :D Other highlights were when the daleks came out, having just taken over the concert hall and demanded that Ben Foster perform Dalek music, also when they performed Amy's theme as well as a selection of music from the latest episode, 'The Angels Take Manhattan'. Alex Kingston and Mark Williams were presenting and they did a great job. Some of their interactions with each other and us as the audience were hilarious! :D Murray Gold came out towards the end of the show and said a few words which was awesome and then they wrapped up with a few more songs including of course, the famous theme song.
More photos:
Here is a video I found on Youtube that shows clips from a rehearsal as well as interviews about the show if anyone is interested :)
Click to viewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wfh2cyC8jE
After the show was over, we wandered back out to the entrance and I had a quick look through the rest of the stuff they had for sale. At the time, I was thinking that I might like to try and meet Alex Kingston and/or any of the other Doctor Who people but I wasn't holding out much hope because I was expecting the entrance they had reserved for guests to be a lot harder to find. As it turns out it was just around the corner from the main entrance haha There were quite a few people there already and Murray Gold had just come out! I got my program guide and marker and hovered around till he came past me. He signed my program guide and I told him that his work was amazing or something like that :) Cheryl got a photo of the moment too :D
After that, someone who worked there had said that people hoping to see Alex wouldn't be able to because she had left about 20 minutes prior so when Murray and others (Ben Foster, Caroline Skinner) left, most of the crowd started moving away too till there was only two small groups of people and myself waiting. I was almost going to go as well till I saw a car had just showed up that looked like it was there to pick someone up. It also occurred to me that they were just saying Alex had already left in the hopes that most of the crowd would leave. I have no idea how long we were waiting. Cheryl had left to go get some dinner but she later told me it must have been about 30 minutes. Eventually, someone came out to direct the driver to back into the loading zone and then we could actually see Alex coming down stairs inside the building and heading towards the car!! After seeing how few people were still waiting, she decided to come out and meet us after all which was so nice of her to do. I couldn't believe my luck! She is such a genuinely nice person in real life too. There were a couple of younger girls there who asked for hugs which she gladly gave and she signed things and took some photos with people, always with a smile and kind words for her fans :) I was a bit star-struck so I don't think I got much out other then thanking her and asking for a photo haha but it was an amazing experience just to meet her! :D
My photos and autographs:
After Alex left, I headed back to the hotel. I was still fairly excited about the whole experience of course and couldn't wait to tell Cheryl about it :) I also called home to tell my Dad who is also a fan of the show and he was all impressed and totally jealous that I got to meet Alex Kingston haha After that, I went to sleep :) In the morning, Cheryl and I went down for some breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then after packing everything up, we started the drive home.
It was a really amazing trip all up. Road tripping with Cheryl and seeing the show was all so much fun and of course being able to meet Alex and Murray was so awesome :D
Now, I'm looking forward to Christmas which I will be spending with my family. My holidays started today too so I'm officially free for two weeks \o/
Thank you to bigj52, pam81 and mysweetprince_ for the lovely Christmas cards that have arrived in the mail over the last couple of weeks! <3