January 2

I woke up rested and ready to head out!.... to class.  I forget sometimes that this is not just a pleasure voyage, but an actual class.  We had a summary of the 39 Steps, and a bit more on the technical language of the theatre, then we were released.  I knew I had a matinee at 3, so I decided to do something quick, but fun:  Baker Street!!

The Sherlock Holmes Museum is a wonderful thing to see!  They did it so well!  In the first floor they had set up the sitting room and Sherlock’s bedroom in exact detail, keeping with the books and the pure Victorian Style.  They even included the VR (Victoria Regina) shot into the wall whenever Sherlock is bored.  So much fun! 

The second floor, where Mrs. Hudson’s and Dr. Waston’s rooms should have been, was more of an exhibition.  They had some of Madame Taussad’s (I have no idea how to spell that) wax work figures of some scenes from the books, and throughout the rooms, there were little props from the movies and reconstructions of all the little details from the books, like blow pipe from the Sign of Four.  So much fun!!  It was wonderful!

I was snapping picture after picture, and one of the helpers in the museum remarked how nice it was that someone was taking pictures of the museum itself, instead of just themselves in the museum.  I then started to notice how true that was, not only in the museum but everywhere I went.  People always seemed more interested in documenting how they were somewhere, instead of the somewhere they are!  Isn’t that odd?  I think it is.

Anyway, after that it was time for my first play of the day:  Pirates of Penzance!  The Barbican Theatre was in a part of London that I had never been to before.  It was all steel and glass and very well to do.  Thankfully, no one at the Barbican seemed to mind that I was wearing corduroy pants.  They all seemed really pleased that I had such a keen interest in Gilbert and Sullivan. 

The play was wonderful!  The orchestra was right on the stage, and the chorus was behind them.  The main actors traipsed about onstage.  It was so much fun!!  They did a really fantastic job!  It was hilarious and the singing was great!  Frederic was so naïve and innocent, a real ham!  Mabel matched him to a T!  The Pirate King expertly buckled swash, and the Chief of Police was a big fat guy, who sang his songs expertly!  And General Stanly!  He was fantastic!!  A thin wiry guy, he was so wonderful!

At one point in the play, the Pirate King slapped his chest, but he accidently hit his microphone!  It made a huge booming sound, and the Pirate King looked embarrassed for a split second, and then he launched into a small bit of improv about how he had such a large heart and big chest.  We all laughed and then he went on with the scene and slapped his chest again, only he missed the microphone.  Then he shook his head, and slapped his microphone again!  We all lost it!!  After that, it was Ruth’s turn to speak, and she tried slapping her chest, but her microphone was a in a different place, and it didn’t make a booming sound, and she shook her head dejectedly.  The house roared with laughter!!  It was great! 

After that, I dashed home to grab my ticket for the 39 Steps, when I ran into Dr. Cannon and Holly!  They were going over to Yo!  Sushi, which was right next to the theatre.  They asked me to join them, and I gladly accepted!  It was so much fun!  The sushi goes around the restaurant on a little conveyor belt, and you just grab and eat whatever you want!  You can tell how much the sushi costs by the color of the plate.  It was such a fun place to eat!  Yay for sushi!

And ZOMG the 39 steps was fantastic!!  I loved it so much!!  So so so good!!

I completely adored it!  It was very campy, yet at times, it was very emotional.  For instance, when Richard, the hero,  was in the home of an ugly scott with the pretty wife, there were some very poignant emotions being played on the stage.  It was a very mature moment and I was very pleased that they had the courage to put that in there, right in the middle of a very comedic and slapstick play.  

The actors were phenomenal.  The main leads, one of whom looked alarmingly like Cary Elweiss, was wonderful as the determined hero of the play, always keeping a straight face no matter the hilarity that the other two men were performing at the moment.  Sometimes they were annoyed by them, and other times they were flat out ignored them.  

I was so impressed with the actors stamina!  You could see the sweat dripping down their faces, but they never relented their break neck pace.  The two supporting actors awed me with the different characters and voices they did, and how they were all so different, and how they managed to keep each individual character separate and unique.  Just amazing!

At one point in the play, He was giving a speech to the public, i.e. us, and he asked a question. I wasn't quite sure if it was rhetorical, so, when he asked the question again, I thought we were supposed to answer.  So I quietly said, "No?" and he looked at me and said, "Thank you!"  It was so funny!  

One of the most magical parts of the play was at the very ending.  It ended at Christmas time, and they made it snow out of the window in the back of the stage, then when they came down to take their bows, it started to snow on the audience!!  It was only foam, of course, but it was the most magical thing ever, when it had just started.  So beautiful!  I was sitting in the front row, so it was coming down right on top of me and it was so wonderfully awesome!