Musical to my ears

West End, London

Leicester Square ticket booths :)

So I've decided that I love musicals. They're so fun and such a large part of British entertainment! And I just realised when I got back to the states that I should have gone to a play ummm, everyday. There's serious endless numbers of plays to see and they are so convenient to get to... AND, cheap! I'm getting more and more annoyed with myself as I type this...PLUS, I've been realising that I didn't upload loads of photos to my computer and ended up just deleting them off my memory card cuz... I figured I must have uploaded them. So ridiculous! Anyways, back to the subject:

Sooo I've decided that the next time I return to London, I'm watching one every night!!!!

And here is a quick rundown of my experiences with plays slash musicals in Londontown:

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

They used the word "machiney" - as in.. machine-like I think. It was really random. This was basically a rewind and fast forward of womens rights and the evolution from conservative family values to the more liberal society that we live in now (if I remember correctly - hopefully I'm not typing about something totally unrelated...). Anyways, I think it really got me thinking about what happiness is really based on. I mean families back then were "happy" - getting set up in marriage and then having and raising a family. But in today's society we're "so glad" that we have the choice of lifestyle....but the divorce rates are ridiculously high - so are we even happier now that we're able to freely make more choices???? Or maybe we are happier now, but we want EVEN MORE (thus, thinking we are not happy enough and leading to divorce.) I am completely rambling now. Thoughts anyone??? Dana???? Cavemen theory???? (That story will be revealed in the Copenhagen post. It'll be good. I promise....)

TRADITION!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahaha. totally in my head the entire next day.. probably because Sean was singing it on the walk to work.

THE LION KING
Lyceum Theatre

Everyone knows the story of Lion King.. no surprises there. However, everyone needs to see this musical just to experience how phenomenal the set is!! OK - I won't talk about it and give it away.. you just need to see it. In terms of the story line, I mean - you know what's coming so it's whatever. I lost my mobile phone this night like a loser. Boo to that.

The hills are alive... with
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
London Palladium Theatre

I've loved the Sound of Music ever since I was a little girl (and by that I mean utterly OBSESSED), so there really wasn't a way that I could be completely disappointed by this... and I wasn't! It was amazing, I was obsessed with the family - especially the littlest girl when I went to go see it! Can you say PRECIOUS?! I was also obsessed with their house - I want that house. And I love the story - the play was definitely a good reproduction (is that even the right word) of the movie! I'd honestly say it was good play even for people that aren't obsessed with the movie, but I can't be totally sure about that - Sean?? Your opinion?

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Her Majesty's Theatre

I've seen Phantom of the Opera in SF, so I was really excited to get to see it again in London! I loved it... it's one of those musicals were the music is SO prominent and famous that you can't get it out of your head the whole day after and you're on a musical high (especially when Lauren comes around to your desk and busts out in opera!!!) hahahaha. Such a classic, I wouldn't mind seeing this again in another city.. but I probably won't because there's another 817239181273 different ones I want to see. This post is starting to sound like an elongated Yelp post.

WICKED
Apollo Victoria Theatre

It was WICKED!! Hahaha, everyone needs to see this too. It was sooo funny- like awkwardly what the eff funny. Actually, the main girl (not the witch) reminded me of Darrell.

Her: oh wow, you look soooo, beautiful! (after she did makeup on the witch)
Witch: you do, too! as always.
Her: I know.

HAHAHAhahahaha. And then... the "why do we have to learn about stuff that's happened in the past?! I thought we were learning about HISTORY!"

Great story though, I'd probably have to say this is my fav that I saw in London.. although I wasn't really a fan of the actual theater. The seats didn't ascend up very much so it felt more like a conference room instead of a theater.

JERSEY BOYS - Story of rock 'n roll group Four Seasons
Prince Edward Theatre

taken from our suite. same as the ones are the other side! best seats ever!

So randomly after work one day, me and my coworker were like.... "Lets go see Jersey boys." So we grabbed food, walked from Tottenham Ct Rd tube stop, and tried to get tickets with our student cards for £25. The guy working at the ticket booth asked if we wanted box seats for £25.. uhhh YEAH! So my friend comes up to the booth and I ask if it's ok...and he's holding his open box of takeaway Chinese food in one hand, the fork in the other, and goes "The box seats?? Ain't that for like... the social elite or something???" HAHAHAHAH. freaking classic.

So I am absolutely in LOVE with Jersey Boys... it's such an upbeat performance and EVERYONE in the audience was having so much fun and singing along to the Four Seasons songs! Our box had three seats, so we shared with an older Australian woman who grew up with the Four Seasons music... she was super into it and told us during intermission that she was a judge in Australia. So my friend (who was sitting between us) goes.. "Wow... I'm kind of intimidated now..." and she goes.. "YOU WATCH TOO MUCH BAD REALITY TV!!" Hahahahahha. classic.

Then we were discussing the fact that 40 years later, the story of Four Seasons has been told through performances on stage.... I can't wait until the day 50cent & Nelly take the stage and we see performers reenacting their stories w/ jeans hanging halfway down their legs. Hmmm, nope, can't imagine it.

HAIRSPRAY
Shaftesbury Theatre

It was cute! I'd only recommend it if you're looking for something to do on a girls night out...it's a fun kind of audience interactive one - which Tiff does not like cuz she hates "synchronized clapping." Hahahahahaha.

The End :)