| Submitted by: Evelyn C. Leeper United States |
| Submission Date: 11 February 2005 |
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Mark bought a couple of books about Peter Cushing; Kate also found a couple of items. Plastic is wonderful; we're using credit cards for almost all our major expenses. Visa seems universal; Susan commented on the absence of Mastercard signs.
Lunch was at a Greek fish and chips place, with a waiter with a sense of humor. We all had plaice, which is either unavailable in the United States or goes by a different name. I had lemonade, which is lemon soda. I may have been wrong about cider--it's not as widespread as I said.
After lunch we stopped at Wyndham's to get our tickets for THE SECRET OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. We got stalls (orchestra seats) and from the tickets I guess the tour companies pay half-price, so the vouchers are like twofers except you don't have to stand in a long line at a set time to get them.
Then on to the Queen's Theatre to check on tickets for SINGLE SPIES. No luck--they weren't taking vouchers. We decided we wanted to see it anyway and bought a four-seat box for Saturday night at fifteen pounds each. That's $27 for a West End top show--sure beats New York prices! (Even assuming you could find a non-musical in New York.) I guess we'll try for RICHARD II with Derek Jacobi with our vouchers.
[It turns out that by charging them on Visa they were only $25.50 each--you get a much better rate with Visa.]
The next stop, and our major activity for the afternoon, was the Piccadilly Theatre for METROPOLIS. When I went to pick up the tickets they couldn't find them and I started to get very nervous (even though I had copies of all the correspondence and the Visa bill), but the clerk eventually found them under 'Evelyn' instead of under 'Leeper.' So there we were, front row, center, Royal Circle (what we call mezzanine, but doesn't 'Royal Circle' sound better?).
Since Mark is doing a full-fledged review, I'll do a halffledged one (maybe even quarter-fledged). the phrase 'full of sound and fury, signifying nothing' comes to mind, but that's not quite fair. What it signifies, however, it almost antithetical to Lang's message (and possibly Von Harbou's, though I haven't read the book). Lang concluded with conciliation between the workers and the elite ('There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.'). In the play the elite (called the elitists, a major semantic difference) are destroyed when the Master of Metropolis blows up the city in despair over losing his son, and the workers come up amid the rubble and vow to build a better Metropolis for themselves. It's a question of peaceful change versus violent revolution.
What about the other aspects of the play? The acting is unremarkable except for Brian Blessed, who is delightedfully overdone as the Master of Metropolis. He is more like the mad scientist of the old movies than the play's actual scientist, but (as we all observed) is no singer. I refer to the characters by description rather than by name since all the names except Maria's were changed from the film to the play.)
The music is loud, but the tunes and lyrics are often trite (especially 'The Children of Metropolis' and 'You Are the Light'). The sets and special effects are the real stars and, yes, they're impressive, including laser light effects, but you can't sustain a two-show show on sets and effects only. (As we agreed, it's no PHANTOM. It's not even a SWEENEY TODD. It is better than CHARLIE AND ALGERNON.)
After the play we decided to grab a quick meal before the evening's play. After walking around a while, we went into the Aberdeen Coffee House. First they indicated a table which still had people seated at it. Finally they gave us an empty table--and promptly forgot about us. After about fifteen minutes we gave up and left. We then went to Garfunkel's, where we had eaten last time we were in London and had good service. (Actually, it's a chain all over London, but we had eaten at this particular one.) Sure enough, we were seated almost immediately and the food came fast. I had avocado with prawns--very good. Also tea to keep me awake.
I then made a quick run (literally) to the Phoenix Theatre to see about getting for RICHARD II. Again, we can exchange only on the day of the performance but the clerk said there would be no problem. When I got back to Wyndham's I discovered Mark had bought me a book on Sherlock Holmes in the media--how appropriate.
We had seats in the stalls, about half-way back. Mark found himself behind someone tall, so we rolled up my coat and he sat on it (there was no one behind him).
Again, Mark will be reviewing THE SECRET OF SHERLOCK HOLMES so I'll just make a few comments. Most of the first half was short vignettes from various stories (Holmes and Watson's first meeting, Watson's listing of Holmes's shortcomings, etc.). Of course, they're all familiar to Holmes fans (and that is far and away the audience, or for that matter the intended audience), but the performances by Brett and Hardwicke are the point more than the plot. In the second half the scriptwriter (Jeremy Paul) takes more liberties--perhaps more than many would consider reasonable. But, as I said, it's the performances people come to see--not the plot, not the sets, and there is no music (except for the violin). In summary, a must for Holmes fans, but probably not vital for others.
After the performance we went around to the stage door and waited (for almost an hour) for Hardwicke and Brett to come out and sign autographs. Hardwicke came out after a half hour, looking very much like an English country gentleman. Though Brett gets more attention than Hardwicke, I think Hardwicke is his equal in making the series (and the play) successful. Where would Holmes be without his Watson? The two stories told by Holmes answer that--they are among the worst of the Canon (in my opinion, anyway).
As Hardwicke was signing, a man came up to the crowd and asked me who he was. I told him and he went away, then I said to Kate, 'Wouldn't it have been funny if that was Jeremy Brett in disguise?' She thought this extremely risable and insisted I include it here. But it wasn't Brett, and we had to wait quite a while longer.
When Brett finally did come out, he was very apologetic about keeping us waiting. I figure he was probably receiving visitors from some branch or other of the Baker Street Irregulars. Mark wishes me to comment on Brett's attire: busboy's pants (whatever they are), cloth cap, and a gold earring. Very Bohemian, but then Holmes was always the Bohemian to Watson's English gentleman. Brett was very gracious and asked each person to whom the autograph should be inscribed. When he heard Kate's accent, he asked where in the States she was from and when she said 'Massachusetts,' he said that he used to live there with his 'dear late wife.'
When this was done we went back to the hotel via the Underground and to bed...
... but not to sleep. About 12:30 AM the fire alarm went off. We looked out and, yes, people were leaving their rooms. So we threw on some clothes, grabbed our passports and money, and went outside (conveniently, our room was on the first floor--American second floor--right by the fire exit). After about fifteen minutes a fireman came out carrying a charred pillow. Mark had commented that if the alarm was a false one it would probably be because of drinking and, if real, because of smoking, and this appeared to be the case. After another ten minutes we were allowed to go back to our rooms and then to sleep.
March 30, 1989: Breakfast at 7:30 AM, then a nap until we left (about 9:30). I'm not sure why we're eating so early. Today was shopping day, so we walked down Great Portland Street and then Regent Street (a major shopping street).
We stopped in several stores, notably Liberty (where Susan bought a good supply of fabric), Marks & Spencer (we bought some candy), Hambly's (an enormous toy store), several china and crystal shops, a Boots' (Kate bought half a case of shampoo), and Tower Records. The weather was gorgeous, as it has been the whole time. I suspect the umbrella I packed will prove superfluous.
After Susan took some pictures of Piccadilly Circus we headed west along Piccadilly. Near Wellington's Monument the roads get somewhat confused and there is a system of pedestrian subways (underpasses) to get you where you want to go, complete with wall maps of the system. This was new to Susan and more elaborate than any others I can remember from previous visits. (Mark points out the system near the Marble Arch is more complicated.) Susan also remarked on the number of stores that had security guards near the entrances. I hadn't really noticed, since it's not all that different than New York.
We eventually reached Harrod's and wanted to eat there, but their pub was too crowded. (It was called The Green Man, which seems to be the most popular name for pubs in England, just as most Ethiopian restaurants are named The Blue Nile.) So we went back outside and found a place called Wolfe's where we had lunch. Eating out is expensive in London--the prices don't look too bad until you realize they're in pounds rather than dollars.
After lunch we spent an hour wandering through Harrod's and the shops nearby. At one point in Harrod's, a woman walked by saying she would like a tour that spent every day in Harrod's. I turned to Mark and said that was my idea of Hell.
After Harrod's Kate and Susan decided to take a taxi back to the hotel. (Later, when Susan saw how far we had walked, she was amazed she had gotten this far.) Mark and I pressed on to the Victoria and Albert Museum. On the opposite side of the street from us was something called 'The Reject Shop.' Mark said he wondered what was in it. I said I didn't care if it had a new Olaf Stapledon novel, I wasn't going into another store.
At the Victoria and Albert we went through the Oriental halls, since we had come mainly for the netsuke. Then to the tube station where we had a fairly long wait for our train. This was due in part to the fact that our train on the Circle Line shared the tracks with the District Line trains. The Circle Line circles central London, while the District Line goes west, carrying commuters out of the city, and since it was almost 5 PM, there were many more District Line trains running.
Anyway, we did finally get back (we even got to get off at the station closest to the hotel; usually we need to use the next one over).
We changed clothes, then joined Susan and Kate and walked down to the Phoenix, where we changed our vouchers for seats (in the stalls) for RICHARD II. At this point we had some time to spare, but still needed to plan plays for Friday night and Saturday matinee. We narrowed it down to A WALK IN THE WOODS and LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, but the situation was complicated by the facts that 1) Mark and I would rather see A WALK IN THE WOODS, 2) Kate and Susan would rather see LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, 3) either or both might be sold out for either or both performances, and 4) the theatres were many blocks apart.
Luckily, the theatre for LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES was just around the corner from the Phoenix. So we went there and established that tickets were available only for the matinee. Then we found a phone booth. There was a queue for it but luckily the phone that took credit cards (such as Visa) was free. On calling the theatre for A WALK IN THE WOODS, we discovered that tickets were available for Friday night. Bingo! So we booked those (by credit card again), then returned to and booked LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES for Saturday afternoon.
This accomplished, we returned to the Phoenix for RICHARD II starring Derek Jacobi in the title role (or as they say here, the eponymous king). |
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