In the last few weeks, I've handed in all of my big projects and assignments and done a few performances and presentations. Now, my teachers get 15 working days to grade my work before I find out how I did. It seems like a long time to wait, but thankfully I am able to stay busy, so the time really flies!
Some friends of mine from class decided to make their way to London over the break, and we saw a TON of theatre! Here are the shows I saw with them:
The first show we saw was called "Minotaur" and it was playing at the Unicorn Theatre in London. It's a children's theatre and the show was part of their Greek Series. There were quite a few classes on a field trip in the audience, and they sat around the entire stage and interacted with the characters. Some of them even got pulled up for a scene or two! Afterwards, we got to meet one of the actors and speak with him about our course which was awesome. I hope to see more productions at the Unicorn while I visit London. |
The second production we saw was called "Close to You." We decided to go because the tickets were $15 each! We had no idea what we were about to see, but it was cold outside so a matinee production seemed like the best way to spend our afternoon.
We were sitting amongst a ton of older, gray-haired audience members, but I was impressed how they sang and swayed along to all of the upbeat, LOUD music, which was the work of Burt Bacharach... I didn't know who he was either, but I recognized a lot of the songs like "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" and "What the World Needs Now is Love," and they were updated and modernized in an incredible way.
The entire show was like a concert instead of a musical or play, but if you paid close enough attention you could follow the story-lines occurring between the characters on stage. They brilliantly acted out their relationships and emotions through the lyrics that were being performed... no lines. It was an incredible production. We were so glad to have gone!
The third show we saw because I won lottery tickets! Finally! When I first studied abroad in England in 2013 I remember going every other night with my friends to try and win 2 tickets to see The Book of Mormon for $20. Many of my friends had won, and I did get the chance to see it from the front row back in 2013, but I'll always try to win the lottery whenever I get the chance.
This time, about 5-6 winners in they yelled out "Wow! All the way from Michigan!" & I SCREAMED! Before they even said my name! HAHA! It was so fun! They gave out more tickets than expected, and they even had a few seats available for just $37, so we went to see it that evening together.
It's a really funny production, but totally inappropriate. You have to go in with the right mindset before you see it, as it's pretty raunchy. It was written by the creators of South Park, so that might give you an idea if you're not familiar with it. I really appreciate the creativity and comedy in it, but can't say that we would ever do a big musical number for Broadway Bootcamp from it! ;-)
You can check out more information about The Book of Mormon on their website.
The last show we saw was Billy Elliott, which was fantastic! I had never seen it before and knew very little about the story line, but I really loved it. We had great seats to see all of the choreography, and we even saw all of the little actors and actresses, including the actor who played Billy Elliot, leaving the backstage area when we exited, since our door was right by the stage door. It was an incredible experience, and I'm so glad I saw it before it exits the West End later this spring. This is definitely a show worthy of being a part of Broadway Bootcamp! Maybe it will be this summer! Check out one of Billy's main scenes "Electricity" below, and if you can rent the movie -- do it!