Phantom of the Opera / Stonehenge & Bath

I figure I should get a post out before I leave for Paris for the weekend, because I’m sure that will deserve its own individual post.

On Tuesday night, the group went to see The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Piccadilly. The Phantom of the Opera was one of the theatre nights I had been looking forward to since the beginning of this semester. My parents took my brother and I (I can’t remember if Ellery was with us or not) to see The Phantom of the Opera in Chicago when we were very small. I think we even went a few times after that, but according to my parents, it had been about 13 or 14 years since I’ve seen The Phantom of the Opera. It was just as enjoyable as I remember it back in the day. The tunes were great, I thought the actors did a great a job, and we had decent seats for one of the most popular shows on stage in London. I’ve made a point to check out the 2004 Joel Schumacher  film with Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, and Patrick Wilson, simply to see how it stacks up against the stage performance.

The Phantom of the Opera leading Christine Daaé to his lair in the cellars.

We had an early start on Wednesday as the group departed from the flats at 7:00 AM. We drove up to Lacock first, a small village in Wiltshire. We had a short breakfast of pastries and coffee at the Red Lion Inn and explored the village for an hour before we headed off the Bath. Lacock is recognized as being one of the few villages that has remained virtually unchanged by development.

The main street in Lacock.

The Lacock Abbey. Scenes from the Harry Potter films have been shot inside.

After Lacock, the group got back on the coach and continued on the short drive over to Bath, which was absolutely beautiful. Despite the cloudy weather, I still had a great time touring the Roman Baths and had a delicious lunch in a nearby pub with a small group of good friends. The Baths were quite fascinating. The man-hours and level of engineering and planning that went into the construction of these facilities is baffling. The fact that some of the smaller structures are still intact is beyond impressive.

A view of one of the baths.

These stands were used to support floors and would help circulate heat throughout the room.

One origin of the water that emptied into the baths.

After Bath, we proceeded on to Stonehenge. Stonehenge was much smaller than I imagined it would be, nevertheless, it was certainly a spectacle to behold. Seeing Stonehenge up close and personal was one of those experiences where I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. For me, Stonehenge was something that I remember learning about in grade school, and now, here I was looking at it. The skies cleared up for our time at Stonehenge, which ended the trip on a high note.

A view of Stonehenge.

The open countryside at Stonehenge.

Wednesday was a great time, and I’m glad the group was able to experience everything we did that day.

I’m sitting at school writing this now. The Introduction to Theatre class just ended, and the class was rehearsing our short scripts for the final “performance” in two weeks. My friend and flatmate, Andy and I are working together to perform a scene from Five Visions of the Faithful (I am the Knife) by Torben Betts. Here’s a description from the script…

“Five Visions of the Faithful is a series of short plays which explore the concept and applications of cruelty. I am the Knife is set within a prison and the Inmate (Andy) is an enemy of the state who has been sentenced to death. He is visited by the Priest (Me) who tries to persuade him to sign a confession in order  to save his life and be freed.”

We present our scene to the group on March 29th and I think these performances will indeed be recorded… So I’ll try to get a copy of ours and put it up on the blog.

If I can’t get a post up while I’m in Paris, I’ll be sure to write as soon as I return to London.

Thanks for reading! See you all very soon.

Trip to Manchester and Liverpool

We’ve had a busy past few days this week. On Monday evening, the group went to “One Man, Two Guvnors” at Theatre Royal Haymarket. The play was about one man (Francis Henshall), and his entertaining misadventures as he tries to work for two bosses whose respective tasks end up conflicting and cause Francis a great deal of trouble. We only have three more shows to attend while in London – The Phantom of The Opera, Sweeney Todd, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

On Tuesday, our History of British Pop Music instructor gave us the final assignment to be turned in before we leave London. In 1,000 words, we’ll be writing a review of one influential album out of a selection of ten albums. The selection Rob gave us is as follows –

Dark Side of The Moon – Pink Floyd

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club – The Beatles

Who’s Next – The Who

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – David Bowie

Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin

Never Mind the Bollocks – The Sex Pistols

The Fat of the Land – The Prodigy

London Calling – The Clash

Beggars Banquet – The Rolling Stones

(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – Oasis

While I’d enjoy writing about any of these albums, the first two albums that popped in my head were “Fat of the Land” and “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory”. I haven’t decided yet, but I’m leaning strongly towards “Fat of the Land” by The Prodigy.

On Wednesday morning at 6:00 AM, the group boarded the coach bus towards Manchester. Our first stop was the football pitch of the Manchester United F.C. – Old Trafford.

We received a brief tour of the stadium, and were able to see inside the locker room of the football club.

Inside the locker room.

Following our tour, we got back on the coach and proceeded on to downtown Manchester, where we spent a few hours.

A mailbox that survived the WWII bombings in Manchester

Manchester City Hall.

We departed from Manchester around 4:00 PM and continued on to Liverpool. Upon arriving at the hostel in Liverpool, we dropped out bags and proceeded out to explore the city. Our first stop was a pub called the Philharmonic, where our British Life & Culture professor was already imbibing the libations. We stayed there for just one or two drinks and headed out to the Cavern Club, where The Beatles were first noticed and began to pick up popularity. We saw some live music and had a great time. We were out with the majority of the group, which made the night even more fun.

The Phil

Inside the Cavern Club.

On Thursday morning, we began exploring the rest of Liverpool. Liverpool is a very walkable city, and we were fortunate to have better weather than previous groups. Apparently, Liverpool gets rain 360 days of the year, and we were in Liverpool for one of the days where the weather is blue skies and sunshine. We started off the day at the Liverpool Cathedral, which is this absolutely massive building that you can see in the distance from nearly anywhere in the city.

Outside the Liverpool Cathedral.

After leaving the Liverpool Cathedral, Chad, Andy, AJ, and I headed to the World Museum at the opposite end of the city. Although the museum turned out to be more of a children’s museum, we all still got a huge kick out of the exhibits. We didn’t spend too long at the World Museum, so we headed down to Albert Dock, passing through Chinatown on our way there. Albert Dock was mostly populated with restaurants and a few museums.

The Chinatown arch. Constructed in 2000.

Albert Dock

After Albert Dock, we headed towards Radio City Tower, also known as St. John’s Beacon. The Radio City Tower was awesome. We were up some 400 feet above the city, and were able to see inside the facilities of 96.7 Radio City.

Radio City Tower

The view from Radio City Tower

Radio City "On Air" studio.

And perhaps the best parts of the Radio City Tower experience were these little gems…

Will Smith's "Big Willie Style"

Eric Prydz - "Call on Me"

No Doubt's "Don't Speak"

And my personal favorite…

A signed poster of the covers of New Order singles.

After the Radio City Tower tour, we headed back down to Albert Dock to walk along the River Mersey. I preferred Liverpool over Manchester, and really enjoyed the brief stay there. It was considerably more laid-back than London – No where near as loud and bustling, yet there was still plenty to do.

Along the Mersey

I’m currently at City of Westminster College as I write this, so I’m not entirely sure what the plans are for this weekend. The girls of flat #2 have had guests all week, seeing as it’s Ball State’s spring break. Beth’s friend Riz has been hanging with the group a lot, and tonight is her last night here before she heads back to Indiana. We actually won’t be living too far from each other in Muncie next year, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of her.

Riz and I at the Cavern Club

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Mid-Semester Break

Nearly six weeks down… And it’s been a busy past couple of days. So what have I been up to since the last time I wrote? On Monday evening, I went to the Prince Charles Cinema, one of the independent theaters in London, located in Leicester Square. I went to the showing of the film “The Room” which included a Q&A session with the director/star as well as one of the actor’s from the film. As I mentioned earlier, “The Room” is one of those movies that’s so bad, it’s good. I had never been to an independent theater such as the Prince Charles Cinema before. The cinema frequently plays older, cult movies such as “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and fan favorites such as “Fargo” and “Grease”.

With Greg Sestero (left) and Tommy Wiseau (right).

On Tuesday evening, the group attended the Southampton VS West Ham United football match, which was a blast. After watching a few soccer games on television back in the United States, I thought I had seen it all. However, being in the stadium (West Ham’s in Upton Park) surrounded by fans who feel that their territory is being encroached on by the visiting Southampton is a whole new beast. The game itself was very fast paced and only kept picking up momentum as the fans as they launch into chants so vulgar I can’t even begin to reproduce them here. Definitely an experience in British Life & Culture.

On Wednesday, the group took the train out to Rochester where we spent half a day. Located in Kent, Rochester was the setting of many Charles Dickens books. We visited Rochester Castle, Rochester Cathedral, as well as The Six Poor Travelers House – The inspiration for Dickens’ “The Seven Poor Travelers”. Rochester was very beautiful and we very fortunate to have much better weather than our previous Wednesday trips.

Inside The Six Poor Travelers House

Inside Rochester Cathedral

Inside Rochester Cathedral

On Thursday, I went up to Belsize Park where I joined Archie and Pat for dinner at their beautiful flat. All of my flatmates left for their respective spring break trips on Friday morning, so I’ve got the flat to myself until I leave for Scotland on Monday evening. On Friday night, I was at the Electric Brixton for the Alvin Risk/Skrillex/Zane Lowe after party, which was a lot of fun. I’ve never been to a show where the crowd is unresponsive and generally uninterested in the show happening right in front of them until last night’s show. I’m heading to the O2 Academy in Brixton tonight for the actual show, so I hope it will be a better atmosphere. I’m leaving for Inverness on Monday night, and I’ll be there until Thursday morning, when I’ll head down to Edinburgh until Saturday. I’ll be sure to take some photos and have plenty to write about.

February 5th

I apologize for not writing regularly the past few days. I’ve either been busy with school or it’s simply slipped my mind. We’ve done a lot since the last time I wrote. I just hope I can remember it all… Let’s see… Last Tuesday, we didn’t have any theater to attend, which we made up for on Wednesday. Wednesday, the 1st of February, may have been the longest day of all days. We took the train out to Windsor Castle, which plays host to state visits, a popular tourist attraction, as well as the weekend home of the Queen. Windsor was truly a sight to behold. Unfortunately for us students/tourists, we were unable to take photographs inside the actual castle, however I managed to get one or two photos. In addition to Windsor Castle, we also walked through St. George’s Chapel – Which certainly upheld the standards (in terms of sheer beauty) of churches I’ve seen so far while I’ve been in England.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

After Windsor, we walked down to Eton College, which is one of the most expensive and exclusive colleges in the United Kingdom (arguably the entire world). The buildings that made up Eton College were spectacular… Almost in the sense that it was a miracle they were still standing. After hearing roughly how prestigious this school is (students have to write musicals in Latin while be dunked in the Thames every 30 seconds, you know, real tough stuff), the feeling of inadequacy was mutual across Ball State students.

The View of Eton From Windsor Castle

After Eton, we got back on the train back to Paddington station, where we headed to Piccadilly to where we attended an improvisational comedy show at The Comedy Store. I was hesitant about this show. I never feel comfortable during improvisational comedy… It always feels so awkward. I am so glad we went though, because I came out of the show having enjoyed myself. After the show, we headed back to the flats, where we got in at around 11:00 PM (a total of 15 hours on the go). May have forgot a slight detail… It was about 25 degrees on Wednesday. Cold times, everybody. Cold times.

The Comedy Store

It was a fairly uneventful weekend, which started on Thursday night, since we did not have class on Friday. It was mostly recovery and catching up on any school work that needed to be finished. We went Camden on Saturday, which is definitely a location I could visit every week, simply for the exciting atmosphere. Not to mention there’s some great places to get movies and vinyl! If I keep bringing DVDs and vinyl back to the flat at the rate I am now… Packing everything up in April will certainly be a test of patience.

I headed to Harrods today, which was everything I had heard it would be. A massive department store that I was more than happy to get lost inside. The retail was diverse and the food halls were absolutely magnificent. I’ll definitely be heading back to Harrods in the future to enjoy a proper sit-down meal there.

My Reaction Upon Realizing The Menswear Was Right Next To The Food Halls