The Normal Vacation

Today was the breeze of a first day back at work. It’s easy when day one is working remotely. My computer at home was not quite ready for prime-time Monday, as I got bumped from a few sites I was working on. Whatever, I’m prepared for it all. That’s my attitude after a good vacation and a few days of rest before the grind.

Joel and I got to see five shows in London, all professional quality productions. There were a couple of musicals in there that were wonderful and a drama, where we both got up from our seats and wiped tears away at the end.

Larry Kramer’s The Normal ❤️ Heart was a powerful play to read but when you put a good National Theatre cast to it…wow. It was a three-hour appeal to action that grabs you and refuses to let go. (I’m still playing back scenes in my head).

As we sat there in the Olivier Theatre wearing our masks, one couldn’t help but notice the irony of connection with Kramer’s urgent message about the powers that be sticking their heads in the sand about the disease and today’s COVID reality.

The timing, particularly in the UK with Boris Johnson slammed for little action on the COVID front is interesting and adds a 2021 poignancy to it. There are a handful of differences though, the PM acknowledges COVID but says the UK will live with it. In the early days of AIDS politicians (Koch, Reagan) wouldn’t mention it. Newspapers gave it little to no mention. That said, I think Kramer would have roasted Johnson. He doesn’t have patience for inaction.

His main character, Ned Weeks wanted action after gay men start dying. Weeks is fashioned after Kramer’s own story and the start of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City. Ben Daniels played Weeks with the outrage and fire needed for the part. But really the entire cast moved us with their portrayals.

The vacation week contained a mixture of light and heavy shows. We opened with a couple of musicals, then Romeo and Juliet at the Globe. We saw Robert Shaw’s son Ian play his dad in The Shark 🦈 is Broken, which is all about the backbiting behind the scenes of Jaws. This was fun and really Ian Shaw is a dead ringer for his pop.

There were some extra hoops to jump through to make the trip happen, but it was worth it. Vacations are essential; bring on the slow computers, and bring on the coffee.

October 19, 2021 0

All the World is a Show

All the World is a show, particularly if you’re inside a theater.

Shows are back in London, and it felt like things were back to normal for at least a couple of hours. Yes, I was double-masked. We had a buffer in the Garrick Theatre of a few rows in the stalls that did not sell, but we’re as COVID careful as we can be.

Honestly, all concern vanished once the show began. I didn’t feel any mask once that first song was underway; that’s the magic of the west end.

The Garrick Theatre was on the ball. All of their communication around the tickets and signage for the performance spoke of requiring masks for the show, and the show-goers for this performance were good with the requirement.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Last 5 Years. I’ve always enjoyed the music from the Jason Robert Brown show, but the movie version underwhelmed me, and it consequently put me off from seeing the stage version. That was a mistake. The hook in this failed relationship musical is that the two leads are going in the opposite direction. Jamie is singing from the beginning of the relationship and Cathy from the end. Part of the creativity here relies on the audience to fill in these scenes based on the songs. The only thing on the stage is a piano, and the two performers sing their parts leading to their story. Jonathon Boyle’s brilliant minimalist direction lets the words in each song have their effect: one actor would sing like the other plays on the piano or becomes a prop in their partner’s rendition.

Oli Higginson was powerful as Jamie, an author whose star is rising while meeting his “Shiksa Goddess.” Molly Lynch’s Cathy is effectively sympathetic, a role I found more cold in the film. She evened out that performance for me; I thought Lynch was fine. The show, as presented, has a real nightclub feel.

It was a Theater Thursday in London, so after a brief coffee break, we were off to the Barbican Theatre. Unfortunately, it was a different mask experience. The folks sitting to my right had masked, but the two older women to Joel’s left could not be bothered. We had one seat there as a buffer (Garry’s chair and had he been there, he would have left).

Sutton Foster did not disappoint. Anything Goes is a pure old-fashioned show with numbers and schtick that kept this audience afloat for the three-hour cruise. Foster is so incredibly solid as Reno Sweeney. When I heard Megan Mullaly had dropped and Foster would take over, that’s the moment we bought tickets.

Actually we overheard a story in the row behind us regarding what happened with Mullaly. I don’t know if this is accurate so take it with a grain of salt but according to the row behind she left because she couldn’t do all the tap choreography and tried to get it completely cut from the show. When Foster was called she only agreed to do it with all the tap back in. Anyway, the tap dance numbers were very good. The show of course was an evening of Cole Porter classics, Foster, Robert Lindsay and the talented cast made sure Anything Goes was a night we wouldn’t forget.

October 9, 2021 1

Anything Goes

I’m relaxing while listening to some lively tunes from Willie Colon. The SF skies are promising a little rain but that’s coming a little later. We could use some. Bring it.

Over here it’s a countdown to the October London trip. Joel will be flying to San Francisco (from Vegas) overnight then we are on a big bird flying across the pond on a non-stopper. Garry is not ready to get on a flight so Delta set him up with an ecredit, which is a nice way of saying: we don’t want to give you the money back.

The curveballs are beginning to happen. Delta / Virgin shutting down our return flight (not enough people?) and putting us on a plane that would give us an extra day in London. I immediately requested a change in my Airbnb for another day. Meanwhile, we are trying to move Joel’s seat but it can’t be done on the Virgin site so a phone call on their time zone is required.

All in all, I’m happy we didn’t make the COVID test appointments yet (UK side) as they’ve announced some changes that I have to find out about. The best advice I can give to anyone planning international travel today is to stay on top of things and be flexible (if you can) because anything goes.

It looks like Brits are tired of losing out on tourist money so now they are easing things early in October. It may translate into taking a cheaper COVID test coming back. We will see.

If we actually get to do it, it’ll be my first international trip since the world went COVID. London is making more sense as the first travel leap since before the lockdown. I feel comfortable there, the theatre, the museums, and all the great city walking.

We will be double masking for theater. #suttonfoster

September 19, 2021 0

Pulling the Blinds Back

April 21 is almost over. Life as we knew it before the pandemic is peeking in, like sunlight in mostly closed blinds. Exterior activity that was already pretty lively in the city has a new mask-free lease on life, following the latest CDC recommendations.

I’m heartened by the vac numbers, locally and beyond. Where the country began so poorly in managing this effort, they have reversed course. Effective leadership makes a difference.

Physically, I’ve felt like a bear slowly coming out of hibernation. The new softball season began on April 18 with a doubleheader, then some of us had lunch. It seemed to mark the longest stint I’ve had outside with a group of (vaccinated) people in a long time. The off-season practices have kept me with at least a paw in the sunlight, but it’s fair to say I’ve had a hermit-like year and even more thankful for the company of my husband and my dog.

Between the weeding and the fact that it’s bloom time of the year, the garden is exploding in color. One thing that didn’t make it this season was the stinky Voodoo Lily, a certain pit bull that will go nameless, flattened it in one of her many wild runs. It’s impressive that we have plants.

Yesterday I walked to the BART train station without a mask. It felt good and weird. Like a gunslinger, I had it, at the ready, in my pocket should I encounter other town folks. You’ve got to be careful here in the Wild West; folks will pop out of anywhere. And naturally, my cloth barrier was back on before I entered transportation. This is where I’m at.

Next week, I’m rolling up some blinds, as my friend Joel (vaccinated) is visiting from Las Vegas. I’m looking forward to catching up and talking about our fall travel trip to London (we hope). If theater is happening again, I want to check it out.

April 29, 2021 0

Reality Obscura

We were doing the fantasy planning again. My feeling is it’s somewhat healthy. No tickets have been purchased for anywhere but we look. London and possibly Lisbon in the fall and of course, in this alternate reality, there will be London theatre in full swing. Why not?

Otherwise, Monday’s raindrops ended in a brief interlude of sunshine before giving up to the night. My work from home day is not even much of a memory. It was a tap-dancing blur of coffee-infused purchases of many items of interest to a certain pet hospital. The fiery tapping of computer keyboard keys was in direct competition with the raindrops on the window. It was Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov tapping away in that silly movie they did. The coffee was great for focusing my direction away from celluloid flops to chewable Rimadyl.

When I logged off, the rain was also done and I was able to take my own pooch around to the park. She tugged a bit, not liking the fact that the previous weather had kept her from the outside world. She is not a lover of the rain. Luna loves comfort but also a daily adventure. We try to give her a good mix.

In what was a super quiet weekend we took her to South San Francisco to see the giant Music Harp. It was a different place so Luna had plenty to smell. The humans liked it as well. It is a giant metallic harp that, when it’s windy, a music-like sound emanates from it.

Garry has been out west longer than I have but he had never heard of it either. We found it on a website called Atlas Obscura, a good resource for unique little spots in different areas.

Otherwise, we re-engaged with our ongoing battle on Saturday vs the weeds outback, it’s a never-ending battle with few plant casualties as possible.

February 17, 2021 0

The Permanent Way

My first time at the Vaults theater was a pretty eye opening experience. I was expecting a real off-off-west end experience and I got that but it was really wild underneath the Waterloo Station.

In truth, the two plays we were looking at for this night were both housed at this newer theater and event space so we were going to end up here anyway. It was a Shepard play vs a Hare play and we decided on David Hare’s The Permanent Way, a criticism (justified) of the disorganization regarding management of Britain’s Rail System. It was a train play underneath the Waterloo Station — one of the biggest stations in the city and appropriately enough we could hear trains coming in and out. It was not loud but it was there as a sound backdrop.

Finding our way to the small theater meant crossing underneath a tunnel like graffiti walled pathway, where you were greeted with the smell of fresh spray paint and music. I thought I had walked onto a film set for an 80’s rap / breakdancing movie.

The play is good. Several actors play different parts, first detailing facts about the different train systems, their jobs and how the management had been privatized. Hare weaved information leading to different train crashes, that were caused by exactly the same thing with one actor playing the Prime Minister walking onstage proclaiming: “This can never happen again” which he comes back later to reprise, which is a combination of funny and horrific.

As we detail one crash, then another, instead of this bogging down into information overload, the actors changed parts from train employees to crash victim family members and that kept us locked in. We were surrounded by good performances. They continued to take us to different stops, filled with management denial and political face saving. It was theater about another sort of theater and Hare doesn’t let those responsible off the hook. Bravo.

Later, I found out that the graffiti tunnel was founded by Banksy and the area was meant for alternative arts and immersive theater. I felt Hare’s Permanent Way was pretty immersive like feeling the weight underneath a big train station.

October 21, 2019 0

11 More Days

Let’s hear it for those quiet weekends. With my work week done on Friday, I got up late today (Saturday) and am slowly hitting a few chores. We’ve got nothing concrete planned for the weekend and can absolutely lay back. I am someone who can appreciate the restful times, particularly when there hasn’t been much of it lately.

Yesterday I got home and I was truly going on about this and that at work. My hubby poured me a glass of wine and I sat and finished whatever the heck I was talking about and it was done…processed. Hello, weekend.

It’s 11 more days until we fly to London. I’m at that countdown stage, where I’m reminding myself of how close I am to the trip. It helps when I’m swamped at work, as a psychological shot of espresso. “What’s that…what do you need..oh, well I’ve got 12 more days to London.”

The National Theater announced a production of Translations, which fits our timing so we picked up a few tickets. We will also see Solaris, Falsettos, and an evening with Ian McKellen. There might be one more show there but we want to check out the half-price ticket booth. This trip is probably the quickest jaunt I’ve taken to the UK ever, as it’s under two weeks but I’m happy for the time.

On the way back, instead of flying all the way back, we will stay for a few days in New York City. We will meet up with my friend Joel, who is visiting from Las Vegas and catch Tootsie and Inheritance (part 1).

11 more days…

October 5, 2019 1