The Audience...

Last night Stu and I went to the famous Gielgud Theatre in London's glitzy West End to see Helen Mirren in The Audience.

Written by Peter Morgan (The Queen) it tells of the weekly audiences that Queen Elizabeth has had with each and every Prime Minister over her illustrious reign.

Helen Mirren was a marvel - often transforming on stage as the action jumped backwards and forwards in time.

We get to meet nine of the twelve PMs - Blair's talks had already been covered in the film The Queen and Macmillan and Heath were no shows - just mentioned in other conversations. No great loss.

The talks have never been minuted and so much is speculation but Morgan manages to convince drawing on events of the day. Suez Crisis, marital crisis, personal crises - much ground is covered.

In part counsel,  in part sparring partner and in part friend the Queen is always outwardly supportive of her PMs. However she is also often questioning and occasionally advising which can lead to perceived criticism - which never goes down well. Famously she was once overtly critical via 'a close source' in the Sunday Times but it was about Maggie Thatcher so we can forgive her that.

She had a favourite too. Harold Wilson. He made her laugh.

Great show - if you get an chance to be in The Audience - do.

Hair...

Last Friday Stu and I went to see Hair at the Gielgud Theatre. For the fifth and final time. Not much more to say - I've said it all before.
We. Loved. It.

Lots more pix here.

Hair...

Stop me if you've heard this one before.... The first proper date Stu and I went on was to see a revival of the 1967 hippy musical Hair at the Gate Theatre in 2005. Twelve years earlier than that coincidentally we'd both seen the same 1993 production at The Old Vic starring Sinitta and John Barrowman.

We are both big fans. Obviously.

So naturally we went to see the Broadway revival at the Gielgud Theatre with the original New York cast a month or two ago.

And we just couldn't keep away so few weeks ago we went again.

And guess what? We still couldn't keep away. So we went yet again last night. Still at the Gieldgud Theatre and still with the original New York cast.

Well, you would wouldn't you?

Hair is undoubtabably a great musical. A rock musical no less. The first of its kind. It explores dramatic themes throughout, most of which are displayed right there on stage; swearing, drug use, overt sexuality, anti-war, anti-racism and nudity. What's not to like?

The songs are great too; Aquarius, Donna, Sodomy, Ain't Got No, Hair, Be-In (Hare Krishna), Good Morning Starshine and of course the seminal Let the Sun Shine In.

This production really does the material justice. It is active, energetic and enthusiastic. Simply staged it allows the great singing to come to the fore. Last night the audience were involved from start to finish being encouraged to join in as the action on the stage bled into the auitorium. Climbing over the seating the cast sang, danced, handed out posters and passed round flowers. By the finale the audience were so involved they flooded onto the stage to join in the fun. Naturally we just had to join them (again).

We probably liked it even more the third time of viewing. I wonder if we can sneak in a fourth and final time before it closes on 4th Sept?