My first theatre experience was a great one. It was a Wednesday afternoon when my roommate, Gretchen, and I headed to the West End and popped in from theater to theater until we found one with decently priced student tickets. Mamma Mia and Matilda were both way too expensive for us, 35 pounds each! We were about to give up when we decided to try out The 39 Steps. It was 2:30, so we were aiming for the 3:00 matinee. Luckily, they had seats available, AND a student discount AND they were only 15 pounds. DEAL! The theater was small, but we ended up getting second row seats in the center, couldn't get much better! Although I had no idea about this show prior to 2:30, it was really good! All I knew before it started that it was a mock mystery. It was about a man on the run because a woman was killed in his apartment, and he was being accused for murder. The man had to try and find a man to help him out, he turned out to be an enemy, as well as many other characters. The play had a lot of references to Alfred Hitchcock, which I loved. In comparison to the few plays I've see in the states, this was a great value. It was unexpectedly good and made me laugh all through the play. I feel as though London is such a popular theatre city, that every show that makes it here will be great.
My latest theatre experience in London was also a last minute thing. I had a long Friday full of laundry and homework when I ventured down to the Refectory for some dinner. I ran into my friend Rachel and we decided to go to a show that night. We looked up shows that were playing and decided we both would love to see Shrek: The Musical. I know, sounds dumb. I threw on a jacket and we were out the door around 6:30 for the 7:30 show. It was unfortunately really rainy on our walk to the Baker Street Tube Station, which slowed us down. We would've been on time to the show if we didn't get lost finding the theater, whoops! We got there on the dot at 7:30, which turned out to be a good thing. We asked for a student ticket but found out they don't have student discounts on Fridays. The manager came over to the window and told us since the show was about to start and no one else would be coming, she would give us the student price (20 pounds) and the best seats available. Awesome! We sat in the front row of the balcony, which ended up being level with the stage. Best seats in the house if you ask me! Shrek was an amazing show. They had a live orchestra and singing all throughout the show. The sets were unbelievably detailed as well as the costumes resembling story book characters. My favorite was Lord Farquad because it was a man of normal height who had to walk on his knees the whole time with fake legs attached to his thighs. The fake legs were so funny to watch, I kept giggling. I felt it was a real Broadway quality show for such a good price. I left the show feeling like a kid again, happy as can be.
My favorite thing about the theatre here in London is how they treat their customers. In the US, people get punished for waiting until the last minute to buy a ticket like this. Over here, the British won't buy the tickets if the prices are hiked up like that. Ain't nobody got time fo dat. The theaters here want to fill up as many seats as possible. It's a great business technique in both cases; the audience is the only difference between countries. I can't wait to see another show! Thanks for reading!
bravo! bravo!
ReplyDelete