Had a nice text a week ago from AS asking if I wanted to attend Whistle Down the Wind at the local theatre with her and Grandma. And I replied 'yes please'! So after a staff leaving do last night, I was on the train back home this morning to be there for the matinee. Sadly getting to bed gone 1am and waking up at 6.30 (naturally - grrr) meant I was a little tired at the show and my eyes were closing for several parts of the first half; don't think I quite went unconscious (is that what you call sleep?) at any points though! It was a shame, over the last year I have become quite the fan of the title track and I wasn't fully with it during the song so I still don't quite understand what it's going on about! But beautifully sung, though maybe for my mood it was slightly too like a lullaby! Thought all the singing was nice, it sounded different - no idea how to describe it. The rest of the music was not immediately identifiable or memorable - except for No Matter What that Boyzone released. There were a few fairly funky 'rock'n'roll' numbers which I felt were my kind of thing and I should have enjoyed more and woken me up. The lighting was interesting, but a lot of the story happened at night so it was fairly dark - again not good for keeping me awake! There were 2 child actors who I thought were great and had very large parts (3rd and 4th biggest in the show I'd say) and put on pretty good american accents. I was interested to learn that the musical is based on a book written in the 50s by Hayley Mills' (original parent trap and pollyanna to me) mother which was then turned into a film by Richard Attenburgh and starred Hayley. I do remember when it was Andrew Lloyd Weber's new musical and turns out it was in 1996. So though I wouldn't add it to my top 10 musicals, I am still pleased to have seen it and ticked another Andrew Lloyd Weber musical.
Great excitement came after the show as we were leaving the theatre. The main man in the show (Jonathan Ansell) had a big bio in the programme and AS said he was from a singing group she knew of and turned out they had done well in the first X-factor. As we were walking down the steps to head out the back door I noticed a crowd gathering in the foyer and realised people were queueing for autographs. So after announcing the fact to AS and Gma we ummed and ahhed and I eventually decided to go take a photo - I had photo of the day on my mind! Mega panic and rising excitement as I tried to hunt through my bag to find my phone. Having snapped a shot, I ended up deciding to join the queue to get an autograph as well, having given AS a quick lesson on how to photo with my phone! He seemed a really nice and genuine guy and apparently stayed after every performance until everyone waiting had got their autograph. And fairly attractive too!Having a look at his website tonight, I was entertained to see a photo of me on his forum page (in amongst lots of others!) - definitely looking surprised!
Outside the theatre after the show. Lovely setting.
Summer ducks doing their thing. Who's who?
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