It's not so much that I'm running away from the end of my time here, I'm just trying to consciously will it away. Not that my time here in the grand ole UK ends as soon as some of the other people of my program who are leaving right away, but being here without them will be equally tough. ALRIGHT - enough of the ending stuff... what happened in my life this week you ask?
Well... Monday night Margy & I ventured over to Shoreditch, a recently-made cool area with a friend from LAMDA to see a musical that one of his mate's had directed. It was called "Bright Lights, Big City" and the best way to explain my feelings about it would be to tell you that there was a song titled "I Love Drugs" with a lyric "Drano for my brain-o". So... yeah. But it did end up being a really great night of adventures in new areas of London, and therefore, a successful evening!
Thursday marked two exciting things; not only was it Thanksgiving when I got to head back to my favorite half-American, English family, the Mogilner's, but I also had, what I think, is my favorite class at LAMDA thus far. It was my Physical Theatre Class, an hour and half that usually leaves me sweating and sore in places that I didn't know could be sore, but this class was totally different. It's going to sound very artsy and drama-schooly, but we literally spent the whole class listening to our bodies and moving in ways that made us stretch and move around space in ways that made us feel good. It was entirely about impulse and pleasure, and was just a excerisize in cutting the crap and doing whatever you want. People in my class ended up strewn over ballet bars, climbing into rafters and somersalting across the sprung floor - and none of us had any idea what was going to come next. My favorite thing was to try and let myself fall and not think about how I was going to keep myself from getting hurt. Every single time my body moved in a way that kept me from every falling to the ground or hurting myself, leading me to wonder how in the world I can be such a klutz when I'm concentrating. I know it probably sounds a bit bizarre and the fact that that is a class that I am being graded in baffles most everybody I talk to, but it was such an unreal opportunity that I have never had before, and doubt I will have again anytime soon.
Friday night brought our "Improv Party", which sounds a lot like a party with "Whose Line is it Anyway?" games, but was actually quite far from it. For the last 2 months in class we have each been keeping a character journal, inspired by a picture of a stranger. Our instructions were to find a picture of someone of our gender over the age of 40 (ideally, someone you would never be cast as) and create a character around them. This included everything from first kiss to most recent pay-check and every week my improv professor would give us a series of questions to answer as that character. Friday night we arrived at the party in full-costume and make-up according to this person that we had created, and proceeded to socialize for the next 3 HOURS a them. We were pretty uniformly terrified about keeping it going for that long, but it ended up going a lot smoother than any of us had anticipated, and it probably didn't hurt that they served alcohol as a social lubricant. At 9 o'clock when we all left the party and returned to our normal hair, makeup, clothing and age there was really nothing else to do but head to Curtain's Up, the local LAMDA pub and reminisce about just how ridiculous the last 3 hours were - and they really were.
This weekend was lovely, albeit frigid, so Saturday after meandering about King's Road for the morning, I headed back to my hall to start preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner; pt.2 with all of the Americans from our program. We did it pot-luck style and called it for 4, which obviously means we didn't eat until 5:30, but it was such a wonderful time! Everybody was scrambling around the hallway from kitchen to kitchen checking on their food and tasting everyone else's. I made delicious brussel sprouts (if I do say so myself) and enjoyed a wonderfully veggie Thanksgiving of sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn salad, stuffing, mashed potato and LOTS of pies. We had to roll ourselves out of the common room by the end of it, but it was so nice to all be together laughing and eating on a Saturday night before people dispersed for their various shows, movies, plans, etc...
Today I woke up just as full as I was last night and somehow Maddie and I managed to get ourselves over to Brick Lane to do some Sunday afternoon shopping. They have all of these amazing vintage shops and craft tables, and there was one HUGE warehouse that was packed with rows and rows of vintage stalls, full of sequins, feathers, velvet and leather. It was such a lovely way to spend the day and we even managed to make ourselves hungry enough to both have our first experience with Burmese food from the international market. And a cupcake, from the not-so-international market :)
I am just so delighted with how I get to spend my time here. I really love everything about this city and how every part of it is different and interesting and beautiful. I keep thinking about ways to fill my days between getting back from traveling and leaving for home and keep realizing that the real problem is going to be deciding what I have to leave out. This week brings the last week of standard scheduled classes, which is just too too weird to think about, but time goes on, and to quote a true London-er singing about her city; "Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why, would I want to be anywhere else?"
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Pubs, Poetry, Potter, Passion and... Hamlet
It is becoming increasingly clear that time is winidng down. November 21st marks 1 month until my return home. A few friends and I have decided to set goals for ourselves in these last few weeks, and while it may not be very PC to say, and with the total understanding that my immediate family makes up the majority of people who read this - our goal for this week was to take advantage of our legal status every day of the week. We were successful. An added bonus to this accomplishment was that the closest pub to us, Cadogen Arms, was celebrating it's 10 year anniversary, so every night at 10 pm from 10-10:10, they had a 10 pence menu. That's like paying 15 cents for a glass of wine. It was pretty exciting.
In events that justify me being in a foreign country to study drama; Wednesday night was LAMDA's annual poetry-speaking competition where 12 students shared poems, 6 of which were original and had been narrowed down from the 20+ people that had submitted original poems and participated in the preliminary round. Among those talented 12 was our very own Maddie, who held her own as the only single-semester course student to make it to the finals with a beautiful poem entitled "Mare Serenitatis". She was unbelievable, and although she didn't win, we all agreed that it was a fabulous way to spend a night!
This weekend can be marked more-so by what I saw than what I did. For some ridiculous reason, Warner Bros didn't allow midnight premieres of Harry Potter in London (preposterous - I know), so instead we chose to see it as early as possible on Saturday morning, which was a great way to start the day (and I highly recommend Daniel Radcliff for breakfast).
Saturday night I got tickets with a friend to see Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. The tickets were standing room, which wouldn't have been so bad because of how small the theater was, but right before curtain one of the ushers asked us if we wanted to be seated downstairs to which we both responded with "uh... YES!". We ended up in the first two seats off of center in the 2nd row - not too shabby. "Passion" is not a show I knew very well, really at all, but this production, and the three leads especially, absolutely blew me away. I know what you're thinking... "Ariel liked a Sondheim musical? Shocker." but... I had always had this preconceived notion that it was a total flop, and nothing that I'd ever really be interested in, but when seats were available for £7.50, I figured - why not? And I'm so glad I did. The staging, music, lyrics, acting and what little choreography there was was utterly engaging and made the 2 hours without an intetmission seem like minutes. Two thumbs way up, Stephen.
Today was a South Bank kind of a day. We managed to get tickets to see "Hamlet" at the National early (a feat that was pretty phenomenal considering that the production sold out 1 week after going on sale), so we headed across the river for a day of Thames adventures, starting with Wagamamas for lunch. There happened to be this Christmas/Winter Time outdoor market thing happening which we perused for a bit before heading to the theatre. I guess Christmas starts early here because there's no Thanksgiving to split up the Winter, but we were happy to take in the festivities (and grab a crepe before the show). Now... I had read Hamlet countless times in school but had never had the opportunity to see it - and I am SO happy that this was my first experience seeing it performed. The guy playing Hamlet was a LAMDA grad which gave us a bit of nachus to say, not to mention how unbelievable he was in the part. He was seamless in every transition, nailed every monologue and portrayed, in my opinion, one of Shakespeare's most complicated characters with clarity and grace. There were some weak parts in the company but it was played in the same gigantic Olivier Theater where we saw Danton's Death, and still managed to be just as gripping as if it were 10 chairs in a black box. Still reeling, we left the theater to find the outdoor market still going on and the Parliament/Big Ben and The Eye all lit up for nighttime - beautiful. We made time for a quick carousel ride and hot chocolate before heading home.
So here I am, sitting at my computer putting off learning lines for Much Ado, even though I have to be off-book by tomorrow. It's unreal how quickly time is passing. I have to stop myself sometimes and remember where I am and how lucky I am to here. I guess at this point it's all or nothing and I'm ready to see where choosing "all" will get me!
In events that justify me being in a foreign country to study drama; Wednesday night was LAMDA's annual poetry-speaking competition where 12 students shared poems, 6 of which were original and had been narrowed down from the 20+ people that had submitted original poems and participated in the preliminary round. Among those talented 12 was our very own Maddie, who held her own as the only single-semester course student to make it to the finals with a beautiful poem entitled "Mare Serenitatis". She was unbelievable, and although she didn't win, we all agreed that it was a fabulous way to spend a night!
This weekend can be marked more-so by what I saw than what I did. For some ridiculous reason, Warner Bros didn't allow midnight premieres of Harry Potter in London (preposterous - I know), so instead we chose to see it as early as possible on Saturday morning, which was a great way to start the day (and I highly recommend Daniel Radcliff for breakfast).
Saturday night I got tickets with a friend to see Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. The tickets were standing room, which wouldn't have been so bad because of how small the theater was, but right before curtain one of the ushers asked us if we wanted to be seated downstairs to which we both responded with "uh... YES!". We ended up in the first two seats off of center in the 2nd row - not too shabby. "Passion" is not a show I knew very well, really at all, but this production, and the three leads especially, absolutely blew me away. I know what you're thinking... "Ariel liked a Sondheim musical? Shocker." but... I had always had this preconceived notion that it was a total flop, and nothing that I'd ever really be interested in, but when seats were available for £7.50, I figured - why not? And I'm so glad I did. The staging, music, lyrics, acting and what little choreography there was was utterly engaging and made the 2 hours without an intetmission seem like minutes. Two thumbs way up, Stephen.
Today was a South Bank kind of a day. We managed to get tickets to see "Hamlet" at the National early (a feat that was pretty phenomenal considering that the production sold out 1 week after going on sale), so we headed across the river for a day of Thames adventures, starting with Wagamamas for lunch. There happened to be this Christmas/Winter Time outdoor market thing happening which we perused for a bit before heading to the theatre. I guess Christmas starts early here because there's no Thanksgiving to split up the Winter, but we were happy to take in the festivities (and grab a crepe before the show). Now... I had read Hamlet countless times in school but had never had the opportunity to see it - and I am SO happy that this was my first experience seeing it performed. The guy playing Hamlet was a LAMDA grad which gave us a bit of nachus to say, not to mention how unbelievable he was in the part. He was seamless in every transition, nailed every monologue and portrayed, in my opinion, one of Shakespeare's most complicated characters with clarity and grace. There were some weak parts in the company but it was played in the same gigantic Olivier Theater where we saw Danton's Death, and still managed to be just as gripping as if it were 10 chairs in a black box. Still reeling, we left the theater to find the outdoor market still going on and the Parliament/Big Ben and The Eye all lit up for nighttime - beautiful. We made time for a quick carousel ride and hot chocolate before heading home.
So here I am, sitting at my computer putting off learning lines for Much Ado, even though I have to be off-book by tomorrow. It's unreal how quickly time is passing. I have to stop myself sometimes and remember where I am and how lucky I am to here. I guess at this point it's all or nothing and I'm ready to see where choosing "all" will get me!
Monday, November 15, 2010
An American in Paris
Since elementary school I was told that my writing was always "too wordy", and this, I assure you, will be no exception.
While it would be impossible to do justice in writing to my weekend in Paris, I'm going to try my hardest to make it work. I left for the train station right from school on Friday and, with one minor delay, got into Gare du Nord train station in Paris at 10:30 with my darling friend Blake waiting for me at the gate. We took a bus back to his flat for my initial introduction to Paris, and in true European fashion went out that night to a bar called WAGG which was having it's carwash themed night, meaning a lot of Motown - not exactly Parisian, but a lot of fun.
Saturday morning began my whirlwind adventure, not only in Paris, the place, but Paris, the food. We had (delicious) croissants and orange juice on our walk over to the Catacombs, which turned out to be a bit of failure when the line reached right around the entire perimeter of the gate. Onward to the Eiffel tower! Not only was the view from the top unbelievable, the lines to get tickets proved equally entertaining. First, we planned on walking up, only to realize once we got to the front of the line, that we had been standing in the elevator line. Then, in line for security, a woman lost control of her purple umbrella and it went flying into the crowd of innocent bystanders waiting for their tickets - thank goodness Blake was there to save the day and return the umbrella to said woman. Lastly - in line for the elevator, we were separated from the other lines by a clear-plastic wall, which a little girl (about 3 or 4) proceeded to walk up to, isnpect, kiss, lick, walk away from, and then return to lick one more time. Blake and I were in tears laughing so hard as the girl's mother continued her conversation only to look over in horror at her daughter getting to first base with a window. Then it was a beautiful trip to the top with plenty of pictures to be taken.
From the Eiffel tower we did the walk over to Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Elysees where we stopped at Laduree and I had my first experience with French macaroons, which are perhaps the most delicious things on the face of the earth. With treats in hand we got on the metro towards Le Marais, which quickly became my favorite place in Paris. Blake took me there with the intention of eating a kosher deli sandwich, only for us to realize once we got there that anything kosher would be closed on Shabbas... oops. But the crisis was averted when we found a lovely cafe where I got to have my first authentic French baguette and another wonderful meal with my wonderful guy.
Next stop; Notre Dame (just the outside), across the Seine and over this quaint little bridge covered in locks, left there by couples who lock them together and throw the key into the Seine. It's romantic, and a bit odd, but the bridge was pretty. We headed back towards Blake's apartment where he took me to his to major landmarks, The Pantheon, and Picard, a store that sell only frozen items (including sushi... ew). Dinner that night was another metro ride up to a fondue restaurant where they give you wine to drink out of baby bottles. Not just small bottles - but actual baby bottles. Needless to say it was very weird, but the restaurant was right by Montmarte so we walked up to the Sacre-Coeur at night and saw the entire city lit up (insert cheesy line here; "you know... it is called the 'city of lights'!"). Also - because it was nearly 9 we stayed up there and watched the Eiffel tower sparkle on the hour before walking down to see the Moulin Rouge where Blake and I proceeded to dance for long enough to have our picture taken.
The next morning we were up and eating again, this time outside (thanks to a heating lamp) at a cafe right across from Luxembourg Garden, where we walked to after finishing our cafe au lait and pain chocolat (again... delicious). Blake took me over to the neighborhood where his school is, SciencesPo, and we walked around all of the (closed) designer stores before stopping for another meal at Le Duex Magots, one of the 2 famous cafes next to each other on Boulevard Saint-Germaine. Cue the Camembert on baguette sandwich. Delicious.
To walk off some of our meal we headed towards the Saine and walked along parallel to the Louvre, stopping at Musee d'Orsay just to see that the line for the catacombs had apparently moved there for the moment, so we continued on towards the obelisk and eventually to plaza outside the Louvre with the glass pyramids... it was all very Dan Brown, but better. We opted not to go into the Louvre because we didn't have 3 weeks to get it all done, and instead enjoyed a lovely sit to people watch the tourists that flocked to the museum.
From there is was a short walk to the Opera House and Galleries Lafayette where the Christmas windows were up and Judy Garland wad blaring from the speakers allowing Blake and I to take part in a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for a group of unsuspecting bystanders. Blake, since I had gotten there, had been telling me about "the fanciest Starbucks in the world" right by the Opera House and while he built it up quite a lot, and I did not train into Paris just to go Starbucks, we did end up going. He was right. It was the fanciest Starbucks in THE WORLD. It didn't just have tile floors and extended seating with plush couches and chairs, it had chandeliers - emphasis on the 's' for multiple chandeliers. It was absurd. But well worth the entire trip to Paris.
After leaving what is sure to become one of Paris' most sought-after attractions, I got Blake to take me back to Le Marais where we wandered around again, into furniture stores, little museums and thrift shops that all seemed to be more adorable than the last. Last stop in Le Marais was to get me an honest-to-goodness crepe from one of the guys with an outdoor stand - because that's clearly far more legitimate - and it really was. We walked back along the Seine as it got dark and passed Notre Dame again, this time lit up, and saw beautiful views from the bridge of Paris (insert cheesy line here; "no wonder it's the 'city of lights'!"). Last stop was a very hip bar right by Blake's flat for one final hoorah and then it was back to Gare du Nord and bye bye Louve, hello London.
I cannot believe how much we got done in one weekend, and just how wonderful that weekend was. My dad said that he knew it was a good trip because I didn't mention the fact that it rained the whole time until the very end - and he's right! Even with rain and overcast skies, Paris is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I'm so glad that I now fall among the ranks of people who can legitimately say that. Now it's back to school for the last 4 weeks (gulp) of the program. It's hard to think about how quickly time passes, but now that I can say that I got to do Paris while passing the time, I think it's safe to say that I've done pretty well for myself.
While it would be impossible to do justice in writing to my weekend in Paris, I'm going to try my hardest to make it work. I left for the train station right from school on Friday and, with one minor delay, got into Gare du Nord train station in Paris at 10:30 with my darling friend Blake waiting for me at the gate. We took a bus back to his flat for my initial introduction to Paris, and in true European fashion went out that night to a bar called WAGG which was having it's carwash themed night, meaning a lot of Motown - not exactly Parisian, but a lot of fun.
Saturday morning began my whirlwind adventure, not only in Paris, the place, but Paris, the food. We had (delicious) croissants and orange juice on our walk over to the Catacombs, which turned out to be a bit of failure when the line reached right around the entire perimeter of the gate. Onward to the Eiffel tower! Not only was the view from the top unbelievable, the lines to get tickets proved equally entertaining. First, we planned on walking up, only to realize once we got to the front of the line, that we had been standing in the elevator line. Then, in line for security, a woman lost control of her purple umbrella and it went flying into the crowd of innocent bystanders waiting for their tickets - thank goodness Blake was there to save the day and return the umbrella to said woman. Lastly - in line for the elevator, we were separated from the other lines by a clear-plastic wall, which a little girl (about 3 or 4) proceeded to walk up to, isnpect, kiss, lick, walk away from, and then return to lick one more time. Blake and I were in tears laughing so hard as the girl's mother continued her conversation only to look over in horror at her daughter getting to first base with a window. Then it was a beautiful trip to the top with plenty of pictures to be taken.
From the Eiffel tower we did the walk over to Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Elysees where we stopped at Laduree and I had my first experience with French macaroons, which are perhaps the most delicious things on the face of the earth. With treats in hand we got on the metro towards Le Marais, which quickly became my favorite place in Paris. Blake took me there with the intention of eating a kosher deli sandwich, only for us to realize once we got there that anything kosher would be closed on Shabbas... oops. But the crisis was averted when we found a lovely cafe where I got to have my first authentic French baguette and another wonderful meal with my wonderful guy.
Next stop; Notre Dame (just the outside), across the Seine and over this quaint little bridge covered in locks, left there by couples who lock them together and throw the key into the Seine. It's romantic, and a bit odd, but the bridge was pretty. We headed back towards Blake's apartment where he took me to his to major landmarks, The Pantheon, and Picard, a store that sell only frozen items (including sushi... ew). Dinner that night was another metro ride up to a fondue restaurant where they give you wine to drink out of baby bottles. Not just small bottles - but actual baby bottles. Needless to say it was very weird, but the restaurant was right by Montmarte so we walked up to the Sacre-Coeur at night and saw the entire city lit up (insert cheesy line here; "you know... it is called the 'city of lights'!"). Also - because it was nearly 9 we stayed up there and watched the Eiffel tower sparkle on the hour before walking down to see the Moulin Rouge where Blake and I proceeded to dance for long enough to have our picture taken.
The next morning we were up and eating again, this time outside (thanks to a heating lamp) at a cafe right across from Luxembourg Garden, where we walked to after finishing our cafe au lait and pain chocolat (again... delicious). Blake took me over to the neighborhood where his school is, SciencesPo, and we walked around all of the (closed) designer stores before stopping for another meal at Le Duex Magots, one of the 2 famous cafes next to each other on Boulevard Saint-Germaine. Cue the Camembert on baguette sandwich. Delicious.
To walk off some of our meal we headed towards the Saine and walked along parallel to the Louvre, stopping at Musee d'Orsay just to see that the line for the catacombs had apparently moved there for the moment, so we continued on towards the obelisk and eventually to plaza outside the Louvre with the glass pyramids... it was all very Dan Brown, but better. We opted not to go into the Louvre because we didn't have 3 weeks to get it all done, and instead enjoyed a lovely sit to people watch the tourists that flocked to the museum.
From there is was a short walk to the Opera House and Galleries Lafayette where the Christmas windows were up and Judy Garland wad blaring from the speakers allowing Blake and I to take part in a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for a group of unsuspecting bystanders. Blake, since I had gotten there, had been telling me about "the fanciest Starbucks in the world" right by the Opera House and while he built it up quite a lot, and I did not train into Paris just to go Starbucks, we did end up going. He was right. It was the fanciest Starbucks in THE WORLD. It didn't just have tile floors and extended seating with plush couches and chairs, it had chandeliers - emphasis on the 's' for multiple chandeliers. It was absurd. But well worth the entire trip to Paris.
After leaving what is sure to become one of Paris' most sought-after attractions, I got Blake to take me back to Le Marais where we wandered around again, into furniture stores, little museums and thrift shops that all seemed to be more adorable than the last. Last stop in Le Marais was to get me an honest-to-goodness crepe from one of the guys with an outdoor stand - because that's clearly far more legitimate - and it really was. We walked back along the Seine as it got dark and passed Notre Dame again, this time lit up, and saw beautiful views from the bridge of Paris (insert cheesy line here; "no wonder it's the 'city of lights'!"). Last stop was a very hip bar right by Blake's flat for one final hoorah and then it was back to Gare du Nord and bye bye Louve, hello London.
I cannot believe how much we got done in one weekend, and just how wonderful that weekend was. My dad said that he knew it was a good trip because I didn't mention the fact that it rained the whole time until the very end - and he's right! Even with rain and overcast skies, Paris is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I'm so glad that I now fall among the ranks of people who can legitimately say that. Now it's back to school for the last 4 weeks (gulp) of the program. It's hard to think about how quickly time passes, but now that I can say that I got to do Paris while passing the time, I think it's safe to say that I've done pretty well for myself.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Just Keep Swimming
After commending myself last week for my relative promptness in posting to this thing, I have clearly dropped the ball again. Oops. Last week just wasn't all that exciting, so it didn't inspire much in the way of sharing, but I guess there were some highlights to be noted.
We got cast in Much Ado About Nothing - I'm playing Margaret. Not only is she written for a girl, but she's written for a sassy girl - so I'm pretty excited. The other fun fact about Much Ado is that my director has cut every Dogberry/Verges scene, claiming that "they're just not that funny" and also ONLY refers to them as Dogberry scenes. Much Ado: Part 2.
In the world of theatre, I have seen 2 musicals in the last week that could NOT be more different from one another. Last Tuesday I went to see Les Miserables, which was... Les Mis. Not much you can do with that one to liven it up, but Norm Lewis was in it as Javert and that was pretty breathtaking. Plus, our seats were first-row mezzanine, so no big loss. Last night though, I FINALLY made it to see "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" at the Palace Theatre. Priscilla is a movie that my parents were wonderful enough to let me watch at, probably, too early of an age, but because of that - it has always been one of my favorite movies of all time. There is really no way to describe the show other than informing you that there were men dressed as cupcakes, a pink bus on-stage, and more sequins used than in the entirety of La Cage, even if you add up every one of the revivals. It was non-stop fun, and non-stop camp, and the audience was so visibly and audibly into the production that it added a whole new dimension to the experiences. It is, by no means, a "serious piece of theatre" - but that suited me just fine!
Last weekend was great; nothing too out of the ordinary but a really great weekend to chill out and prepare for the week ahead. I saw "The Social Network", which I really enjoyed, especially because I think there is nothing more ironic than the inventor of Facebook being one of the most socially awkward human beings on the planet. There was a trip to Chelsea market, a head-shot session in the midst of terrible public transportation problems, and a lovely late tea at the Mogilners. All in all - not too shabby.
This week is just kind of dragging along because I'm going to Paris this weekend and clearly the universe wants to make it the longest wait of my life. Still - first time in France, to see my best friend, and eat brie and baguettes in the right way... I'll wait it out!
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