The Merry Widow at Glyndebourne Festival 2024

My second visit to Glyndebourne Festival 2024 was to see The Merry Widow. I had never seen the opera before and that was enough for me to want to see it this time and I booked seats Red Upper Circle    C : 42/44 for £150 each. This was somewhat more that my first visit and that was because weekends are usually more expensive at Glyndebourne. The view was good and the seats were still good value. I always book this part of the house for a reason.

If I had done any research I would have known that the opera was in English and I might also have known that a lot of it was spoken rather than sung. These changes from the usual Glyndebourne fare made it a different experience but one I got used to.

This production had the style of a west end musical with lots of crowd pleasing antics and jokes, everyone laughed when the large tray of Ferrero Rocher appeared.

There was quite a bit of slap-stick too, the highpoint being an extravagant sex scene in a summer house where the bodies were literally flying (and other things!).

The staging was grand and the costumes grander, all of which added to sumptuousness of the performance.

The plot did little but was more than enough to hang the humour and the music on. The nature of The Merry Widow is that the humour was more prominent than the music but there were plenty of good tunes along the way and, as always, the singing was excellent, particularly from the Merry Widow herself.

This was an unusual Glyndebourne experience for me , and not one that I will probably rush to repeat, but it was a lot of fun, the quality of the production was very high and I am glad that I went.

Punt & Dennis: We Are Not A Robot at Richmond Theatre

I have seen Punt and Dennis on stage several times mostly, but not exclusively, at recordings of The Now Show, so when they brought their latest touring show to Richmond Theatre I was quick to fork out £28.88 for seat Dress Circle A10.

 

I expected the two of them to stand more or less still and to tell stories, which they did. The tables and chairs where just there for them to leave the stage to the other for a while. 

There was some movement, and other acting, from Hugh Dennis but, sadly, not the raptor impression that had warmed up many a The Now Show crowd.

The material was much in the key of The Now Show too, also as expected.

This was towards the end of a longish tour but they still gave it a work in progress feel through their interactions with the audience and, so they claimed, recording on a clip chart which jokes worked well and which did not.

The show was full of little quips, satirical comments and funny asides. Something like chatting to witty friends in a pub, constant humour without any staged big jokes. They went for a large number of quick laughs rather then fewer big laughs. It is what they do, they did it very well and I loved the show.

Die Zauberflöte at Glyndebourne Festival 2024

My first visit to Glyndebourne Festival 2024 was to see Die Zauberflöte. I had seen the opera a few times and was not desperate to see it again but friends of mine were so I did the booking and we got seats Blue Upper Circle B 7-10 for £105. The view was good and the seats were great value.

 

Going to Glyndebourne is now a routine of trains, coaches and a holding lunch at The Depot next to Lewes Station, and that all worked well.

There was some confusion on the coach as my son, Howard, had also booked a seat and not only did I not know that he was going, I did not know that he was in the country!

Our friends arrived at Glyndebourne in time for the official 3pm opening and were able to claim a seat in the Veg Patch stretch tent, our new favourite location.

My problems with Die Zauberflöte is the obscure plot and this production solved that with excellent staging that not only told the story well but also stressed the comedy making it easy to follow and very enjoyable.

The orchestra and the singers were as good as they always are at Glyndebourne with the singers often going above and beyond with their acting.

I am still not convinced that I want to see other productions of Die Zauberflöte though I will make an exception if this one comes back to Glyndebourne in the near future.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night at Wyndham’s Theatre

Eugene O'Neil plays have been absent from London theatres for a few years and, remarkably, it had been twelve years since I last saw Long Day's Journey into Night. I was keen to see is again.

It helped that this production stared Brian Cox, best known to me for his role as a KGB agent in the two RED films.

All that meant that I was happy to pay £15 for seat A13 in the Grand Circle, which is the third level up.

The play follows the Tyrone family through one summer's day in their seaside home. The father is a touring actor so this is their summer home only. The action, such as it, takes place in one room with the four family members and a maid coming and going throughout the day. It is a play of dialogue and through that dialogue we discover more about the family, particularly their weaknesses.

It is hard to say more without dropping spoilers but it is perhaps not a surprise that heavy drinking and womanising feature.

I loved the set (but forgot to take a photograph) as it was very sparse, little more than a table and a few chairs. That gave more space to the dialogue and also may have been a hint towards the father's miserliness (a trait he explained during the day).

At one level, nothing really happens and the day ends as it began and all that has changed is that we know a lot more about that family. What does happen is all in the words and these are Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning words. The play gripped with ferocity and held me tightly for three hours.

This sort of play is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, and I do not think that the school party behind me were that impressed, but it most assuredly is mine. I loved it and everyone in it.

Arthur Brown at Eel Pie Club

All Arthur Brown concerts that it is possible for me to get to I go to and that imperative was even stronger than usual having seen him at Lewes in November for what was probably my favourite concert of his ever. By then I had already booked to see him at The Eel Pie Club in Twickenham and the next step was the logistics.

The Eel Pie is an unusual, and unhelpful, shape and so I wanted to get in early to bag one of the few decent seats. Doors were 7:45pm and I was in the queue around 7pm. Luckily the queue was only a couple of people at that stage (though they were later joined by friends) so I was reasonably confident.

Julia and Peter joined me before the doors opened and we were amongst the first to be let in byJason on security who had amused us with his conspiracy theories (15 Minute Cites are a form of lockdown, etc.) while we waited.

My initial plan was to sit on the lower lever next to the stage but all the gubbins, artistic and technical, meant that the view from there was very obstructed so we went for seats in the prime position on the upper level. The view from there is the best but the seats are just Ottomans (no backs) so are lest comfortable. The view won.

I really really love this incarnation of Crazy World of Arthur Brown musically and theatrically. Other people obviously like it too and the gig was sold out.

The set was, I think, the same as at Lewes with several newish songs and a few classics (e.g. Fire and Time Captives) delivered with a keyboards-heavy late 60's vibe, think Doors' Light My Fire, that had extended instrumental sections to give Arthur time to do his many costume changes. There was even some audience participation as we joined in on the chants of "Burn!" and on the "La da da" ending to Time Captives.

It was yet another brilliant evening with Arthur Brown and his band. I plan to see them again in November!