Thank you for the music

A little while ago, Mirinda and I watched the movie version of Mamma Mia in separate houses. We loved it so much that I went out and immediately bought tickets to see it on the West End. To be fair, I didn’t actually ‘go out’…I did it on the Internet.

Anyway, the tickets duly arrived and today was the day. I hadn’t realised it was Easter when I booked them and, subsequently Waterloo was very, very crowded. Now, it’s one thing to have crowds of commuters and quite another to have crowds of ‘tourists’. The commuters know what they’re doing.

Before going to the Novello Theatre, we went to the wonderful Simpson’s on the Strand for lunch. This is somewhere we’ve wanted to eat for ages. It’s next door to the Savoy (and we think, owned by them) and has been in business, continuously, since 1828.

It has not always been a restaurant though. It was originally a coffee house called The Grand Cigar Divan. It was well known for its chess and attracted all sorts of leading chess players of the time. In fact, their logo is a knight’s head. The booths that run down one side of the restaurant are where the players would sit.

Everything in the restaurant is British, including the menu. The food was lovely, in particular the treacle sponge with proper custard. We sat quite near Winston Churchill’s favourite table. We know because the waiter told us. The waiter who thought it was quite radical that I had an ear ring. I felt like I was in the 1950’s.

Our only complaint about Simpson’s was the time the meals took to arrive. We’d given ourselves 90 minutes before having to be at the theatre (which is five minutes away) and normally that would be heaps. As the time ticked ever closer to our deadline and our desserts were still to arrive, my heart was doing flip flops. I hate it when audience members are late…even more so when it’s me.

I needn’t have worried. We ate our (delicious) desserts, paid the bill and left, arriving at the theatre with ten minutes before curtain. Perfect!

Mirinda suggested I review the theatre we go to on the blog, as well as the production. The theory is that the next time we buy tickets for a particular theatre, I’ll remember where to sit for maximum comfort.

So, here goes…

The Novello Theatre
Photographs are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN during and before the performance. The before the performance rule is enforced by an usherette who would have been at home in the Gestapo. I didn’t get to see any action during the performance. However, I now know NEVER to take photographs of the audience at the Novello Theatre.

Oops!

The stalls bar is in the centre up the back and very small. Today there were two people serving. They manage to get through the queue pretty quickly but I reckon if the ice cream sellers sold water as well as CDs, the queues in the bar would be shorter.

In the stalls, the audience rake is too shallow, meaning I only managed to see about two thirds of the stage. Note that I’m not blaming the guy sitting in front of me with the giant, oversized, blow up head.

Next time we go to the Novello, it would be better to be in the first three rows of the stalls or the front row in the circle, which is at a decent height.

So much for the theatre (which was extremely hot and stuffy)…as for Mamma Mia…

Mamma Mia
Oh dear. A slip of white paper in the programme informed us from the start that the main part of Donna was being played by an understudy.

Now, I should state from the off that her voice was fine. Mirinda claims she hit a few bum notes, but I didn’t notice. What we did notice was the lack of connection between cast members. In a show that needs energy and truth, this had…well, neither of them, really. It was the dreaded matinee performance where they seem to be just going through their paces before the evening show.

I’m not saying that’s what they did (and if they did, it’s the first time I’ve been subjected to it), but it’s what it felt like. It was a shame because I was determined to enjoy it. Had the cast felt the same, it may have worked for all of us.

There was, however, an awful lot of energy for the curtain calls. I reckon this was because they were relieved to have managed their way through it and could now hurry off and have tea. People actually stood up (though most of them were kids) at the end…clapping not leaving.

I’m not going to mention any names except for Neil Roberts who played Harry Bright and Joanna Monro who was Rosie. I thought Harry was excellent (though I kept thinking he was Colin Firth) and Joanna, though a bit old, was superb as the cook book writer friend of Donna.

And that was it.

I know my mother will think I didn’t like it on purpose because she didn’t like Legally Blonde, but it’s just not the case. I really, really, really wanted to enjoy it!

The Novello Theatre, Aldwych