Saturday, February 1 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m going to check out a musical this afternoon (a matinee). The theater is located in Hammersmith, so I guess you could call this an off West End production? (analogous to off Broadway…)

The Lyric Theatre has an interesting history. It was originally a music hall established in 1888 on Bradmore Grove, Hammersmith. Success as an entertainment venue led it to be rebuilt and enlarged on the same site twice, first in 1890, and then in 1895.

In 1966 the theater was due to be closed and demolished. However, a successful campaign to save it led to the auditorium being dismantled and reinstalled piece by piece within a modern shell on its current site, a short distance from the former Bradmore Grove location. The relocated theater opened in 1979.

The musical is set in New York City’s Cotton Club, and is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The play combines the music of Duke Ellington (who is also a featured character) with street dance choreography.

This was a fun, high energy show. With great music!

Travel Note: I experienced a London first tonight! While traveling back to South Harrow from Hammersmith on the Piccadilly line, a London Underground inspector boarded the train at Acton Town and checked all of the passengers’ tickets. And I got busted! (Kidding!) Never had that happen before! I actually mentioned this to the inspector, and he replied that there are just not that many inspectors working in the system. I talked to the passengers around me afterwords, and none of them had ever had it happen either!

It’s the little things that excite me! Have I said that I’m weird?

Sunday, February 2 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m staying on the Hill today to attend a concert by the Harrow School students in the beautiful Speech Room.

But first, it was such an amazing day, I had to include a couple pictures from the Harrow School grounds. You’ve seen these buildings before, but they never get old…

This was a fun performance, because not only were the Harrow School students involved, but also the choirs of several nearby schools (girls and boys; the youngest looking to be 1st graders). The cost of the concert was £12.

The Speech Room was eventually packed – standing room only. I think this was due to a couple of factors: a) the choirs were taking up some of the seating, and b) there were family members in attendance for not just the Harrow students, but also the choir students.

Travel Note: I’m off to Paris tomorrow, returning on Friday. My main mission is to visit the newly restored Notre Dame. Can’t wait! I’m anticipating it will be a busy attraction. The administrators of the cathedral must think so as well, because they’ve set up a free reservations system. The timed reservations can only be made up to two days in advance however. I kind of like that. So I was up early this morning to reserve my spot for first-thing on Tuesday morning (maybe it will be less crowded at that time of day…).

I’ll also be attending a classic car show and three associated auctions that I last visited during my winter trip in 2020. Otherwise, no specific plans; just doing my favorite thing – walking around. It’s a great city for that (like London). Maybe I’ll check out a museum or two, not sure.

I won’t be taking my laptop along (the advantage of having a home base); therefore, my next Journal update will be in about a week. You’re devastated, I know!

Sidenote: I’ve been asked fairly often if I’ve ever been to Paris, so I decided to go back through my records to see how many times I’ve actually been there. (It’s an easy check because, for tax purposes, I had to keep a location log while working overseas, and I’ve continued to maintain the spreadsheet since I retired. (I’m weird, have I said that?)). It turns out the number is 6, dating back to 2007 (this week will be my 7th) – including one trip with Chuck, Linda, Fred & Richard; and one with Greg, Karen, Alex & Nicole. Pretty cool!