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Two Ladies: La Bella Bimba at Barons Court Theatre / Canal Cafe Theatre

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T hey sing. They dance. They clown around. They even wash clothes! Such is the story of La Bella Bimba, part of the Voila Theatre Festival, which highlights new and emerging artists. A tale of two Italian ladies who land in 1920s New York, trying to break into Broadway without speaking a word of English. It’s harmless, primarily even if a little nonsensical, and is currently playing as part of the Voila! Theatre Festival .  I caught the performance at the Barons Court Theatre , where the intimate setting created an evocative atmosphere reminiscent of dark New York alleyways. The space was almost claustrophobic with a distinct smell of rising damp, making you feel immersed in the story of two Ladies hanging around the theatre doors of Broadway. On the plus side, the theatre has some of the most comfortable seats you will find in any pub theatre in London. As the naive and hopeful singers, Co-creator Lucrezia Galeone as Carlotta and Sarah Silvestri as Cecilia are fine singers with co...
Well there are worse things than sweating at the airport at Narita...

After an emotionally driaining flight to Narita where only the calmative properties of Maxolon could soothe the savage headache and everything else that I had, I was looking forward to the hotel stay at Narita to at least get a shower. A pity that the transfer bus was a little late and so we all had to wait outside in the heat and the smog for the next bus. As beads of sweat dripped from me everywhere I thought I was about to pass out. Only the Sondheim song "It's hot in here" kept me amused and conscious.

By the time I got to the hotel I was too exhausted to contemplate a trip to Tokyo. Maybe next time when it wasn't so bloody hot I thought. Fortunately the Japanese excel themselves with the wide range of isotonic drinks they have available. I spent the next 20 hours savouring them in mass quantities.

The next leg to London was bloody long but amusing enough. Although everywhere I went there were little reminders of Brisbane. The inflight movie was "Breakfast at Tiffany's" so that was a little sad to watch.

By the time I arrived at Heathrow I was just glad. Getting through immigration was surprisingly quick. The bureaucrat behind the counter asked me,
"So whatcha come to Britain for?"
"For a holiday?" was my reply
He looked though my passport and saw my visa and then corrected me
"... a WORKING holiday"
"Yeah"
"Okay off you go then"
So that was the surprisingly quick exchange that occurred.

Skye met me there at Heathrow and laughed at my baggage (my real baggage not my emotional). We stayed and had more isotonic drinks and Skye enjoyed a cheesy lasange.

After waiting an hour for the peak to subside and having her in tears about my final weeks in Brisbane we went on the tube. I was chatting to her and being very untube like in my manner which got us a few looks but apart from that things were okay.

Then when we had to change trains I had a laugh about the announcement that "due to somebody being under a train, all services for [such and such a ] line were cancelled".

For Skye she found it interesting that I laughed at it. Maybe all will be good here.

I slept at Lish's place and it was so nice to have a sleep.

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