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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...
Aha! The counter-surprise operation is still in full swing...

I thought after yesterday's posting the game might be up but then I got this email this morning...

Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 18:40:26 -0800 (PST)
From: "Marc"
Subject: is something brewing????
To: "Paul"

Hey there pauley.... sorry I haven't called or emailed in the last 24... hope you haven't been worried too much. All is well....... Lets just say that there is a little surprise coming your way....you won't know when and how it is going to hit you but I think you'll get a kick out oif it!!!

Love you lots pauley and will talk again real soon


M

Well really, it is all good. We will be back together in less than four hours... not that I am counting down. JAL reports the flight is 20 minutes ahead of time as well... Will Paul make it to the airport in time? Will Marc breeze through immigration and be left waiting for Paul to show up? I have decided not to arrive in disguise given that might startle security there. Being well acquainted with Heathrow now I do know all the good spots to stand to wait for people to arrive. I will be the one wearing the Marcs shirt too (of course).

Other surprises

I have to fess up too, there are a few things I will need to tell Marc when he gets here. I will do my best to put them in a good light!
* The coffee in this city is shit. I don't know if its the hard water, the poorly trained baristas, the chain stores or what, but my tastebuds have had to adjust to poor quality coffee. But I know three places in London where the coffee is good and they are not chain stores so you have to go out of your way to get to them!
* We will be living in a bit of a construction site for the next month. But we are only 3 mins walk from the tube and I think location location location is paramount!
* On the plus we are living next door to a place that serves all day breakfast for £3.50 (including coffee)
* The flavours are not as intense here in general, but I have noticed the eggs are bigger...

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