Paul in London

Woman: I had my wedding reception here... Man: Your first, second or third wedding? Woman: Oh first. After that who can be bothered with all that?

Friday evening I found myself in a packed and warm theatre to watch Fiddler on the Roof. I figured now was as good as any time to catch a production of this classic musical. The last thing I saw at the Savoy was Porgy and Bess and looking at the set before it began, I noticed it was all rough wooden planks. I thought I was still on Catfish Row. I had no idea a shtetl looked so similar to a South Carolina slum. As the show began, the set was so big, hideous and imposing, that it kept distracting me from the rest of the show... Watching it spin, things pop up, things got added to it. Only when the pogrom began towards the end of the first act (with real fire), did my spirits lift... Perhaps they would burn the silly thing to the ground? Darn, those cossacks just set a picture and a wooden box alight. Oh and they threw a pillow about. Hmm... Some pogrom... Sets aside, Fiddler is a great musical with its core story of a family and a community. The production managed to keep life in the ol...

Man #1: You know what a cucumber is good for? Man #2: Nah... Man #1: You know what? Man #2: Nah what? Man #1: Water. Purest water there is. Best thing you know...

Scenes from a flatshare Wednesday 23:29 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . After reading my blog this week, housemate Fr was disappointed he didn't feature. So to correct this glaring omission, here are his feet with socks. It also is an opportunity to highlight one of the more controversial pieces of furniture in the flat... The glass coffee table. Personally I glass coffee tables are a major no-no as it gives people the wrong impression (despite Mark Oaten saying for the record he never used them )... Oh and if there are any gentlemen out there wanting to see more of my housemate, I'm sure that could be arranged if you leave a comment...

Man: Yeah it was great... Woman: But just how many dates have you been on?

I think crap musicals are best seen out of the West End. You don't feel as pissed off if you saw a show with a lousy book and score if you pay £12 as opposed to £50. I think this is a sensible position to take after seeing a very lively and energetic production Tuesday night of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the Landor Theatre in Clapham North . The musical (as it is written) is a bit of a dud. The songs aren't very good, there are enough hoary subplots in the first act so they don't have to worry about characterisation, and the whole show ends as a bit of a downer. For the movie version at least Dolly rewrote the final song. Still it is a musical about whores with hearts of gold so it is probably not worth getting too worked up about it. It's a very likeable show and this production was very entertaining and engaging. I guess that was because of the great cast and a production that has made the most of er what it is... The Landor is a very small space. I arrive...

Messing about on the river aside, Saturday night provided the opportunity to see Deborah Voigt in recital at the Barbican. It was the first time she had performed in London since being dumped from a Royal Opera production for being too fat to fit into the costumes. She acknowledged during an encore that she was a little bit nervous about coming back. The audience broke into applause at this point. All seemed forgiven on both sides. Well perhaps London hasn't forgiven her entirely since the Barbican Hall wasn't exactly full. But her absence and the lack of a full house is London's loss. Now a few years later she has slimmed down (thanks to much publicised surgery ) and sounding great. Tonight's concert was a marvelous programme with songs by Mozart, Verdi and Strauss in the first half and then American composers Beach and Bernstein in the second. This gave her the opportunity to cut loose a bit. For an encore she even tackled Berlin's "I Love a Piano" befo...

09062007826 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Nothing like a bit of sun to get the men to take their shirts off... Even if we would be all better off if they left them on... Nobody needs to see a back covered in blemishes particularly while you're drinking... Well I guess it could have been worse... Just around the corner there was the naked bike ride (although that was for a cause rather than an excuse to get one's kit off right??)...

Scenes from the Thames Friday 22:20 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . As the floating chorus made its way to being in front of Royal Festival Hall, you could help but notice the people on the banks and on the bridges as there were loads of them... The punters were out. Not sure if they liked the music. At one point some rotten little kid yelled out "Are you finished yet?" Then again it was late... The trip wasn't without a little bit of drama. At one point, a strong burning smell was noticed by all. It turned out somebody had put their handbag up against one of the lights. The smell of burning leatherette pervaded for the rest of the cruise...

Scenes from the Thames Thursday 21:20 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Messing about on the river as part of the rehearsal for tonight's Overture programme . It is on Friday and Saturday evenings from dusk to celebrate the reopening of Royal Festival Hall. Singing on a barge with no shelter from wind is certainly an interesting experience... Trapped for two hours but at least we can sing...