sam and the city

West end story

Good day faithful readers. One of the many things that London is famous for is it's west end, theatre district, where hit shows like Phantom of the Opera have been playing for the last 20years! The heart of the west end is Leicester Square, which is basically devoted to the theatre.

In Melbourne the only time that going to the theatre really enters people's minds is when something like the Comedy Festival is on. In London however it is basically like that year round. Leicester Square is constantly packed with people deciding what show they might like to go and see during their stay in the city and tickets stall owners trying to convince them that theirs are the cheapest in town. As long as you get there early and you don't want 50 seats together you can usually get tickets to even the most popular shows for only 20pounds.

Until today I hadn't been to a show, but I thought that it was about time. I saw a poster somewhere yesterday for The Rat Pack - Live From Las Vegas, starring Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. It was an excellent choice on my part, it was a great performance. The show was performed as if it were one of their live performances at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas during the 60's. The guy playing Frank Sinatra actually looked quite a lot like Frank. The guy playing Dean looked nothing like him, but he had the same great voice. The type of voice where it sounds as natural as if he's just talking in time to the music. Anyway, great show, see it if you get the chance.

The only problem with this show is that it was just too good. It's whetted my appetite to see some more shows. On my list at present is One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and The Producers. Also We Well Rock You, which I just found out is not actually a story about Queen like I thought.

posted by sam @ 10:38 pm