Saturday Feb. 7th: 'Play Day' in London!

WOW! What an amazing day in London! On Friday, Ashley’s friend who is currently studying in Italy came to visit for the weekend and we ended up doing some baking and hanging out. I ended up not getting bed till 2:30…oops. I had my alarm set for 4am…yup I only got 1.5 hours of sleep. We woke up early to catch the 5:50 train to London. We arrived in London about 15 to 8. Ashley’s friend, Tara, had to catch a 6:50 AM flight back to Italy on Sunday morning and we discovered that the last train from London to Birmingham on Saturday was a 9:42 PM….that was going to be a problem. The reason why wanted to get to London so early was to stand in line for 25 pound front row Wicked tickets! We ran off the train, jumped on the tube to Victoria Station and headed towards a “London Travel Help Desk” to get directions to the Apollo Victoria Theatre were Wicked was showing. We went up to the person behind the desk and asked for directions and he was like “Yeah, I’ve never heard of the Apollo Victoria.” Then he motioned his head behind us and we turned to see a huge sign saying “Wicked” and above it in huge letters was “Apollo Victoria.” Hahahaha! So we apologized for being Americans and dashed out the door. We noticed the line was only 15 people long, but we still wanted to just get there and get our spot. Once in line, Ashley and Tara went into the station to get coffee and some rolls. The ticket office wouldn’t open till 10 AM so we had two hours to sit out in the cold…burr….! After two hours of chit chat, coffee, and reading Twilight, they finally opened the doors! We GOT OUR TICKETS! Woot Woot! We paid 25 pounds each for front row tickets to ‘Wicked!’ It was 10:15 AM and after taking a bunch of pictures outside the theatre we headed to the tube to show Tara around London till the 2:30 showing of ‘Wicked.’ It was an absolutely beautiful day! First we went to Buckingham Palace, then to Westminster, and the Parliament to see Big Ben. After a little bit of walking around, we headed back to the theatre to see ‘Wicked!’ AHHHH! On the way there, I was getting so fired up I couldn’t handle it! The show was SPECTACULAR! It was absolutely AMAZING! I can’t wait to see it again someday! We sat front row and I could see everything and….wow! I’m speechless …it was so good. Wow.

After seeing ‘Wicked’ we went to the National Express Bus station hopefully get information on buses going to Birmingham. We had a feeling that there was no way that we were going to make our 9:42 train because our next show that we were going to would get out at that time more or less. So we ended up just buying tickets for the 11pm 3 hour bus ride home, just in case. If we would wait to buy them till we knew for sure that we missed the train, we’d be screwed. I was really proud of myself as far as spending money, before we left to catch our train that morning I made myself eat two big bowls of cereal and pack a few apples, granola bars, and a water bottle full of apple juice. So with those snacks in my bag, I only spent 2.25 pounds on food the entire day! I bought a huge baguette and ate half for lunch along with an apple and granola bar and then for dinner we went to Sainsbury’s again, and I bought lunch meat and a can of coke to wake me up before the “Three Days of Rain’ performance with yup, you guessed it, JAMES MCAVOY! AHHH! We ran from station to station from tube to tube case we were getting so fired up! Once at the theatre and we had our tickets in our hands, we sat down in our seats with anticipation! I was almost going to faint I was getting so excited!

Then…the theatre went dark, everything went quiet…then suddenly, the lights turned on and focused on the stage as the set door opened abruptly and in stumbled in…James McAvoy! I and Ashley were shaking! Right before the lights turned off, we noticed in the program that there were understudies and we were freaking out that they’d use an understudy for James MvAvoy the night we come! But, we were relieved that it was him who we saw! The performance was outstanding and it was sure something else to see James at is craft. He was phenomenal. The acting was brilliant. The story of the play was deep but with a hint of comedy. Wow. We sat in the stalls, floor, and were only 15 rows back…it was a small theatre and it was like he was right in front of me….!!! Ahh! You’re not allowed to take photos or anything during anytime in the theatre…but we did kind of. Oops…. After the show we lingered around to see if, you know, he would just happen to come out. He didn’t but I didn’t care, it was a fantastic show and I still can’t believe I got to see it! The only way I knew about it was reading an article about it on the train one time! After the show, we made our way back to the National Express Bus Station, got on the bus, feel asleep instantly and woke up in Birmingham.

It was a wonderful day and I’ll never forget it! Wow! As I type this I’m listening to the ‘Wicked’ soundtrack…hehehehe.
Well I better go and get some homework done. Icky.

Cheers!

Kirsten