We've just been to see The Phantom of the Opera. I feel a little like Pepys with all these visits to theatres of late, but when many of your friends are actors, life can become a constant round of theatrical experiences (and not just ones on the stage!)
Today was the turn of my lovely friend, Carmen, who was playing Carlotta, the operatic diva, in the musical. It feels rather odd to confess that I've never been to see Phantom before. Many of those huge shows from the 1980s passed me by during the dark years when I felt the need to claim that musical theatre was a lower art form!
I loved the show. It's so atmospheric and it was such a treat to see it. Carmen was extraordinary. It's such an extreme role, which requires an actress to honk like a goose before singing right up to top Es, which is the stuff of dream sequences. Any higher and only dogs would be able to hear her! I was immensely proud.
I was less proud of the orchestra, however, who sounded tired. They were all playing on auto-pilot and had obviously been "phoning in" their performances for way too many years. Apparently about 9 of them had been playing in the pit since the show started 25 years ago, which is just weird. Many of the string players sounded like they were playing instruments made out of knicker elastic. If I were Cameron Mackintosh, I'd go in there and sack the lot of them; bring in some younger players with a bit more life and better intonation! Old school musicians are not necessarily good musicians. Besides, why on earth would a decent musician WANT to play the same show for 25 years?
350 years ago, and Pepys, like me, went to the theatre... This time with Elizabeth, to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. They saw a play called The Traitor, which they enjoyed immensely. The King was also in the audience. It's interesting to note how accessible royalty must have seemed in those days. London was so much smaller...
Pepys returned home with Elizabeth, with the intention of getting jiggy, but an unfortunate a bruise on one of his testicles (no, I'm not making this up) prevented him from getting in the mood, as it were, so it was Horlicks all round. Okay, so I made that up. He probably had some kind of caudle before asking one of the maids to comb his hair!
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I know what you mean about professional orchestral players...I performed with a choir and the RPO and they were really bad! totally ignoring the conductor really...playing it their way and in the end the conductor blamed us for being 'early' when it was very clear it was the orchestra behind the beat (and when have singers ever been early!!)
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