Sunday, March 07, 2010

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 4

Union flagWe had another long sleep and in the morning lots of fresh hot coffee in the apartment.

Mid-morning I ventured out and got supplies at Marks and Spencer's Simply Food. Back at the flat we had a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham, crisp bacon and croisants. M&S were out of black pepper so I stopped at Le Pain Quotidien and bought a pepper mill full of Malabar peppercorns. It's now a souvenir of the London trip.

One of the best features of a self-catering apartment is being able to cook up a nice breakfast at home and not have to sit in a restaurant first thing in the day.

Sign: Jersey Boys, London
Jersey Boys marquee

Prince Edward TheatreAt 3:00 we were at the Prince Edward Theatre to see Jersey Boys. I had read it was not just another "jukebox musical." And it was true, it was more like a documentary. There was a strong book with an unflinching look at the grittier side of the Four Seasons' off-stage troubles.

The performances were excellent. The music and sound design were wonderful as were the sets and lights. The players were from all over the UK but each of them had perfect New Jersey accents. The leads --Ryan Molloy as Frankie Valli and Stephen Ashfield as Bob Gaudio -- were excellent and sounded like they grew up in Newark.

Who knew rock 'n' roll could be so theatrical?

Red Onion RestaurantAfter the theatre we met our friends Sian and Keith at their home in Hammersmith. They took us to eat at a wonderful Indian restaurant, the Red Onion and we had a great time catching up.

1 comment:

mn-b said...

I really liked Jersey Boys. It's a tough story, and I learned a lot about those guys. I'd only just been a fan of the music. The audience response was amazing.