WATCHING AND HEARING OTHERS

There is no doubt that we all benefit from getting out there to see and hear what others are doing! The temptation to just work in a very focussed way in that well known vain mission to clear the ever re-filling in tray is one we all need to step aside from. So I am in the middle of an events sandwich...2 down and 1 to go..Thursday was seeing my ex pupil Leila in a Youth Theatre production at the Loft in Leamington Spa. last night was Royal Opera House to see Terry Jones and Anne Dudley's Opera Shots "Doctors Tale" and tonight I am off to see pupil Ash and ex pupil Sam in Fiddler on the Roof at the Spa Centre in Leamington, with musical friend Buddug. It wasn't planned as a trio of exciting nights out. It just happened that way. I am so glad to be forced to drop the baton and buzz off all over the place.

At the ROH the first operetta of the evening, which was Edgar Alan Poe's story "The Tell Tale Heart" was set by Police's Stewart Copeland. I used to be such a fan of Police and here I am with much time elapsed finding Stewart C. has evolved into a considerable composer who can create great ensemble work and orchestration. The rhythmic beats and piano clusters give away the drumming background. Even celebratory spotting him in the interval was a thrill. Shamefully I know nothing about his interim period, never reading the music mags that would have kept me more up to date.

Terry's and Anne's operetta was such a tour de force. Such fun and so loving. The earnest doctor who is a dog is admired for his common sense and deeply caring style. His patients adore him. But he is a dog and GMC decide to hold him to account and want him de registered. Anne Dudley was one of the founders of "The Art of Noise" who produced experimental and often beaty tracks in the 80s. I remember getting kids with learning difficulties to choreograph some of their tracks. The were an undercover band and at the time no one quite knew who they were. Anne's flair for orchestration is incredible. The opera gels together and flows seamlessly with little splashes of colour suddenly outstanding: the harp, the bass clarinet, a sudden jazz solo from muted trumpet. Most singers morph rapidly from one character to another. (I was sitting next to the proud mum of one the performers and she was ecstatic about her tall son who slipped between 3 roles easily)
No mics for these singers with robust musical lines and wide ranging tunefulness. I so hope ROH will proceed to commit to further of these Opera Shots. I also love the use on unusual creative forces.

As well as a visit to the portrait gallery, followed by witnessing a freeby a rehearsal at the Royal Festival Hall of some beautiful Indian music and dancing, our day out in London included us witnessing the arrest of an Ice Cream Salesman and the detention of his van by 8 undercover heavy duty cops in Covent Garden. This dramatic event was a spontaneous piece of classic farce. With the cops swarming over the van and the wretched ice cream man hauled from his driving wheel, the intensity of the situation was too bizarre to take seriously. At any moment surely they would they all break out laughing and serve themselves Mr. Whippees with double flakes? One grandad with two little girls in tow innocently approached to order ice creams and then quickly hustled his puzzled grand daughters away when he realised somewhat late what the situation was. A boldly nosy man on a bike pulled up and stuck himself about a yard away from it all and just openly stared and stared till it was through. Whatever the risk that the ice cream man and van was posing, all in all we had a very good show. We sat with our beers and just lapped it all up. I must say there is so much entertainment on the street, intentional and also like this unintentional, that a visit to London is a fine thing.
Lizzie