Unbelievable concert!...and some other stuff happened

So on the day I left Edinburgh after the Fringe Festival, I got a text from my lovely friend Tim (ex-Warwick, now a Londoner and working in Marketing, but a big musical theatre fan), saying he had got 2 tickets to the Jason Robert-Brown concert on the 30th of September, in the second row, and would I like to go with him. Obviously I said YES PLEASE!!! and hence, on Sunday, I went to said concert, after a very tasty meal with Tim at Wagamama.

Jason Robert-Brown, for those of you who don't know his work, is a singer-songwriter and composer of several musicals which have become sort of cult hits - it's not terribly hummable stuff; quite complex, thoughtful and devilishly difficult to play. Plus it's often intensely emotional. However, this means it is loved by singing and non-singing musicians alike - it's challenging, unusual and impressive when you get it right! The musicals, in case you want to look them up (and I recommend that you do!) are 'The Last Five Years', 'Songs for a New World' and 'Parade' (currently on at the Donmar Warehouse in London), plus one that is in the progress of being put together entitled 'Thirteen' (which JRB assures us is a comedy, unlike the others...)

This concert was a one-off evening that he does every so often when he's in the UK, usually in a smaller more intimate venue (so Tim tells me) - this one was in the Purcell Room of the South Bank Centre, however, so still not a huge auditorium. We bumped into various people we knew, excitingly, since it was a small audience, mostly from Warwick - Joe Davison and Nikki, and Russ Hope - which was very pleasant :)

The concert itself was Unbelievably good. I was sitting with Tim, as promised, in the second row, and he had cleverly positioned us stage right so that we could see the keyboard of the grand piano (and therefore JRB's hands while he was playing). This turned out to make the experience even more amazing - the music itself is fantastic enough, but to watch JRB playing, and singing, and not even looking at his hands which were doing immensely complicated and accurate things, was incredible. He also had some great singers as guests - Joanna Riding, Jenna Russell and Lara Pulver - all of whom sang beautifully and impressively.
What I particularly liked were the little touches that made the evening feel personal and intimate, and showed that it had been thought through carefully - most noticeably the slight changes in the song lyrics, where appropriate, to make them British; "A wife and kids in Portland" became "A wife and kids in Portsmouth" in Joanna Riding's 'Stars and the Moon' (from Songs for a New World) and "every girl would look like Mr. Ed" became "every girl would look like Mr. Bean" in JRB's own 'A Miracle Would Happen (from The Last Five Years) - which led into the whole second half of that show being performed!! Lara Pulver took on Cathy's role again, having played it at the Menier Chocolate Factory last year, and JRB was Jamie at the piano - visibly involved in the emotional story that so closely reflects his own marriage and divorce from his first wife.

So, all in all, an amazing experience; just the right balance of songs I did and didn't know, performed by insanely talented people, and I got the best vantage point in the house. Thanks Tim!!!!!! :)
Apart from that, I had a really good but busy weekend - I went over to Chris and Steph's after work on Saturday for a gay night, which entailed a bottle of wine, home-made chilli, chocolate fudge cake, the X factor on TV and Rent on dvd! I stayed there, and on Sunday morning we went to PC world and Asda to do a bit of shopping, then I came home before the concert. After all that excitement, I was pretty knackered on Monday, and yesterday I just had a nice meal at home with Amy and David from next door, Heather who's still staying at my house, and Nick from work who gave me a lift home and got roped into dinner! It was good fun, actually, and we watched the Steven Fry documentary about HIV/AIDS (not ideal viewing for an impromptu dinner party, I know, but it was very well done an extremely interesting.)

The latest excitement is that I'm guiding my first tour of the building at work tomorrow, for a potential hirer of the theatre, and he's bringing a BBC camera crew who are filming him for a BBC1 documentary! I suppose if he decides to hire the theatre there'll be more filming, and if he doesn't then I'll never be on telly - but you never know! I might get a few more of my 15 minutes of fame, hehe!

This evening I'm being very lazy and not going to ballet, because I've been feeling really sick since yesterday afternoon and I really don't fancy jumping around, so I'll go on Saturday instead, and spend this evening in the bath and curled up in my pyjamas, I think! Mmm, toasty.

More soon,
Lia x :)