free weekend

well, this weekend is our free weekend, so i have lots of time. originally planned on going to ireland but too expensive and will do that backpacking anyway. so i'm chilling in london, sleeping in, went sketching again with Tucker, Sylvia, and Hannah. tomorrow i'm going to see phantom of the opera or cabaret (depending on prices). sunday we're going to a fun version of hamlet where the audience brings props for the actors to use and we possibly choose who plays what role. other than that, i'll probably go to buckingham palace and westminster abbey for some touristy photos. and there is a chocolate store somewhere that i want to find.
anyways, here's the last couple of days:
dancing last week was pretty fun- a place called 101. Tucker, Noel, and I went. It was awkward at first cause no one was dancing. but once they did, we had a good time. except for the creepy albanian man who sat at our table and was convinced that tucker and noel were going to hook up. if only he knew! it was too funny. had a horrible time getting home that night, though. we weren't aware that the tubes closed before 1 am on sundays...so we walked around SOHO where the club is (near/in the red light district), got out of SOHO to find the right bus stop to get us close to home, waited forever for the right bus at that bus stop, (almost succumbed to getting a taxi), and then walked the last bit to vandon house. so that was fun.
(Monday) today reminded me why should never ever live in a city for a long period of time. there are way too many people, too busy, too noisy! everywhere you try to go there are more people going the opposite way faster. everything you want to look at and appreciate, a group of people with cameras push you out of the and block your path.
we went to the british museum today, full of ancient artifacts that don't belong to britain, but the brits won't give them back to Greece/Rome/Egypt/etc. some of it was really cool, but i couldn't get too interested because i was so irritated by all of the people. and the fact that everything in here would be better in its original context away from silly people taking pictures of everything (WITH FLASH!) and ignoring the 'do not touch' signs and not appreciating anything. i probably would have liked it more if there had been fewer people.
saw Into the Hoods today for our show. it was Incredible. an urbanized, hip hop dance paroday of Sondheim's Into the Woods. fairy tale characters from different stories interacting and realisng that happily ever after isn't always easy. that's the original. in the Hoods version, you have characters like spinderella and fairy gee and jaxx, etc. the music was from gorillaz, prince, black eyed peas, james brown, bob marley, etc. some swing, jazz, rock mixes too. the dancing was insane- so good, so energetic. all dialogue was prerecorded and it was narrated a bit. and it wasn't melancholy as sondheim. design was incredible, like only dance shows can be. check it out online, as well as ZooNation's website.
(tuesday) today was the victoria and albert museum- kind of a design type, made for others, casts of famous pieces, type of museum. there was some good stuff though. a lot of royal jewelry, sculptures, a cast of David, etc. sketched a beautiful statue of Eve. there was a lot to see and not much time to see it. oh well. i can come back if i really want to.
the show tonight was pygmalion- the show that the musical my fair lady was based off of. or if you've never heard of that- think pretty woman. it was pretty good, but not my favorite. higgins was too over-the-top. but eliza was incredible. design was simply functional. meh.
(wednesday) a free afternoon today, so me, elise, bekah, kailen, and hope went to see Les Miserrables. BEST EVER! it totally lived up to my expectations. there were some people we saw that i liked better than the original london cast. i'm glad that this cast didn't try to be that one. even though the set is pretty much set (and for good reason-cause it's awesome), the cast made it their own. eponine was my favorite, but gavrouche and little cosette were adorable, too. and jean valjean had some moments that made my heart swell with happiness b/c his voice was so surprisingly good. found an art supply store- it is amazing! (we went back today) Then we saw The Vortex. oh, Noel Coward. it took til the final act for me to decide that i liked it. it did have great lines, and great actors. i think it was the fact that i only liked one of the characters. or it could have been the roundabout way noel coward has of getting to the real story. again, design was functional. they made some decisions i didn't like, but i don't know why they made them either.
(thursday) tate britain today. all art made by british artists throughout history. some of it was boring portraits of aristocracy looking cross. but there was a lot of Turner, though, which is awesome. and the modern stuff was great. i was just so amazed at how much the modern art history class has changed my tastes in art. tate modern is still the best. oh, but while we were at the tate britain, a fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building. but there was no fire. don't know what happened, though. we weren't outside too long before they let us back in.
then we saw the good soul of szechuan by brecht. at it was very brecht. which means alienating the audience w/ jarring sounds and random songs and strangeness. it's kind of hard to explain... but it was very good. the water seller was the best- very very very good, in a delightfully insane, humorous, intense way.
food: a pancake cafe (nutella and bananas), hummus bros (3rd time!), indian (tandoori duck something and pashwari nan), wagamamma (japanese noodle dishes, lots of ginger).
okay so that's it. sorry to end ubruptly but we are going out to supper. don't know where yet. hopefully i'll be able to update again on sunday, with pics!