Two Museums, Both Alike in Dignity...

I spent my time today in two starkly contrasting museums: The Natural History Museum and the Imperial War Museum.  Yes, I'm a dork.  :)  To be honest, my expectations were not that high for the latter, but I was completely blown away by some of the exhibits.

The Natural History Museum was fairly busy today...lots of families enjoying their Sunday with some educational entertainment.  I started with the dinosaur exhibit (prompted by the large assembled skeleton in the main lobby), which featured a lot of hands-on information about excavation and preservation of fossils, as well as animatronic replications of the beasts.  The grand finish is the T-rex that you have to wait in line to see...fun times and photo opportunities for all!  I checked out the mammal exhibit next, and was pleased to see placards regarding the faded color quality of some of the stuffed animals (they were from the older collections, as the museum does not want to encourage killing endangered species even for research and educational purposes).  The whole exhibit made me nostalgic for my visits to the zoo as a child (especially the elephants!).  :)  I zipped through the reptile exhibit, which was fortunately little more than a hallway leading back to the main atrium (like Indiana Jones, I don't like snakes).  Finally, I checked out the human biology exhibit, which was awesome!  Given, I already knew all of the information (yes, I've already had the talk about "where babies come from", thank you!), but there were so many hands-on aspects and the exhibit as a whole was well designed and colorful.  One area that I found particularly cool was a low-lit chamber (with a giant, Matrix-esque fetus...ok, I wasn't crazy about that part of it) with inter-uterine audio playing.  That will definitely calm you down after the rush of the city!  :)

After I had seen all that I wanted to at the Natural History Museum, I hopped on the Tube over to the Imperial War Museum.  As I said, I wasn't expecting to be particularly impacted by this museum  (except for the Holocaust exhibit...my expectations were actually really high for that specific area), but I was definitely proven wrong.  I started off in an exhibit called "The Children's War," which was about WWII through the perspectives of children, with some specific emphasis on the children who were shipped away from the cities for the duration of the war.  It was heart-wrenching (of maybe I'm just overly sensitive from being away from home), and I felt tears welling up within the first hallway of the exhibit.  I didn't actually cry until I read a letter to a little girl from her father, which he instructed to be given to her in the event of his death in service...she loaned it to the exhibit as an adult, so you can guess what happened to him.  It was all about his hopes for her for the future, and it was one of the only really legible letters on display.  Even from a non-sentimental perspective, the exhibit was great...in the very center, they had constructed a house that the visitors could wander through, complete with an indoor shelter in the kitchen.  Another moment that made the tears well up a bit was a quote on the wall from a now-adult who was one of the children sent away from the city.  When he returned, his neighborhood had been bombed, and he had no way of even telling where his family's house had been.  He described his feelings that even now, as an adult, he still feels like he's waiting to go home.

Once I was thoroughly moved by the children's stories, I went upstairs to the WWI and WWII exhibits for the Trench and Blitz experiences.  The Trench experience was particularly disturbing, although I was prepared for worse in terms of the smell (not that it was pleasant, mind you, but my friends who had visited before had warned me a bit more than necessary).  As soon as I walked in, I felt uncomfortable and wanted to get out, and I didn't even have to worry about actual bombs!  :)  I actually followed closely behind a family that was visiting so that I would not be the first person to come across any surprises and shriek (as I am known to do...).  The Blitz experience was interesting as well...you begin in an air-raid shelter, which is dark and crowded (featuring benches that shake violently when the bomb hits!), then go out into the destroyed street.  The audio playing reveals that someone outside was wounded and there are fires to be put out, and the fact that only twenty visitors are let in at one time definitely makes it a moving experience.

Speaking of moving experiences, I hit up the Holocaust Exhibition last (both because it was on the top floor and because I predicted that I would be ready to leave by the time I finished digesting all of the information and images).  It was incredibly thorough, beginning with post-WWI conditions in Germany and their influence upon Hitler's rise to power, to the origins of anti-Semitic tendencies from a variety of cultures.  Throughout the exhibit, there were a variety of video clips from several interviews with different survivors, all of whom were very young during the war.  I was alright until I got to the display case right before the actual ghetto/concentration camp sections, when the discussion of sterilization and murder of those deemed mentally or physically "unproductive" began to take place.  Then I started to get angry...and I was on an emotional roller-coaster for most of the rest of the exhibit.  The stories of the children particularly hit me (I knew that being in "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" would emotionally scar all of us...), as well as one specific story of a family that hid in the sewers to avoid being sent to the concentration camps (one of the women was pregnant, gave birth in the sewer, and smothered the baby so that it would not cry and give them away...I was trying not to cry again at that point).  And, of course, I felt angry again at the end when I saw the display which revealed the fates of those in charge (Hitler was the last one, of course), as well as the final video clips of the survivors, all of whom have suffered even after being liberated because of the physical and psychological strains.  It was difficult to describe...I had so much disappointment in my heart with no real outlet (although I sense a good cry sometime in the near future just to get all of that negative energy out of my system).  The exhibition was incredibly respectful, however, and I felt as though it was tailored to those like me who would have strong emotional reactions.  A great deal of emphasis was placed upon not forgetting these events and preventing this from ever happening again.

Galleries and Westminster Cathedral

I spent most of today in Trafalgar Square.  My first stop was the National Gallery, which is enormous...I was there for almost three hours before I hit all of the highlights that I wanted to see.  I was particularly excited when I started to identify historical subject matters in works before reading the descriptions (one image of Lady Jane Grey's execution was particularly moving).  At times, it felt like a mythology course review, and I spent some time listening to one of the gallery talks about "The Rape of Europa."  Some of my personal favorite images were in the Peter Paul Rubens collection, which is to be expected since I enjoyed the Banqueting House ceiling so much.  (I was once asked if I have any Italian heritage after posing for an art class, and after seeing some of the works today, I suppose I can understand why one might assume that...I do kind-of have that "Renaissance Figure"...)

I had planned to visit St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, although I was not really able to do the self-guided tour as there was an orchestra concert inside when I arrived.  I did peek around the church from my standing position at the entrance, and it is a beautiful building and has lovely acoustics.

I was in a bit of an awkward time crunch when I left St. Martin-in-the-Fields...I had a little over two hours before I wanted to be at Westminster Cathedral for Mass, so I had a picnic lunch in Trafalgar Square and spent a little time at the National Portrait Gallery.  I made my way through the entire second floor (where the bulk of the galleries seemed to be), which included the Tudors through Victorians.  I ran out of time for the more contemporary galleries, so I plan to go back again at some point soon (the whole gallery is open late on Fridays, making it the perfect spot to visit at the end of my work week).

At the end of the afternoon, I made my way over to Westminster Cathedral to attend Mass.  I was surprised by how many tourists were there for the service (identified mainly by their bulky backpacks and cameras).  The service was primarily sung, which was lovely, and the space is so beautiful.  Also, since I arrived early, I heard the evening prayer being sung for the half-hour leading up to the actual Mass, which was nice and calming after my day in the city.  (Fortunately, the galleries had fewer small children running around than the Tate Modern had yesterday, but the day out was still tiring, and I relished in just being able to sit still for a while in the Cathedral.)

Morning Boredom, Steamrolled Silver, and Ancient Prompt Books

Today was our second Professional Development Seminar, and the theme was teamwork.  Unfortunately, I did not really hear anything that I have not been exposed to before, which made it a rather long morning.

After the seminar ended, I hopped on the Tube and headed to London Bridge so that I could do Rick Steves's Bankside Walk.  I began at the bridge (which I crossed to see the monument to the Great Fire before returning to the south bank), first coming across Southwark Cathedral, which I visited.  The self-tour pamphlet was a bit lackluster, but the Shakespeare memorial was certainly worth seeing (I particularly enjoyed the nods to his characters in the stained-glass window above the statue...can't argue with a stained-glass skull).  Shortly after the Cathedral, I spotted the Golden Hinde replica, which seemed oddly crowded (apparently it was Pirate Fun day!).  Then I continued down the bankside until I made my way to the Globe again.  I had planned to do the tour today, but since the actors were in rehearsal, photos would have been prohibited, so I will go on another day.  Finally, I ended my walk at the Tate Modern, which I wandered for a while.  My favorite piece was a large-scale installation called "Thirty Pieces of Silver" by Cornelia Parker.  She collected random silver objects at thrift shops and boot sales (or yard sales, depending on where you're reading this), had them run over with a steamroller, and hung them in thirty circular clusters from long wires attached to the ceiling, almost like a mobile.  (One section was particularly mobile after a small child knocked over the cord separating the spectators from the piece and the cord snapped in toward it...)  I was also surprised by the number of people who brought small children to the Tate Modern, especially those who were running around and yelling.  (And by "surprised," I mean "disgruntled," of course...)

After I made my way back along the bankside and took the Tube home (I needed to stop by the local grocery store before it closed tonight), I went into town again to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  It was a sight to behold!  I wandered around the exhibits for three hours and still felt like there was so much more to see.  I started with the classical exhibits (China, Japan, Renaissance Europe, India, Iran, Classical Sculpture), then visited the current exhibit on Fashion, which was really fun.  My favorite pieces included a Victorian wedding dress and a modern twist on the "little black dress" made of a petticoat and eighteen bras.  (Yes, I took pictures...it's better seen than described...)  They also have a new exhibit about Theatre and Performance, which was like a picnic for me!  It featured so many different objects on display, ranging from a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio to one of Pete Townshead's destroyed guitars to a full-scale exact replica of Kylie Minogue's dressing room.  (By the way, I never realized how short Mick Jagger is...judging by his costume on display, we are about the same height...and Elton John isn't exactly a giant either.)  Because I am a dork, I was most excited by a prompt book from the 1700s.  The story is much better with exact dates and whatnot, but I really don't want to run up to my room and check my notes, so just know that I will add more details regarding the prompt book later...my favorite detail, though, was a note about having a stone ready to drop in a pool of water backstage, since one character drowned herself during a scene.  There was also a Victorian prompt book in a primitive three-ring binder with page-marking tabs sticking out from various scenes.  (Copious amounts of mockery from my friends and colleagues for considering this the highlight of my museum experience...GO!)

Giant Glasses and the Globe

Today was an interesting day at BAC.  One of the shows that we were loading in was a musical concert, so one would think that it would be fairly simple and straightforward: risers, two basic lighting colors...think again.  The leader was both demanding and indecisive (one of those "I want it this way, but if you think of another way, that's okay, too" sorts of people), and they did not provide us with very detailed instructions.  The first couple of hours were spent hanging and focusing lights (which was especially fun when we ran out of the particular gel we needed), and then the challenge began: the group had five pairs of giant glasses (made of painted plywood which was far from flameproof) which whey wanted to have suspended from the ceiling.  Did I mention that this particular theatre space, while larger than some of the other studios, is still a studio theatre with a stationary grid?  Fortunately, I did not have to use the rickety ladder or scary lift (basically just another ladder with a basket on top and a more stable base), but the first attempt to hang one of the pairs of glasses seemed like YouTube material...we eventually figured out the best strategy after quite a bit of trial and error.  The first one took an hour to hang, after which the leader complained that the straps that attached them to the grid were too conspicuous...given the choice of being conspicuous or having my tombstone read "Here Lies Corrina, who was crushed by a giant pair of glasses that some smart band leader thought would be fun to hang with tie line instead of industrial-strength straps," I'll take the conspicuous road any day (willing suspension of disbelief, people...)!  The one great part of this ridiculous project was the sheer number of puns that resulted (ex. "How's everything going in the Council Chamber?" "It's spectacular!")  I spent a good chunk of the day behind the light board (which I actually knew how to operate!  Yay for me!  Or, should I say, yay for ETC Express light boards!) We were all in a much better state to revisit that room after lunch, and things were going smoothly by the time I left.  One of the technicians kept reminding us that this was probably the most ridiculous project he has been involved with at BAC.  (Fun facts: In the UK, a light board is referred to as a lighting desk, and a plot is a plan.)

After work, I had a picnic dinner by the River Thames and went to see my first show at the Globe (I say first because I know that I will be back).  It was "A Comedy of Errors," which I had not seen before but thoroughly enjoyed.  Since this was one of the outings that EUSA arranged for us, we were all in the groundling section.  Half of the interns left before the end (wimps, I say), but I honestly think that standing through a Shakespearian play at the Globe should be an experience on every theatre practitioner's To Do List.  The show involved a considerable amount of doubling, so I wondered how the revelation of the two sets of twins would work at the end, although I could tell with anxious anticipation that it would be great (and so it was...two words: cardboard cutouts!).  The doubling also proved incredibly entertaining in the scenes in which both characters appeared (ex. the Duke and the Goldsmith).  The production was classical in style and incorporated quite a bit of music and dance during interludes between scenes, which was both comical and fluid.  I actually lost count of the number of times the company reentered the stage due to the overwhelming curtain call.  As I was walking back to the Tube station, I saw a little boy walking with his mother and recognized them from the audience.  The boy was absolutely beaming, and I asked him if he enjoyed the show and who his favorite character was (he loved it, and he thought that Dromio was really funny).  I was smiling just as much as him as I walked on, because I felt inspired by his joy at what he had just seen.  I want to make that happen...that's just one reason of many for my choice of work, and I know that many of you who are reading this feel the same way.  :)

Westminster Cathedral, Electrical Work, and Shows

During scheduling yesterday, Maddie suggested that I come in later so that I could stick around and see some of the evening's shows, so I had the morning free.  I visited Westminster Cathedral (not Abbey), which is the mother church for the Catholic community of the UK.  It is gorgeous.  The architecture is described as neo-Byzantine, and the sanctuary itself was awe-inspiring.  Since there were no services going on when I arrived, I was able to stroll through the sanctuary and view the smaller chapels that line the edges of the building.  When I was there, the tower was not open, so I hope to go back and see the view from the top...I'm also planning to attend a service there at some point.

After my short pilgrimage, I headed down to Battersea for another exciting day of work.  I spent most of the afternoon working with Greg, one of the technical staff doing basic gophering.  There were so many different spaces in use tonight, so we spent a lot of our time running between different spaces and tech storage.  He talked me through installing a video/sound system, though, so I'm gaining skills by the minute.  :)  Also, after running around all day, I'm much more familiar with the building, which is always a plus.

In the evening, I saw two short shows: one very good and one very disappointing.  The first, entitled "Post Show Party Show" had so much promise, but very lackluster results.  The one-hour play, performed by the playwright and his father (with some brief appearances by his mother), told the story of his parents meeting during the after-show party for a production of "The Sound of Music" in which they had both performed.  I actually traded in my ticket for another show in order to see this one, and I was sorely disappointed.  The writing was repetitive to the point of redundancy, and the delivery was weak: I felt like they were talking in my general direction, but they did not make any connection with the audience.  Add to that the fact that all the details of the actual meeting could  have been summed up in about a minute, and there were random lip-syncing and dance moments to the soundtrack of "The Sound of Music."  As I said, my hopes were high when I read the publicity information, but if the show were running another night, I would advise my peers to run away from it.

The second show, Laughing Matters by an artist named Angela de Castro, was the most delightful ten minutes I have spent in quite a while.  Yes, I said "ten minutes.'  Essentially, the audience (of which there were about 20 people) sat in two rows in a small alley-style theatre (approximately Cave sized).  Interestingly enough, this was the same theatre where "Post Show Party Show" had been, and they did the turn-around in a little less than an hour.  The lights go down, they come back up, and a short, plump woman with rolled-up jeans, a sweater vest, and large black glasses is standing in the alley laughing hysterically.  Over time, the laughter built from shy giggles in the audience to full out cackling...my cheeks were burning from smiling so much.  My favorite part included Angela "grabbing" the laugh from her mouth (making a grabbing motion and being silent), then tossing the laugh back into her mouth...this eventually led to her passing the laugh to other people in the room, who played along surprisingly well.  At the very end, she pulled out a ukelele and started strumming a song, which I quickly recognized as the Beatles "All You Need is Love."  It quickly turned into "All You Need is Laugh (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha)" and the entire audience sang along.  The experience was amazing...I will admit that I thought she seemed crazy at the beginning, but by the end she had my complete respect (I would have been terrified to try to set an idea like that in motion).  Her production is still a work in progress, and she asked for our feedback on a form afterwards.  According to the written introduction, the idea was spawned from a Laughter Yoga class that she took in India a few  years ago, and her questions included subjects such as the contagious nature of laughter and our honest opinion of the show (I believe the question was "Do you think I am crazy for doing this?" to which I answered "Absolutely, but in the best possible way.").  It was a delightfully inspiring experience, and I'm still smiling as I write about it.

First Day of Work

Today was my first day of work as an intern at the Battersea Arts Centre, and it was fabulous.  I went in at 11:00 (after having tea at the cafe across the street because I arrived in the neighborhood obnoxiously early) and met up with Luke, my supervisor, who gave me another, more detailed tour of the building.  Of course, I managed to get lost in the building several times over the course of the day, but since I mastered the Tube and bus systems by getting lost on them, I know that I will be fine.  I spent most of the morning in the Grand Hall, which is the largest traditional performance space, featuring a proscenium stage, huge open seating area (we set up risers and chairs for this show), and a balcony which serves mainly as a post for the board ops.  The show is called Trilogy, and ran tonight only.  Since they are in the middle of the Burst festival, the turnaround in most of the spaces is really quick, and there were different teams of people working in a variety of spaces throughout the day.  Most of the work in the Grand Hall was related to lighting, apart from loading in the platforms for the risers (ridiculously heavy!).  I learned how to change the lamp in a Par can...ah, resume builders.  :)

After my lunch break, I went to one of the upper level studio spaces to help with the tear-down of electrical equipment...basically, we stripped the entire studio.  (It was probably about half the size of Strother, with a much lower grid.)  I was originally working with one of the regular BAC employees, but he had to run and solve a crisis (one of the festival's shows was moved out of the rehearsal space, when it was supposed to remain there for another day, and all of their paperwork and props were missing), so I finished pulling everything from the grid space (yes, I climbed a ladder without Joe Bright's emotional support!), coiled a lot of cable, and made a pretty sizable ball of discarded electrical tape.  By the time I was ready to take everything back down to storage (except the ball of electrical tape, of course), the guy returned with another worker, so it only took a few trips to get all of the equipment downstairs.

Finally, at the end of the day, I had a quick meeting with Maddie, one of my other supervisors, who is the interim technical manager for the duration of the festival (until the end of next week, basically).  She was awesome (reminded me a lot of Maggie Ward), has a background in stage management, and was genuinely interested in hearing what I wanted to get out of this experience.  Apparently, a theatre group from the South Thames College is doing a workshop/performance series at BAC next week, and since Maddie assumes that they do not have their own stage manager, I may get to work with them.  It would certainly be nice to work with other college students, and if this works out like I'm hoping, I might also get to call their show.

Hampton Court, Abbey Road, and Americans

Today was a Bank Holiday, so I opted to spend my free day at Hampton Court.  I took the train out at around 10:30 and was in the palace by 11:30.  Despite the crowds, I do not think I had experienced so much peace and quite since I arrived.  The Palace is beautiful and vast...I will openly admit that I had to consult my map quite a few times as I attempted to see everything that interested me.  As the day went on, the grounds became more crowded, but I still had a great time wandering the Palace and Gardens.  I was particularly taken with the Chapel Royal (where Jane Seymour's heart is supposedly buried under the alter) and the exhibit about Henry's Women.  Also, there were actors in costume portraying King Henry VIII, Kateryn Parr, and numerous courtiers, which was fun to see.  I also really enjoyed the outdoor maze.  It reminded me of the meditative labyrinths that I had previously read about, and I really felt at peace while I wandered through it (even with squealing children running around me in the narrow walkways).

On my way back to Nido, I didn't really want to hurry, since I knew that I would not go out again tonight, so I took a slight detour to Abbey Road for my Beatles pilgrimage.  Yes, I got a picture, and no, it's not very good (it's from a slight distance and there are other people crossing...Photoshop to the rescue!).

A slightly off-topic note: I have encountered several other Americans since I arrived, and I must say, the Midwesterners stick out like a very polite, gracious sore thumb.  Yesterday, I met a couple at Speakers' Corner that currently resides in South Carolina, who berated me for voting for Barack Obama (to which I responded "I'm in college" and smiled, like the sweet Midwestern girl that I am).  While I was having tea at Hampton Court today (yes, I had tea, and the most dense slice of chocolate cake I have ever experienced), a Texan businessman sat across from me, quickly downed his espresso (he is only here for a week, and was just visiting the Palace to kill time and keep himself awake), and joked that I was just slacking off for the summer (to which I responded, sweetly again, that I have spent the last two summers working a cafe job to support this trip, and that I will be working while I am here).  Finally, on the train back into the city this afternoon, I sat in front of an American couple that seemed to be around my parents' age.  As soon as I asked where they were from, I noticed the man's Colts t-shirt.  :)  Steve and Sarah, the Purdue grads who live in Indianapolis, were the kindest, most gracious and polite other Americans I have met in my week here.  They seemed genuinely interested in my internship (they're here as a vacation to celebrate Steve's birthday), and we swapped stories of our plans.  Before we went our separate ways at the train station, he patted me on the shoulder and told me with genuine concern to be careful while I'm here.  In a nutshell, this is my shout-out to my Midwestern friends back home.  We're definitely the most effective ambassadors.  :)  (And we certainly need ambassadors now...one of the workers at an exhibit at Hampton Court asked where I was from, and when I told him "Indiana...it's near Chicago" thinking that Chicago would be a good point of reference, he replied "Oh, near Michigan.  Flint, in particular."  I inquired as to whether he is a Michael Moore fan, and my suspicions were correct.  He told me that his only real representation of American comes from Michael Moore's films, apart from his knowledge of our involvement in war.  I just hope that he thinks slightly higher of us after meeting me...)

Crowds

I spent my day caught in two very different crowds.  Around noon, I went to the Petticoat Lane Market, since I had read that it really flourishes on Sundays.  It was a bargain shopper's paradise.  :)  I walked all the way down the lane, checking out the various stalls along the route.  There were so many people of various ethnicities, and the market was noisy with music playing and people haggling.  It was a bit difficult to navigate through the crowds at times, but I just tried to keep moving as much as possible rather than holding everyone up.  (A few people actually managed to work their way through the narrow lane with children in strollers, which I did not imagine would be possible.)  I found it rather ironic that I found Harrods so overwhelming, yet I was completely comfortable in this busy market.  Maybe this is a living statement about class distinctions...:)

After I wandered up and down the market, I headed over to Hyde Park to visit Speakers' Corner.  As an American, I am almost ashamed to say that this felt like my first real taste of democracy.  I wandered from soapbox to soapbox (actually stepladder to stepladder) and listened to the various speakers trying to convey whatever they considered to be true, which ranged from Jesus as the Messiah to the problems with the political power structure in Britain to the lack of true freedom of the press.  The best part was watching people argue with them (one speaker in particular became very angry and shouted back the best insult he could concoct at the moment: "Your mother died of syphilis!").  One speaker who was particularly captivating was dressed in a tie-dye t-shirt with a Union Jack wrapped around his shoulders like a cape and a hat with devil horns.  He had some interesting points regarding the distinction between love and fear in reference to abuse and persecution (particularly given the current scandal in the papers regarding a young child who was beaten to death by his mother), despite the potential turn-off of his reference to himself as "Satan" multiple times throughout the talk.  He actually had a resident brown-noser who kept agreeing with everything he said...I think it takes all the fun out of Speakers' Corner if you just accept everything that is offered.  :)  I also found it rather amusing that between the Christian Evangelists and the group challenging the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a group stood giving out Free Hugs.  (I took part, of course...in the middle of all of the arguments, who could pass up a hug?)  I had a wonderful time, and I hope to go back again in the next few weeks (schedule permitting, of course).

Markets, Harrods, and Dead Victorians

I slept in a bit today (which was very much deserved, in my humble opinion), then started my day by visiting the Portobello Road Market. The Tube was incredibly crowded on the way (some sporting event was also going on, so there were a lot of crazy fans), and the market was likewise full of people. I suppose I window-shopped (I'm not really sure of the equivalent term for "window-shopping" when speaking about an open-air market...) for most of the time, and also checked out a few vintage places that were not too crowded.

On the way back, I decided to swing by Harrods and see how the other half lives. To be honest, it was a bit overwhelming, and I spent a good amount of time just looking for an escape route. I did, however, find the art displays somewhat interesting...if I ever need to drop several thousand pounds on a painting by Bob Dylan, I know where to go now. I also saw the Princess Diana memorial on my way out, along with an anti-fur protest outside (lovely pamphlets included...I wonder if the "help stop violence" guy at Ball State would be interested...).

I went out for dinner with two other Ball Staters at an Italian place near our neighborhood, then headed down to BAC for another free concert. Tonight, the performers were The Dead Victorians...the name alone makes them worthwhile. The show was hilarious, combining humorous songs (my personal favorite was entitled "Syphilis, My Dear?") with short stories...did I mention that top hats and coat-tails were involved as well? I had a great time, particularly since audience participation was highly encouraged...they even handed out sing-along song sheets before the show started. :)

Seminar, Westminster Abbey, and Bunty Looping

Today was our first Professional Development Seminar.  The topic du jour was Personal Leadership, and the lecture was actually pretty interesting.  It reminded me of Baby Stage Management a bit.  (And yes, Jen, I kept all of the hand-out materials to pass on to you...)

After the lecture finished, I hopped on the Tube over to the theatre district to take care of some business regarding an online booking of a ticket.  (Of course, this was preceded by about twelve heart attacks as I imagined missing Waiting for Godot because my ticket was being shipped to Indianapolis...)  All is well, though, and I will be seeing Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen on June 19.  :)

Then I headed over to Westminster, and walked down the bankside on my way to Westminster Abbey.  There was performance art everywhere...they were definitely straddling the line between innovative and touristy.  :)  When I arrived at the Abbey, the lines were relatively short, so I decided to go ahead and view it today.  The highlights for me were the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary as well as Poet's Corner.  (Interestingly enough, my audio guide died in Poet's Corner...I went back through the crowds to the front entrance to replace it, only to have the second guide die as soon as I made my way back to Poet's Corner.  The third one lasted me through to the end, fortunately.)

After Westminster Abbey, I looked around the Jewel Tower (information about Parliament, mainly) before going back to Nido and grabbing dinner and a nap...the constant walking and general rush of the city had worn me out, and I wanted to recharge my batteries for the evening.

This evening, I went to BAC because I knew that there was a free concert in the cafe.  Since I start working on Tuesday, I figured that the best way to become better oriented was to check out the festival itself (right now they're in the midst of Burst, which is their biggest festival of the year).  The artist is named Bunty, and her style was the broadest melting-pot of musical styles that I have ever witnessed.  (If anyone has seen Adam Crawley improvise music for the dance department, it was a bit similar.)  Basically, she would start off with a simple beat, then layer other rhythmic sounds over it using a microphone and some sort of sound looping equipment to keep the sounds going.  If you threw beat-boxing, rap, middle eastern folk music, German folk music, drum circles, and slam poetry in a blender (with a pinch of Regina Spektor), you would have tonight's concert.  One of my favorites was a song during which she told us to "Imagine that you are a middle-aged woman at a Moroccan wedding."  That particular song had the moments that I love so much in traditional music from that area, where you just have to close your eyes and feel the music reverberating in your chest.  :)  The concert was awesome, and Bunty was obviously having a blast...she even had an audience participation song.  Definitely a night well spent.

Westminster Walk

Another glorious day of culture in London.  :)  I had planned to visit Westminster Abbey, but when I arrived at 10:30, I discovered that they did not open until 2:00.  Since I was supposed to be at St. James's Park at 2:00 for the Blue Badge Tour and I did not want to rush through the greatest church in the English-speaking world, I opted to do the Westminster Walk as outlined in my guide to London by Rick Steves.  I started on Westminster Bridge and made my way up Parliament Street, finally ending up at Trafalgar Square.  (Incidentally, it was in Trafalgar Square, rather than at home in Indianapolis, where I was able to test my Spanish skills by chatting with another tourist.  Hooray for foreign language skills!  Although I wished I knew French yesterday so that I would be able to intimidate the bratty French children running amuck in the British Museum...)  Some of the personal highlights of my walking trip were standing under the statue of Boadicea (gotta love a strong female role model!) and seeing the relatively new memorial to the women who fought and died in WWII.  On my way, I also stopped by the Banqueting House, which is beautiful (classical architecture of Inigo Jones and a ceiling featuring nine large-scale paintings by Peter Paul Rubens)...I enjoyed the irony that this building is an artistic celebration of the divine right of kings as well as the place where King Charles was put to death under Cromwell.  :)  I also found it interesting that Charles appreciated the arts to the point that he did not allow any masques to take place in the Banqueting Hall after the paintings were installed on the ceiling, as the smoke from the torches would damage the artwork.  Hooray for art patronage!  :)  

After I took the audio tour at the Banqueting House, I walked up the street a few blocks to Trafalgar Square, had a picnic lunch by the fountain, then took the Tube to St. James's Park for the tour.  Rather ironically, the first part of the tour followed essentially the same route that I had taken earlier in the day.  :)  I got quite a bit of additional historical information, though, and we wandered further than my little tour had, eventually hopping on a bus over to Saint Paul's Cathedral and finishing by crossing the Millennium Bridge on foot.  Our guide was really sassy and had the great dry humor that I appreciate, which was such a great change from most of the interpersonal interactions that I have had over the last week.  (She is a Battersea girl as well, so she knew all about my internship site.)

This evening, we had the EUSA welcome reception at The Big Chill (the pub down the street from Nido).  It was probably the most overrated event I've experienced in a while...ah well.  Most of the other participants who are still underage in the states seemed more excited about the free drink vouchers we received than our internship placements (both of my vouchers were spent on Diet Coke, because I'm awesome like that...although one of my goals for this trip is to order a Pimm's in a rough, working-man's pub), and by the end of the two hours, it was too cold and smoky to really enjoy the surroundings anymore.  My experiences with some of the other EUSA participants has helped me start the mental list of universities that I will not allow my future children to attend, at least.  And the small group of Midwesterners can easily be identified: we're the ones saying "Please," "Thank you," and "No, after you...".  (I'm starting to think that the Midwest might be better known as "Little Canada"...)

Tomorrow is our first Professional Development Seminar.  I'm not really sure what to expect...I hope that there will be some information that I have not heard before, but my hopes are not too high (no offense to the program, but I've just had really great professional preparation through my department so far).  I'm staying open to the possibilities, though, and fortunately it will be over by 1:00, so I will still have the afternoon to go museum-hopping.  :)

Museums, Museums, Museums!

I have accomplished a new record: three museums in one day.  Today was our first scheduled cultural excursion with EUSA, and since I did not just want to hang around until our scheduled meeting at 4:00 at the British Museum, so I spent the late morning/early afternoon at the British Library and Sir John Sloane's Museum.  

The British Library is huge, so I stayed within the Treasures of the British Library exhibit, and there was plenty to see!  Some of the particularly noteworthy items for me were one of Oscar Wilde's original manuscripts, various versions of Shakespeare's works (including a Romeo and Juliet that was re-written so that Romeo takes the poison, Juliet finds him, he explains to her what he has done, he dies, and she faints atop him...then somehow is revived so that she can still stab herself), and original Beatles compositions (with revisions).  You can see my interests...

Sir John Sloane's Museum is a cool little place...it's kind-of tucked away, and of course I became slightly lost while looking for it, but it was interesting once I found it.  :)  Sloane was an architect (sorry Doug, not landscape, but this was the closest I could find!) who designed his house, arranged his collected arts and antiquities within it, and requested that it be left as a museum after he died (particularly that it remain in the same condition).  The house is beautiful, and the highlight was definitely the ancient Egyptian sarcophagus in the lower level.

I arrived at the British Museum an hour earlier than requested (after eating a picnic lunch in the park near Leicester Square, next to a memorial statue of Charlie Chaplin), since I knew that I would not be able to see nearly everything I wanted to see in just an hour.  I managed to walk through the exhibits on Ancient Egypt, Japan, General Europe, Rome, Greece, Britain (Roman-Victorian), and the Enlightenment exhibit (some of which was part of King George IV's private collection).  Not too shabby for just two and a half hours!

Needless to say, my feet are hurting...:)

Interview Day!

Today was my interview at the Battersea Arts Centre.  Making my way to Battersea was a bit of a challenge, but now that I have figured out a route, I doubt that I will have any real problems.  (I've decided that the best way to learn about a city is to get lost in it for a while, and since I ended up on the furthest end of Putney, I have certainly accomplished that.)  

At BAC, I met Luke Girling, the production manager, who conducted the interview.  (He is another former actor who found that his heart was actually in Stage Management.)  I felt at home as soon as I walked in the door...the building is gorgeous (it was originally the Battersea Town Hall when it opened in 1893) and there are so many different performance spaces.  I was actually told that every room in the building has the potential to be a performance space, hence the astronomical number of performances every year.  (Abby and Joe, I thought of you when I saw a tiny blackbox theatre that is actually set up just as a playing space for lighting designers to test out new equipment or see how a specific idea would look in reality.)  The interview went really well, and was extremely casual...it actually took place in the cafe within the building, and as soon as Luke introduced himself, he offered me tea.  (All of my nerves were immediately calmed when he returned with a mug with a pig on it...it's definitely a casual atmosphere, and I felt incredibly comfortable.)  After the interview, I had a brief tour of some of the performance spaces, backstage storage, offices, etc, but I will have a more detailed tour next week.

I'm set to start working next Tuesday (Monday is a Bank Holiday), when I will become better oriented to the building and develop a more set schedule.  Right now, they're working on Burst, which is one of the festivals that they host every year, so I have been warned that my first week or so will be a bit crazy (just like home!).  I believe that at least two shows are doing load-in on Tuesday, so I'll be able to jump right into the festival.  Also, I was warned that one of the shows includes a great deal of nudity...I knew that The Full Monty was just a gateway show!  :)  I'm really excited to start working, and I definitely think that this is a great fit for me.

Also, I found out that there Battersea hosts a program called YPT (Young People's Theatre) which develops original productions with different groups ranging in age from 12 to 25.  If everything works out, I will be stage managing one of the three groups in addition to my other work.  Very exciting news for me!  :)

Fun fact:  Across the road that runs along the side of Battersea is a vacant lot and a relatively new housing development.  Apparently, a theatre specializing in Shakespeare stood there until it was destroyed in the bombings during WWII.  However, it's legacy remains in the street name: Theatre Street.  A rather ironic location for BAC to end up, in my opinion.

So Much to Do...

Today was a long, but really productive day.  I got up early for orientation, and had a small adventure at King's Cross when the station entrance became gated just before I entered.  The guard kept telling us to wait just a moment, and that the station was crowded and we would be let in soon...after a half hour of waiting, the station closed entirely, meaning that I had to walk 10 minutes to the next station and try to figure out how to get from one line to another, all while slowly inching toward tardiness.  I arrived 40 minutes late, and I was not the last one there (did I mention that I arrived at the station at 9:00 in order to get to the 10:00 orientation?).  I found out this afternoon that a woman went into labor and someone pulled the emergency alarm, so I'm a bit more sympathetic.  :)  (Although I will bet you anything that the ticked-off British businessmen ahead of me in line have very little sympathy for her...)

Orientation basically consisted of information that we already had as well as preparation for the interviews this week (it was oddly reminiscent of Advanced Stage Management at that point...the interview prep, not the stuff that we already knew...).  My interview is tomorrow morning.  :)

After orientation ended, we split into groups for the Bringing London to Life Scavenger Hunt.  My group opted to get lunch first, during which we figured out how many of the clues led to similar areas...very efficient, I know.  We spent most of the afternoon in Hyde Park, then went over to Chinatown (near Leicester Square) before making our way to the final clue by the set time (which turned out to be the pub down the street from our housing).  We were all sent to the open balcony to hang out, and since it was cold and windy, I headed out after a short time.  I did some shopping for basic things that I needed in the room (I specifically recall being told that we would have kitchen supplies here...lies, all lies!)...there is a Boots and a Marks and Spencer just down the street from Nido, which is very convenient. 

Now that I have my social calendar from EUSA, I am free to plan out my excursions during my free days...three guesses as to Corrina's evening activities?  If you guessed "Planning the sights she will see on every Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday during the orientation time" you would be almost correct...I left the last weekend open for some wiggle-room.  I feel like there should be some witty comment to sum this up: "You can take the stage manager out of the office, but you can't take the office out of the stage manager," perhaps?

I'm Here!

It's been a long, long day...and by London time, it's not even noon yet.  The flights between Indy and JFK, then JFK to London were fine logistically, but the turbulence was definitely different from what I recall of previous flights.  Either way, we landed without any problems, made my way through immigration, and am now sitting in the cafe at Nido, the student living community where I will be staying for the next seven weeks.  We have a tour of Nido and the surrounding neighborhood scheduled for tonight, and I might try to scope out the nearest Sainsbury's/Tesco while I'm out (this, of course, depends entirely upon when I get my much-needed shower and nap...).  The real orientation begins tomorrow, and then interviews start on Tuesday.  :)

Pre-Departure Update

Hey Everyone,

The day is upon me...in less than 11 hours, I will be on my way to the internship in London. I opted to keep you all in the loop by updating here periodically...let's see how well I keep this going. :)

More exciting news is to come soon...sorry for the lame first entry, but packing/laundry/last minute shopping are not really activities that require lengthy descriptions. I promise that more exciting news is on its way! :)