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Travel 2017: Gardens, Rock and Robbery: Day Two
The Guard House at Kensington Palace Gardens.
After a good night’s sleep and no noticeable jet lag, we had a quiet breakfast, then headed out for the day.
Our morning target was Kensington Palace and gardens. We already knew tickets for the palace, which included a special new exhibition, had been sold out for months.
Getting off the Tube we came upon Kensington Palace Gardens, which has been called “the most exclusive address in London” and is also known as “Billionaires Row”. There’s a guard house where you enter the street (and no photography allowed) which is lined with palatial mansions– many are the homes of foreign diplomats, or serve as foreign embassies. Prior to being renamed around 1870, the street was known as The Queen’s Road. It was the MI19 center, The London Cage, during World War II and the Cold War.
The beautiful tree-lined street was nearly silent under it’s shaded canopy.
Looking through the ornate gates at Kensington Palace.
This led us to the gardens of Kensington Palace. Not exactly sure where we were headed, we walked towards the palace, then around it, until we found the specific garden we were looking for.
I’d like to note that even if you aren’t touring it, you can still get surprisingly close to the palace, which also hosts a cafe that is open to the public. Last trip, we only saw Kensington from across the green of Hyde Park.
We passed the visitor’s entrance and came upon a maze-like path that wound us around to the Sunken Garden.
Our particular interest was that the garden has been transformed into the White Garden, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death. This was one of Diana’s favorite spots and it has been filled with many of her favorite flowers to mark the occasion.
The White Garden will be open to the public through the summer of 2017.
Remembering Princess Diana- The White Garden.
Beautiful arched trellises surround the Kensington Palace Sunken Garden, transformed into the White Garden to honor Princess Diana, 2017.
The Kensington Palace Sunken Garden has been transformed into the White Garden.
At the White Garden.
The Kensington Gardens, covering 242 acres are adjacent to Hyde Park, though crossing over from one to the other goes unnoticed.
Princess Diana Memorial Walk.
We’d visited the other formal gardens on the last visit, so this time we set out in a new direction, down The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk.
As quiet and peaceful as it was, everywhere you looked you’d see joggers, sunbathers, people enjoying family picnics and walking their dogs.
We reached the Long River and in addition to the beautiful swans, we had a great view of artist Henry Moore’s The Arch positioned on the north bank of the river.
Henry Moore’s ‘The Arch’.
We were soon following the Serpentine River, finding many people out boating and even swimming in a public recreation area.
Along the Serpentine River in Hyde Park.
Beautiful plantings throughout Hyde Park.
We had successfully walked the entire length of Hyde Park, reaching the Marble Arch. John Nash, designed the arch as the official state entrance to Buckingham Palace in 1827. The design was partially based on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. After years of problems preventing it’s completion, it was finished quickly in time for Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne in 1937. But as Queen Victoria’s court and family quickly grew, it became necessary to build on to the palace, forcing the removal of the arch. It was moved to it’s current location at Cumberland Gate, the northeast corner of Hyde Park, completed in 1851.
The Marble Arch, originally the state entrance of Buckingham palace, moved in 1851.
If all we’d seen wasn’t enough, our day was just beginning, so to speak. It was just early afternoon and we still had two theatrical performances to attend.
School of Rock is a feel-good show for the entire family. A musical stage adaptation of the 2003 film, that starred Jack Black– it stays true to its source. (Michael and I actually just saw the movie again, shortly before our trip.) The show relies heavily on character stereotypes but that works well for this type of show.
This is an Andrew Lloyd Webber production and his theatrical roots have been based in shows with gimmicks. School of Rock’s gimmick is that all the younger performers actually play their own instruments on stage– something the production doesn’t let you forget.
School of Rock, London.
We both really enjoyed it. It’s lively, uplifting– and just plain fun, with a positive message. It also made me ask the question again: Why are young British performers uniformly better than their American counterparts?
We had one of those frequent London come-and-go rains while we were in the matinee. The streets were wet and glistening as the sun quickly returned to brighten the afternoon. We headed over to Piccadilly Circus and picked up the tickets for our evening performance.
Piccadilly Circus after a short rain.
We decided not to eat until after the evening show and spent the little bit of time we had– people-watching and enjoying the street performers scattered around Piccadilly Circus. Michael became particularly captivated by one performer that required audience participation for his act. It was a pretty simple and clever concept– he stood frozen until someone dropped a coin or two in his box and then he would come to life, taking his benefactor and posing them in a variety of positions. He would then add himself to the ‘picture’ with some amusing results.
Here’s Michael becoming part of the act:
Michael gets into the act with a Piccadilly Circus performer.
The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. It’s hard for me to put into words how impressed I am by the creativity and ingenious work done by the Mischief Theatre Company. We saw and loved their production, The Play That Goes Wrong, last September and were excited to see what else they could do.
The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, London 2017.
Going in, I honestly didn’t think I could have been more impressed than I had been with their last one. Minutes after the lights dimmed, I was proven wrong. By the time we reached the interval (intermission), I had absolutely no idea how they were going to get back to the base premise of the show. Hysterically funny, brilliant and thoroughly entertaining!
If you love British farce, slapstick comedy and really creative word play. See this show!
Entering the Tube at Piccadilly Circus.
We’d walked over 8 miles today, enjoyed some of the best parks and shows London has to offer. We couldn’t have asked for a better day!
Travel Date: May 14, 2017 Sunday (Day Two)
Travel 2016: Day Four – A Royal Palace, New Friends and a Funny Girl
We started the day enjoying the ambience of our hotel and a hearty breakfast in the Chamber Club. Our last day in London. Our day was mostly planned out ahead of time so we weren’t rushed getting started.
Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace. We purchased tickets to tour the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace with an add-on garden tour, way in advance of our trip. The ticket also included a large exhibition of the Queen’s clothing entitled, Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style From the Queen’s Wardrobe.
The State Rooms tour is only available during July-October. I was extremely glad we were going to get this opportunity.
The Royal Gate at Buckingham Palace.
A Palace Guard.
Upon arrival, I got the bad news that no photography was allowed in the Palace. I always find this annoying, especially when you are being charged admission in the first place. You see people ‘sneaking pictures’ (which almost always turn out bad) that they will surely post on social media–so doesn’t that defeat the point? I behaved (inside at least) and left my camera in my bag while in the Palace. We were told we could take as many pictures as we wanted in the gardens afterwards.
The 19 State Rooms (public rooms) are each ornate and unique in their decor. The Green Drawing Room and the Music Room were my favorites. What is really great about touring Buckingham Palace is that it is a living museum. It is actually lived in and used to receive guests. There are many breathtaking pieces in the Royal Collection. Also, the self-guided audio tour (with touch screen options) is one of the best I’ve seen.
The fashion exhibition was quite interesting as well. The exhibition is actually taking place in three locations. (Also at Windsor and Holyroodhouse.) The selected pieces of the Queen’s wardrobe are tied most directly to the location where they are displayed, 150 pieces in all. The only drawback was that the display blocked the grand view of the ballrooms where they are located.
The back, or garden side of Buckingham Palace.
We finished the tour and discovered we had an hour until the garden highlights tour started. This was frustrating because we could not leave the garden terrace and re-enter, meaning that we missed the changing of the guard in front of the Palace.
A view of the gardens from the terrace of Buckingham Palace.
Part of the Queen’s Rose Garden at Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace Gardens. I had thought the garden tour was a great idea. It was an inexpensive add-on to our Buckingham Palace ticket and it’s the only way you get the opportunity to walk through the gardens. It ended up being a let down. First, no pictures. Second, there wasn’t much to see– mostly grass and trees.
The tour was basically a big loop around the perimeter of the gardens. There were a couple statues and the Queen’s rose garden– where I quickly snapped a picture unseen. We also passed the tennis courts but they were mostly blocked by trees and shrubs. I was surprised to find that there was no formal English garden on the property.
I think I figured out why they didn’t want photographs– evidence that the tour is a waste of time and money perhaps.
Leaving the Palace, we decided we were ready for a break. I’d wanted to visit the Queen’s Gallery and possibly the Royal Mews, but instead, we decided to spend a couple relaxing hours at the hotel. On the way back, we stopped at the Wellington Arch. It was an original entrance to Buckingham Palace, later representing Wellington’s victory over Napoleon.
The Wellington Arch.
New Friends. About a week before we left home, an old friend told me that her boss was going on our Broadway cruise and that he splits time between London and Chicago. We got contact information and planned to meet Anthony and Michael at The Lobby Bar at One Aldwych before our show.
Michael at one of the gates of Somerset House.
Arriving early, we decided to walk the neighborhood. By chance, we found Somerset House— which was on my short list to visit.
We didn’t have the time to wander through but did have a few minutes to enjoy the large plaza and exterior architecture. There’s an art gallery, the Courtauld Gallery, I really want to visit in the future.
We were there a few days before the official start of London’s Fashion Week, so there was a lot of activity there.
The plaza at Somerset House.
Michael was waiting for us when we got back to the bar and Anthony joined us a few minutes later. Very nice guys. We had about an hour to get acquainted and talked a little about London, theatre, and what to expect on the upcoming cruise. (Their first one.) Then we parted ways– they were headed to see The Entertainer and we were on our way to our last show in London– and our most anticipated.
Funny Girl.
Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre. Producers have been trying to bring a revival of Funny Girl to Broadway for years with no success. Could the success of this London production be just the push that it needs?
Any production can’t help but be compared to the original Barbra Streisand vehicle that made her a star. But is that fair? Is there another Streisand in the wings?
Sheridan Smith, who leads the cast of the London production, is clearly not Barbra Streisand. My argument is that she doesn’t need to be. She does need to embody Fanny Brice though– at this she misses the mark. Smith is a good actress and a fair singer. Her portrayal here (as pointed out by Michael after the show) is more Melissa McCarthy than Fanny Brice. Her Brice character is empathetic and likable, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I can think of a dozen actresses that could have acted and sung it better.
Another huge weakness in this production is the choice of Darius Campbell as Nicky Arnstein. He’s too cute. Campbell is more reminiscent of Zac Efron in High School Musical than Arnstein–the gambling, debonair man of the world. It just doesn’t play believably.
My last gripe is the cast is too small. I’m sure it worked perfectly in the smaller Menier Chocolate Factory Theater (sold out run). I would have thought with the move to the Savoy, a few more actors could have been employed. This story revolves around the Ziegfeld Follies which evokes images of a large dancing chorus. Not here. Especially frustrating was when male ensemble members took on multiple roles within minutes of each other with no effort to disguise them. It was just confusing.
All that said, I did enjoy the production, in spite of its flaws. I just can’t imagine a Broadway transfer which means American audiences will have to continue to wait.
We made one final stop at Shake Shack on the way back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we’re off to Rome.
How Do You Measure 525600 Minutes? 