Ghost, The Musical.

I have to yet again apologise for a bit of a blog absence; but I feel that this time I have more of an excuse. I was enjoying a BBQ with friends on the very first day of my summer holiday and had the misfortune to badly hit my hand and break it. For over a week I was plastered to my finger tips and found live very difficult with only one hand.

I have since been seen at a specialist hand unit and have been lucky enough to have my hand put in a splint instead. This has meant that I have the use of a couple of my fingers back, making life quite a bit easier. And I think it looks quite a bit better now than with a boring cast!

Everyone who knows me would agree that I was very predictable with my choice of colour. Unfortunately I return to the consultant to hopefully be signed off the day before I return to work for the start of the new school year.




Anyway, the title of this blog is Ghost, The Musical and that is what I intend to now focus on. I was lucky enough recently to be able to go to the Piccadilly Theatre in London to see this production. And wow, what a production it is. I'll try not to give too much away and spoil it for people but the staging and special effects are phenomenal. Travelling up with my Mum we were talking about what we were expecting and she mentioned that she was very interested in seeing how the dealt with the moment in the film where Sam first passes through the door. We waited and we were most definitely not disappointed. I have no idea how they did it but it must have been through very clever use of lights, psychloramas and good acting. This as not the only example of the excellent special effects, I feel that there were moments of exquisite drama, the way it was staged, directed and acted were entralling. To start with I couldn't get in to it as it felt a little like the music got in the way. There would be a line or two of dialogue and then they'd burst in to song again. The songs were good but at times to start with they didn't seem like they added much to the performance at that given moment. Thankfully this improved quickly.

Both Mark Evans as Sam Wheat and Siobhan Dillon as Molly Jensen gave very strong performances. Their chemistry was almost palpable and really gave the performance an added level and edge. The show was completely stolen by Sharon D Clarke in the role of Oda Mae Brown. She was absolutely brilliant, fantastic comic timing and a real life and presence on the stage. There were many tears of laughter shed during her time in the spotlight.

Special mentions should also go to Craig Stein and Ashley Knight as the subway ghost and the hospital ghost respectively. Both very strong performances in their own ways.

We were seated up in the gods and I feel that this didn't adversely affect our enjoyment of the performance too much. We were still able to appreciate all the details of the performance and the special effects. At £35 I was impressed with the seats.

This is a production that I would definitely recommend seeing but I would suggest that you should have a packet of tissues handy if you're anything like me and cry like a baby at anything sad.

 

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Dinner at The Oxo Tower.

Firstly, I apologise profusely for the rather long absence. June and the first part of July have been truly chaotic months including two weddings; lots of 30th birthday celebrations including my own ; a variety of other birthday celebrations; jubilee festivities and the exam season at work. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more frequently from now on.A while ago my fab husband took me for dinner at The Oxo Tower as a special celebration and it was such a delicious dinner and the service was so exceptional that I thought it deserved a blog. We arrived slightly early for our reservation so we were seated in the bar and served a drink. I decided to begin with style so I had a decadent champagne cocktail, one of their signature recipes. The name of it has slipped my memory but it was one of only about six in the menu and it stood out as an unusual one.

This was followed by an amazing three course dinner. I had a starter of langoustines with an avocado purée, apple and coconut. This was extremely tasty, the langoustines were full of flavour, the apple was very refreshing and there was just the right amount of the avocado purée. Beautifully balanced.

This was followed by a fillet of sea bream on a bed of spinach and accompanied by razor clams with spring onion and a champagne foam with a creamy risotto. The fish was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly and the risotto was good. I was slightly disappointed by the razor clams. When I found a morsel it was lovely but there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of slices of raw spring onion mixed in which overpowered it.

I have to confess to having an exceptionally sweet tooth so I was in heaven with my desert. Four ways with chocolate. Perfection! Forgive the quality of the photo, as the light deteriorated it got harder to photograph the dishes discretely and I didn't want to annoy other diners by using the flash on my mobile. The chocolate torte, second from the left was extremely rich that even I struggled to finish it. My favourite one was on the far right, the cheesecake type one. The far left hand one was a hot chocolate sponge and the final one was an unusual but delicious mousse with a jelly on the top of it.

We also had a bottle of wine with the meal and found the sommelier to be knowledgeable, courteous and attentive. Our wine was kept in an ice bucket by the bar and he was very quick to top up our glasses when they became half empty. All the staff were very polite, well mannered and discrete. They were friendly and helped to lend the restaurant an atmosphere of calm relaxation. They didn't rush around or talk loudly and they all seemed to have their set role or function. My husband had biscuits and cheese for dinner and there was even a designated cheese waiter who brought a trolley over with a huge selection of cheeses and he was able to give a large amount of detail on each one and offer thoughtful recommendations.

This was the first time I'd visited this restaurant and I will certainly be going there again. I have just got to think of a good excuse for it! The restaurant was beautifully decorated and clean, the view was tremendous, the food was extremely good and the staff were top notch. It was a perfect end to a day of shopping and being spoilt at the Lush Spa.

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Lush Spa massage

Ever since stumbling across it in Covent Garden one of my favourite shops is Lush, the handmade cosmetics retailers. I was addicted while at uni and regularly scoured their newspaper and used the mail order service as there was no retail outlet anywhere nearby and there was no website at that time. Quite a while ago I stumbled across the fact that there are now four Lush Spas in various places in England. I was so excited by this and suggested to my fabulous husband that he might like to buy me a voucher for a treatment for my birthday. He was kind enough to grant me my wish and bought me a voucher for their signature massage Synaesthesia. For more information on all their treatments click the previous link. Synaesthesia is described as "A transcendent multi-sensory full body massage that takes you on a journey you'll never forget. Choose a behavioural prescription that will change your outlook on the world." I was given the voucher in June last year and have only just got around to using it but I wish I had been more organised as it was an amazing experience and a little me time was exactly what I needed.

I booked to go to the spa in London on Kings Road near Sloane Square. Getting there by train was easy but the first snag came when I tried to locate the actual spa. I had been told that the spa was located in the basement of the shop and that when I exited Sloane Square tube station I would immediately be able to see it. This was not the case!! I arrived with enough time to spare to do a little shopping and then thirty minutes before my appointment time I started to look for the shop. I walked up and down and around Sloane Square for about fifteen minutes before I gave up and asked a couple of security guards to help. They pointed me in the right direction but were uncertain as to the exact location. I walked off in the direction indicated and after about ten minutes, when my appointment time was imminent, I called the spa to be told to keep walking and I was about five minutes away. It turns out the shop is about fifteen minutes walk from the tube station and they couldn't understand why I'd been told that I'd see it from the tube station exit. Fortunately I was only a couple of minutes late and my therapist, Holly, was very understanding and reassuring.

After sorting out the payment Holly led me down some very narrow stairs to the spa. This was made up of the kitchen with a large wooden dining table and off this in one direction was a bathroom and in the other were the two treatment rooms. You would never have imagined the rabbit warren that was under the shop from being upstairs. The treatment started by filling out the obligatory health and safety form seated at the table. Holly thoughtfully provided me with a glass of water as I was still rather het up from the dash to get there. After the form Holly sat and talked me through the creation and invention of the treatment, the condition of Synaethesia that it is based on and the thinking behind it. She then pointed out six key words on the wall behind her and asked me to tell her the one that struck me as the most pertinent to me, the way I was feeling and what I would most like to improve for myself and my outlook. This then formed my "behavioural prescription". I had to write the word in a small chalkboard in order to begin to get it in to my mind. This element of the treatment felt rather strange and I was a little amused by it. I was looking forward to the whole experience and knowing the type of retailer Lush is, their ethos and values, I knew there would be some 'alternative therapy' elements. This was then followed by Holly disappearing to set up the room with my prescription and I was pointed in the direction of an old fashioned dresser with lots of bottles on top. These bottles were very Alice in Wonderland like, all different shapes and sizes with paper tags attached with words on them. I was to choose a bottle that had a tag on it that caught my attention but whatever I did I was not to open it and smell it. When Holly came back I told her which bottle and she took me and the bottle down to the treatment room.

I won't give too many details away about the treatment itself as it will spoil the experience for anyone who chooses to have the treatment themselves. The treatment room was clean, neat and warm, with lots of little quirks that were very clearly Lush touches and made the experience all the more original. There was even a shower with towels provided should you wish to shower afterwards if you are not keen on leaving the oils on your skin. The treatment was wonderful, so relaxing and just the experience I had hoped for. Holly was the epitome of the perfect therapist; quiet and discrete; and made the whole thing run smoothly and with minimum of fuss. I do get a bit self conscious that I don't know what I am doing or what is expected of me but Holly gave me very clear but kind instructions and made me feel at ease the whole time. The only thing that I would have preferred was if she had asked me what kind of pressure I liked for the back and shoulder massage. Holly used a very firm pressure that I did find a bit much and not totally comfortable but bearable.

After the treatment was over Holly quietly left after telling me to take my time and she would prepare me a cup of tea in the kitchen. When I went out to the kitchen there was a cup of tea in a china cup and saucer waiting for me. Holly said I could stay as long as I liked; enjoy my tea; help myself to fruit from the fruit bowl and if I wanted to then I could sign the guest book. Beside my cup was also a metal tin with a paper tag on that had the word that I had chosen for my behavioural prescription. This contained a complimentary brand new massage bar that was identical to the one that Holly had used during my treatment. This was a lovely touch from the spa that I am sure is covered in the cost of the treatment but was a surprise and it was good to have something to take away with me to help remember the experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Lush Spa and I will hopefully be able to go back at some point, although it will be another special treat rather then a regular occurrence due to the cost. I would like to perhaps try 'The Spell' next time as something different and another new experience.

Film review, The Help

Last night I finally got around to watching the film adaptation of The Help. It was a good film in many ways but I did feel there were a couple of things I wasn't so impressed with.

The acting and the setting of the film are both understated and realistic, at no point do you feel that things are staged or fake. Emma Stone as Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark and Octavia Spencer as Minnie Jackson all put in performances of the highest calibre. The relationship between the three women grows as the film progresses, just as it does in the novel. The way the characters are portrayed makes their interactions believable and emotive. A special mention must go to Bryce Dallas Howard for her portrayal of the villain Hilly Holbrook, the character that you hate but offers some light comic relief at times. The setting was carefully designed with a close attention to detail. I particularly liked the 1960's vehicles and costumes. The clothes the women wore clearly defined their place in society; black or white, rich or poor; and to see the contrast in colour between the peacock dresses of the white society ladies and the drab grey uniforms of the black help are a strong visual reminder of the division. On the rare occasion that we see Aibileen or Minnie in their own clothes that splash of colour is shocking and makes them seem more real and human somehow.

On the other hand, I found there were a few things that I was not so keen on. This, I am sure, was as a result of having read the book.

If you were watching the film from a fresh viewpoint then perhaps you would just see the positives of it. The narrative voice in the novel is primarily Aibileen, with sections from Minnie and Skeeter. The film was more equally focused on all three women and I felt that this then lost some of the power of the novel through the detailed view you were given of the relationship between Mae Mobley, the white daughter of Elizabeth Leefolt, the employer, and Aibileen, her black surrogate mother. This had the further effect of having to slightly change the ending scene from the One in the novel. I felt this then made it lose some of it's heart breaking impact. A secondary character in the novel is Charlotte Phelan, Skeeter's mother and I found the way this character had been changed disappointing. In the novel she is strong in her nasty traits and impending death does not massively change her. In the film she changes to a great extent and I found this reconciliation of the characters too heartwarming and sickly.

The final aspect that disappointed me was perhaps the most significant. Throughout the novel there is an almost tangible sense of real fear built up through many episodes of near misses and panic stricken moments of hiding the evidence and coming close to being discovered. I am aware that a film is restricted through time and practicalities but I felt the lose of these episodes then did not communicate the fear that surrounded these events to the audience as well as the novel.

On the whole though, I did enjoy the film and will certainly be watching it again. Perhaps if I see it when the novel is not so fresh in my mind I will begin to appreciate it more for it's own merits as a well acted, well scripted film with a strong basis in history but with a human interest approach.

 

Book review of The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

There are many pleasures in life and one of those is finishing a really good book. I have been known to devour books but unfortunately I don't seem to find the time as much as I'd like these days. Having read the texts I needed to for work I turned to a book I bought quite a while ago that keeps being recommended to me. It's The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. I am sure I have come late to this book but it is one I will certainly be reading again, and trying to see the film soon too.


One of my favourite books of all time is To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee and The Help shares a few of the same themes and settings and contextual points. It is even mentioned on more than one occasion in the novel. The story revolves around three key characters, the white Miss Skeeter and the two black help, Aibileen and Minnie. Three vastly different characters who come together with a common aim. The story that they weave is one of huge differences and obstacles but also the beginnings of the shift in attitudes and a change in relationships. One extremely poignant and heart breaking thread of the plot is the relationship between Aibileen and the seventeenth white child she is raising, Mae Mobley. As a Mum I cannot wrap my mind around having another person raise my child while I played the society lady. I guess it is no different to the staff who raised the children in Victorian Britain. There is the difference that Victorian nannies and governesses were respected and treated with civility and afforded a proper place in the household, whereas the maids in the novel are treated with contempt and disgust on the whole.


Stockett has a quality in her writing that draws you in, creates characters and settings that are alive and breathing and evolving constantly. There are moments of heartbreak and moments of light relief, especially when the character of Minnie is on the scene! The first person narrative voice switches between the three main characters. This is essential in order to build up the threads of the plot and begin to intertwine the stories of the characters but it does at times take a moment to work out which character has taken over the narrative when it has changed. This is the only negative comment I have to say about the book. It is definitely one I'd thoroughly recommend, it kept me interested from start to finish and regularly resulted in late nights and tired days. As a debut novel it is an absolute triumph and I look forward to seeing what Stockett follows it with.

 

Mother's Day

It has been far too long since my last blog. Things have been chaotically busy, lots of illness and also a little bit of a lack of inspiration. My apologies, I shall try and do better in future.

Yesterday was my second Mother's Day and it got me thinking about what was going on last year and how there were similarities to this year. This year was very quiet compared to last year, just my husband and I and our beautiful little girl. Last year it was us and over forty people celebrating our daughter's christening. We hosted the reception after the christening in the pub across from the church; which is a short walk from our house. This year we went back there for a delicious dinner, a special treat to avoid all the clearing up after a roast.

The pub is called The Tudor Rose in Old Coulsdon. I have to say that I really love going to this pub. Last year they were so hard working and accommodating, going out of their way to make everything perfect for us. They are very popular and get booked up very quickly on special days like Mother's Day but they provided a fantastic service last year. We turned up before the pub even opened with balloons and a cake. When we arrived after the service there was a designated area for us clearly sectioned off with lots of seating and tables. They had set out the cake beautifully and put the balloons out too, along with cutlery and crockery in preparation for the buffet. We turned up with over forty people and they coped very well with the pressure on the bar! The buffet they supplied lived up to my expectations, having eaten there on a number of previous occasions. There was a main course and a pudding course and they also supplied a cake knife and plates for consumption of the cake. Being such a popular and busy day they had originally said we had to relinquish the area after a couple of hours so they could turn the space back into a dining area but in the end we were somehow able to keep it for quite a lot longer and moved out when people naturally began leaving.

This year we visited again and I was once again very impressed with the food and service. They were rushed off their feet but seated us quickly when they saw we had a little one with us. The had obviously anticipated being crazily busy as there was a lot of staff working. Service was slow but we didn't actually mind as they were so busy but they were trying their hardest. They had invested in being well staffed and we were regularly approached and checked on. They realised off their own initiative that we had been waiting a long time and approached us apologising and then immediately went to chase our meal up. The food was delicious as usual. Twenty pounds for a three course meal from the Mother's Day menu, a menu that had about four or five options per course on which covered a wide variety of tastes. There was also the option of the al la carte menu if people preferred. As a lovely touch after the meal I was presented with a few chocolates and a discount card for the local hairdressers as a Mother's Day present. The staff were all friendly and thoughtful, working very hard without exception.

As a little footnote, this pub is family friendly and accommodating of little ones. We organised dinner here with our group of NCT friends and they were able to deal with an invasion of ten adults and five babies, with all the paraphernalia that this entails. They didn't bat an eyelid when asked to warm up several bottles and the changing facilities in the disabled toilet are clean and user friendly.

I have thoroughly enjoyed both of my Mother's Days, both the busy and the quiet, and I look forward to celebrating many more with my special little girl.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums in the world, especially to my wonderful Mum.

The goodness in people

Every now and then something happens that restores your faith in humanity. I haven't been feeling particularly negative about the goodness in the human race recently but it was so lovely to have a wonderful experience. A close friend of mine is expecting her first baby in a months time and another friend suggested that we throw her a surprise baby shower. I love organising anything like that so I immediately got excited and started the planning. It has been so much fun to organise this with my friend, all the secretive emails and meetings, the surreptitious note making and texts. We work with the Mummy-to-be and more than once we both had to abruptly change the conversation or quickly hide something. We managed to invite a number of people including friends from outside work and her Mum, and we organised a buffet lunch followed by the obligatory games; including pin the dummy on the baby. Returning to the reason for this post, what struck me about the event was just how much effort everyone put in, and how willing everyone was to give up their time and effort and also contribute financially. We hosted the party at my house and this would usually spell out in large letters the word STRESS but this was certainly not the case. Several guests as well as my co-organiser with her two beautiful girls arrived early and helped with all the setting up and decorating. As people arrived bringing their items for the buffet they got stuck in and set it all out in an absolutely magnificent spread. I was also extremely grateful to a number of the guests who ensured that my house and my kitchen were left in a state of gleaming perfection. I'd turn around from talking to someone and see a guest with their hands in the sink washing up and another, tea towel in hand, drying up. I was even given two beautiful bunches of flowers and a bottle of wine to enjoy. It was such an amazing afternoon and I think the Mummy-to-be was overwhelmed by everyone's effort and generosity.Something I will never forget is the excitement of the big surprise moment and how it felt to be part of that experience. It was an amazing afternoon and it really showed me all my friends and colleagues at their awesome best.