Last night, and I trucked off to the deep wilds South o’ the River to see Annie Get Your Gun. The Union Theatre is an adorable and tiny space built under some spare railway arch, which meant several songs received unexpected dramatic emphasis from the rumbling of the “building” as steel behemoths lumbered overhead. The show itself was the kind of show I thought was often done really well in Seattle – a small, highly talented cast jammed into a tiny space, with live music (piano, guitar, violin, and occasional addition percussion from the actors) and even lots of fun dance numbers. They made imaginitive use of a small budget in regards to costuming and sets, and I bought the whole thing. They were on a train! They were at a fancy party! They were travelling on a boat full of cows! It was great, though it might have been hard to kill those Irving Berlin showstoppers – one brilliant song after another. (Note to self: get soundtrack, practice “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun.”) I also related to the lead character rather a lot – sassy and independent, but prone to pissing people off because she doesn’t follow “tradition.” Go, Annie Oakley!
Aforehand (to borrow the vernacular of the show, pure Hollywood “corn pone”), we had dinner at Bangalore Express, a new joint that opened across the street from Waterloo in the space formerly occupied by Thai Silk (103 Waterloo Road, website appears to be not built yet). It’s got all of the shoulder to shoulder shared tables I hate, but also an adorable “bunk bed” dining section where you have to walk up a ladder to get to the tables. (I’m not sure how they serve people up there, but when J’s foot heals, we’ll find out.) Their menu was $3 for sides, $4 for small mains, and $8 for large mains (okay it’s supposed to be pound signs but I don’t have that on this computer). We got a “regular” duck and potato dosa for $4 and a “large” combo plate (spicy coconut curry tandoori chicken on rice with a small side of sweet potato salad) for $8, and walked out of the door _with leftovers_ for $12. (We also didn’t buy drinks as we were feeling cheap.)
Er, in theater news, Summer Strallen of Drowsy Chaperone is now going to be Maria in the West End Sound of Music. I don’t really want to see that show, but I adore her so maybe I will. Also, three of the guys up for the local theatrical awards (Oliviers) are ones I saw in the roles they are nominated for this year – in Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello – pretty cool! I think I vote Patrick Stewart as the best of the lot.
This review is for a performance on February 7th.
Life in the Cheap Seats - Webcowgirl's London theatre reviews 
February 11, 2008 at 4:43 pm |
Hi there. I’m glad you got to see this. Your tip to put my name on the waiting list was a good one but I only had one free night last week before it closed and there were ten people ahead of me on the list, so in the end I didn’t get to go. Never mind, it sounds brilliant. Next time…
January 22, 2009 at 3:54 pm |
[…] all year long. I’m also a big fan of the Union Theatre in Southwark ever since seeing their Annie Get Your Gun” last spring. So I was very excited at the thought of this intimate, gritty space being used […]
March 8, 2009 at 2:36 pm |
[…] musical: the Union Theatre in Southwark knocked my socks off with their “Annie Get Your Gun.” First you’ve got the most awesome music ever (it was just one hit after another), […]
May 26, 2009 at 3:51 pm |
[…] for the current musical at the Union Theatre, Stephen Sondheim’s Company. Ever since Annie Get Your Gun I’ve been hoping to catch another red-hot musical there, but the Mikado sold out before I […]
August 21, 2009 at 4:34 pm |
[…] Review – State Fair – Finborough Theater By webcowgirl On Wednesday, Worthy Opponent, hard core musicals fan Amy, and I headed to the great wild west of London (Earl’s Court, to be more precise) to see the Finborough Theater’s production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s State Fair, which I’d been told about on somebody’s Twitter feed. This show had special interest to be because 1) it was Rogers and Hammerstein and 2) it was the show of theirs that was originally written for a movie and was done when R&J were at the height of their powers. And, of course, I’d never seen it, in part because as a musical to be performed live, it’s a fairly new creation. To top it all off, it was directed by Thom Sutherland, who’s Annie Get Your Gun was one of the best musicals I’ve seen in London. […]
December 16, 2010 at 11:21 pm |
[…] didn’t realize until I cozied up to the program that this musical, unlike Annie Get Your Gun or Bells Are Ringing wasn’t so much from that golden age as from, well, the last of the tail […]