A Life Worth Living

Finally, after 11 months in England, I had my first celebrity-spotting experience.

Anca, Gabor, Ida and I went off to London yesterday to watch a musical. Which musical, we didn't have a clue. We just thought we'd rock up to Leicester Square and get a ticket for whatever musical which tickets we could afford.

What we ended up finding out was that Kevin Richardson (of the Backstreet Boys was starring as Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago.

Now, Ida and I were both Backstreet Boys fans back in the days when we were young (and yes, I am rather embarrassed to admit that I was a fan of a boyband, but I have to accept my past and I am now in counselling). In fact, it was because of them that we first got to know each other, but that's another story that I will not tell right now. Anyway, that helped us decide which musical to watch.

Chicago the musical is excellent. Not because of Kevin, but because of the quality of acting, dancing and singing involved. We were lucky, we somehow managed to get seats in the private box (gentlemen's boxes, they used to call them) by the side of the theatre and so we were really close to the stage.

Now I had actually watched Chicago the movie first and I was really impressed as to how faithful the movie was to the musical. Of course, several things were different because the musical is a stage production but I think that simply improved my experience with the musical. It was really good.

Superb synchronisation, brilliant choreography and impressive singing.

What I found really fantastic was the fact that the orchestra pit was not really in the pit, but actually up on stage and the musicians were as much involved in the musical as the actors were. The conductor was pulled into the storyline several times as an actor and the enthusiasm the musicans had for their music was excellent.

Anyway, after the musical, we went to the stage door because Ida really wanted to meet Kevin. I was skeptical as to whether it would really happen. But lo and behold, Kevin eventually turned up at the door to meet his fans.

And so, that was my celebrity-spotting experience in London.

And if anybody's wondering, the reason for this rather bland piece of writing is because I am absolutely exhausted. I have done too much walking and too little sleeping for the last few days and tiredness is fast catching up on me...

Excuse me while I pass out in front of the computer...