Horsing around

I have posted in the main site about the play but here would like to rave a bit.

RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE RAVE

There you go.

I mean, what can I say about the production? Thea Sharrock, take a bow. Dan, Richard and the cast were simply wonderful. I enjoyed two nights of sheer entertainment. Dan is so talented as a stage actor. His range of expression and mood is amazing. The way he commands the stage, impressive. He was 100% Alan Strang.

The stage design was so simple. If you are not familiar with Napier's approach, the 'horses' are actually dancers with sculpted wire heads and on their feet they wear 'shoes' which are steel platforms with horse shoes at the base. The way the dancers toss their heads and prance makes you believe they are horses even though if you shift your perception, you can clearly see the face of the man beneath the headdress. (OMG! Will Kemp *ded*)
The stage contains 4 benches, (the ones that Dan and Joanne posed on in the promo shots) and these are manipulated by the actors during the play so that they in turn become beds, seats, stable etc. There were no seats actually 'on' the stage - these seats were above and at the back of the stage sort of like a reverse dress circle. The lighting was well done and discreet but did not make any concessions during the last very dramatic scenes during which Joanne and Dan were both naked. The last scene will live on in my memory for a long time and not for the reason you are all thinking. Dan's performance of Alan Strang reliving how he blinded the horses was dazzling. Dan is lithe, totally fit and yes, he is beautiful. However, it was as Alan that he brought tears to my eyes.

Em and I both enjoyed the play very very much. I got to meet Dan's dad and shook his hand and had a little chat which was lovely. He had nice things to say about the website (squeeeee!!!) Dan did not come to the stage door on Saturday as far as I know so no autograph... Peter Shaffer went into the back so I suppose he was talking with him. Also, it was St Patrick's Day and the West End was totally mental. There were quite a few fans waiting there and quite a few drunk non-fans too. It seemed to be a situation that could easily have gotten out of control. There have been some fans taking certain liberties with Dan lately - apparantly (and NO I am not one of them...)so no surprise that Dan does not come out if there is any chance people may get hurt etc. We left after about half an hour of waiting. Em was dreadfully sick with the flu. However, I will be attempting to get an autograph on Monday night if I can. Stay tuned.

Thank you Dan for two of the most memorable (theatre) nights of my life. :) Hugs.
I will get some pics of the outside of the theatre. Photograph inside is forbidden although some prats did take photos of the stage before the performance.

The first time we had second row centre stall seats which were AWESOME. We were so close that we could have reached out and touched Dan. The second night we had a box above and to the side of the stage so we were looking down on the actors but were still mighty close. Both times we could see Dan's face very clearly. I waved regally from the box to some friends down below. LOL! :)

On Saturday we had dinner before the show and met other Dan fans from danradcliffe.com. They are as comfortably nutty as me.

You are wondering about the tatt? No I did not show it to Alan Radcliffe. I think he would have had a heart attack had I done that in the crowded lobby, poor man. Not what one needs - a mad middle aged Australian woman flashing skin in public. I did however, show it off during dinner. LOL.

BTW and random. Where we are staying is about 2 mins from where I was born in St Mary's Paddington. I have really come home. But you know what? I couldn't live here unless I married a millionaire. And you all know that is not going to happen. My god but it is expensive. I shudder to think how much money I have spent just getting around the bloody place. Fortunately, the weather has been so good I have been able to use Shank's Pony a lot and hoofed it from here to there. I walked to the London Eye and went for a ride yesterday but that is another post (with pics folks). Love ya. Take care.