Bialystock & Bloom

Let's rewind a month and pretend that it's July 12th...

Yes, I'm that far behind.

So much like the trip into London to see The Lion King, which was incidentally, right around the corner... we hopped on a bus sometime around 3:30 in the afternoon and headed into town to see The Producers.

I knew the basic premise of the play, but hadn't seen the recently released movie nor heard any of the music from the production. But Mel Brooks is almost legendary, and I'd heard good reviews, so I decided to go.

Once arriving we had time to eat dinner before the show. I wandered around with Jen and Addy for a little while before deciding to eat at the same restaurant where we had eaten dinner a few weeks earlier before seeing The Lion King. Put simply, we knew the food was good, and that it was decently priced, so it was a win-win situation.

After having a half roasted chicken a piece we made our way back to the theatre. I noticed the sign said Drury Lane, and was disappointed to find there were no shops or restaurants called "The Muffin Man." If I lived in London and were in the baking business, I would definitely want my shop to be "The Muffin Man" on Drury Lane. But enough with nursery rhymes.

This was another sign near the entrance that I thought was cool. Please forgive the obnoxious reflection of the plexiglass.

Show time was fast approaching so we made our way into the theatre and to our seats. Much like the Lyceum Theatre, the inside of the Theatre Royal was incredibly ornate.

And once again, much like when I went to see The Lion King, we had the cheap group seats on the balcony. Thankfully this time we were closer to the front of the balcony and not the very last row, but we were still significantly far away.

It was also rather warm where we were sitting, and when they passed out fans at intermission I don't think mine stopped waving for the rest of the show. But hey, free fan. Overall I enjoyed the show. I think there are a few instances where the humor just didn't quite click with me, but there were also other times when I and every one around me were laughing pretty hard. When Max Bialystock is in jail and sings Betrayed, there is a line about intermission and the cost of food at the theatre that was so funny and so well done I almost died.

On the way out I grabbed a program and we all headed towards the bus. Thankfully we didn't have to cross the street this time, because stopping traffic last time just wasn't fun. Within a few minutes we were on our way back to campus along what had become a very familiar route. I was gearing up to write my paper within the next week so I tried to read, but I'm pretty sure I slept the entire way home.