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Post by kathryn on Dec 22, 2017 11:55:01 GMT
Yes, but in the US they sell confectionery, but not ice-cream, and presumably the theatres get the money from that instead. I always wonder why they don't do ice cream and we do.
I absolutely agree that interval ice-cream is an inherent part of the theatrical experience and am sad that I can no longer indulge in one (I've never seen dairy-free ice cream at a theatre).
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Post by harrie on Dec 22, 2017 11:55:54 GMT
I can remember my mum and I being disappointed on our first ever Broadway visit when we couldn’t find any ice cream in the interval, neither of us had any idea that this was a British tradition until then!
Glad you had such a good trip, Elle!
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Post by kathryn on Dec 22, 2017 11:56:28 GMT
I was absolutely fascinated with the array of ice creams on offer at each show in even below zero weather. Ah, you see, it is never too cold for ice cream. Well-known fact. |
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Post by Elle on Dec 22, 2017 15:57:44 GMT
You all make excellent points and my conclusion is that Broadway is missing out by not selling ice cream. It's a fun thing to eat! I thought overall the choice of drinks and food at the interval was really good. Also how nice is everybody at your theatres!
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Post by lou105 on Dec 22, 2017 20:30:44 GMT
I've never seen dairy-free ice cream at a theatre. My local Picture House cinema was handing out free samples of Swedish Glace "Magnum" type lollies a while back, and I wondered if they were testing the market. |
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Post by Elle on Dec 22, 2017 21:05:33 GMT
Here's Part 1 of my review of this trip and I'm sorry it's so long. There's no way I could be brief about London. I loved discovering your beautiful city and the sights. There were 2 full days of glorious sunshine and that's when I got the most walking done. I didn't get to see as much as I had planned but that's ok because I'll be back. 😊
Tours:
- On Sunday I took a Rock Legends tour which was by minivan and lasted 3.5 hours. It was raining the whole day so a better choice than a walking tour. We started near Trafalgar Square then drove all around Chelsea, Kensington, Nothing Hill and our final stop was Abbey Road. We saw the houses of Freddie Mercury, Jimmy Page, Robbie Williams, Jimi Hendrix and had a drink at Sticky Fingers. We had fun at Abbey Road trying to take photo's on the zebra crossing. My apologies to the traffic. The tour guide told us many entertaining stories and it was a great way to spend an afternoon.
I do like some of the music but the main reason I had booked this tour was because of the area's it visited. I wanted to see those particular parts of London. It was my way of doing a bus tour without having to go in those open top ones. I told the tour guide straight up that I was there to see the colored houses in Notting Hill. 😄
- On Monday I took the backstage tour at the National Theatre and that lasted 1.45 hours. This was such an interesting tour and I learned so much about the NT. It's so impressive how much of the production is done in house. The stage, the props, the costumes and everything else. The building is like a maze and around every corner there is something happening. I loved how it's a cultural center where people can just come to hang out. We visited all 3 theatres and I was blown away by the stage of Network, so large! How cool is it that the audience can sit in the café on stage.
Food:
I finally tried Nando's! It was really good and I understand the hype now. Had never tried Shake Shack in NYC, there were often lines, so did in London between shows one day. It was just ok, don't get the hype for that. Loved Pret which I already knew from NYC, went there the most. How wonderful is it that they donate the leftover food at the end of the day? The people working there were also so lovely. One day the girl barista gave me my order of a tea and a mince pie for free because she said I was such a nice customer. I was so touched! That hasn't happened anywhere ever to me but it did happen on the busy Strand in London. ❤️ I tried Eat once but prefered Pret. Had lunch one day at the Delaunay Counter, the soup wasn't great but the pastry was.
The area I spent the most time in was Covent Garden, because it was so close to my hotel and I also really liked it. I had the smaller version of afternoon tea at Whittard there. It was called a Piccadilly Tea and it had 4 finger sandwiches, 2 small scones and a pot of tea for £15. It didn't look like much when it arrived but I was really full at the end. It's a cute place selling a very large selection of tea's. Had a pizza at Fire & Stone and that was great, the place was packed. One night before a show I sat on the heated terrace in the square and had a mulled wine while watching the street performers, just bliss. What a wonderful area and so beautifully decorated for Christmas.
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Post by kathryn on Dec 22, 2017 23:53:34 GMT
I've never seen dairy-free ice cream at a theatre. My local Picture House cinema was handing out free samples of Swedish Glace "Magnum" type lollies a while back, and I wondered if they were testing the market. Oh, I hope so! The supermarkets are pretty good at stocking some dairy-free varieties and there’s quite a few ice-cream parlours that have some options at least, but they don’t tend to turn up in cinemas and theatres. |
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Post by TallPaul on Dec 23, 2017 13:14:23 GMT
No need to apologise. @ryan never does.  |
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Post by Elle on Dec 23, 2017 14:19:02 GMT
This is the last part of my review.
Sights:
I visited Somerset House on a bright sunny morning and it looked so beautiful like from a movie. Kids ice skating, Christmas music playing, the big tree... 😍 Then I walked along the South Bank and saw some landmarks from there and the bridges. The London Eye, St. Paul's, the Shard and the Oxo tower. Big Ben is under construction and apparently will be until 2021.
On Tuesday I spent the day with a friend and I took him to the Theatre Café. It was smaller than expected and filled with women. I'm not joking, we got the last free table and he was the only guy there. As a straight male, my friend was impressed! From there we went down through Piccadilly to Fortnum & Mason. It was a great department store but it was crazy busy. Next was Bond street where we took pics with Churchill and Roosevelt on the bench. Then we went to Selfridges because I had watched the tv show and knew the history. The window displays were something to see! From there we walked to Winter Wonderland but didn't go in. As my friend was from London I just followed him so missed a few places that had been suggested. I took the bus back from Hilton Park Lane.
I had made a booking for Sky Garden but it was raining that day so I skipped it. That will be for next time. Buckingham palace I saw from the cab coming from Victoria. When it's warmer I'll do a walking tour to see the changing of the guards etc. London really knows how to do Christmas, loved all the lights and decorations everywhere!
Stay:
I stayed at the Strand Palace hotel and had found a good Black Friday deal. I can highly recommend this hotel and location for a theatre trip. Five out of my 8 shows were less than a 5 minute walk away. I had wanted something similar to staying near Times Square, in the middle of the theatres, and this was it.
Since the location of the hotel was so great I didn't have to use public transport much and walked mostly. I only used the buses and a cab a few times. Lesson learned, don't pay £17 for a cab from Victoria but take the bus instead for £1.50. Did that on the way back. The cabbie was so friendly though, we chatted the whole way and he was into theatre too. 😃
Shows:
I already wrote about 7 of the 8 shows I saw. The only show I didn't write about was The play that goes wrong. The reason for that is that the person next to me was drunk, ruined it and I left at the interval. These things happen. I will rate the other shows.
42nd Street: 5*, front row side
Dreamgirls: 5*, 4th row 5th seat in
Kinky Boots: 5*, 2nd row 6th seat in
An American in Paris: 4*, front row side
Book of Mormon: 4*, 3rd row 6th seat in
Mamma Mia: 4*, front row center
School of Rock: 3*, 2nd row side stalls
I had a mix of cheap seats and more expensive ones and will write seat reviews in the show's threads.
Quality wise for me there was no difference in seeing shows at the West End or Broadway. Both are excellent! My love for NYC had made me overlook London all these years but I'm happy that I finally discovered it. Only 1.5 hour flight compared to 9 hours, cheaper show tickets and ice cream at the interval, what's not to love? Five stars for the West End! 👏
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Post by Dawnstar on Dec 23, 2017 23:18:16 GMT
The only show I didn't write about was The play that goes wrong. The reason for that is that the person next to me was drunk, ruined it and I left at the interval. These things happen. That's a shame. Did you try asking the FOH staff if you could move elsewhere or was it sold out? I've fortunately never encountered bad audience behaviour at the Duchess but I have elsewhere & was allowed to move away from the offenders. |
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Post by Elle on Dec 24, 2017 15:11:29 GMT
The stalls looked quite full, it was a Sunday night. You're right Dawnstar, I could have asked to be moved but I didn't. It was easier to leave than to go and complain, I was just over it. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Dec 24, 2017 21:28:34 GMT
Elle I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it. I usually find the audiences at Mischief Theatre shows are better behaved than average, because they're too busy laughing hysterically to have time to do much else, but you evidently got an annoying exception.
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Post by Elle on Dec 25, 2017 17:09:05 GMT
Thanks Dawnstar. I had never been to a Mischief show before and it did look like a good time. |
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