Kew Gardens and the Book of Mormon
It's definitely a clean cut day. The staff here in the Prince of Wales Theatre all look extremely clean and tidy. No white shirts and black ties, but no wild hair either. They all are eager to please, and it seems genuine.
Why am I making this comment, you ask. Because I'm waiting for “The Book of Mormon” to begin. I paid full price -- no discounts were available. I chose seat G16 in the stalls. In Victoria, this would be called the orchestra area. Last night for Annie, I was in the front row of the second balcony. I think they called it the Grand Circle.
When I was in the box office this morning, there was a woman with an extra ticket to flog. It was in row K of the upper balcony. No thanks.
On to the excitement that is Kew Gardens. I took the Land Train tour, to help orient myself. I learned the initial site was eight acres, and started by a woman (the dowager princess Augusta). When her son inherited the site, he added another 200 acres from an uncle’s estate. That area is now primarily covered by the arboretum and lawns. It's a specimen garden, with trees collected from around the world. I saw the sign for the Douglas fir, but couldn't see the actual tree.
I particularly enjoyed a new installation -- the Hive. It's a metal structure vaguely reminiscent of a bee hive. Visitors can walk in below, in mid hive. There are birds chirping and a dull hum throughout. It's quite magical and calm.
To get there, I strolled by grand borders. The interpretive signs said each segment was chockablock with species, but to my eye, it looked like six or eight in one area. The purples of Russian sage and lavender caught my eye.
Later, I found the canopy walk (near the Douglas fir) and climbed the 110 steps for a different perspective.
I feel extremely fortunate to have visited so many large gardens this year. I always compare them to what I know best (Butcharts), and that really isn't fair. Butcharts is a display garden, and most of these are botanical gardens. Their focus is on specimen collection and learning, while Butcharts is about spectacle. And Kew is the granddaddy of them all.
It was a great day to go. The weather this week has been hot, so the flowers were blousy and plentiful. It gave the impression of abundance.
Gotta go. Just got the one minute warning.
Okay, I'm back, having laughed almost constantly for two and a half hours. The Book of Mormon is an irreverent look at the Mormon missionary tradition. The play starts with a team of young men in training for their two years of missionary service. The Handsome Guy, played by KJHippensteel, is paired with The Loser, played by Cody Jamison Strand. They are not sent to Handsome Guy’s dream posting (Orlando Florida). Instead they go to Uganda. In three months, the men already in the volunteer house had not made a single conversion. Which brings us to a happy song about repressing negativity. They soon meet villagers, who sing a Disneyesque song featuring a local phrase. Turns out the villagers are mouthing off to God. Oops, the two main characters were singing along. Of course, there's a pretty girl, a plot line about genital mutilation, and a story read from the Book of Mormon saying God turned the warring faction’s skin black as punishment for their aggression. There's also a line about how black people were suddenly deemed worthy of church membership in 1978.
The songs were catchy, the dancing supported and furthered the plot. It was a very satisfying evening.
I have half a day left in London in this leg of the trip. Alas, I won't be able to do much more than take pictures around the ‘hood. Piccadilly Circus, Leichester Square and Coventry Garden are closed to traffic tomorrow because of Pride Day activities. Fortunately, it doesn't impact the Underground.
Which reminds me, I didn't check before getting on the train returning from Kew. I started to worry when I didn't recognize the station names. So I had a bit of unexpected adventure. And lived to tell you about it.
Why am I making this comment, you ask. Because I'm waiting for “The Book of Mormon” to begin. I paid full price -- no discounts were available. I chose seat G16 in the stalls. In Victoria, this would be called the orchestra area. Last night for Annie, I was in the front row of the second balcony. I think they called it the Grand Circle.
When I was in the box office this morning, there was a woman with an extra ticket to flog. It was in row K of the upper balcony. No thanks.
On to the excitement that is Kew Gardens. I took the Land Train tour, to help orient myself. I learned the initial site was eight acres, and started by a woman (the dowager princess Augusta). When her son inherited the site, he added another 200 acres from an uncle’s estate. That area is now primarily covered by the arboretum and lawns. It's a specimen garden, with trees collected from around the world. I saw the sign for the Douglas fir, but couldn't see the actual tree.
I particularly enjoyed a new installation -- the Hive. It's a metal structure vaguely reminiscent of a bee hive. Visitors can walk in below, in mid hive. There are birds chirping and a dull hum throughout. It's quite magical and calm.
The outer view of the Hive
The inner view of the Hive
To get there, I strolled by grand borders. The interpretive signs said each segment was chockablock with species, but to my eye, it looked like six or eight in one area. The purples of Russian sage and lavender caught my eye.
Later, I found the canopy walk (near the Douglas fir) and climbed the 110 steps for a different perspective.
I feel extremely fortunate to have visited so many large gardens this year. I always compare them to what I know best (Butcharts), and that really isn't fair. Butcharts is a display garden, and most of these are botanical gardens. Their focus is on specimen collection and learning, while Butcharts is about spectacle. And Kew is the granddaddy of them all.
It was a great day to go. The weather this week has been hot, so the flowers were blousy and plentiful. It gave the impression of abundance.
Gotta go. Just got the one minute warning.
The curtain for the Book of Mormon
Okay, I'm back, having laughed almost constantly for two and a half hours. The Book of Mormon is an irreverent look at the Mormon missionary tradition. The play starts with a team of young men in training for their two years of missionary service. The Handsome Guy, played by KJHippensteel, is paired with The Loser, played by Cody Jamison Strand. They are not sent to Handsome Guy’s dream posting (Orlando Florida). Instead they go to Uganda. In three months, the men already in the volunteer house had not made a single conversion. Which brings us to a happy song about repressing negativity. They soon meet villagers, who sing a Disneyesque song featuring a local phrase. Turns out the villagers are mouthing off to God. Oops, the two main characters were singing along. Of course, there's a pretty girl, a plot line about genital mutilation, and a story read from the Book of Mormon saying God turned the warring faction’s skin black as punishment for their aggression. There's also a line about how black people were suddenly deemed worthy of church membership in 1978.
The songs were catchy, the dancing supported and furthered the plot. It was a very satisfying evening.
I have half a day left in London in this leg of the trip. Alas, I won't be able to do much more than take pictures around the ‘hood. Piccadilly Circus, Leichester Square and Coventry Garden are closed to traffic tomorrow because of Pride Day activities. Fortunately, it doesn't impact the Underground.
Which reminds me, I didn't check before getting on the train returning from Kew. I started to worry when I didn't recognize the station names. So I had a bit of unexpected adventure. And lived to tell you about it.
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