Two Incredibly Blessed 60 Year Olds with Almost 39 Years Of Marriage Behind Them

Jim and Teresa posing in the "Typical Tourist, Hold the Camera Yourself Posture" in front of the home where Erin lived twelve years ago on St. James Place, London.

WAR HORSE IS ASTONISHING!

New London Theatre on Drury Lane

The National Theatre's production of WAR HORSE, based upon a novel and is currently being performed at the New London Theatre on Drury Lane is visually mesmerizing! Teresa and I fell in love with the horses, the story, the aesthetics of the puppetry construction and the muscular beauty of the puppeteers. We were totally taken with the production except for the voice work of the principal male actor.

The play tells the story of how a horse who is purchased by a family at an auction. The young son and mother become emotionally connected to the horse, only to have the father sell the horse to the military during war to provide for his family.

I definitely suggest that you google this production and view the pictures online. The absolute beauty of the life size horse puppets are absolutely gorgeous. Three to four actors manipulate the horse puppets in full view of the audience, but because they are so specific and so beautiful to watch, they easily begin to blend into the story, without drawing unnecessary attention.

The story is naturally poignant but all of the actors portray the emotions honestly and genuinely, without in any way becoming "little house on the prairie" like.

The directorial vision of the production is masterful! At times, particularly when the actors mounted the horses, I felt as if I was viewing a movie. The war scenes look huge, although no more than 20 actors are onstage at any given time. The epic proportions of the story and the struggles to survive are emotionally profound. And all along, you are seeing through the horses while the puppeteers are creating their detailed movements.

Teresa and I both struggled enormously with the principal male actor's voice. He is a graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama, and for my purposes, should not have been so controlled with the back of his throat. It seems that they made a deliberte effort at placing his voice there, but many words were missed for this American audience member. And the actor playing the role originated the role while he was a student at the Central school.

The production first opened in late 2007, won Olivier Awards in 2008, but as of yet, has not reached New York. I find that interesting because the production is so "theatre-esque".

BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL

Victoria Palace Garden Theatre

Although I was in New York in June and could have seen BILLY ELIOT THE MUSICAL there I deliberately chose to see the production in its place of origin, London. We saw BILLY ELLIOT on my 60th birthday, which again was very deliberate. We had a wonderful time sitting opposite a couple with two daughters from Washington D.C.

Teresa and I are huge fans of the movie version of BILLY ELLIOT. From the program, Elton John also discussed how the film version impacted him so deeply. However, one shouldn't compare the two, or your disappointment might be supremely keen. That may have been what happened to us.

The young actor portraying Billy Elliot danced exquisitely, particularly in his "mad" dance after his father finds him in the ballet studio. Because his solo ends Act I, Act II became somewhat of a struggle to remain interesting.

The musical is a great deal more "camp" than emotional realism. I thought the production and the directing played much too much into the sympathies of an admired audience.

The choreography did not seem original, and they appeared to utilize beginning ballet and tap, although the performers were genuinely competent in what they were given. Half the cast were between the ages of 12 to 14, and it is completely understandable that they continue to train. You could certainly tell that they were having fun with the production, and even more fun with the over extended curtain call. I won't say what they all do at the final curtain call.

What I liked the most about this production was the fact that Billy's dilemma of wanting to dance and the coal mining strike paralleled so beautifully together on stage. The director had a wonderful "mix" of the young dancers moving in and around the coal miners who were intermingled opposite the British policemen. The visual contrast was truly a stamp of what is great about live theatre.

Overall, I felt patronized by the performers and the director. I wanted more of the emotional explosiveness I experienced in the movie. We simply did not experience those deeper feelings during the viewing of London's stage version of BILLY ELLIOT although I am really glad to have seen the production.