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Cindy's TRF
Experiences
Tues., Oct. 30, 2001
This was the first of two performances I saw of The Royal Family.
Though JoAnn and I had reserved out tickets weeks apart, she was able to
get the seat right next to mine, which was E-11. By sheer coincidence I
had the exact seat that Mary Lynn had. (And contrary to what she
threatened, she did not leave a wad of gum under the seat with a message
for me tacked to it!) Even though I was only five rows from the stage, I
had brought a little pair of binoculars with me. Seeing Judi Dench in
person was a dream come true and I wanted to see as much of her as
possible. I'm glad Mary Lynn described the theatre and the stage set in
detail because both were beautiful.
Judi didn't make her first appearance for several minutes. When Peter
Bowles first entered, the audience applauded slightly, and then when
Judi made her grand entrance at the top of the staircase on the second
floor, the audience applauded even more. I couldn't take my eyes off her
as she slowly descended the staircase, using a cane and limping as part
of her
character, Fanny. I loved her costumes, especially the turbans. I had
been so looking forward to seeing and hearing Judi in person that it
never dawned on me that because the play was American, the actors would
be doing American accents! Boy was that a disappointment as I love
Judi's accent. I did notice a few British pronunciations from her
throughout the evening though, notably whenever she said the word
"library." Otherwise I didn't give the accents (or lack of)
much thought. I was never aware of thinking "I'm hearing an English
accent" even from Peter Bowles, who was about the only actor who
didn't even try to speak with an American accent. I have to say
that the first Act dragged a bit, even with all those fine actors on
stage. The second Act was so much better. There was a long action-filled
scene with Toby Stephens fencing with his instructor in which the two
battled on the staircase, on and over the couch and around the room,
while the maid, manservant and Fanny all tried to avoid getting stabbed.
Toby won, and striking a pose, ceremoniously announced to Fanny,
"Come, a kiss, my pretty wench! For have I not won thee
fairly!" Playing up to him, Fanny swooned, took a few mincing steps
and fell right into Toby's open arms. It was absolutely adorable and
brought the house down. Otherwise, Toby's character drove me up the
wall. I kept thinking of Judith's description of Alistair one time as
"a whizzing comet." Just because he was loud didn't make him
good. I thought he overdid it. I also didn't care for Emily Blunt, the
actress who played Gwen. I know she's only 18, I know this is her West
End debut and goodness knows the pressure she must feel co-starring with
the likes of Judi Dench, but she was too wimpy. I very much liked Philip
Voss, the actor who played Fanny's agent, Oscar. The affection between
the two characters was touchingly real. Much has been made of
Fanny's line "May God strike me dead if I ever appear in an
all-star revival." There was another equally poignant one. Julie's
old boyfriend Gilbert returns and they start seeing each other
again. He apparently sends her two dozen American Beauty roses every
day. Judi comes down the staircase one morning, sees the latest
batch in a vase on a table at the bottom of the stairs and comments,
"If there's one way to take romance out of roses, it's knowing that
you're going to get them every day." The line got a big laugh but I
wonder how many people knew about Michael's weekly rose to Judi during
their marriage? It certainly didn't
take out the romance for them!
The ending was completely unexpected for me. For the sake of those who
haven't seen the play yet, I've made my comments a separate paragraph so
as not to ruin it for them.
SEE INSERT AT THE END
Judi and Peter were the last to come out for the curtain call but they
did come out together. Naturally they got the biggest applause. When
they took their individual bows, Judi's ovation soared. I had done
my homework before the show in finding out where the backstage was.
Goodness. It was at the end of the block and clear around to the
other side. I'm glad none of the actors were in a rush to get out or we
would've missed them by the time we got back there. I couldn't
believe that only seven people were waiting backstage. I wasn't
complaining of course because that meant it could be more personal.
Because the group was so small, we all started talking to each other.
JoAnn and I really hit it off with Jean and Joe Fitzgerald, who happen
to live in Silver Spring, MD (right outside Washington, D.C. (I
recruited them to join the Capitolhardcastles.) They were die-hard
theatre buffs. Even better, they had seen all the episodes of As Time
Goes By, and were zealous fans of all the Britcoms. (On a personal note,
Joe was a huge "Rumpole of the Bailey" fan, so we were tickled
to meet Peter Blythe, a.k.a. "Soapy Sam" Ballard.) The back
stage door was open the whole time so at least I was able to see who was
coming out before they actually stepped outside. That's how I saw a
rather heavyset man milling about inside whom I recognized as Peter
Hall! He didn't come out for a long time, but when he did, I greeted him
and asked
for his autograph. I was very pleased to meet such a giant of the
English theatre.
When I saw Judi appear just inside, I know it sounds funny, but I gasped
a little. She was so lovely, but looked so vulnerable. I just wanted to
go up to her and put my arms around her and protect her. When she
stepped outside and greeted us, I let other people go first. I wanted to
savor every moment. Amusingly, the first person to approach her didn't
have a
pen, so she asked if anyone had one. Four hands holding pens instantly
shot out - causing all of us, including Judi, to laugh - and I'm pleased
to say that my black Sharpie won.
Naturally I didn't say one thing I had planned to say to her. As she
signed my copy of Miller's biography of her, and a few theatre cards, I
mumbled something about how wonderful I think she is in everything she
does. She thanked me and appeared so relaxed that the moment
seemed right for me to ask:
"I have to ask if there will be a Season 9 of As Time Goes
By?"
Without hesitation she replied, "It looks like there will be."
I wanted to shout YES! to the rooftops! I also mentioned that I would be
coming again for the Saturday matinee. She said, "Oh you're
not?" I said I was and she smiled and said, "Hopefully it will
be better then!" As there were so few of us, it didn't take
long for Judi to finish. There was one older woman waiting last who was
clearly a friend of Judi's,
whom she greeted warmly and with a big hug. After saying goodbye and
thanking everyone, Judi got into a nearby waiting car. As JoAnn, Jean,
Joe and I started walking down the sidewalk, we glanced at the car as it
drove past. The light inside was still on and Judi smiled and waved to
us. The four of us were too excited to call it a night so we
strolled up
to Piccadilly Circus and looked for a nice restaurant or café that was
still open at that "late" hour of 10:45. Unfortunately,
everything WAS either closing shortly or already closed. After I made a
quick dash into Starbucks to buy a cup of tea, we continued looking.
Finally in desperation we went into a McDonald's. I was so embarrassed.
In my eight trips to London, that was the first time I ever set foot
inside a fast-food chain. But they were the only place open. So we sat
there and chatted almost until the restaurant closed at 1:00 AM.
JoAnn and I took a taxi back to our hotel but were still too excited to
go to sleep. So we had tea in our hotel lobby and chatted until 2:30 in
the morning! (Needless to say, JoAnn did not get up at 7:00 AM as
planned. Buckingham Palace would just have to wait.)
S
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* SPOILER*
Fanny dies at the end. She toasts the portrait of her husband with a
glass of champagne while everyone else is off-stage celebrating in the
"library," and then stumbles and collapses into her chair. It
took me completely by surprise and I didn't realize how upset I was
until JoAnn told
me afterwards that she kept hearing me whisper "Oh no! No.
Don't." and sigh a lot. She said she almost elbowed me to remind me
that it was only a play!
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