Guys and Dolls - 6/16/2023
Sarah and I still had plenty of energy left after yesterday's adventure at Alton Towers, so we headed out on
another day touring London. We started the day by taking the tube to Battersea Power Station Station in
order to reach our first destination of the day, Battersea Power Station in Wandsworth.
Originally built as a coal-fired power station, the building has been reborn with apartments, bars, restaurants
and shopping.
The building comprised two power stations, built in two stages, in a single building. Battersea A Power
Station was built between 1929 and 1935 and Battersea B Power Station, to its east, between 1937 and 1941, when
construction was paused due to the Second World War. The building was completed in 1955. Battersea A
was decommissioned in 1975 and Battersea B shut down in 1983. The building remained empty until 2014. Over
the decades there were various redevelopment plans from multiple investment groups. Finally on Friday, October
14th 2022, Battersea Power Station opened its doors to the public, marking the first time the public were able to
explore the iconic building.
We walked west along the River Thames to Battersea Park. This 200 acre Victorian park was built between
1854 and 1870. The park was also home to a small amusement park that opened in 1951 and featured a wooden
roller coaster, known as The Big Dipper, which opened that same year. The coaster closed in 1972 after a
tragic accident. The park has large green spaces, a small children's zoo, a boating lake, a bandstand, and
many pitches and turfs for a wide variety of sports.
Sarah and I then took a bus north towards Hyde Park.
Chelsea Bridge.
Here in the south east corner of Hyde Park is The Rose Garden. The garden was my addition to today's
itinerary. The Rose Garden opened in 1994 and was designed by Colvin and Moggridge Landscape Architects. The
garden attract high numbers of tourists particularly in the summer months and are still popular throughout the year
with local residents and office workers as a quiet contemplative place.
We returned to the hotel to rest, refresh and dress for this evening's performance.
As the afternoon drew to a close we headed to dinner at Tower Bridge Arms just steps away from Tower Bridge in
London. This was a great pub and a BrewDog establishment. And I soon found out that in 2017, BrewDog
opened its US headquarters in Canal Winchester, Ohio.
With some time to spare, Sarah and I walked along the River Thames, and made our way to the nearby Bridge Theatre
in Southwark.
Sarah was excited to bring me to this performance of Guys and Dolls, as this was also the very unique venue where
she has seen Julius Caesar in 2018. It is this most unusual theater arrangement that Sarah wanted me to
experience.
As soon as I entered the performance space I realized just how unique the show was going to be. The theater
is square with 3 tiers of seating on all four sides with the stage being a flat open space with nothing separating
the actors from the audience. We had standing room only tickets, so we were literally standing on the
stage. Sarah said that the tickets for the seat were higher. Why would anyone pay more and be further
from the show? Streets and crosswalks were marked on the stage. White neon lights and traffic signals
were above.
There were tables and chairs set up as if there was dinner. There was food and other props on the
tables. I checked the date of the newspaper and it read 1952. I touched the leftover food on one of the
plates, and it was real. As the audience slowly gathered, actors were selling items from vendor carts such as
cola, beer, pretzels and hats. Then I noticed that the prices were a several pounds for a drink and I thought
"Those aren't 1950s prices'. They were actually selling real drinks right there on the stage.
Once the show began the stage would rise out of the floor in sections. Ushers, dressed as police officers,
would guide the audience as the stage changed. The crowd would shift throughout the performance from one
position to the next as different sections appeared and disappeared. Sometimes we were touching the stage
and could touch the actors if we wanted to. At times members of the audience were given props to interact
with the action. And there were also other crowd interactions. I took a shot of seltzer water directly
in my face. The end of the show stage descended, and the entire area became a dance floor for a post to show
dance with the actors and audience. A night club.
The musical itself was great. Full of high energy performances by all of the actors, great dancing and
show-stopping music. This was a great production and thoroughly entertaining. A musical and a party.
Before heading back to our hotel for the night we took advantage of our location just outside the theater to get
a couple night time photos.
Tomorrow will be our final full day in London and I'm sure we'll find something interesting to do.
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