Lucy Watches Glee

Due to an unfortunate combination of preoccupied friends and exhaustion I have spent the first half of the weekend locked in my dorm room catching up on season three of the Glee and hanging out with the theater kids who are rehearsing right outside my door. Could be worse I guess.

I am an unashamed fan of Glee. Of course I do have problems with the show (where are the interracial couples? and why is everyone in a relationship? could you get anymore cheesy?) but I cannot help but have soft spot for a show that puts quality musical theater onto TV.  I am so glad that they have decided to include more classic songs from Funny Girl, West Side Story, and the like along with all the other delightful Katy Perry remixes.

Like many a fan girl, Darren Criss is probably the main reason I decided to keep watching this season. As a huge nerd I have of course seen A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel several times...in fact I have the soundtrack on my ipod. So glad to see someone so talented from the youtube community becoming "main stream famous." His voice makes me melt and his character's relationship with the ever adorable Kurt is definitely my favorite story line. 

Lea Michelle's character, however, makes me want to pull my hair out, until she starts singing that is. I guess this is the writer's intention but to be honest I can only take so much Rachel. There are so many other great talents to feature! For instance Harry Shum as Mike Chang. His starring episode, Asian F, is probably my favorite so far. Some will probably argue that it only promotes the stereotype of over bearing Asian parents and they would be right, but the heart of the story was in the right place...plus seeing him dance is always a pleasure. 

I have also been loving the West Side Story thread running through the season's first couple episodes. It is such an iconic show with perhaps some of the most beautiful music to ever be sung on Broadway and undoubtedly the best dancing. I would love to think that there is some lonely preteen out there who has perhaps never even seen a musical that is watching Glee and starting to think this might be a world they want to be a part of. Perhaps they will rent West Side Story from the local library, start watching youtube videos of rising stars, go to a local performance, inspire a program in their own school...it all starts with that little flicker of magic in someone's imagination.

This is why, as Glee is promoting without apology, the arts must stay in our schools! Setting Sue Sylvester, the Glee club's hilarious nemesis, as an enemy to arts education probably did more for the cause than a million irate facebook posts. Thanks Glee! You are flawed but doing your best...just like the rest of us! Now I am left wondering...what the hell are you doing on Fox!?

Next up: My review of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Lucy Goes To The Ballet

So I promised a review of Sleeping Beauty and here it is!
Needless to say I was so ecstatic to just to be inside the Royal Opera House watching the Royal Ballet that I probably would have enjoyed anything that came on stage, but I was particularly looking forward to this show because Tamara Rojo danced Aurora. I have watched her countless times on youtube and she is unarguably stunning. Plus there are rumors of her imminent retirement so I knew it was a once in a lifetime experience. Thankfully my high expectations were fulfilled and the performance was exactly as I knew it would be; just gorgeous.
The dancing was of course of the highest caliber, Rojo especially. She could simply walk on stage and pointe her feet and make an audience gasp. Thankfully she doesn't rely on flexibility or tricks and played the role with as much depth as you could find in a story as flimsy as the Sleeping Beauty. Her first act solo was my favorite of the performance because she showed such a contrast between the slow and controlled beginning and the lightening fast, show off ending.
Frederic Bonelli in the role of the prince was also quite good. The role is not particularly exciting for men but he performed the solo adagio in Act II quite beautifully. I think this is the one portion of the ballet that the Royal does best of all; how often in classical ballet do you get to see a man alone on stage dancing an adagio? His other solos were nice but forgettable in comparison to Rojo; this is the one ballet in which the girls get to show off more than the boys!
I was not overly impressed with Itziar Mendizabl's Lilac Fairy. Her technique was immaculate but her performance rather bland. I have to say I remember her giant purple tutu more than I remember most of her dancing! Perhaps the costume was too interfering, I know from experience that an ill fitting tutu can all but ruin a performance.
The rest of the costumes were just fantastic. Lots of pink and sparkles...which is what most people come to the ballet looking for I think. The Queen definitely go the best of it, all her dresses glittered even for those of us up in the back of the theater. Her hats were very grand and succeeded in drawing as much attention to her as the dancing roles. Even the corps de ballet shone thanks to some fine work in the costume department. I think we often forget how important this aspect is to ballet! Especially for a show like Sleeping Beauty which is more of a visual spectacle than anything else.
Melissa Hamilton stood out in the best way possible from the corps of Aurora's friends in Act I. I sincerely hope I have the opportunity to see her dance a more prominent role in the future. It is very easy to picture how easily she must slip into the more contemporary roles. The company as a whole I think must be very well adapted to switching back and forth between sparkling perfection and gritty emotion as the other ballet currently running at the Opera House in the tragedy of Manon. I will aim next time to see something that allows the dancers to stretch their performing muscles a bit more, but for a birthday treat The Sleeping Beauty was absolutely delicious!

Happy Birthday To Me

Autumn is finally here! We have had such a lovely golden fall here and I was delighted to find that when I returned from a week away in beautiful Cornwall that all the leaves had turned beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow. How lucky I am to be able to live in and visit such stunning parts of the world; Cornwall is the epitome of the raw and wild English coast which I find so much more appealing than any tropical beach. Give me craggy cliffs, cloudy skies and crashing waves over white sandy, sunny beaches any day! Perhaps this is the little emo side of me coming out. Richmond, on the other hand, is more tame, colorful, and very homey. I feel incredibly safe here and the park is just breathtaking, although for some reason I have only visited it a couple times. This need to be fixed before all the beautiful leaves disappear!

St. Agnes Beach, Cornwall

St. Agnes Beacon, Cornwall

Richmond Park

Photo by Jamie Long http://www.flickr.com/photos/vespa80/6299623979/

I love fall (or Autumn depending which side of the pond you're on), it is definitely my favorite season. Appropriate, perhaps, seeing as my birthday falls right bang in the middle of it. I am perhaps biased but as a Halloween baby I think I have one of the best times for a birthday; everyone is in the mood to party on Halloween, plus I can wear whatever wacky outfit or make up I want and get away with it...sparkles everywhere! I had a lovely birthday on Monday, although it was difficult being away from the family for the first time. Thankfully I have wonderful friends here at school and received lots of Birthday love...as well as a few generous treats, and no tricks. I spent Halloween night at the Royal Opera House watching Tamara Rojo dance Sleeping Beauty, it was stunning and so magical, so appropriate. I thought all the fun had ended there but my amazing friends surprised me last night by all waiting for my at the pub with some delicious chocolate cake. I am a very happy 19 year old.

Lucy Goes to Camden

So far I have mostly been sticking to the "posh bits" of London, not because I am a snob, but because that is where I live and what is closest! (But I'm not going to lie, it's nice being able to walk around at night not fearing for your life). But yesterday I ventured a little further East for a day out at the Camden markets. It was fabulous; just as much pink hair and piercings as I expected but also a great deal of life and excitement. As it was a Saturday morning the place was packed with tourists as well as the actual Camden-ites. Most of the street vendors take advantage of this, selling tacky London merchandise at decent prices. But just venture a little further from the station into the legendary underground stables and you will find a world that is completely unlike anything I have found in London so far.
It smells of street food, sweat, and cigarettes and there are people of all shapes and sizes shopping for things they never knew they needed. The highlight for me was found deep underground in a little corner of the market which seems to think we never left the 1940's; the Andrews sisters were blaring, the ceilings were full of sparkly costumes, the shelves were stacked with dusty old suitcases that have probably seen more of the world than I have, and crazy old women seemed disappointed that you actually wanted to buy parts of their collection. Of course I came home with way more than I should have, including a fantastic pair of green sunglasses which my friend said made me look like Twiggy (how could I not buy them!).
We immediately regretted having made dinner plans earlier in the day because the food smelled heavenly. Somehow the fact that you don't know where it has been is more appealing than repulsive in Camden. I had a vegetable samosa that could not have hit the spot more. I had to stop myself from buying a green cupcake or a waffle covered in chocolate for the sake of my wallet. In any case I would highly suggest Camden markets to anyone, even those who wouldn't see it as their type of place as it might very well open your eyes. My only advice would be to bring plenty of cash...but keep a hold of your purse!

Lucy Becomes a YouTube-er

So over the past couple of weeks my friends and I have been working on a project; a youtube channel. It's our creative attempt at keeping our lives connected while we are all off on our separate college adventures. As someone who has only a basic knowledge of technological stuff it has been a great learning experience. I am not used to expressing myself verbally, and talking to a camera lens all alone in your bedroom is not normal behavior.
 It is quite an odd thing really, all this putting yourself out on the internet. A friend recently described it as "shouting at the air" which is a pretty accurate description. Obviously our channel does not have a huge audience, but that is not the point; it is helping us record our lives, forcing us to think back and recollect on moments that are probably some of the most important learning experiences we will ever have.
Personally, I am enjoying it as a way to share my new life here with all my friends and family back home. Right now London and Lexington feel like two different worlds, but somehow a couple minutes of me rambling to a screen seems to connect them in an odd way. It has also forced me to carry my camera around and use it, which is not something I do normally. Now I have loads of footage of me just wandering around, 95% of which I don't even use. It is nice to have parts of my life stored away on my computer in a form that is somehow more concrete than memory. It will be interesting to look back on these videos in a couple years time and see how much as changed...or how much is exactly the same.
If you are interested in hearing us ramble then check out thisisnothogwarts on youtube!

Lucy Goes To A Polo Match

So I have this friend, the best friend in the world, the best friend I have ever had in my whole life, the best friend I will ever have, and she tells me all the time, "Lucy, you need to blog!" The fact that there is even just one person out there who reads and enjoys what a write is so inspiring to me. It has made me realize that doing this is important...more important than most of the things I waste my time doing. So thanks to her pushing (I am so grateful Alex, really, I do not know where I would be without you) and this new phase of my life, I here begin my new series in which Lucy does...stuff
So in this new glamorous life I lead (Ha) I apparently not only go to fashion shows and after parties but also to polo matches...shortly followed by a night of delivery pizza and bad television. Polo is one of those things that I though only ever happened in movies or bad romance novels, but no. Everyone really does dress head to toe in Ralph Lauren, down buckets of champagne, and pretend to understand a less than exciting sport, all while speaking in ridiculously pretentious accents. I loved it.
As you can imagine the people watching was top notch, there was even some celeb spotting (Geordie Shore anyone?). My own style inspiration usually comes from people I see in real life, rather than the glossed over pages of a magazine, and so this one afternoon was a veritable treasure trove of ideas. It was blatantly obvious that everyone who attended was there to be seen, but at the same time wanting to fit in and look at ease. The dress code seemed to consist of wide leg trousers of various autumnal shades, sharp blazers, and plenty of flowing scarves tied around necks and hand bags.
All in all I found the atmosphere exciting rather than stuffy. The day was organized for fun and enjoyment; a celebratory farewell to the last glimpses of the fleeting English summer all in the name of supporting the troops. A mid match rain shower only seemed to give fuel to the party fire. But by the end of the day we were all wet, cold, and ready to lounge around in sweat pants eating greasy cheap food, and so that is what we did, even splurging on a cab ride up the hill (a grand total of 1 pound each).
I am both fascinated and bemused by people who focus their lives around this sort of event. But for a relaxed Saturday escape it was a truly unique experience. When in London, do as the posh people do!

Across The Pond And Over the Moon

Yep, here I am, my first week of uni (that's what they call it over here) done. It's been exhausting, upsetting, wonderful, and exciting all at the same time. Tuesday, when I moved in, has to have been one of the most stressful days of my life, and perhaps that sounds naive but for someone who as only lived 18 years (and most of them in the same place) its hardly an exaggeration. For the first twenty-four hours I was pretty miserable, I can't really put my finger on why now but I can guess that it was a general sense of feeling overwhelmed...combined with a huge does of hormones. There was the whole moving-to-a-new-country thing to deal with, plus making new friends, finding my way around an intimidating city and basically changing the focus of my life from dance to school. I think the next couple weeks will have me trying to equalize these two parts of my life, which will mean lots of hard work and very little down time but I have realized that I am usually happiest this way (as mentioned before).
I said the first day was awful, by comparison the last few days have been heaven. I've met some wonderful people, made my dorm feel like home, and come to the realization that I am where I am supposed to be. This city is just so lively and gives you the sense that anything is possible. Plus I am ready to take it all in with some fast friends by my side; I have already become very close to two amazing girls (P and C) who both have fascinating backgrounds and sweet personalities. It doesn't even seem silly to say that I know we will stay close for the coming months, hopefully even years. Everyone else that I have met is very open and friendly; no one knew anyone when they got here so everyone was ready to talk to whoever happened to be near by and so I have made friends with many people who I may never have even spoken to under normal circumstances. Honestly I just like listening to all the stories people have because everyone here has grown up all over the world and speaks about five million languages, I feel pretty boring in comparison. Actually, my sister, after looking at pictures of me and my new friends, told me that I was "racially boring." Nice.
Yesterday I spent the whole day getting lost in Covent Garden which was like a dream come true. I found all these adorable vintage shops and tried on pointe shoes at the Capezio and Bloch stores. I of course had to hang around the Royal Opera House, it feels equivalent to a cathedral for me. After meeting C for lunch at a rather questionable but yummy cafe we wandered around near the theater again and spotted a whole group of  Royal Ballet School students. I felt like such a creeper but I just wanted to BE them, no matter how amazing my life is at this point I will always be slightly jealous. Fortunately I have discovered that the Royal Opera House as a scheme that gives left over tickets to students for 10 pounds...as you can probably guess I am already signed up and plan to work my way to the top of that waiting list.
In fact I am hoping to turn this blog into a little bit more of a cultural reference as I would love to write profiles of some of the interesting independent stores I find or reviews of shows I manage to scrounge tickets for. As a journalism major I know I need to practice and keep up my writing...so get ready because here it goes!