Sunday morning I was in San Francisco. I had enjoyed dinner with Jim and Christina in Chinatown the night before. http://twitpic.com/9i9of3 I had taken time earlier on Saturday to visit Muir Woods, one of my favorite places on the planet. http://twitpic.com/9ia3gu http://twitpic.com/9ia0zy http://twitpic.com/9ia1wv http://twitpic.com/9ia19d I was full of northern California memories from just the few short days I had spent there. My little hotel had a great restaurant and I was having a tasty breakfast before beginning the longest drive of this trip.
Tonight I would be in LA again, back at my first hotel, and going to see Eric Idle's play at the Orpheum. I needed to get started! I took my bags downstairs, and took advantage of the complimentary beverages, making tea in a to-go cup while I waited for my car. http://twitpic.com/9i9ot6 http://twitpic.com/9i9p5o
Today I wanted to make it to LA in time to relax for a little bit before going to the Orpheum. Driving along the coast would have been awesome, but I had to be practical about this, so I-5 through California farm country worked just fine.
It felt very comfortable checking into the same hotel where I had spent my first night in California. It was just after 5 PM and the show was at 7, enough time to change clothes, freshen up and go. This was going to be another one of those theaters worth seeing on its own! http://www.laorpheum.com/gallery.html http://twitpic.com/9i9pjx
When I arrived at the theater, I walked downstairs first to find something to drink. I've discovered from seeing Craig's shows that laughing a lot makes me very thirsty. With bottle of water in hand, I was ushered to my seat. Not front row this time, but stage left 14 rows back. It was actually a good view! I noticed a camera set up near me. They were filming this. Check the photos of the program for the cast list (!!) and details about the filming. http://twitpic.com/9i9rnd http://twitpic.com/9i9s2d
One of the most hilarious moments of the evening was the disembodied voice of Eddie Izzard giving us theater safety announcements before the show. I'm sure you can imagine. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I haven't seen Eddie live since he brought his "Stripped" tour to Tampa Theatre three years ago. It would have been enough to see just Eddie onstage. But this was one of those evenings that boggles the mind. ERIC IDLE! I grew up loving Monty Python and it's a tradition that has been lovingly passed down in our house. BILLY CONNOLLY! Are you kidding me?! Bringing some of the most outrageously funny speeches to the show and leading us all in song. TIM CURRY! - just freaking brilliant, and RUSSELL BRAND! Providing some of the more risque/risky moments of the evening. JANE LEEVES, with one of the most hilarious songs of the show (Blow Me (A Kiss)). TRACEY ULLMAN! (I've missed seeing her), whose laugh I could always hear through everything else that was happening. One comedy icon after another, all onstage together. This was presented as a radio play, so they were all holding scripts. I say holding, because clearly there were plenty of times when they didn't follow along. There were seats for everyone set up in a semi-circle, so that when an actor wasn't in the scene, he could sit down for a bit. And then there was the band, The DickTones, with their spangly sign, looking very much like a Vegas lounge act. The sound effects man was also a character in the show, clearly visible, stage right. It was great watching him work.
There were so many highlights to this show, but I'll just mention a few. With all these amazing people working together, there seemed to be quite a bit of improvisation going on. Eric Idle was always visible, sitting downstage left. When Eddie said something that was followed by a reaction by several cast members, he came out with "I wasn't expecting a Spanish Inquisition!" The crowd roared its approval, and Eric threw his script over his shoulder, giving in to the Python love coming his way. At one point in the show, Russell Brand kept mentioning the mouth organ for some reason. It made me wonder who else might be sitting in the theater. :) And when Billy Connolly sang "The Lonely Trout" he was accompanied by two dancers, "The Lonely Scottish Tarts," and a bagpipe player. We were all invited to join in, following along on the giant lyric sheet that dropped down from the stage ceiling.
It was an incredible night. When it was over, I noticed I was hungry. I hadn't thought about it all day, but now I needed to find a place for dinner. It was pretty late, so I figured my choices might be limited. I totally blame being tired and hungry on the way I found this restaurant. It isn't on a main thoroughfare and I didn't look it up on Google maps. I did take a right when I should have taken a left, and that turned out very well! Just north of Hollywood Boulevard, nestled in a little neighborhood, I found this friendly sign. http://twitpic.com/9i9srk It was after 10PM, and the parking lot was crowded. I wondered if all these people were eating pie. I settled in at the counter and the waitress brought me a menu and some coffee. http://twitpic.com/9i9t15 I found out they serve everything, even breakfast, until 2AM! I couldn't be more grateful that I knew the name of this place. (Thanks again, Craig!) Crazy thing is, I didn't have pie at all. I had a very large salad with chicken, so big I had to take some back to the little hotel refrigerator. Just one more reason I have to come back to LA - for the pie. :D
No comments:
Post a Comment