Sunday 20 April 2025 

London

My first full day in London is Easter Sunday, when most businesses, amusements, and tourist sites are closed for the day. But the day presents itself with continuing sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50s. There is no rain, even though the winds become a little blustery in the afternoon. 

I venture out in the late morning to the South Kensington Underground station just a few blocks away, passing the restored Michelin Tire building along the way. 

At the station I purchase an Oyster Card, the now ubiquitous travel card for all public transportation. Like most other great cities of the world, almost everything in London is automated and cashless. Of course, the US is far behind in this movement to the future. I am mostly using buses--easier to get on and off, with stops closer to most destinations; when I need to travel faster I use the Underground.

Today I take a short ride on the Underground to Leicester ("Lester") Square, the heart of the West End theatre district. Earlier today I purchased a ticket on-line for the Tony-winning musical, Hadestown, which is still playing on Broadway. I will provide my critical reaction after I have lunch in Chinatown, just a few steps away.

There is an almost endless array of Chinese and Asian restaurants from which to choose; almost all London restaurants post menus outside to make choosing easier. Joy King Lau looks modern and fairly crowded with locals (always a good sign).

Left:  Wonton Soup--Almost a Whole Meal in Itself

Right:  General Tso's Chicken--Unlike the Breaded and Fried American Version, This is Sautéed with Lots of Garlic and Peppers

After lunch I have some time to wander Shaftesbury Avenue, where most historic legitimate theaters are located, and Piccadilly Circus, where the most tacky shops are crowded with tourists. The only Sunday performance of Hadestown starts at 3:00pm.

I thoroughly enjoy Hadestown.The Lyric Theatre is a recently refurbished auditorium (opened December 1888), seating 900 playgoers on four levels.There are two balconies reaching to the sky above where I am seated in the center of the front row of the Dress Circle, just above the Stalls (orchestra seats)--a really great location. The illustrations below are not mine; they are professional photos.

The cast is uniformly very good, and the actress playing Persephone, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, is terrific. The staging and choreography are excellent and excellently performed by the supporting cast. The music and lyrics are usually effective in making human the mythic love stories of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone.

But I have a couple of minor caveats. Some of the supporting characters pander to the audience for applause, breaking the spell of the story (although I believe that is the director's idea). And while it is helpful to be familiar with the story and characters beforehand, audience members can get along with the story until late in the second act, when the narrative and their repercussions come to an end. The final scenes are quite muddled and leave me somewhat perplexed (and, of course, I know the story quite well).

After these exertions for the day, I catch a bus back to South Kensington and the short walk home, where I have a light supper in the quiet of my flat--where, by the way, I have free access to my Prime Video account on a large-screen smart tv--and it behaves just like it does in Tucson.