Wednesday through Saturday I had performances of Iolanthe, my latest foray into the world of Gilbert & Sullivan. The production was set in modern times, with some clever touches. For example, the fairies were rebellious political activists (see my photo below) whose queen had been drinking ever since she banished Iolanthe.
The modern setting meant that the peers were all dressed in their finest suits (shy of tuxedo land), which made them very easy on the eyes. :) The March of the Peers song got new life by depicting them all getting dressed and taking the Tube to work. Fun all around, despite the fact that the women's chorus has very little to do in this show. It's a great one for the men instead.
Plus, you know someone is doing an amazing job when the entire cast huddles in the wings to watch a certain number. For us, it was the nightmare song, which I think is Gilbert's funniest bit of writing because it's so relatably true about the bizarre nature of dreams. If you haven't heard it, here's a good-ish version from YouTube where you can at least understand the words, though the guy doesn't always sing. Doesn't hold a candle to our Lord Chancellor, naturally. :)
Saturday morning was also the day of another rowing race. This one we kicked ass -- but sadly had to forfeit because we were a person short and had to use a non-novice. Here's hoping for an even better result later this week!
Sunday was a day of silliness motivated by my desire to see Harry Potter on IMAX. This meant a trip to London. It was meant to be a group outing, but all but one backed out. Nonetheless, fellow Tit Hall grad student Wolfgang (yes, he's from Austria) and I had a good time. We arrived about midday and spent all afternoon (minus lunch) in the British Museum. Here's a shot of one end of one of the Assyrian/Egyptian rooms:
It was unspeakably cool to see things that you've encountered, say, on the cover of a textbook, like the Assyrian lion hunt (see below), the Rosetta Stone, the frieze from the Parthenon, and various Anglo-Saxon torcs that have been turned up in farmers' fields (also below).
This entry is now becoming far too long, so I'll just say that the IMAX experience was as excellent as I hoped, and we even managed to catch the last train back to Cambridge with no problems. It wasn't terribly cold when I biked home in the wee hours, but lo and behold it snowed sometime after that! We had a little dusting earlier in the week, but this was slightly more convincing -- still less than an inch, though, I'm sure. Here's a shot of my building (on the right).
Then I turned the camera about 90 degrees to the left and propped it on the bench there to take this self-portrait. The gardens in this housing complex are really beautiful; they make me feel like I live in a country house.
Whew! Now I just have to write up all my research notes for my supervisor...
The British Museum and Harry Potter in IMAX? That sounds like a wonderful day! :)
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