A Matinee Performance....

It was probably a mistake on my part when I, admittedly somewhat reluctantly, agreed to go to a matinee performance at a certain well known south of England theatre of an also well known "Cowboy" musical. We were going to walk to the theatre but a rather heavy downpour persuaded me to take the car and run the risk of getting caught up in a traffic jam of epic proportions at the end of the show or some sort of pensioner road rage incident. In any event having negotiated the many slow moving pedestrians on the way into the car park and safely parked we made our way to the theatre entrance at which point I started to think that perhaps an afternoon at home writing the Blog would have been a better plan. These thoughts were quickly confirmed when on entering the auditorium the overwhelming perfume of Ralgex, TCP and Parma Violets hit me square on. Now I know that you know, I am no spring chicken but I have to say that I felt young among the sea of grey hair and yes my remaining hair is grey also but I still think I am only 35(in my head somewhere)!! - Well it was an ordeal is all I can say about this particular show. Now I don't mind the odd musical with some good solid sing along songs and a nice bit of energetic dancing but this was not it. The set comprised of a couple of sheets of linen and a sloping floor down which were cascaded apples on two occasions and the cast in many, well they ran or danced up and down it but unfortunately didn't cascade down it which would have kept me awake for a good part of the performance had they done so. Rather touchingly there was a group of disabled young people with a wide variety of disabilities. One young lad was clearly enjoying himself in as much as soon as the opening chorus started he gave a loud bellow of pleasure and on several occasions later during some of the well known set piece songs. Many grey heads spun around like tops on various expressions of shock, horror, disapproval or plain curiosity which all went unnoticed of ignored. I could have given a bellow of pleasure myself at this youngsters pure exuberance and pleasure that he was clearly getting from the show. Sadly, I wasn't able to gain the same pleasure but I would have shaken his wonderful uninhibited hand for so unwittingly thumbing his nose at his critics or perhaps he was actually doing what I wanted to do all along, which was shout out "get off, you're rubbish"!!!