Another one bites the dust


Leaders of political parties seem to change with astonishing regularity these days.  Either that, or I’m getting old, and since I have not yet started commenting that policemen look terribly young, the latter can’t be true.  Today, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, stepped down from his position and the whole jolly saga of finding a new party leader will begin shortly.  The Conservative party seem to have done that particular dance an awful lot recently, and of course the United Kingdom recently changed Prime Minister due to a change in Labour party leadership, a fact that I keep forgetting for some reason.

My political leanings tend to be in the Liberal Democrat direction, as I generally agree with most of their policies, more so than any of the other parties.  It seems that with politics, one tends to choose the closest fit, as no party is ever going to reflect your own views, opinions and priorities on every single matter that could ever arise.  Perhaps this is the reason that relatively few people vote.  They cannot find a party or candidate who agrees with absolutely everything they think, and so they vote for nobody, and thus foolishly risk letting the least pleasing option win.

I am sorry to see Sir Menzies go, as he is a politician I have a great deal of respect for.  He isn’t in the least flashy or exciting, but he is wise, experienced and trustworthy, qualities which I admire far more than the ability to spin or a range of sincere, concerned facial expressions.  Gravitas, integrity, respect and sincerity are his defining qualities, and these are all too rare in politics, and always have been.  I understand the need for a leader who can grab the public imagination and force people to truly think about the Liberal Democrats, eternally plagued by ‘third party’ syndrome, but I hope Sir Menzies retains an active role.  He was an exemplary foreign affairs spokesman and his voice is sorely needed in today’s parliament.

The coming weeks, as the party gears up for another leadership contest (their last was only at the beginning of 2006) will be interesting.  I cannot think of any strong contenders at the moment, but they will begin to emerge, no doubt.  I will be keeping my eyes on the news and my fingers firmly crossed for a leader who combines integrity with vision, who appeals to the public imagination without exhibiting style over substance.  Such a person may not exist, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if they did?

2007
10/15
CATEGORY
Ramblings
TAGS




3 comments

The weekend report


So.  Hugo, Clint, and Fred were left in the singing librarian’s care for a whole weekend, a weekend that also included some necessary catching up on studying and a side order of attempting to sleep.  How did it go?  Judging by the number of comments my last post received, everyone is absolutely desperate to know.  We’ll start with Fred.

Fred was very well behaved, which is a relief, as he’s much bigger than me and I was rather hoping that he wouldn’t start moving, eating or talking at any point over the weekend.  He simply sat there patiently while I applied the gloopy brown stuff which wasn’t quite paint and wasn’t quite creosote.  He had settled very close to two of the garden walls, requiring some interesting gymnastic twisting and bending to reach everywhere, and he did require two coats on his front.  But, all things considered, he was very good.  He even looks rather lovely, at least from a distance.  If you get too close, you can see evidence of my lack of finesse when it comes to such things, but from a few feet away, he fairly glows.

Clint was generally well-behaved, though he seemed far more interested in the human resources management material I was intending to read than I was.  I do want to be a real live qualified librarian, but management is so very much not the right career path for me, so it is extremely hard to summon up any interest in the psychological contract and similar dullness.  Clint, however, thought the material was fascinating, as he clambered on to it several times.  He also made friends with Fred, sitting on him as a handy vantage point to watch me as I painted.  But he did blot his copybook on Saturday morning.  I was woken up by Clint launching himself from who knows where and landing on me as I was in that wonderful not-quite-awake state which early Saturday mornings are made for.  I have never, ever been woken up by a cat like that before, so it was truly startling and did not endear Clint to me in any way.  To make matters more interesting, my door was closed, so he hadn’t entered that way.  The window was slightly open, but I’m on the second floor (British second floor, therefore American third floor, I think), so he couldn’t have come in that way unless he can both fly and squeeze through a gap one or two inches big.  So he must have come through the floorboards.  Quite possibly from the old kitchenette on the first floor of the house, which has a hole in the ceiling leading to the room next to my room, where I have several floorboards still up.  I think my surprised reaction to his appearance may have scared Clint, as he spent most of the weekend (when he wasn’t reading my study material) either on Fred or in an armchair downstairs, leaving a lovely dusty catprint pattern all over the red upholstery.

Hugo was in mourning.  He hates it when his mummy is away, and even though I appear to be his third favourite person in the world, he still expressed his melancholy by curling up in his bed and ignoring me, with an occasional foray into mummy’s bedroom to make a nest out of her ironing pile.  He didn’t seem to mind the new feeding regime too much, and there was only one occasion when I found any unwanted liquids on the floor, and I can’t be certain it was him.  It wasn’t left overnight, anyway, so the issue of random night-time toilet-going seems to be under control.  Now that mummy is back, Hugo’s usual enthusiasm for seeing me has returned, and he will now wander around my room if he gets a chance.  I don’t remember him coming in at all over the weekend.

So, shed painted, cat frightened, dog cleared up after less than usual, boring notes read, food eaten and sleep rudely interrupted.  All in all, an interesting weekend, home ‘alone’.

2007
10/09
CATEGORY
Ramblings
TAGS



2 comments

The adventures of Hugo, Clint and Fred


This is a post which has very little to do with either singing or libraries.  It is not about theatre, books, television, comics or religion, which have also been topics for discussion here at Singing Librarian Central.  No, it is about a dog, a cat, a shed and one man’s mission to look after them.  That man, in case you aren’t with me, is the Singing Librarian.  Me.

Recently, I bought a house with a performing teacher, a warbling prayer coordinator and a musical auditor, who share the beautiful old former dental surgery in a strange but happy life, also looking after two black furry creatures: Hugo the Labrador, who is a working guide dog, and Clint the runtish cat.  Our menagerie recently increased due to the addition of the very well-behaved Fred, a new wooden shed who nestles quietly under our enormous holly tree.  This weekend, it is my responsibility to care for all three of these in various ways.

Clint needs a fresh lick of paint.  Fred needs to be reeducated about his toilet training.  And I have to be kind to Hugo, who has taken to sitting and purring on my bed.  Or something like that.  The cat will be no trouble at all, as cats generally look after themselves.  All I have to do is make sure that the dog can’t steal his food and be willing to stroke him if he randomly jumps on to my lap while I’m writing a blog post.  The shed needs some sort of paint-like liquid applying to it, so I am hoping for reasonable weather.  My DIY skills are essentially limited to destroying things and painting things, so this task has been left to me.  And the dog has a little trouble with continence at the moment, or is attention seeking via the unusual method or random micturition during the night.  A changed regime of eating and ‘going for a busy’ is to be enforced to deal with this, starting tonight, the first night of my stewardship of the household.

I get on very well with Clint and Hugo, having known each of them since they adopted their current owners.  Indeed, Hugo is very fond of me, or can be when the fancy takes him.  He certainly doesn’t like it if he doesn’t get to see me for a long time.  His enthusiasm when I appear after an extended absence is heartwarming to see.  Fred, on the other hand, is new to me.  I did not assist in his construction, and have only had a very brief formal introduction, so I am not sure whether he will take kindly to my ministrations this weekend.  We shall see.

Expect an update on the three boys at some point over the weekend.  Normal service (i.e. moaning about students, raving about musical theatre and a distinct lack of discussion around the topic of animal excretion) will be resumed shortly, I’m sure.

2007
10/05
CATEGORY
Ramblings
TAGS


6 comments

The Eynsford-Hill inevitability


A little over a year ago, I mentioned that one of the roles which I felt I was almost inevitably likely to play at some point in my life was young Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady.  Not, I think, due to arrogance on my part, but due to the sort of performer than I am and the sort of role that it is.  Well, said point is now on the horizon, the runaway steamroller of this iconic tenor role has well and truly hit me, and I can’t say I’m displeased.  The role is a small one, with relatively little to get to grips with in characterisation beyond “I am madly in love with Eliza Doolittle, who I can’t have”, but there is enough there to make me think that I might be able to do something with it.  And, of course, the role comes with a truly glorious prize in the form of the song ‘On the Street Where You Live’, which he gets to warble twice, once in each act.  I think it is uncontroversial to say that this is one of the best songs in the score, which is already far above average, and one of the best tenor songs in musical theatre.  You do have to slightly overlook the fact that Freddy is clearly utterly mad, and may in fact be a dangerous stalker, since he follows the leading lady home and waits on her street for days on end trying to get a glimpse of her.  But if you can ignore this uncomfortable truth, the song soars and swoops beautifully as the character waxes lyrical about the delights of walking down Wimpole Street, breathing the same air as his beloved.

Auditions for the production (which will run from 4th-8th March at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury should any discerning blog readers choose to attend) were eight days ago, rounding out the busy weekend which had already included two shows up in London the previous day and the stressful pleasures of teaching Sunday School in the morning.  Although the audition itself surely lasted less than ten minutes, I was in the place of audition for several hours, as they wanted to make decisions and announce results then and there.  This did at least avoid the horrible tensions of waiting for audition results, jumping every time the telephone rings and hiding from the postman.  It was very strange, though, as many people had been acting as though the casting of this particular role was a foregone conclusion, which actually made the audition harder in a way.  However, I refused to subscribe to the prevailing theory since, in amateur theatre just as much as in the professional world, there is always someone out there who is better than you.  No audition is ever truly a foregone conclusion and any audition panel who has made their mind up before the auditionees arrive deserves a good slap!

When I am older and less fresh-faced, I would love to have a crack at Professor Henry Higgins, a marvellous role for an actor who sings which would represent an incredible challenge.  But for now I will strive to do my best by the silly Eynsford-Hill boy, warble my aria passionately and continue to learn from those I perform with.  The role, though comparatively short on stage time, does present its own set of challenges and I am determined to make it my own.

2007
10/01
CATEGORY
Musicals
Theatre
TAGS



5 comments

Too much drag, not enough lift


After the many pleasures of Parade at the Donmar Warehouse, I headed across town with my friend (via a tasty burger) to see the final performance of Take Flight at the Menier Chocolate Factory.  This was another venue I’d never visited (fab building), and again I had not seen anything by the composer-lyricist team of David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr before.  This show is based on the stories of aviation pioneers the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart, all pulled together by narration from the less successful Otto Lillienthal.

As you may guess from the title of this post, I wasn’t particularly thrilled as I watched this particular show.  There were moments when it almost took off, but it didn’t seem to be able to stay airborne.  It wasn’t bad, as such, and was nowhere near the low standards of an operatic version of the Roswell Incident I once saw, but it wasn’t really very good either.  I shall now try to steer clear of aviation puns, though I am not the only person writing about the show who has found that difficult.

Continue reading →

2007
09/30
CATEGORY
Musicals
Theatre
TAGS



3 comments

Go on, go on, go on, go on…


Last Saturday, I saw one of the previews of Parade at the Donmar Warehouse in London with a friend.  This was very exciting, as I had never attended the Donmar before, and this was also the first time I’d seen one of Jason Robert Brown’s works live.  I arrived in plenty of time, to make sure I found the place, which meant that I had a good reason to visit Dress Circle, possibly my favourite shop in the whole world – purely in order to kill time while I was waiting to meet my friend, you understand!  Anyway…

This is a very, very good show indeed.  Tickets have sold like hot cakes, so if you’re at all interested in going, call the box office right now, before even finishing this post, before they all disappear!  There were a few sticky moments in the staging, where the pace and tension flagged for a moment, but they may have been ironed out as previews continued, and other than this slight problem, it was a very engaging, involving show.  It is based on the case of Leo Frank, an infamous miscarriage of justice due to anti-Semitic sentiment in early 20th-century Georgia.  It paints, though Alfred Uhry’s script, Jason Robert Brown’s score and Rob Ashford’s double duty on direction and choreography, a vivid picture of the time with its tensions and resentments, beginning with the Civil War, particularly significant since the major events take place on Memorial Day.

Continue reading →

2007
09/29
CATEGORY
Musicals
Theatre
TAGS





3 comments

Hey, old friend…


Well, it seems I need to blow the dust off the Singing Librarian, doesn’t it?  So very many weeks have passed since my last blog entry, and although much has happened, the world of the wonderful web knows nothing of it.  There are an assortment of reasons for the deathly silence that has hung around this little corner of cyber-space, chief among them my house move.  We didn’t have enough live power sockets to run my PC at first, and then it objected to having been neglected and went on strike.  I got it back from the lovely computer fixing people today, fought the urge to hug and kiss it, and have now got it up and running in my new room which is so very close to the city’s majestic cathedral.

This last weekend was a particularly busy one and should furnish me with sufficient material for at least three blog posts, I should think.  But first I shall return to that ‘To Do List’ which I wrote back in the mists of time.

Answer Reed’s questions.  I did that in the very next post, which allowed me to feel as though the completion of my list was a very real possibility.

Move house.  I did that too,  just over two weeks ago, and it’s wonderful to be here.  OK, so we still lack functioning lights in the kitchen, we have more loose floorboards than you could shake a whole bundle of sticks at, the television aerial cabling hasn’t been done and the hot water likes to take its time in the morning, but it’s wonderful.  It’s our house, big and old with a strange and new bit at the back.  We can see the cathedral from the front windows, and the cat has enjoyed a couple of wonderful adventures exploring the world beneath the floorboards on two different floors.  The four human inhabitants of the building have refrained from physical violence thus far as well (apart from the authorised use of force against stud walls and rubbish plastering jobs), which is encouraging.

Read.  Another mission accomplished.  Wonderful.  Both the accomplishment and the books.  I enjoyed all three of the books mentioned and would commend them to others.  I am now obsessively checking to see when the normal paperbacks of the sequels to The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Night Watch will appear.  I am tempted by the current trade paperback editions, but that would look untidy on my shelves, which just wouldn’t do.  In order of reading, my one sentence reviews.  The Moonstone is a masterpiece of plotting with some very funny characters, even if some of the details of the ending can be seen coming from a very long way off.  The Lies of Locke Lamora does an incredible job of world-building with an intriguing setting, and another exciting plot, though I felt the violence was sometimes more than a tad gratuitous.  The Night Watch is utterly compelling in its reinvention of the supernatural, combining it with elements of the police procedural and espionage thriller.  My most recent read was The Alchemist, which I can sum up in two words: don’t bother.  It is short, though.

Sing.  Ah.  Well.  I did start to learn both ‘King of the World’ and ‘Serenade’ and can do chunks of them sans sheet music, but I haven’t completed the task and I didn’t even start on the other two. 

Relax.  I actually feel very relaxed most of the time these days, actually, which makes a pleasant change.  The Library of Doom tends to rob me of the relaxation, but it soon comes back.  And this without fulfilling my promise to self.  I never did manage a day in the country or by the sea, though I did go on a remarkably pleasant walk around Bishopsbourne in a ludicrously picturesque bit of the county.

So there we go.  The Singing Librarian is alive and capable of stringing sentences together.  He did reasonably well at his summer ‘To Do List’ as well.  Who knows, another blog entry or two may appear by the end of the month as well!

2007
09/24
CATEGORY
Books & Comics
Meta - about this blog
TAGS

2 comments

Murder most musical


Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been to see two shows, both of them involving people killing others, and the audience following the killers’ stories.  Whether the victims “had it coming” or simply “looked like plant food”, we weren’t meant to feel much sympathy with them, though the levels of audience sympathy with the killers was very different in each show. 

First, I zoomed up to the capital to see Little Shop of Horrors with three friends.  This show is a particular favourite of mine, so it was wonderful to see a professional production, even if it did heighten my previously-mentioned desire to play the role of Seymour.  The show is on at the rather lovely Ambassadors Theatre and was an absolute joy.  The cast were all very good, which is always a relief in a show with a small cast, as anyone under par stands out like a sore thumb.  The bloodthirsty plant had a new design, which was refreshing.  And, of course, the script and score were as excellent and laughter-provoking as always.

Continue reading →

2007
08/16
CATEGORY
Musicals
Theatre
TAGS



4 comments

In which we ponder Deathly Hallows, sans spoilers


Last weekend (not the one just gone, but the one before it), my reading of Wilkie Collins’ marvellous novel The Moonstone was interrupted by the 21st day of July, which made it absolutely essential for legions of normally sensible British adults to rush to their nearest bookseller, purchase a children’s book and then not speak to anyone until they’d finished it.  Yes, I am a Harry Potter… reader, and I got through the final volume before the weekend had ended.  After all, the prose isn’t exactly taxing, is it?

Continue reading →

2007
07/31
CATEGORY
Books & Comics
Christianity
TAGS



8 comments

Lovelorn Tenors Anonymous


There was a time when tenors ruled the roost, a time when they would inevitably get either the girl or a glorious death scene with a stunning aria, a time when they would buckle their swashes, get the star dressing room and break hearts across the world.  That time was the time of opera.  When the musical came on the scene, the tenor was gradually ousted from his position, and the baritone became the leading man.  The tenors still got some of the best songs, but were relegated to subplots, with one defining characteristic – the tenor is in love with someone he cannot have.  Sometimes they try to stake a claim on a more substantial plotline, but Rodgers and Hammerstein showed everyone the way to deal with such demanding tenor characters – kill them!  Off stage. 

Continue reading →

2007
07/25
CATEGORY
Musicals
Ramblings
TAGS


8 comments