Suddenly, I Saw Mr. Sex

[pennswoods]

I flew to the US last week for a conference, and on my way back I managed to work in a 36 hour layover in London on Monday and Tuesday. I touched down at Heathrow around 6:30am and made it to the Walrus Youth Hostel (literally right beside Waterloo Station) by 8:30am. I had been wanting to see a play and found out Andrew Scott was performing in Birdland at the Royal Court Theatre, but that tickets for Monday performances were only available day of as of 9:00am. I got online straight away and got one of the last tickets remaining.

I did some necessary shopping, met the awesomely clever fic writer pennypaperbrain for lunch, trundled off to Hampstead Heath for a run and hill workout (if Benedict seriously goes running there regularly, no wonder he has such a lovely bottom), cleaned up and headed off to the Royal Court Theatre.

The place was packed (see below), and after eating a quick dinner of wine and crisps (drinkingcocoa would have encouraged me to eat something proper if she'd been with me), and buying a rather affordable copy of the program AND play (just 3 pounds), I settled in for the 2 hour performance.

I found the acting solid, but the purpose or purposeless ness of the story flummoxed me. I want to say it felt too superficial and placed greater emphasis on flashy staging (they flooded half the stage with water at a certain point, I think to reflect the sinking of Scott's character) than on a story with sufficient depth and purpose.

However, I am happy to report that Andrew Scott can DANCE!

He was playing this rock singer and when they transitioned scenes he would usually be busting a move. There was a lot more upper body than lower body action, but it was really cool to watch. He is also tiny and very fit. I want to say he seems to be 5'9" or so but very slight in some ways. His arms were more cut for this role than when he was Richard Brook. He was shirtless or nearly shirtless for a good portion of the performance and he has those dimples in his lower back. He was also wearing very tight trousers so his full form was well displayed.

But lots of power in him. When he started dancing, suddenly he was Mr. Sex. OMG!

More Squee: I did the stage door thing,  although I was really torn about it, so I was in a crowd of only about 15-20 people and got to see Andrew up close. I asked him for a photo and he said sure, but while I stepped aside to find someone to take the picture, another woman posed with him, and then suddenly he had to go and I never got the picture. I know I could have gotten one if I had acted sooner, but I held back because I just felt kind of sorry for him- for asking this of him when it was starting to rain. I sort of feel like I failed a little at being a fangirl and went home a bit disappointed in myself because I didn't even take a photo of hime while he was with other fans (I thought the flash might be annoying, and I just wanted to ask first).

The good news, however, is that the following morning, tickets for Martin Freeman in Richard III went on sale at 10am to the general public. I managed to score a pair for August 6th and am trying to rope my husband into finally coming to London. If he doesn't come, I'll need someone to join me. The tickets are in an interesting area and look like they might even be right behind the stage, so I should have a good view of Martin Freeman!

Comments

[oncelikeshari.livejournal.com]

Agh, if you'd gone the next day I could have introduced you to Louise!

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

WHAT? You're killing me. You're absolutely killing me. She sounds like a lot of fun. Damn my job. You know, I keep going to London and yet have never met you. This needs to change. Perhaps we could meet up when I am next there.

ARGH!!! I so want to see Louise on stage eventually too.

[oncelikeshari.livejournal.com]

We must meet up one day.

Maybe you can pop over to see my play one day *unusually optimistic of me*

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

Hells yeah! I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SEE YOUR PLAY! Your class sounds awesome and like you had a terrific rapport with the other students and the instructor, and I cannot wait. I would love this.

If I am being distant from LJ, please poke me, especially while I am still in Europe. I really think this would be amazingly cool. And then I'd want to interview you for my documentary perhaps. :)

[mundungus42.livejournal.com]

SO. MUCH. SQUEEE!!!

I'm sorry the show was kind of meh but that Andrew Scott was magnetic and awesome.

And you are not allowed to say you failed at being a fangirl for being polite, respectful, not pushy, AND ACTUALLY SPEAKING INTELLIGIBLY TO ANDREW SCOTT.

And ZOMGFLAILSQUEEEEEEEEE that you have tickets for Martin's Richard III!!!! *grabs your hands and jumps up and down squealing*

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

London is my squee heaven! It was awesome seeing Andrew perform and experiencing his energy and stillness in person. I think it was a really solid cast too. I am looking forward to reading the play and seeing if experiencing that way affects my understanding of it. It's kind of a treat to be able to see a brand new play and to purchase the play too!

Seeing Martin Freeman on stage is probably going to be the highlight of my year. The squee around that is going to be incredible. If there are still tickets left, maybe I'll try to go another day too to compare performances.

[suzieconfused.livejournal.com]

DUDE!!! DUUUUUUUUDE!!!!! I'll finally meet you?!!?!?!? I have tickets for the SAME day!!! *runs in circles and squees like an idiot*
GAH!!! I saw you've got tix for Martin but didn't get around to ask you when and now I read that you've got them the SAME FUCKING DAY!!!! This is bloody awesome!!!
(Sorry about the play though but yay for seeing AS - still one of the men (and women) I need to see!)

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

YES!!!! We're going to be there on the same damn day!!!! I heard from Roxana, who helped me with the booking, that a group of you guys were going to be there that day. I am so excited.

But I wish Geny could join us!!!! We're going to have to squee extra hard on her behalf.

[suzieconfused.livejournal.com]

HOORAY!!! About damn time we meet!!! And even in London! With Martin!!! Well, sort of!!! GAH!! You have no idea how excited and happy that makes me!!!! *bounces all over the place* CANT WAIT TO FINALLY MEET YOU!!!
Oh she'll be there in spirit!!!! And yes, we will!!! So loud she can hear us in Germany!

[venturous1.livejournal.com]

oh, how FUN!!! Dancing Andrew must have been a treat. Dancing wet Amdrew even more so.

and so wonderful that you got tickets for R3 as well.

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

Let me enhance this a little, dancing, SHIRTLESS, wet Andrew was a lovely treat. I am super excited about R3. At least I know what some of my summer reading is going to be.

I would also love it if there was maybe a little shirtless or perhaps sleeveless Martin Freeman action going on in that one.

[drinkingcocoa.livejournal.com]

drinkingcocoa would have encouraged me to eat something proper if she'd been with me

Ha. Who, me? I'm eating a giant bar of chocolate as I type. Although I do appreciate your euphemistic word choice of "encouraged."

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

Is that giant bar of chocolate your dinner? I just remember you insisting on having proper full breakfasts and dinners at the con, when I was just planning to subsist on alcohol, chocolate and whatever was leftover in the con suite.

[drinkingcocoa.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know me. Both/and rather than either/or.

[birdsofshore]

Ooh, I saw Birdland last Saturday! I'm glad you got last minute tickets; how cool. I thought Andrew was great, along with the rest of the cast who really impressed me. I also liked the staginess of the staging, although I agree the actual play was a bit flimsy in places, but I thought Andrew's charisma carried it through. We didn't wait outside for him, but I'm happy you at least spoke to him.

We also got tickets to see Martin; we're going in September. We were joking that if we can see Benedict in Hamlet next year (we saw Mark Gatiss last year) we're well on our way to crossing off the whole cast ;-)

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

I was really thankful my plane landed as early as it did so I had a chance for the tickets. It was such a thrill. The cast was impressive, and I'm doing a disservice by not giving a shout-out to several others in particular. Andrew does seem so shy and soft-spoken in these fan encounter situations, which makes his performance that much more impressive.

Actors are so interesting that way.

I too hope to get tickets to see Benedict next year. It's just going to be so hard picking a date. And lucky you that you got to see Gatiss. I would so love to see him on stage. I saw Vinette Robinson last fall, and I dream of someday seeing Loo or Una on stage.

[subversa.livejournal.com]

Love reading this about Andrew Scott, who definitely needs to not be dead in Sherlock 4, even if he blew his brains out. And congrats on scoring tickets to Richard III!!!!! You are a fabulous fangirl.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

You mean, like this:



♥♥

Every time I read your posts I want to move to Europe.