London Culture

The Royal Albert Hall was built to fulfill the vision of Prince Albert (Queen Victoria's consort) of a 'Central Hall' that would be used to promote understanding and appreciation of the Arts and Sciences and would stand at the heart of the South Kensington estate, surrounded by museums and places of learning. The Royal Albert was officially opened in March 1871.

Thursday evening we went to a “Best of Broadway” concert featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Albert. The orchestra was eye-watering magnificent and the music program was varied and beautiful with singers to perfectly match decades of Broadway songs – Evita, Phantom, Man from La Mancha, Kiss Me Kate, Joseph.., Les Mis, Hairspray, Wicked, West Side Story, etc.

We were seated in the Grand Tier, second tier boxes to the left. Click on the picture for an expanded view. Our seats were in the location circled in red. To say the least it was a cultural feast.

On December 15th we’ll be back for a Christmas concert featuring the London Concert Orchestra, City of London Choir, a Children’s Chorus and The Brass Ensemble of the Band of the Scots Guards with lots of great Christmas music.

On Wednesday, the day before, we went to the Globe Theatre, the wooden peg-built replica of the original open-roof theatre where Shakespeare made his mark. It’s now off season, so we were not able to see a play. “I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it.” (As You Like It)

What a place! If we wanted to, had the time (and the money) we could then go watch the eight best tennis players in the world compete in the last ATP tournament of the year. London definitely is a city of action and happenings – plays, ballet, opera, concerts, football (lots of that). The Real Salt Lake winning the MLS Championship even made the London papers – however, mostly about David Beckham on the losing team.

Lastly, there was a lady in the Centre this week that, as we were talking about finding records of ancestors, said, “I just get chills when I find one.” There you go….. Elijah is at it again.

Love from Elder & Sister Watts