London, England
I can't believe it's June, didn't think about it until I typed it. I left Nashville to begin rehearsals at the end of January and now we have only 8 weeks left of the tour!
This afternoon we were given a very special tour of Albert Hall not open to the general public, a tour not for the faint of heart or those nervous about heights. A wonderful chap named Adrian, who is the Albert Hall's house rigger, took us to the very upper structures of the dome some 130 feet from the floor! We were actually in between the aluminum sub roof which was installed in the 1920's and the original glass roof of the dome amongst all the steel roof supports. At one point we walked out onto a small circular steel mesh at the apex of the dome directly over the centre of the floor which as I said was 130 feet below us. Even the bravest walked gingerly on legs that felt like jelly. It was a great photo op for those brave enough to point a camera down, my son Nick being one! We also walked the perimeter of the roof for a great view of the city of London and an amazing look at the Albert Memorial just across the street. The tour ended with Adrian graciously allowing us in the Queen's Royal boxes where we sat not exactly rubbing shoulders with royalty but with each other. The tour gets the big wow award for today. Thanks Adrian.
Night three of five was another great one as much on the audience's performance as ours. Everybody is marveling at the reception the show is receiving. For me it's a marvel to be on that stage for over two hours a night in such a fab venue. I looked up at the dome a time or two tonight as well.
We passed on tonight's reception, the children and I spent a quiet evening back at the hotel watching Play Misty For Me on TV with gin and tonics. It was so tragically '70's. By the way, my children are of drinking age!
So long,
Richard