Boeing, Boeing

So today seeing as I have been to see quite a few shows lately (and also seeing as its the end of the week and I worked hard this week for a change) I decided to take advantage of living in London and go see a show. I hopped on lastminute.com and got cheap tickets to Boeing Boeing. Only prob was no one else wanted to see it. No worries, I said to myself. I'm a big girl, I can handle going by myself. I can sneak in just as the lights go down and hopefully I'll be on the end of an aisle or something, somewhere up the back (it was a cheap ticket) and no-one will be any the wiser. I don't know why it even bothered me, going by myself. I mean, I'm pretty sure people don't actually look at you and think, 'Now there's a saddo, Friday night and she's at the theatre on her own, bless' but you know, sometimes you're a bit more insecure and vulnerable than other times, and for some stupid reason this was one of those times. I don't honestly know why. I mean, its London, its the West End - the chances are if you're there by yourself its because you're a tourist, travelling by yourself...that's the logical conclusion. Not because you're a Nige. I don't often have qualms about going to stuff on my own, because for one, I don't do it that much. I mean, I'm quite happy to travel on my own, and go to theatre / cinemas in different countries on my own, but I won't go to a restaurant by myself when I'm there (other than Macdonald's, which doesn't count anyway). I kind of figure I won't see these people again anyway, plus if you're in a foreign country by yourself its kind of hard to find people to go to things with you. Like, a few years back I was in Riga, Latvia on my own, and I went to see the ballet Swan Lake. That was perfectly fine, got nicely dressed up and all. In London I can sometimes manage going to the movies on my own, especially if you go to one that's not near your area, so you don't feel like a doof - but I don't like doing it in Croydon because they have cameras in the cinema and they play the images on screens outside in the foyer - so everyone can see you sitting there on your tod... But anyway, back to Boeing, Boeing. So I book the ticket on lastminute.com, and the confirmation email says they'll give you the best seats once you've paid for it. Well I don't know what their idea of best seat is, but it sure ain't mine. I decided to stick to my original plan of action, leave it for the last minute to pick up my ticket, go get my seat just as the lights were coming down, but my plan was foiled. First of all, I go to the box office to get the ticket, and the dude, tactful git he was, practically yells out 'Just the ONE ticket, Madam?'. Everyone looks around to see where the voice is coming from. 'Yes' I mutter, grab the ticket and go off to hide in the tut. Except that for once in the history of the universe, there was no queue at the loo, so I couldn't really stay in there without looking like I had a serious problem. Hm. Nothing for it then but to go to my seat. Maybe it'll be ok, its only a few minutes before the performance starts, maybe they'll think I was waiting for someone who's just nipped off to the loo too... so I check my ticket, and my seat is - A16? A? The front row? Talk about major embarrassment! The whole auditorium can see me! One consolation, there is a couple next to me, so maybe the audience will think I'm with them... But that wasn't the half of it. Halfway through the second act, the American air hostess does a bit feet kick during a passionate moment, right on the edge of the stage, and her red stiletto (picture this, in slow mo) flies off her foot, does a triple somersault and comes crashing down.... on my handbag! For a few seconds, I don't know what to do. Oh the shame of it all, sitting there in the front row, obvious Nige, trying to hide and now the WHOLE AUDITORIUM IS LOOKING AT ME!!! I reach down, pick up the shoe, pass it back up to the stage and slink back to my seat, dying a thousand terrible deaths... to uproarious laughter from the audience and the cast combined... The show itself actually was excellent, extremely funny - and I mean laugh out loud funny (and not just at me!). The cast were magnificent, actually quite a few famous people, it starred Rhea Perlman (best known as Carla from Cheers), Kevin R McNally (Joshamee Gibbs from Pirates of the Caribbean) and Doon Mackichan (from Smack the Pony). They were all great, Mackichan was soooo funny and spot on in her delivery as the German air hostess Gretchen, but my favourite cast member was Neil Stuke as the painfully shy Robert - he was absolutely hilarious! So I can thoroughly recommend going to see this, just don't get front row tickets, and if at all possible, find someone to go with you... BTW in this clip, the guy playing Bernard isn't the guy I saw, Kevin R McNally, but the rest of the cast is the same...