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Monday 23 January 2012

STRICTLY GERSHWIN AT THE LONDON COLISEUM ..... THE ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET .....

The London Coliseum is an opera house on St. Martin's Lane in central London and is one of London's largest and best equipped theatres. It opened in 1904 and was designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham, who also designed the famous London Palladium.





The other night, we went to see The English National Ballet's interpretation of Strictly Gershwin. It's a dazzling celebration of the sparkling age of Hollywood music and dance.



There is always so much to look at in London, even as you walk from the station to the theatre ..... I always remember someone telling me years ago that, when walking in any city, town or village, anywhere in the world, to always look UP as well as DOWN ..........




..... there are so many wonderful architectural details to be seen .....



.....even in the pub !!



..... in the shop windows .....




..... even before the performance, the theatre has some beautiful details to look at .....






The interiors of London theatres are so beautiful ..... yes, I am that woman taking loads of photos of the theatre right up until the lights dim ..... anyway, curtain up and strike up the band .....








Combine Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris ( amongst many more of Gershwin's compositions ) with sensational choreography and you conjure up the Silver Screen genius of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Gene Kelly. It's a glittering journey in dance from ballet to tap, ballroom to jazz, climaxing in a breathtaking finale.



I'm off now to practice my arabesque and pas de deux .....




I just can't seem to get them quite right !!!!



image 1: via Grant Smith, image 2: via Travel Stay, images 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14: via ME, image 4: via Gerrod, image 5: via brown dress with white dots, image 15: via tickets inventory, images 16 & 17:  via The London Coliseum, image 18: via Northampton Chronicle, image 19: via Southwark Carers, image 20: via Stop Traffic Clothing, image 21: via Pear Tree, image 22: via Zsa Zsa Bellagio



Jackie

44 comments:

  1. Crumbs, I wish I could have been there. It all looks spectacular. And as for that outfit in the second last pic....perfection! Thank you Jackie xx

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  2. Some really stunning pics Jackie - thanks for sharing your visit! B x

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  3. Fantastic! I adore Geshwin, I would love to see this production...sigh
    XXX

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  4. What a fantastic portrait of your evening. You weave an excellent story!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Di
    x

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  5. i wish i lived in london so i could go to this, right up my alley! thanks for the beautiful pics!

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  6. A visit with you is delightful . . . out of my usual visual. . . allowing me to remember and dream . . .

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  7. Hello Jackie

    You have just transported me to London. Now that I have walked the streets, enjoyed the Gershwin performance with can we continue? Fortnum and Mason, Hatchards and perhaps a visit to your club and a review of the day's events.

    Thank you

    Helen xx

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  8. wow.....I keep seeing the poster everywhere and thought it looked like a top night out....top deck of any bus across town also gives you great views of London's lovely buildings, I particularly like the No.19's architectual tour!!

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  9. Oh my! I adore this post Jackie! Having never been to London...and loving musical theatre...this tour is magical!
    Thanks so much for sharing your experiences here!
    Laura :)

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  10. I loooooooove this post !!...it is amazing !!....thanks for sharing Jackie !!...love love love Ria...xxx...

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  11. Thanks for the tour. Jeez, I need to get out more!

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  12. I love those old theatres, they really make a night out that extra bit special. It looks like an amazing show, and your photographs are wonderful.I do so agree about looking up! Love Linda x

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  13. Your photos are spectacular Jackie. We will be in London in June and I am thinking I should add this to our list. The play looks like it would be uplifting, bet you can't stop your toes from tapping. Much love XO

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  14. beautiful jackie !! this is a wonderful post. i really enjoyed the photos.
    so romantic !
    ~laura xx

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  15. Hello Jackie:
    What a wonderfully atmospheric post this is. You conjure up for us the moody London streets, the athleticism of the dancers, the elegance of the architecture, the excitement of Gershwin's music and the thrill of an evening out on the town. How we wish we had been there too.

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  16. wonderful Loved the visit twas one of my regular haunts so ggood to have a fix thankyou fay

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  17. What a wonderful night you had... and yes I am always the woman looking up and then bumping into very angry people. lol
    xx
    z

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  18. I long for the days of old Hollywood glamour, style, and talent! The music was so fun and happy back then, combined with ballet, it must have been fabulous!! Your photos are wonderful...so many gorgeous details...another era I long for to come back, in archetecture and design anyway...and maybe a bit in fashion as well.
    Keep practicing Jacqueline...I'm sure you'll master those graceful moves very soon!!
    xo J~

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  19. Such a glamourous you leave. I cannot wait to come to london this fall. Ready to be my tour guide?

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  20. I would love to see this - it looks fabulous! London is a gorgeous town and like you, I too always look up when exploring places! xxoo

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  21. It looks like a wonderful evening you had! I would love to visit London sometime. The production looks fabulous! I wish my hubby would go to things like this. It's not "manly" enough for him! Hmmmmph! I might have to grab him by his manhood and drag him to one one of these nights!

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  22. Wonderful stuff beautiful Jackie....ahhh. London. sigh.

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  23. I agree sonmuch about all there is to see in London - I know I can walk anywhere central and find lots of things to see. In face sometimes I get sidelined from what I originally intended to do!

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  24. I am so so jeolous, I would have loved to go, sometimes it is such a bummer living in Devon!!
    Jillx

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  25. Oooohhhh lucky girl, I adore Gershwin!!!!! Those photos are just AMAZING!!!!!!
    Have a nice week.

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  26. Amazing!! This post is like a movie short...there is so much detail and movement and expression Jackie! Thank goodness for people like you who take photos while the lights are dimming:) Hope you're having a lovely week. Meredy xo

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  27. Hi Jackie, I could not get Blogger to let me comment on hardly any blogs yesterday so I gave up but today is a sparkly new day. The theatre is wonderful and ballerinas simply float in those divine costumes don't they? hugs, Olive

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  28. What a great post Jackie, I absolutely love George Gershwin, the performance sounds wonderful, how lovely!!!

    I love the London theatres, I'm always looking up and around them, I love the thought that people have sat there for years and years, such history and tradition.

    Love those pub doors too! Lots of lovely old doors on those pubs around Covent Garden and St Martin's Lane! xx

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  29. funny....
    i never played nursery rhymes for my daughter.
    i played Gershwin.

    i am sure the show was amazing!!

    xx

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  30. Lucky girl to live so close to London. I am glad you are that girl taking photos until curtain call. Thanks for taking us along since I will mostly likely never get to go.

    Hope the dancing is going well. You know what they say...practice, practice, practice!

    hugs
    Carole
    ps I'm that girl looking up all the time in the city....just like a tourist

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  31. Hi Jacky,

    I would have loved to come along with you to see the performance, but to get a tour of London from you as well! It's been three years now since I last visited, but I think I have to get back soon.....if only for the Ladurée shop in Covent Garden :-)!

    Good luck with your ballet exercises. I stopped doing them two years ago, when I had difficulty walking afterwards!

    Happy evening,

    Madelief x

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  32. i want to come to london... and play with YOU!!!! xoxoxoxoxo

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  33. Wow!, i'm speechless, so spectacular!! xx

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  34. Dear Jackie,
    this looks so great!
    I love Gershwin!
    Your images are wonderful!
    Enjoy your weekend,
    hugs
    yvonne

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  35. WHAT A GORGEOUS BUILDING
    AND THAT IS MY KIND OF EVENING.
    HOPE IT COMES TO BOSTON..
    YVONNE

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  36. Hello Jackie!
    So much beauty! That must have been a magical night. I can imagine how beautiful everything must have been but I don't have to imagine it because you gave us pictures! Thank you for sharing this:)
    Jenniferxx

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  37. Oh my this sounds lovely...how I would so love to go! My ballerina dancing daughter would of been over the moon. Such beauty...thank your for sharing and for your sweet well wishes. xoxoxoxo Hugs

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  38. Wow, it's magnificent! I 've never heard of Strictly Gershwin before but I 'll keep it in mind!

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  39. What an insanely beautiful place! I would love to be able to take in a ballet there!

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  40. Oooh!!I really envy you going to see this sensational show and also being able to walk (and photograph) London at night! But thanks so much for posting these cos' I'm living every moment anyway right from where I am Jackie, in Mucky-Manchester! Woo Hoo! xx

    Jane

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  41. Ooo Jackie, I could look at pictures of London all day long. I have only traveled just a tiny bit in my own country, and not ever out of the country. After all Hawaii is still considered the USA, but while everyone always seems to want to go to Paris...I have only desired to see London. It is such an enchanting place so full of history. And besides...it has the queen :)
    It sounds like you had a wonderful night on the town my dear friend. I am so happy to tag along even if it is only in my dreams.
    hugs from here...

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  42. I sooooooooooooooooooo want to go to that show! And your photos of the theater are wonderful. I've always wondered what the inside of the Coliseum looks like, so thanks for showing us! And I so agree with you, Jackie, about looking up! Whenever I'm sightseeing I end up with a stiff neck (as well as sore feet) by the end of the day from gazing up at the rooflines. So often that's where architects tuck in their best details!

    I'm missing London something terrible this winter. We're hoping to make it back there this summer. I'm keeping my fingers and toes and everything else that can cross crossed!!! xoxo Gigi

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  43. Such a beautiful post i am so happy to see this .
    really great photos you share with us .
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