another fruitful week where much was done and time fully utilized...

Summer's here and hence free shows and gigs and festivals are happening literally just every other corners in town. On Sunday, we went to Trafalgar Square for the free Live screening of the premiere of Romeo and Juliet, the ballet, as performed by the royal Ballet at the Royal opera house, Covent Garden.

now im not so much of a ballet person, having just seen the Nutcracker and thought it was OK, simply because i love the Nutcracker overture, ballet or not. But yeah, Romeo and Juliet was great, the orchestra outstanding and the casts danced with passion, though after endless pirouette you would start willing them to have a change of style, their moves are just so limited...

On tuesday, I took Callie on a tour of West End, visiting various theatres and galleries, in which we're both fond of. At the national portrait gallery, the images of the Tudor Dynasty came to life and i found it most fascinating as i'm currently reading the book of the great Lady Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I.

Thursday, went to the cinema at Leicester square with Anna Paola and Uyi and we watched 'The Kite Runner'. As i've read the book before and fell in love with it, i applaud the director for such a great film, it was such a faithful adaptation of the book! and that's so rarely happens in book adaptation films...i found myself quoting dialogues from the book as the movie unfolds and was please to see little alteration has been made.

and now the highlight of the week, of catching 'Wicked' at the Apollo Victoria theatre. Simply Spectacular! and it wasnt unexpected, i've only heard good things about this fairly new musical and their numerous awards, among them the 'Best New Musical' and the 'best design' category, need i say more?

Art direction was phenomenal and the songs and scores top-notch, with leading casts Elphaba and Glinda outshone everyone else and were awarded with a standing ovation when the curtains fell. They were soooo GOOD! Both demonstrated amazing vocals and their ensembles so well coordinated and executed, it was truly a magical experience with 2.5h of nonstop entertainment (alright fine, there was the 20 min recess between act 1 and act 2).

All in all, it is definitely one of the must-see musicals on earth, and not just once, but many times over...