At the moment I'm living in an 'Olympic bubble' and barely connected to the real world, which is a challenge as I'm coming into the office everyday, and I assume clients expect me to make some kind of sense.
We had the first dress rehearsal last night...in front of an audience variously estimated at between 40,000 and 60,000. We all felt it went well...very well indeed in fact, but more importantly, the audience thought so too. Whilst everyone is supposed to to keep it secret, there have been various leaks...you can see what's being said on Twitter by, ironically, searching the hashtag #savethesurprise I'm truly delighted that the comments seem to be universally positive.
The Cat's Mother and Up are coming to the final dress-rehearsal tomorrow when the stadium will be full. They are being tasked with taking lots of photos for posterity. I hope they love it.
But apart from work and Olympics, we've been doing some other stuff too...which I think I've forgotten to mention. We saw Simon Russell-Beale in Timon of Athens at the National last week . And here's the thing, it's a play that none of us knew and all went along apprehensively. As it turns out, it was utterly superb...brilliantly envisioned and set in a modern world with a harsh comment of the state of it. Even if you don't like Shakespeare I'd recommend it for an extraordinarily entertaining evening out.
Did I mention we'd been to Lates at London Zoo? A Friday night of cabaret, comedy, music and drink amongst the animals. truth be told there aren't so many animals any more (which is a good thing), but it was an unusual and fabulous way to spend a balmy, and eventually wet, Friday evening. The place was full of people who would probably not come within a mile of a zoo, let alone a wild animal normally, so I hope it works well in raising money for their animal conservation work. The Penguins were a particular delight...but then they always are, aren't they Mr Attenborough? I've got some lovely pictures which I'll try to add later when I've found them...oops!
Oh yes, we did get to see The Temper Trap at Somerset House which was a delightful combination of my favourite band at my favourite venue. According to my much younger fellow-Olympic performers I shouldn't be going to see bands like the Temper Trap because I'm too old. Ha! Is all I can say.
We missed out on Matthew Bourne because The Cat's Mother was struck down...so that was a shame, but she at least is on the road to recovery.
And don't forget to watch the Opening Ceremony...it will be remarkable....
