Month: June 1988

Aida, Earls Court Arena, 29 June 1988

Within a few weeks of Bobbie’s and my first visit to the opera together, to see The Magic Flute…

The Magic Flute, English National Opera, London Coliseum, 7 June 1988

…we went to see the opera spectacular that everyone was talking about that summer; Harvey Goldsmith’s Aida at the Earls Court Arena.

It was only running for a few nights with massive crowds. It was big news:

We went the night after Chuck & Di attended the Royal Gala evening – by all accounts an iconic event.

In truth, by the time we got there – indeed by the time Chuck and Di got there – the production had been hailed as somewhat disaster-prone:

This clip dated the day we went – 29 June 1988

…Verdi’s Aida at Earls Court, with a cast of some 600 performers was bedevilled by mishap: Miss Grace Bumbry in the title role could only manage one act of her first performance due to a throat infection and a sun god fell through a trap door on stage…

from The Spectator 2 July 1988 – subscribers can click through to the archive and read the whole article.

I don’t recall it seeming like a disaster. I do recall it feeling more like being at a rock concert than at a theatrical production. I think we had good seats but were still at some distance from the action. It was big, bold and in truth not really me.

I don’t think this one was really Bobbie either – she might remember how she felt about it.

Below is Tom Sutcliffe’s Guardian review:

Tom Sutcliffe on AidaTom Sutcliffe on Aida Tue, Jun 28, 1988 – 17 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is an entertaining clipping from the Observer Arts Diary a few days later:

Arts Diary AidaArts Diary Aida Sun, Jul 3, 1988 – 39 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Changeling by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 June 1988

Hot on the heels of seeing an excellent Uncle Vanya…

Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, Vaudeville Theatre, 11 June 1988

…Bobbie and I saw a very good production of The Changeling at The National.

Miranda Richardson played Beatrice-Joanna, Rebecca Pidgeon played Isabella, George Harris as De Flores, Richard Eyre directing…

…here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

It isn’t a jolly play and I did see it again only a few years later at Stratford, with Janie:

The Changeling by Thomas Middleton & William Rowley, RSC Swan Theatre, 29 October 1992

I think this National production was the better of the two.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review, plus an interview with Miranda Richardson

Billington on ChangelingBillington on Changeling Sat, Jun 25, 1988 – 18 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Kate Kellaway’s Observer review is below:

Kate Kellaway on ChangelingKate Kellaway on Changeling Sun, Jun 26, 1988 – 40 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The diary is silent on what we did afterwards. For some reason, is think that we ate at the National that evening. It is quite a long play and I think the restaurant there was doing arrangements to eat part of your meal during and part after show at that time. But I could be mistaken.

Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, Vaudeville Theatre, 11 June 1988

I rated this production very good indeed at the time and I can understand why. Superb cast, with Michael Gambon as Vanya, Imelda Staunton as Sonia, Greta Scatcchi as Yelena, Jonathan Pryce as Astrov, Michael Blakemore directing…

…here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Bobbie and I went to this one. I recall sitting very near the front although probably not the very front row.

In 1988 I hadn’t yet formed an aversion to those old-fashioned theatre-land theatres, although we didn’t go to those places all that frequently.

I suspect that we had a late evening Chinese meal in Soho after the show – perhaps Poons, perhaps Mayflower, perhaps Joy King Lau…

A pretty darned good evening as I recall it.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review of the production:

Billington on VanyaBillington on Vanya Thu, May 26, 1988 – 19 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review is below:

Ratcliffe on VanyaRatcliffe on Vanya Sun, May 29, 1988 – 38 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Magic Flute, English National Opera, London Coliseum, 7 June 1988

Now I’m not one to point the finger or anything like that, but my guess is that it was primarily Bobbie’s idea to give opera a go, not least because so many of her law reporting pals were into opera.

I’m pretty sure my previous experience of opera would have been Carmen in the early 1970s; a semi-professional production by the Putney Operatic Society who chose to typecast me and several of my primary school mates as urchins.

But I digress.

Roll the clock forward some 15 years and, like buses, it’s not one but two that come along at more or less the same time – i.e. two opera visits during June 1988. That’s quite a lot of opera just a few week’s before my Accountancy finals. The Magic Flute was the first of them.

Jeremy Sams directed it – I have seen a great deal of his work in the theatre of course. Nicholas Hytner produced it – I’ve seen a lot of his theatre stuff too. The production was sort-of revived many years later and the trailer for the revival is embedded below, so that should give you a feel for it.

The Magic Flute from English National Opera on Vimeo.

We went midweek – on a Tuesday – which will have been quite a late night. I was on study leave by then I think, so I suppose I felt that I was master of my own time management.

In truth I don’t remember all that much about this production, other than lots going on and rather liking the music because it’s Mozart and I rather like Mozart.

Bobbie might have more profound memories of it than me. I’ll ask her.

Below is Tom Sutcliffe’s Guardian review:

Tom Sutcliffe on Magic FluteTom Sutcliffe on Magic Flute Fri, Apr 1, 1988 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is BOGOF (buy one get one free) review by Nicholas Kenyon – two productions of Flute (including our one) reviewed together:

Nicholas Kenyon reviews two flutesNicholas Kenyon reviews two flutes Sun, Apr 3, 1988 – 39 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com