London–Day 2 (Thursday)

dfidzrrgaeufyeruigsuigsu!! Yesterday might have been one of the coolest days of my life! I woke up at 8:30, got dressed, ate some corn flakes and drank tea, and then took the tube to Waterloo Station. I was to meet author Terry Coleman (he wrote the authorized Laurence Olivier biography called Olivier) at noon in the foyer of the Old Vic theatre. I had a couple of hours to kill first so I wandered around the South Bank…it was so nice and quiet–barely any people were out for a while. There was still some snow on the ground and I got some good foggy pics of Parliament and St Paul’s. I saw the Larry statue out front of the National Theatre. I said to myself “Oh, Larry, why doesn’t this statue look very much like you? And why are you so short looking?” Then I remembered hew as 5′10″ and everyone said his presence made him look larger than life. WELL, but it was so nice to see it, something dedicated to him and his genius!

Then I walked over the the Old Vic and met Terry Coleman and his wife, Vivien (no, not named after Vivien Leigh, although i told her that if I were named that, I’d say I was name dafter Vivien Leigh anyway, haha). They were both lovely and so nice! Vivien has worked at the Old Vic since Larry’s time there with the National Theatre Company in the 60s. She said he used to remind her of a banker with the way he dressed…this was after his sharp wardrobe when married to Viv. But they said hew as nice. Terry told a great story about how he was covering this trial where Kenneth Tynan wanted to put on an obscene play at the national and Larry testified for him in court (wtf, censorship?). Terry said he looked around the whole court room and didn’t see Larry, until he was called up to the witness stand. He was sitting in the back amongst a bunch of lawyers, and he definitely was like a chameleon when he wanted to be because he didn’t even know Larry was there! So larry gets up on the stand and they ask his name, and then ask his profession and he said “Sir. I am an ACTOR. I run the national Theatre.” LOL, he would say that. But they showed me around backstage and everything and I got some good photos. There’s even an Olivier private box there where Joan Plowright sits every time she comes to see a play. They’ve rearranged the entire place because of a new kind of play they’re putting on where the stage is in the center and the seating is all around it, as opposed to all of the seats facing the stage in the front. Vivien got me into a spacial backstage tour of the place that’s on Saturday!

Anyway, they took me to lunch at the Turkish restaurant down the road that’s the hang out for the Old Vic crew (Kevin Spacey now) and it was so lovely, and they had so many stories of Larry. Terry signed my copy of his book and they really liked the photos I brought along from my collection.

Afterword, I went back over the the Larry statue, called my dad and then went and bought a soccer scarf for my friend Cathy and a hat for my dad. Then I met up with Kasia from Poland and we went over to the North Bank and took some pics along the Strand of Larry/Vivien-related places like the Aldwych Theatre and the Savoy Hotel (which is under construction (wtf, construction?!). We walked around trying to find David Drummond’s ephemera shop in Leicester Square (much easier when it’s daylight out but alas, it was dark). He sold the photos he had showed me 3 years ago, but funny enough he asked if I had written to him about them and I said I had, so he said he’s got another stash somewhere and will call me if he finds them. he has SO MUCH AMAZING LARRY AND VIVIEN THEAtRE/FILM STUFF! And he’s interesting to talk to. Will have to go back. We stopped in St martin-in-the-fields where an orchestra was rehearsing Bach for a concert. It was beautiful but made me sad because I was reminded of Vivien and how they held her funeral there.

Then we hopped on the tube to Sloane Square and went and saw Durham Cottage. OMG, it’s so amazingly adorable and totally out of place to the surrounding architecture of Christchurch Street. Someone lives there and we wanted to knock but were afraid it was too late. Will have to go back in the daytime.

But yesterday was so amazingly fun! And it was so amazing to meet someone who is equally as passionate about the Oliviers as I am and who loves talking about them! Kasia, you’re AWESOME!

Well, I’m off to eat breakfast, then I have a train to catch. I’m going to see Richard Mangan’s private Olivier memorabilia collection. He runs the Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Archive in Greenwich. So excited!!!

That’s all for now.

Thanks for the well wishes!

London–Day 1 (or day 1/2)

PHEW! After a 10 hour overnight flight from LAX, during which I got about 3 hours of sleep and the food was terrible, I finally landed in London at about 2 (London time). I had put on my winter coat before leaving the plane, so once I got my two backpacks, I instantly started sweating. It was heavy and awkward, but better than taking a suitcase, methinks!

I had to hop on the tube from the airport and take it to King’s Cross/St Pancras, and then find my hostel. I am proud to say I didn’t have any problems with anything (except carrying two backpacks), but it’s effing COLD here. Brrr! Big change from 70 degrees and sunny in CA.

But I didn’t get to see anything today because as soon as I got checked in, I took a shower and fell asleep. Now I’m up again and starving, but I’m down in the commons room using their computer (I opted for no laptop after all). There are quite a few people down here cooking in the commons room, I haven’t peeked in yet. I haven’t had time to get any groceries so I might just head out to McDonalds (kill me, please) or wander around and find something different. Either way, I need some food STAT. I’ve met two people in my dorm room so far: a French boy named Robert who I accidentally woke up when I called my dad (hey, I didn’t see him sleeping there to be fair), and an Australian girl whose name I don’t know. Hopefully everyone’s nice, even though I don’t plan on hanging out here the whole time, or much of the time at all, sorry hostel! One downside is I don’t see any luggage lockers around this place for my big backpack. Everyone just seems to let their stuff sit on their bed and cover it with their duvet. WEIRD and slightly uncomfortable.

I have a big day tomorrow. I’m getting up early to take advantage of the free breakfast here and then heading out for some photo sessions before meeting the first of 4 special people at the Old Vic Theatre at noon. Then I might meet up with Kasia from Poland, hopefully–either way, adventures abound!

And thanks, Katie, for texting me when i got in, you’re sweet! Can’t wait to meet up!

Until tomorrow!

Later

Kendra