harmonicas and jazz hands

I should be working on one of my two major final papers right now- but I've decided to blog instead.

One of the running themes for this week is music. Even after a long, boring class with John in the morning, we wanted to find something fun to do at night. After some internet browsing, we came upon a small blues club. It turned out to be a tiny hole in the wall called, Aint Nothin' But... Even though it was only a short tube ride away from 270 ECR, we had to queue in line for about 20 minutes. It was definitely worth the wait, though. Time Out's website described it as a place where B.B. King would have found himself when he was just beginning his career, had it been built. We were able to listen to a number of different bands and it was nice to hear some fantastic live music. The impromptu performers on the tube just don't always cut it. Also, Lee and Ben just drooled over the guitars because they're both suffering from withdrawal. We've already decided to go back sometime soon; we'll just have to get there early because space is limited and seating is almost nonexistent.

Last night, we went to the musical Billy Elliot for class, which couldn't have been further from what we had heard the previous night. I, for the most part, enjoyed the show, but it's definitely not one of my favorite musicals and I was really surprised to hear that Elton John wrote all of the music. Clearly, dancing was the main focus of the production while music and singing took the back seat. However, the dancers, especially Billy were wonderful. His talent was definitely shown in the range of performances throughout the show. He had one large classical ballet number midway through the show but then also had another number at the end that was influenced by break dancing and, since the actor had been in gymnastics, had numerous tumbling elements. I don't know how he didn't pass out. However, there are five different boys that perform on alternating nights because the role is so demanding. Again, the dancing was impressive but the music just wasn't enough.

Tonight is pretty low-key. I do plan to start that paper eventually. Tomorrow we have class with Sarah, so there will be a lot of walking involved. Luckily, we have a three day weekend to recover. Amanda, Emily and I have plans to see Les Miserables on Friday. I could not be more excited. Another girl who is on the program went and she was able to buy a ticket less than an hour before showtime extremely close to the stage. We're also going to find a place to have dinner in Leister Square, which is known as Theatre Land in the West End. There will definitely be reviews later.