… steps unwillingly once more. (Ruddigore quote stolen from Stuart Box, it totally sums up how it feels coming home from the Festival)
It’s the weekend after getting home and it’s been a pretty mellow week and I’ve been using the weekend to set the apartment back to somewhat normal. Of course, there is a pile of orchestral parts to clean up, sitting on the dining room table, but no rush there.
You can see quite a few clips from the show here. (the one displaying is merely the first)
I realized once I got home that I’d bought a Blu-ray DVD and didn’t have a way to capture clips from it, plus at least of my my Blu-Ray players was acting up. So ordered some new equipment, which worked beautifully.
So the day after the show is always pleasant, a chance to celebrate with the company as we gather around the video hut to pick up our DVDs, to leisurely start the packing process. Plus, Bunthorne Boy and the Viking were still in town and were taking me to Hardwick Hall, one of the many stately old properties in the vicinity. (Brad had been before, wanted Trond to see it.) We had a reasonably pleasant drive out, and the home and grounds themselves are really striking and beautiful. I bought us all lunch at the local cafe – they had a sausage roll on the menu (G&S reference) so I had to have that, plus a side salad-y thing.
I’d never been around for the Festival awards ceremony, and had assumed it was on Saturday, when it normally is. (I’d imagined landing at JFK, turning on my phone and seeing lots of posts about the results.) But it turned out it was Friday afternoon, so B&T got us back to Buxton in time so I could attend.
This year, the adjudicator was my friend Stephen Turnbull, who adjudicated both the university and main-stage competitions. Unlike past years, where the adjudicator has actually delivered a quick summing-up critique to the audience immediately after the show (which is either delightful or devastating to the company, huddled behind the curtain to hear), this year we’re doing more-seasoned written reports, and we haven’t seen ours yet. But the awards were handed out and one surprise is there were fewer of them than in past years – for instance, no ‘concerted item’ award, which I would have hoped our madrigal would have been eligible for.
We did not get the awards love we’d hoped for, and I look forward to seeing the critique. But our fantastic Rose Maybud got “Best Female Voice”, well deserved, and our Roderic was nominated for “Best Male Voice” (same). We were also nominated for “Best Chorus” and “Best Musical Director” (me). I think I would have been grumpy if I hadn’t been nominated, but was fine with not winning – particularly since the guy who won was nominated in 2018 when I won the award, so turnabout is fair play, I guess. Was sorry to not see our stage director nominated, or other actors for other categories. I didn’t see any of the other shows, so I don’t have a personal way to compare our show to those that won the top prize, so will not opine. However, the company that won (Brussels) was filled with friends of ours, and was directed by (the award-winning) Angela and Tony Lowe, long-time Savoynetters who have done a bunch of roles with us. So we are delighted for them, of course.
Our company went off to the pub and sulked behind our pints and verbally tore the whole thing apart, but that was simply a necessary part of the process.
B&T and I had dinner at the Bar Brasserie, which was excellent. And we bid each other adieu and I went back and packed.
Next morning was easy – cleaned up, finished packing except for my toothbrush and hairbrush, had breakfast, brushed teeth and hair and headed off towards the bus. The bus takes an hour and a half to bring you to the airport, but it’s cheap, it’s a pleasant ride and it’s essentially door-to-door.
Since I no longer felt I needed to carry the orchestra parts with me like a nuclear football, I’d put them in my suitcase, but that made my suitcase overweight and they dinged me for the overage. I won’t tell you how much, but it would have been outrageous had I not been in “vacation, so the meter’s off” mode. I paid and then went through security.
I’d discovered on my 2018 trip, to my horror, that hanging on to my UK bills and coinage from 2015 was pointless because they changed the money in the meantime. (I did manage to exchange it.) But now my routine is to blow the leftover cash on duty-free, and so I bought some candy and cookies for my neighbors who took my mail in, more shortbread for the office, and some raspberry vodka and Bailey’s for myself. Oh, good, more stuff to schlep. Unlike the US, they don’t bring your bags to the airplane for you to pick up when you board, you just have to haul them around yourself (*whine*).
Flight home quite painless and I don’t remember much about it, except I was in the “3” part of the 2-3-2 seating, and was on the aisle, and no one sat in the middle seat, so the other aisle-guy and I used it as a dumping ground. I knit and read, mostly, and there were two meals along the way. Cab home was expensive, but not a problem.
A flurry of emails over the next week showed that a bunch of cast members all were testing positive for COVID (and still are). Oddly enough, it was mostly the North Americans, but at least one UK person got it bad too. I had no symptoms, but tested twice (negative). But it must have gone flying around the cast the last few days of rehearsal, and at least (*knock wood*) it didn’t lay most people out until after the show. (One of the COVID people was the girl who dislocated her knee. That’s way too much bad luck. )
I did send out a thank you to the cast, that included this: On a personal note, most of you know that I was widowed last year. It has felt very much since as if I had no solid ground to stand on. But this show, for me, from the very beginning, was solid ground. Working with company members who were in my first Savoynet show with me 20 years ago, so many dear friends old and new, returning to a place that felt like home, and getting to delve into a score and script that I love so much – it was healing and strengthening in the best way. I’m now in a much better place to move forward and figure out what’s next.
Very true, and during the whole visit, people were very kind about checking in with me and seeing how I was doing. (Answer: mostly fine, keep moving forward)
And… good news, my #1 issue on return was to schedule the apartment closing, and that’s happening this week! Then I have two trusts to set up and some money to move and the estate is done.
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Much to look forward to. I’m playing in the next QUO concert. Dad’s coming in for a visit. And I’ll have some little trips coming up, I hope.
Oh, and I saw Barbie this week. I loved it. Once I get back in the groove, I will make much more of a point to go to movies and shows.
Enjoy the week!
The Toast Point Page 