I was hoping to meet with @TheSockMob today (31.10.10) and join them for their Temple tour; sadly it was not to be 😦 Time was not on my side and the situation did not allow. However all was not lost and despite the change of plans there were a great number of things to do in London today in celebration of Halloween. Since Kings Cross St Pancras was the closest to home and as they were hosting an event I decided to stop off there. Am I so glad I did.
a 'Wicked' Halloween at St Pancras International - London
the stage show ‘Wicked’, together with The National Woodland Trust were hosting an event with face-painting for the kiddies, and a singing competition amongst other fun things to do. Along the way I met two delightful young ladies who were all dressed up and into the swing of things!!
wicked 🙂 - all dressed up for the 'Wicked' Halloween event at St Pancras on 31.10.10
St Pancras is a fabulous venue in itself and of course home to the Eurostar. The concourse is huge, very airy and bright with the fabulous roof that recently featured in ‘Climbing Great Buildings’ presented by Jonathan Foyle.
light, bright and airy
St Pancras is a meeting place and a leaving place and thousands of travellers pass through the halls daily. There is a fabulous giantsize sculpture of ‘lovers meeting’
The Meeting Place - a sculpture by Paul Day
and to my delight I came across a statue of Sir John Betjeman.
Sir John Betjeman
Co-incidently he lived in a house not far from where I live and went to school in the area. I stopped off to watch the singers and then to my delight Lee Mead gave us a final rendition. The cast of Wicked were on hand and had performed earlier. After the show the cast and Lee Mead were giving autographs and even though I am not at all a person who stands in queues to get autographs….today I made an exception.
Lee Mead - autographs galore
The queue was …….long!!! So I decided to meander about and take photos whilst the queue moved through with the intention of joining it as it got shorter. In due course I headed to the end of the queue only to be told by a delightful young lady that the queue was now closed! Really???? Mmmm!! I looked pleadingly at her and finally she relented and allowed me to squeeze in! heehee
And so 15 minutes later ( *raised eyebrows* ) I finally got to the table and there only inches away was…’Joseph’ aka Lee Mead ! whoa!!! how exciting.
it's 'wicked' to be green - my autographed bag
The story behind my delight is that many many years ago when ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ first performed on stage in London I was desperate to see it, but South Africa is over 6,000kms away from London and it was an impossible dream.
Then I came to live in London and suddenly anything was possible. A few years on and there were plans to re-stage the play and auditions began to find the new ‘Joseph’. The winner was Lee Mead. One day I mentioned to my daughter how much I would love to see him on stage…..and voila that Christmas in my stocking was a ticket!!! dreams do come true.
So even though I did not get to tour Temple, I did get to see Lee Mead which was a totally unexpected surprise and I also got to visit St Pancras for my 3 days in London blog. I have already been a passenger on the Eurostar; in 2005 when my daughter and I went to Paris and again in 2008 when I went to Paris again for a seminar with Keith Cunningham. Awesome!
Eurostar at St Pancras
I loved reading your blog thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am glad you managed to tag on the end of the queue for an autograph. Have you seen Lee in Wicked yet? He cuts a very dashing Fiyero.
hello 🙂 . wow thanks for commenting. yeah, I am very glad I made the effort. He is such a nice guy. I have not yet seen him in Wicked, didnt realise he was, but now that I do know…… time to buy a ticket. My daughter sang the lead song at a competition a couple of years ago and I have been wanting to see it since. So no excuse now 🙂 Thanks for droppping by. regards Cindy
Glad you had a great day – I was there but thought the organising of it was awful so came away early and missed the gorgeous man himself!! Definitely worth seeing him in Wicked – try and sit as central as you can to the stage – you will then get all the best views of Lee, of which there are lots to enjoy, appreciate, drool, thud and mush about!!
LOL!!! loved your description. I will certainly bear in mind your suggestion when I book my ticket. seems I better get my act together and book soon or else I will miss the show. thanks for dropping by. 🙂
I love the slogan, Over the Hill and Still Travelling. Great that you got to see Lee, he’s lovely isn’t he?
Have you thought of going to one of his concerts? A whole evening of Lee, bliss!!
Hi Sue, thanks so much for dropping by. thanks for the comment re my slogan….it fits me perfectly 🙂 Yes, he is a lovely lad. I have been to see him in Joseph and am planning now that I know he is in Wicked, to go see that too. His voice is magical.
Cindy so glad you got to see Lee in Joseph. It was a fantastic cast & show. Lee was amazing throughout the whole run. Hope you get to see him in Wicked Ive not been yet but booked for his final performance on 5th Feb, cant wait
Trish
HelloTrish! Thanks so much for dropping by. yes, I was quite thrilled and of course Joseph was just wonderful. I have yet to see Wicked myself and thank you for the heads up on the final date!!! need to get my priorities straight and book a ticket!!! one of those things you kinda think is gonna last forever and suddenly it’s over. So I shall be making my booking immediately. 🙂 enjoy the show.