The Titanic sings
Today I ventured into the city centre for only the second
time since I arrived. It is a massive place filled with old stone roads and
towering multi-story stone buildings standing as sentries on either side. There
is one main road where many of the shops are found: Union Street. On a
Saturday, this place looks like the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. Hundreds
of people walk up and down this street with bundles filling their arms to
capacity. Waiting patiently at an intersection crossing, you finally hear the
sharp beep of the lights telling you that it is safe to cross, and dozens upon
dozens of pedestrians swarm across the street (at these times, ALL traffic is at
a standstill, so that you’re permitted to cross diagonally across the street as
well. You also get the added fun of trying not to get crushed in the throngs of
people moving in all directions!). Each shop, whether small or large is bulging
with people and it is hard to navigate around both merchandise and people. It’s
a good thing that shopping over here is so incredibly expensive for Americans,
because otherwise I would have to brave this fight all the time! As it is, I
have only gone twice, and have yet to purchase anything (my wallet thanks me).
Getting off track as I usually do, I will return to the reason why I braved the
streets of Aberdeen: I was on my way to attend Titanic: The Musical at
His Majesty’s Theatre. Surprisingly, I found it right away without getting
lost, as I usually do in new places. HMT is situated between a church and a
library, with a statue of William Wallace (well over 20 feet tall, if I’m not
mistaken) across the street. Of course, I only think it was William Wallace, as I didn’t actually stand next to it
to read the plaque. For now, we’ll all just assume it was…it certainly looked like him. Regardless, I went into
this gorgeous building that was HMT and picked up my ticket, which at a student
rate had only cost me £16. I had time to kill so I decided to get something to
eat at the little eatery situated next to the box office. I had just made the
best decision of the day! I chose a ham and cheese and tomato bagel and a
bottle of mineral water. They warm up your sandwich for you and you also get a
salad and crisps with it (all for just over £4). Once I took a bite of that
melted cheese and hot ham I was in heaven. This was literally the best sandwich
I have ever eaten in my life…no exaggeration. As I ate, I looked around the
shimmering glass enclosure I was sitting in. Apparently the theatre had just
undergone a multi-million pound renovation, and so far it looked like it was
worth every penny. Finally, it was getting on to 2pm and they were seating
people for the matinee show, so I finished the last of my crisps and went in.
Again, ridiculously gorgeous was the first thing that came to mind as I stepped
into the lower level of the theatre. Lush red velvet draped the stage and all
of the cushioned seats. Marble and gold gilding made up everything else that
wasn’t moving. It was magnificent. I was pointed in the direction of my seat
(G24) and preceded to head down there. Luckily for me, I was only 5 rows up
from the orchestra pit (for some reason there was no row A or B) and the stage,
on the left hand side. I bought a program for £2 and waited for the show to
begin. Once the lights went down and the orchestra began playing, I was feeling
so excited. I’ve never seen a “proper” musical before with professionals and
here I was sitting in Scotland doing just that! The show was fantastic...and
large. The cast numbered 50, yet they never seemed compressed up on stage. The
show was 2 hours and 40 minutes long (the exact time that it took the Titanic
to sink on the morning of Sunday, April 14, 1912…how appropriate, wouldn’t you
agree?). I’m very glad that I decided to purchase a ticket to the show the
night before, as this was the last day that it was to be performed. So, all in
all I had a very good day.