So much Sydney and some Scotland

Sydney
July 15: My Fair Lady, Opera Australia, Opera Theatre
July 18: Billy Elliott, Capitol Theatre
July 25: Rafael Bonachela's 360 Degrees, Sydney Dance Company, Carriageworks
July 26: Australia vs New Zealand, ANZ Stadium

Edinburgh Fringe Festival
August 8: Brendan Burns, Assembly @ George Street
August 12: Before We Remember, Gomito, Bedlum Theatre
August 12: Assassins, Through the Window Theatre Company, C +3

My Fair Lady was fantastic. It had been sold out for weeks, but when I checked the day before the show, there were two tickets available. The singing was superior and the costumes were amazing. It was so fun to see an opera company perform a classic musical.

I enjoyed Billy Elliott, but wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Dave. It wasn't Elton's finest score - in fact, I found a bunch of the music dull. There were some fun numbers and both miners and minors in tap shoes are tons of fun.

Rafael Bonachela and I agree on which Sydney Dance Company members we like best. It was clear in his 360 Degrees that he favours Annabelle and Reed, just like I do. I liked this one much better than Meryl Tankard's Inuk 2 (wouldn't take much), but wasn't incredibly excited by it.

For a cultural experience, I went out to the Olympic Stadium to see the All Blacks do the Haka - I mean, to see Australia beat New Zealand in rugby. I must admit that the Haka was the highlight for me and I would've been okay with seeing that a few times and skipping the rugby. The rugby was, however, fun. Go the Australia!

Andrew and I met in Edinburgh and then traveled around the Highlands for a few days. The Fringe Festival is on in full force and we three performances. First was an Australian-turned-Londoner standup comedian, Brendan Burns. He said some funny things. My favorite parts were those about Australian advertising and sports.

Friday evening we met a number of very drunk and friendly Scots. One group we stopped highly recommended we see Before We Remember. It was the story of an old woman recounting memories as she was dying. The staging of it was awesome. All the props and sets were string, garbage bags, and paper. They made some pretty cool things out of it. My favorite was the woman driving a car with a shawl blowing behind her. That doesn't describe it very well; you'll just have to trust me.

Last, but not least, was a production of The Assassins. I'd never seen it before. I like that each Sondheim play is so different than the others. And what a fun topic this was! American presidential assassins. I especially liked Charles Guiteau who attempted to assassinate Garfield in order to boost sales of his book. What fun!

I didn't have enough time in New York to see any shows, but there's more to see in Sydney when I get back!