Smitten

*all horse pictures taken by Carol at Wimbledon Village Stables.  Thank you, Carol!

More horse stories...

Remember, Dumpling the Delicious?  His owner had him as she was on break, and then he was sent to the farm to rest last month.

But yesterday, in the burst of winter sunshine and fog, I got to ride him again!  My state of mind?  DELIRIOUS.

The best thing about living in London is the access to the great outdoors,

and this delicious horse.

Smitten.

Monday night I went and saw the best show ever, since moving to London.

The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, together with Robert Lopez, wrote this musical, The Book of Mormon.  I keep thinking these guys have re-written musical theatre and brought it to the 21st century.  I've seen War Horse- which is sad, the puppetry stunning, the lead actor never speaks.  I've seen Wicked (Act 2 rambles, you leave the theatre thinking, toss, toss).  The Book of Mormon is in its own league.  It's such a tightly produced and directed show; utterly well choreographed with the most intelligent use of cliched movement phrases, and a committed cast of performers.

I laughed from the very beginning all the way to the end.  I cheered, I bobbed in my seat.  I laughed some more.

Sometimes as a performer you go to a show and enviously wished you could be on stage with the cast. The Book of Mormon was that sort of a show for me.  The humour is merciless.  Even God is not spared.  Nothing is left to chance, everything has purpose.  And although superficially much of the script may appear blasphemous, politically incorrect, perhaps, vulgar, the genius was that it is in fact, from where I sat, a show that celebrated human frailty and why we believe, what we believe.

I can't take my mother to watch The Book of Mormon.  Nor will I recommend it to the more sensitive of Christian friends and family.  But if like me, you are the seed that fell on thorns, go watch.  Tickets sell out, fast.