On changing from a Cineworld to an Odeon subscription

The third standalone cultural experience of the week is the opera Il Travatore which I saw on Tuesday the 31^st of January also the Cineworld Bolden. My previous visit to this cinema theatre to watch a relay had been an exasperating experience because as has happened many times before management failed to supervise the relay so that the lights were not turned off until the live performance had commenced and a member of the audience went out to complain to the staff. I gave the performance a zero rating in order to hopefully get through to management that although my continued attendance appeared assured because I enjoy the advantages of the unlimited card I was beginning the extra cost and time of combining cinema visits to the Odon Silverlink which requires the extra expenditure of going through the Tyne Tunnel with journeys to the Gateshead Metro shopping centre where the Odeon there has an Imax projection screen, now that the chain has also introduced its own  version of the unlimited card.

Although I will continue to make use the Vue cinemas in Croydon as my bank provides 6 free tickets a year as part of the account I also travel into London for the Cineworld’s at the 02 Dome and nearby East India Docks, and at Wandsworth via Clapham Junction Station and then a bus. I am looking forward to also experiencing Imax at the new Cineworld at the historic Empire in Leicester Square where there is a £2 premium for the visit plus the extra for the Imax screen. When it comes to Odeon’s nearest to Croydon is at Wimbledon where there is a direct link by tram which recently derailed causing several deaths and serious inquiries. There is course the world-famous Odeon Leicester Square, the huge Imax screen on the South Bank close to Waterloo and a couple of other in the city centre I have used.

 On my as frequent visits to Nottingham there is a Cineworld in the centre of the city there where I take the Tram from the free carpark at the Forest or the free bus from the car park in the southern part of the city near boots and the Riverside Travel Lodge where I stay when watch cricket at Trent Bridge. When staying at Mansfield Travel Lodge I will go to the Odeon to the south east of the shopping complex which also has a Sainsbury Supermarket and restaurants. On my less frequent visits to Brighton and Worthing there is a Cineworld with free parking at the Brighton marina centre and an Odeon where the horrendous car parking cost is always a factor assuming one is also prepared to join the queue when travelling from Worthing.  Thus, any decision to change monthly subscriptions will not be taken quickly but it became under serious consideration and I was therefore relieved that my complaints and possibly that from others was listened to this time and management is now giving special attention again to the live relays which take place at least once a week, sometimes two and this week exceptionally three. The Unlimited subscription also provides a reduction on over £6 on relays, 25% on ice creams, sweets, food and drink and a similar discount on local restaurants. I am yet to establish if there are similar discounts at the Odeon who have operated a points system where I still have an account.

Amadeus at the National and Cinema relay

On Thursday evening February 2^nd, having discovered only in the morning that there was to be a live relay of Amadeus from the National Theatre, I had hastily abandoned the intention to watch 2 Trainspotting and booked ticket for the performance at the Cineworld, Bolden, Tyne and Wear. I had been to see the production at the National Theatre on New Year’s Eve during my visit to London for the New Year. I had wondered if I would make the performance that day because of various industrial actions and road closures from mid-afternoon in preparation for embank firework display at midnight.

I had travelled early to London from East Croydon Station to Victoria Station and then taken the bus to Waterloo, walking the short distance to the theatre, arriving as the lunchtime menu became available. Getting a bench table for four in the restaurant area I had first enjoyed a bowl of soup with a small piece of baguette and then seeing the bowl of chips purchased for a child by a young couple nearby, had done likewise.

I had moved to a table in the main course to read a book but was soon joined by a couple of ladies of my generation who were anxious to arrange a taxi for the end of the performance a where they had previously seen a previous production in New York. It is one of the few joys of aging that strangers of all ages are willing to engage in conversation or show trust as I had been asked to keep an eye on their child by the young couple as they went to order their meal who spoke in an East European language, but spoke English better than most and from conversation had lived and worked in the capital for some time. The conversation had commenced when the child turned around saw me gave a big smile and wave, so I waved back!

I had also previously seen a theatre production of the Peter Shaffer play and the film in cinema theatre and on TV. The unusual nature of the National Production is that a black man Lucian Msmarti plays the central character of Salieri, and in an interview with Lucian shown before the cinema relay performance commenced he confronts those who have questioned his casting without seeing the show performance. On New Year’s Eve sitting at the back of the stalls without the benefit of close I considered his performance on of the greats of my lifetime ranking alongside that of Olivier as Archie Rice in the Entertainer and has one of the two auditoriums at the National named after him. The close on Thursday evening reinforced my first reaction that this was one of the great dominating stage performances which as he explained brought a depth of understanding that his deliberate successful attempt to first restrict the rise of Mozart and then to destroy his reputation and to prevent performances of his music, operas and his requiem mases was more a protest to God than against Mozart whose music he appreciated more than any other contemporary. The reality was at each step he took he own fame, fortune and power increased while Mozart’s work became more creative, revolutionary and eternal.

The performance of Adam Gillam as Mozart is also exceptional and he deserve being second centre stage at the end followed closely by Karla Crome as his wife. The second unusual feature of the production is having the 20 strong Southbank sinfonias as playing actors on the stage together with the six singers and the official 16 actors and integrated cast of 42 and which as members of orchestra explained, usual they sit near blending music with their neighbours to create the required sound, where not only are they without music but stand and move with no immediate awareness of the impact of the total sound on their audience.

On New Year’s Eve, having an end of row seat. The next vacant having returned and gained a credit for the adjacent seat. I had quickly made my way on what had been and remained an unpleasant damp afternoon back to Waterloo station and took the underground Jubilee line to Westminster and then a Circle/District line train to Victoria and where there was no difficulty getting a seat on an early evening one stop train back to East Croydon and the warmth of my Premier Room a few yards from the station. My car was parked on site and purchased some food and a cold drink from the adjacent Co-op for it too closed early. Having brought my printer, the lap top and note book I could check emails, news and watch TV. Breaking off for the firework from the annual Jools Holland show.

There was no such imperative to rush from Cineworld on Thursday evening  but I noted that the cast did not hang about for more that the two deserved curtain calls, if the National stage had a curtain. A special mention of Peter Schaffer who created this masterpiece of play whose prose also commands thoughtful attention but also uses the music to show Mozart’s development and how the music poured out from regardless of his circumstances until he appears to have struggled before getting perfect his memorials for humanity to grieve. I own a five CD collection of his Masses, The Horn and clarinet Concertos, both on vinyl and CD, plus the concerto for Flute and Harp, Alfred Brendal playing his piano concertos, operatic excerpts from several operas and the 34 excerpts two and a half hours of CDs titled Amadeus, the essential Mozart which has been filling my home for the great part of the day.