The importance of pantomine, both as a cultural artefact and an important resource for our little angels can never be overstated. Pantomime is that important to Linda Lusardi, that when heavy traffic on the M25 threatened to bring about the lateness of the Wicked Queen- the character Ms Lusardi was playing over the festive period, action had to be taken.
Whereas many would consider the potential for delays over the holiday period and ensure they left in good time for work; others would wait patiently, or even impatiently cursing Henry Ford and using one of the miracles of the modern age to connect with communications network- obviously with the benefit of hands-free. Ms Lusardi, however, deemed it prudent to call 999 and ask for the road traffic laws to be suspended for hers, and the children’s, benefit.
A spokeswoman from Hertfordshire Police said: “She called us at 1:30pm on Saturday asking for permission to use the hard shoulder. Obviously, we declined. 999 is for emergencies only.
“There hadn’t been an accident, it was just heavy traffic.
“If someone was very ill or pregnant expecting a child we might be able to facilitate something like that - in an emergency - but clearly getting to a pantomime doesn’t constitute that.”
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The impact of the global recession is beginning to have a deleterious effect on the arts as The New York Metropolitan opera cancels for shows and begins a raft of measures to deal with a massive funding crisis.
The Metropolitan’s boss Peter Geld has blamed low interest rates and a highly volatile stockmarket for the state of the bank balance which has shrunk by two thirds to £67 million. The situation has been made far worse by a reduced number of charitable donations and a feared drop in advance ticket sales; both factors also blamed on financial instability the world over.
To help balance the books John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and three high profile revivals- Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Benvenuto Cellini have been cancelled and are to be replaced with less expensive productions. In an unprecedented move, senior staff have taken a ten percent wage cut and other staff will be asked to agree to the wage snip by April. There has been no confirmation as to whether visiting singers will also be asked to accept reduced fees.
Geld said the Met should meet its £1.3 million deficit this year but added the radical moves are needed to avoid massive shortfalls next year.
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I love books, the wife loves theatre. She leaves me in peace to read and I accompany her to the occasional performance. I’m no philistine, but I know where my interests lie. I have managed for several months now to maintain this attitude while the boss tries to enveigle me to sashay off to the metropole, eat ambrosia, walk the red carpet to a West End show before dancing the night away at the most exclusive jazz club on the hemisphere. She’s not managed to explain how we can dance the night away and sleep at an eight star hotel with hot and cold running champagne, but I’m led to believe that such details are my domain.
Well, she was thrilled when she finally found the thumb screws. She knows all too well how much I enjoyed Gregory Maguire’s ‘Wicked’, The Wizard of Oz for grown-ups. And, with great gusto, she regaled me with tales of its theatrical transformation, citing critical reviews hooting its praises. I have to admit, I was intrigued- and she was convinced she had finally won. Needless to say it was myself online, trawling das tinterweb for all the options as ‘Wicked’ is showing in the West End of London so we would need tickets and a hotel, though I was determined not to have to sell a kidney to fund it. I’d heard of theatre breaks being a package style affair to make things easier. For once I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only did I manage to find cheap theatre breaks , but the package was fantastic value. We got to choose the performance, the seats and whether we wanted a three, four or five star hotel. Not only that, but the choice of hotels were all conveniently close to the theatre, booking was a simple one-click arrangement and guardian of my heart was actually and genuinely very excited. Have to say, so am I.
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