...And I'm spent!

Whew. I finally came across the Playbill for the final show from our New York/Connecticut/Boston road trip extravaganza.

I went to see THE HISTORY BOYS while my husband and the girls went to see SPAMALOT. Who knew that they would get out and be back at the hotel before my show even finished? Of course I couldn't buy cool coconuts or stuffed cows at my show. But I still had a great time. THE HISTORY BOYS was written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner. This was a presentation of The National Theatre of Great Britain's original production that had been a great success "across the pond". Here too (it won the Tony for best play).

According to the Playbill:

"THE HISTORY BOYS takes place in the mid 1980s at a grammar school [the English equivalent of high school] in the north of England. At the end of their senior year, English students take A-level exams in their three or four preferred subjects. Their university applications are decided on the basis of their A-level results. Until very recently Oxford and Cambridge -- England's pre-eminent universities, both more than 750 years old -- required applications to sit their own entrance examinations after they completed A-levels. Exceptional students, like the eight history boys, returned to school for an extra semester for intensive coaching in the subject they intended to read (or major in)."

The cast was, as expected, all excellent. My favs were Stephen Campbell Moore as Irwin, Malcolm Sinclair as the headmaster, Samuel Barnett as Posner, Dominic Cooper as Dakin, and Jamie Parker as Scripps. I loved the way they transitioned between scenes using film clips (video director: Ben Taylor) of the actors walking down the school hall, or in the library, or on a motor scooter, with loud (but not too loud) '80s music. I also really liked the way they worked singing, piano playing (and dancing) into the story. No spam, mind you, but still an enjoyable night at the theatre!

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