(no subject)

[bobcatmoran]

I have had some sort of half-formed plan to go to London and see Les Mis before they do away with the turntable (I did see it with the turntable when it was on tour in the Twin Cities back in 2002 but it's all quite fuzzy — I fell asleep at some point during the show and have only vague memories of the rest because that was the last semester before I figured out that I could not do orchestra and band and be on the board for two student orgs). But I've been dithering because a) I was supposed to go on travel duty all of March, b) dunno what's going to happen with Brexit, and c) couldn't find my passport.

Well, a) looks like it's maybe-probably not happening, since the application for the travel literally closed the day of the government shutdown, and everyone involved in actually approving things were furloughed. It's supposed to start in a little more than a week, and speaking to my contact just results in a vague "it's been forwarded onto the selecting official." b) looks like it's gonna be a shitshow. Part of my job involves helping folks out with meeting the regs for agricultural shipments to/from foreign countries, and I'm running out of polite ways to say "We don't know what the UK regulations will be in a month, and they probably don't know over there either." c) has been partially resolved in that I have found where I cleverly put my passport so I wouldn't lose it, but my passport is expiring at the beginning of June, and I know that customs can get antsy if your passport is close to expiration.

So…I dunno. It's probably not happening, quite frankly, due to lack of planning on both my part and that of the UK government.

Comments

[umadoshi]

*blinks* Doing away...with the turntable...? Why?

I'm sorry your plan seems unlikely to work out. :/

[bobcatmoran]

They're switching the West End production, the only one still using the original staging, to the technically simpler 25th anniversary staging. I've heard reasons ranging from "This way will be easier for actors to jump between the West End and other productions of Les Mis" to "Well, we're refurbishing the theater anyway, might as well make this more 'modern.'" I suspect, however, that the true reason has something to do with royalties.

[umadoshi]

Well, blah. :/ The revolve stage is so key to my mental picture of the show, so this makes me sad.