London Diaries - Break & Mecca (2011-10-13)

Today was the last day in rehearsal hall. The cast was mostly released at one o'clock as the director had to head to the theatre to begin the lighting. The cast was mostly released as we needed to make our hair appointments and quick change rehearsals. For me, hair appointment was not until five o'clock; thus, four hours to kill.

Now it is important to have this break because the next day we head into the theatre. The first day in the theatre is exciting but at the same time it begins a number of long days while we do cue to cue, run scenes with all the technical aspects and so on. The days run ten to twelve hours as we put all the elements together for the finals just before we go before an audience.

So what did I do? I wanted to decompress, the evening was dedicated to a cast dinner so I wanted some alone time. It was mid day so off to the movies I went to hide in darkness and anonymity. It was exactly what I wanted. A theatre of three people including me, a movie that was not bad, nor good, mostly mindless, and for all intents and purposes solitude. It was wonderful.

On the way back to the theatre I treaded down Dundas in a section of the street I had not seen. It is important to note that London Ontario in terms of names of places and streets is a replica, as far as I can tell, to London England. I visited England earlier this year and had one of my good friends as a guide. He had taken me to Fortnum and Mason, an elite and expensive department store, which for his sensibilities was "Mecca". Four glorious floors of luxuriousness, and today I found "Mecca" on Dundas in Ontario. All four floors of the Kingsmill department store were a reminder of F&M. I smiled for my guide in London England has also performed here at the Grand a number of times and had offered me before I left many places to check out. For all intents and purposes he has been my guide here also. I am sure he found "Mecca" here and I smiled as I browsed. What a great day.