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A great day

Late last night – or possibly very early this morning, I saw what looked like a photo of today’s Daily Telegraph*, showing Andrew Lloyd Webber, Danielle Hope and Michael Crawford together, with a headline about Michael “following the Yellow Brick Road”.

For the uninitiated, Lord Lloyd Webber has been using BBC talent shows to cast the leads in revivals of musicals he’s been doing over the last few years; Danielle Hope won the role of Dorothy for a new production of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

So I Googled and searched Twitter and so on but couldn’t find anything about Michael and Oz. This morning brought the news that he’s been cast as the Wizard in the new production, previewing from February next year. I wasn’t really interested in seeing it as don’t know the story, but come on, Michael Crawford! The West End legend – an oft-overused term, but appropriate here – is returning to the stage after seven years away. I now have my ticket for the first preview.

The second thing is this, a photo of writer Neil Gaiman on the TARDIS set. Who else is excited for his DOCTOR WHO episode next year?

The third thing is the return of THE OFFICE last night. I’d seen the cold open in full yesterday afternoon, but the full episode was amazing. I know friends who haven’t seen it yet, so #nospoilers as usual, but you should get on that quite soon. It’s going to be a wonderful send-off season for Steve Carell, whilst not being all about him, as it should be. I can’t wait to find out what’s going to happen and I’ve already watched last night’s episode three times.

* at the time, there was just the first post in the thread. I don’t know why people are being negative there. No matter what you think of Phantom or anything else Michael’s done, there can be no denying his fantastic voice, and casting proper musical theatre actors is surely better than random people like Amanda Holden and Nigel Harman in SHREK THE MUSICAL – no matter what their other talents may, or may not be.

Update: about thirty seconds after I published this entry, I saw this photo of Charlie McDonnell with Neil on-set. What?! The world is WEIRD!

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On the subject of pop culture

Yesterday I arrived in Florida, USA. I have never been here before. My only prior experience of America is four days in New York City – which is markedly different to the rest of “typical” America.

However, a lot of my friends, people I admire, authors (which takes in the last two categories, actually!) and favourite TV show other than Doctor Who are/is American. So I’ve picked up stuff over the last few years, and on the (extended because we were lost) drive from the airport to the hotel, I made a list of places I recognised, and from where. Here it is!

Chili’s – The Office
Publix – Paper Towns by John Green
Chipotle – Hayley G Hoover, who else?
7/11 – we used to have them in England too
Arby’s – just the name
IHOP – not sure, but my friend Lauren likes it here
Home Depot – Daxflame video and Michael Buckley
Denny’s – Buck again
Target – Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle. But, y’know, everyone knows Tarshay, right?
Forever21 – Jocy’s mentioned it I think
Olive Garden – my friend Lisa eats here sometimes. Also MJ’s mentioned it.
Waffle House – Let It Snow again
Wendy’s – generic
Taco Bell – I’m at the Pizza Hut… xD
SunTrust Building – a location in Paper Towns (#nospoilers). But didn’t see the Asparagus!

That’s it so far. But in an hour’s drive, that’s quite a lot I think. It’s interesting what sinks in to the subconscious, and the little bits of Americana you recognise from the media, like huge ads for realtors and personal injury lawyers. I’m not saying culture is just restaurants and a building, it’s just what I’ve seen so far. I’ll be wandering around later on today and learning more. Hope anyone reading enjoyed my little insight!

P.s. There should be a snatched photo of the SunTrust building below this line.