Lile Marlene

Went to the Threatre with a delicious Blonde tonight. Not the one in the picture, she's dead, but one who is also a 'theatrical' (albeit part-time), ten times as vivacious as the 'real' Marlene and a hundred times more than the 'World-Famous-in-New-Zealand' star of the show, Jennifer Ward-Lealand. Interesting signature she displays on her site, eh?

The Blonde was from out of town but knew Wellington because she used to work here. However, she had no idea where she was staying, totally the wrong end of town with her directions so I thought I had to pick her up and drive a fair way to the restaurant she'd given subtle hints about. I planned to arrive in the Jagwah and sweep her off her feet in the beige and olive leather, combined with what Elliot describes as 'Jaguar take elegance and shoves it right up your nose' ambiance and style; not to be. The car has been in the 'shop' for a month getting the stupid four-hits-in-seven-days, grill and radiator, nearside rear wing, rear bumper/fender and front offside wing bodywork repaired. They have to ship tiny parts out from England (where the real Jaguars live) and it takes time. So no fantastic car; taxi it was, driven by a Thai guy with compulsory Thai music and singing throughout the journey.

I'd arranged to pick The Blond up at precisely 6.15pm. She was sitting on the pavement waiting; no biggie because she could stop traffic just by waiting to cross the road even though she tried to convince me she'd paid $7 for the dress she was wearing.

Hadn't seen her for about three years so nice garble as we walked to The Duxton grill. One of the hotel's reviews says,
Dining at The Grill Restaurant
The Grill restaurant is one of the most popular restaurants in the capital, The Grill Restaurant has won many awards for its outstanding cuisine and service.

As the adverts here say, 'Yeah, right!' I had booked for the Dine and Dash service so we could ensure making the show; 6.30pm table for an 8pm show. Well the staff gave us the impression that 90 minutes was a bit of a problem. We were instructed to order quickly so it could all happen and they could have us out of there by 7.45 and we could walk to the Theatre in time. Absolutely fine but we hadn't seen each other in years so talking was more important than reading the menue! We eventually got the hang of it and ordered. Well, at least I did; The Blonde ordered two entrees instead of an entree and a main. Blonde does that to you. The waitress, however, must have been on her first night because she was S-L-O-W. And her head continually nodded slowly as if on a slightly malfunctioning spring. She continually came up to us asking if the food was alright but instead of asking. 'How's it all going?" she asked. 'Is - the - food - alright?' and gently nodded her head in time with the inflection.

Actually the food was not spectacular. Definitely nothing to write home about which is what I'm doing now! And they had us done and dusted by just after 7pm which left 45 minutes before we needed to leave. So we dawdled and then left for the theatre bar. Normally the walk from The Duxton to Downstage would take about 10 minutes but The Blond had been seduced by the wickedest pair of FM boots you have ever seen and she was having trouble walking. No-one else was having trouble because she looked spectacular but trouble she was having. We arrived and went to the bar looking for seats so she could rest her calves! No chance. No seats and the bar was gridlocked by geriatrics! Apart from The Blonde I was the youngest person in there.

The show started 'on time' which should have been a warning. When did you ever go to a concert which started on time? Jennifer W-L was good, sometimes very good, but not mind-blowingly awesome. She sang for 35 minutes then took a a 30 minute break! Then she returned for another 35 minutes and finished! She wandered offstage and, after the predictable demand for an encore (at that stage she hadn't sung the title song of the show so an encore was a real surprise!) she came back to do 'Falling In Love Again' but only once and for what seemed an abbreviated version. The one thing that was more authentic than I expected was the absence of 'Vot am I to do?' and the inclusion of 'What am I to do?' in the signature song. My memories of Fraulein Dietrich are obviously flawed.