Dirty Dancing at the Grand Canal Theatre

Enid and I went to the closing night of Dirty Dancing last week and it was a really great night.

First we went to Tribeca in Ranelagh.  

We love this place.  

A glass of Malbec and a hamburger - I have never ordered anything different here!!!!!  Even though everything else smells so nice and looks so good I just can't resist the hamburgers.  They are the best hamburgers I have ever eaten - and that includes America.

Dirty Dancing

Overall I really really enjoyed the whole night and the production as a whole.

Was it the best musical I have ever seen?  No, but as I said overall I really enjoyed the night.

The pros!

The DANCING!!!!  The dancing was incredible.

Johnny Castle!  The guy who played Johnny was very hawt :-)

Johnny Castle's muscles! The guy who played Johnny had awesome arm muscles

The feel - I really think they captured the conservative feel of an exclusive summer resort in the 60's.  I felt like I was THERE.

I liked the additional scenes which were different to the film - the folks singing We Shall Overcome around the campfire.

The theme of standing up and fighting for what you feel and believe, I think came through even stronger than the film.

The chalet/bedroom scenes between Baby and John were very evocative

The cons!

I found the acting - especially Baby :-(  - to be a little bit screechy.  But I don't know if that is just theatre and we were right up the back so maybe they just need to overact to get the message up to us all up in the Gods.

The costumes - I loved the WINE coloured Kellerman t-shirts the men staff wore, but I don't know why the girls staff then wore RED skirts.  Note to production: this is not England/they were not redcoats, should've gone for wine in my opinion.

A lot of the jokes fell flat. Maybe shouldn't have gone down the comedic route at all??

So, I say again I had a great night but have to admit that I wouldn't be rushing to see it again.  BUT it did whet my appetite for ROCK OF AGES which I am going to see (again) at the end of September.  I cannot wait!

Route to work...

I've recently moved building and while my old commute was much quicker - get off the train at Connolly Station and 5 minute walk to my office - my new commute brings me past some interesting buildings and sights in Dublin. This make the fifteen minute walk a little nicer!

I now get the train to the Docklands station which is literally at the back of the Convention Centre.  There is not a great view from the back or the side of the building, but wow, what a building from the front! I'll post a pic of the Convention centre further on down in the blog but first let me show you the bridge I cross every morning and that I had to cross, in order to get the photo of the full Convention Centre into the frame:  

It's a pretty cool bridge in my opinion.  

It was designed with the intention of representing a harp (which is the national emblem of Ireland). And I think from this angle below this is very evident: 

I like this pic with the Convention Centre showing through the harp "strings".

Here is a pic of the Convention Cente straight on:

I am sure this photo does not show the scale of the building.  It is huge!!!

I have attended a couple of work events at the centre and it is very nice (and big!) inside.  But I especially like it at night when they light up each tier with different colours.

The red boat (Liffey Tour Boat) in the centre of the pic, is very flat and goes quite fast.  It reminds me of a serpent the way it cuts through the water.

Next interesting sight I see is this:

Wahey! Palm trees in Dublin!

Also, a very interesting old chimney stack which must be from an old factory located along the river.  The factory is long gone, but I am glad the chimney stack is still here.

Right beside the chimney stack is this playground:

If I had children I'd bring them to this playground alot!  It looks like a lot fun.

The mext building I pass, is my favourite building of the commute:

The Grand Canal Theatre.

I love the red sculptures outside.  Particularly at night when parts of each "tube" are illuminated.

The view when you have your back to the theatre.

Again, another view, looking out from the theatre.

Staying in the docklands, I pass by a cute little marina with Bolands Mills in the background.

For those of your who know your Irish History I am sure you are well aware of the significance of this building in the 1916 Easter Rising.

For those of you who are not familiar with the 1916 Rising, the mills building was where one of the main garrisons and De Valera were located. 

Check out these links for more info: http://www.irishtimes.com/focus/easterrising/saturday/ or  http://theirishrising.blogspot.com/2010/04/bolands-mills.html

I like this building alot.  I wish it was better preserved.

Next up I go under a very low bridge with some nice cobblestone underfoot:

It's very low!  Feels like a little tunnel when you are in it! 

Finally, last "interesting" building before I arrive at my office is the Treasury Building (current tenanted by NAMA & NTMA).

The lest said about the tenants is probably best (that's for another day's post).

But can I just say that that sculpture of a person climbing up the wall really freaks me out!!!!