Norwich City's Todd Cantwell; plus Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown and Les Miserables at Sondheim Theatre is Fakenham Lynn News columnist Wensum's treat
Wensum by Jim Harding
London used to be a familiar playground for me but I’m a rare visitor these days. So I was excited to be escorted down south by the family as an extension to my birthday treats to see a matinee performance of Les Miserables, a favourite musical of us all.
Even the travelling was fun. Eldest son drove us to Epping on the outskirts from where we took the Underground into the heart of things. With each stop, more people crowded on board and I found myself picking up on a conversation in French to my right and a couple speaking Spanish to my left. Spilling out into the whirlwind of Piccadilly Circus, our two sons made sure we held on to them tightly as crowds took over the footpaths and roadways.
By an unplanned coincidence, Chinese New Year celebrations - the year of the rabbit we discovered - were in full flow. Overhead decorations, colourful floats and plenty of music added up to a carnival atmosphere.
We lunched in a noisy pub before locating the Sondheim theatre, recently renovated, and shuffled our way down to the third row from the front. This was adjacent to the orchestra pit and within a few yards of the stage itself. What more could we want?
For the next couple of hours or so we were swept away by a glorious full-on performance of ‘Les Mis’ which had me linking plenty of its themes with the grim world news which invariably confronts us most days now through the media. But this was by no means a totally sad tale, with love stories rising to the surface and a few bawdy interludes prompting laughter.
The battle scenes on the streets of Paris were so thunderous that I swear the whole building shook its accompaniment. After the tumultuous closing chorus we headed out into the cold night air, where the noisy Chinese New Year activities continued to be enjoyed on the crowded streets.
As a contrast to the quietness of home, I could have wished for nothing more striking than this. But ultimately I was glad to be on my way, with the memories of a wonderful birthday treat stored up inside, and a late evening back in familiar territory very much to be appreciated. Incidentally, had you asked me prior to this day trip,whereabouts Chinatown was in London, I’d have had no idea. I have quite a good idea now.
As an infrequent supporter of Norwich City at Carrow Road I’ve followed the career of Todd Cantwell with some intensity. After all he does hail from just down the road in Dereham. His talents have yet to be fully expressed but I was disappointed to learn that he had accepted an offer to join top Scottish team Glasgow Rangers.
He will naturally be delighted to be part of such a prestigious outfit but does this step, I wonder, take him towards a regular place in the first team. I do hope so but if this is the case it’s surprising that Norwich were unable to include him in their eleven on a more regular basis. We shall see, but in the meantime I do wish him the best of success ‘up north’.