“And the Oscar goes to…” News from the road. Concert Choir Tour!

…the Victoria Children’s Choir, who were such stars today – enchanting the staff and guests at Universal Studios (who gave us our own tram car for the Backlot Tour) plus moving a guest from Hawaii at the Buca di Beppo restaurant practically to tears… wow!

So under the warm California skies, we hit the road with Daniel our bus driver… with sunscreen, water bottles and lots of excitement. After driving us through central Los Angeles where we saw some amazing buildings such as the Disney Theater (another spectacular Frank Gehry design) where we’re going for a concert on Saturday evening, we spent an hour walking through a street in Old Los Angeles which has an open bazaar with Hispanic stalls plus a museum in a house which shows life as it was in the days of the settlers and a history on the water irrigation in the region – they found it all “really interesting”.

Then it was down Wiltshire Blvd to Beverley Hills, and I am allowing myself to go off on a tangent here, where there are an incredible number of Art Deco buildings! There are hotels, theaters, diners, office buildings… too many to take photos!

And then over to Hollywood and six hrs at Universal Studios. The Backlot Tour was fabulous and everyone honestly left the trams knowing so much more about the movie industry. (Some also left the trams quite wet after being doused in the “Earthquake” area.) We also had to be quiet while driving through areas where they were really filming!

So comments like “awesome” and “really” or after the Jurassic Park Ride “I’m glad I did it but don’t want to go again” and “I’m waiting for my heart to go back to normal”.

See the tour photo album and a picture of the space capsule from Apollo 13 – with astronauts and our very own Choir cast!

I got a hug and kiss from Shrek so am now out to find Donald Duck at Disneyland tomorrow. The kids are in for a great day tomorrow with the first Performance Workshop and it will undoubtedly challenge their skills but they are all excited.

Good night! Mads and Hilary