On 10th August 1675, Charles II climbed the hill in Greenwich Park (or was carried by some minions, or came from the Blackheath side) and laid the first paving stone of the world’s first observatory. Three hundred and thirty four years later the Royal Observatory is still thriving. This Thursday you get a chance to be guided around their North-West Passage Exhibition by their team of curators, who’ll be telling stories about some of the expeditions featured therein. The Volunteer Guided Tours of the whole museum are also running every weekday this week and for younger audiences the summer programme features almost daily storytelling and interactive craft sessions such as Family Treasures and Play Tuesdays. Makes me wish I were 5 again!
The Park is also playing host to the Garden Opera Company this Sunday for their rendition of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Working hard to overcome the stuffy connotations of the ‘O’ word, the Garden Opera Company’s aim is to make the whole thing as fun as possible; their strap line “Hair dressing, salad dressing, cross dressing” certainly sells it to me and this colourful, stripped down version of an Italian masterpiece should be lively enough to hold the attention of even the newest (and most discerning) opera spectators.
At the more modern end of the musical scale Oliver’s Music Bar is hosting young London based jazz singer Jeanie Barton this Thursday evening; The King is apparently alive and well and coming to Greenwich on Sunday, with an Elvis Anniversary Concert at the indigo2; and there’s pop, rock and soul classics to be bopped to with covers band Nightshift playing at Well Hall Pleasaunce in Eltham on Sunday afternoon.