Wayfaring Day 191

January 6, 2026 Tuesday

This morning David was up fairly early and put on some layers and walked to the local grocery for a few things. It had snowed more overnight and was still snowing lightly. Later the snow turned to rain and melted most of the snow. Temperatures here range from 32-35 degrees Fahrenheit.

We have train tickets to Manchester for 14:55 so we headed down to the bus stop with about 11 minutes remaining before the bus arrived. On the way we rechecked the app and it was now 13 minutes. Not a huge thing but more waiting in the cold. As it turned out the timing of the bus was made even more irrelevant as our train was delayed. The train showed delayed but it had not left its origin at York. It turns out that it never did and was cancelled. There were many trains and buses delayed due to snow and ice especially to the east.

We had already scanned our ticket so, not being familiar with how things are done here, we found someone to help us. There are so many people working at these British train stations. There are railroad information people, security and police. What we found was that we could ride any train that is heading to Manchester. The first one available was a train to the Manchester airport which stopped at both Victoria and Piccadilly stations. We could get to our show from either one. The train was very crowded with people with luggage heading for the airport. We had hoped to see the countryside and downtown Manchester by taking the earlier train. With this train leaving at 15:23 that meant very little daylight on what was a very cloudy day. There was enough light to see some of the countyside, mountains and the city.

We chose the later stop at Piccadilly since we could ride a tram to a location closer to the Royal Exchange Theatre. We got off the tram at the Market stop and walked down the wide pedestrian walkway though the shopping area in a light rain. Luckily the rain never was more than a sprinkle while we were walking from place to place. We walked to an Italian restaurant, Vencenzo Trattoria, for a leisurely dinner. This is a quaint restaurant with a large menu. We had simple favorites which were very good and worth the roughly $60 ticket.

After a relaxing and warm time enjoying our Italian cuisine we made the short walk to the entrance to the Royal Exchange Theatre. The building was built as a business center, but around 50 years ago it was converted into this intimate theatre in the round. This was truly a unique theatre as it is “in the round” and it is built inside a building’s massive lobby. The entrances and seating were unlike anything we have ever experienced. There were a number of steps up to the level where our seats were located which made the experience a bit painful for David. The seats on the first row have a carpet covered bar that most people lean on during the show in order to get a better view as you look down on the performance. The second, and only, row in the upper section are high sort of like bar seats. For patrons in these seats there is a bar for resting your feet since your feet can’t reach the floor.

The stage was round and smaller than we would have ever expected. This is indeed an intimate theater where the interaction between the cast and audience is an integral part of the show.

The show was Singing In The Rain which has never been one of our favorites. We did see one of the best performances we have ever seen in the production of this musical when we were graced with watching Randy Rogle perform his Make ‘Em Laugh routine.

The company here, however did a masterful job of making this a fun and enjoyable experience. Part of this is due to the intimate setting in which the actors interact with the audience. The pinnacle of this came when rain fell on the stage during the title song and the dance steps began to splatter audience members with water. After the formal end of the musical the entire company did a reprise of the title song. With rain once again falling on stage they kicked and splashed the crowd into a fun and crazy frenzy. It is certain we have never seen a musical in which the actors and the audience got this wet. The sum of it all is that we will never forget this fun production of Singing in the Rain.

After the show we walked back up Market Street to our tram stop and then on to Piccadilly Station. We had already picked Archie’s as our place to have a little snack while we waited on our 23:58 train. We could have ridden a bus about 45 minutes earlier but it would only get us back 10 minutes earlier. Of course we were concerned about whether the train would run or be on time given the messy travel situations we had dealt with earlier. We checked the schedule regularly and it was always listed as on time. We had some chicken strips ( Nashville Hot), fries and drinks before a leisurely walk in the light rain to the train station entrance about 100 yards away.

It was late and the station was not quite as bustling as it was earlier. As we have found everywhere here there was a substantial police presence as well as security and railroad agents throughout the complex. It was a great thing to see our train pull into the station right on time. This late train was an express type with only two stops between Manchester and York. That made Huddersfield the first stop. We got off the train and waited on an Uber to take us to the house since the buses don’t run this late. We had tried the taxi before and it bothers us that the charge for the ride is not known and seems sometimes suspect. We were back at the house a little after 1:00am which was about what we had expected.