Over the summer, I had the incredible good fortune to participate in the short-term study abroad program, SUU in London, alongside peers from the department of theatre, dance, and arts administration. On this trip, I explored a bucket-list travel destination with one of the most knowledgeable guides I could have asked for.
Accompanying us on the trip were Southern Utah University faculty members Jeb and Pam Branin and Joshua Stavros. Jeb has been leading this trip for decades, and seeing him navigate the streets and underground of London like a seasoned professional was one of the highlights of the trip. The rest of the highlights can easily be broken down into three categories: theatre, museums, and friends.
Theatre
As somebody who went on this trip largely for the opportunity to see theatre live on the West End and at Shakespeare’s Globe, it was only natural that my favorite parts of the trip were spent inside a theatre. On the trip, we attended six shows as a group, and I spent some of the money my parents so kindly gave me on a seventh show I attended myself. It would be near impossible to limit myself if I talked about each show as much as I’d like to, so instead of breaking down every show, I’ll choose my favorites.
The first show of the trip was “Les Miserables,” one of the most well-known and beloved musicals of all time. I had already seen it live multiple times while stateside, but it truly is a show that never gets old. From the very first moment, I was drawn in, and remained that way for the entire show, only taking my attention away from the stage to occasionally make amazed eye contact with my best friend, Spencer. We are both major technical theatre nerds, and while we were impressed by the performances themselves, we were truly captivated by the technical feats of the show. The walk and tube ride back to our hotel that night were full of conversations between us and our peers about how incredible the show had been.
Another highlight of the trip was having the opportunity to see a show at Shakespeare’s Globe, something on the bucket list of just about any theatre aficionado. The show that was on at the Globe at the time of our trip just happened to be my favorite of Shakespeare’s comedies, “Much Ado About Nothing.” Even though all of our feet and legs hurt by the end of the show from stan
ding in the stalls at the foot of the stage throughout the entire thing, the experience of having the actress who played female lead Beatrice putting her hand directly on my back while making her way throughout the audience made it all worth it.
Among all of the theatre we took in during this trip, my favorite by far was “Hadestown.” “Hadestown,” a retelling of the centuries-old myth about Orpheus and Eurydice, is my favorite musical of all time, and seeing it on the West End marked my third time seeing it live in as many years. However, there was something uniquely special about seeing it from the third row of a beautiful theatre in London. Being so close to the action, I was able to see the microexpressions on the actors’ faces, which immersed me so much more fully in the experience.
The other shows we saw as a group were “Six,” “Stranger Things: the First Shadow” and “Minority Report,” and by myself I embarked on a solo theatre trip to see “Frozen.” Seeing “Frozen” was fun and whimsical, full of Disney magic, but the highlight of the night was when the Olaf puppet broke and they had to hold the show. As a technical theatre nerd who loves to see every side of theatre, it is something I will remember as a favorite theatre experience for the rest of my life. I also went to the stagedoor and got to meet some of the actors, including the actor who played Kristoff that night.
Museums
Throughout the trip, we spent our days going to museums and other similar attractions, and to my surprise, I enjoyed that part of the experience almost as much as I enjoyed the theatre. We went to more museums that I can even remember off the top of my head, but my favorites were the Natural History Museum, the National Gallery and the Tower of London.
At the Natural History Museum, I was able to see fossils and skeletons from many different species, including dinosaurs. The museum was under construction, which made the experience slightly disjointed, but nonetheless fun. My friend Rebecca and I got to speak to a museum volunteer who had various animal shells and skins that we were allowed to touch.
The Tower of London was a unique experience in that I had a migraine the day we went to it. I still loved getting to see everything that was there, including the crown jewels, and exploring the different parts of the tower – which is actually not one singular tower, as the name suggests. My favorite part of the tower was the “Torture at the Tower” exhibition, which informed visitors about the various ways prisoners were tortured in the 1500s and 1600s. Though horrifying, it was alsodeeply interesting to learn about.
My favorite museum from the trip was by far, the National Gallery, which houses more than 2300 paintings dating back to the mid-thirteenth century. At the National Gallery, I had the incredible opportunity to see multiple Vincent van Gogh paintings in person. I have long loved van Gogh and his story, so seeing his work in person was a profoundly emotional experience. There were also countless other gorgeous paintings, but nothing quite compared to “Sunflowers” and “Farms near Auvers” (which was painted just before van Gogh’s death and is likely unfinished) in the flesh.
Friends
All of the amazing experiences that took place on this trip to London would have been much less special if not for the fact that I went on this trip with not one, but two of my closest friends. Not only that, but I also formed even more friendships throughout the trip.
One of my two roommates on this trip was my closest friend since my first day at SUU, Spencer Smith. Though we didn’t stick together much during the museums (we both move through museums at dramatically different paces), I got to sit next to him at most of the plays we attended, and we were able to debrief the day in our hotel room every night. We also traveled together from Cedar City to London, and I could not have asked for a better companion for the trip.
Also on the trip with me was my close friend Rebecca Villalobos, who I did stick with throughout the museums. This trip only
strengthened our bond, and I was also able to befriend both of her roommates on the trip. At the time of the trip, I lived with Rebecca’s partner, Mary, and each day the two of us would record a video for them. I got a different chai latte every day of the trip, and would record Rebecca, who does not like chai, trying each one. It turned out to be an incredibly fun way to record the trip, and it challenged me to try chais from so many different places.
The final friendship experience that was worthwhile on this trip was an international one. My close friend, Katie Welsh, and I have been friends since my freshman year at SUU. However, we had never met in person because she lives in England and we met on Twitter. On our free day of the trip, she took the train up from Winchester, where she goes to school, to spend the day with me. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget. We got to explore London together, make Lego Minifigs of each other, and watch a new episode of the TV show that brought us together.
This trip was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had in my life, serving as not just a vacation, but a valuable learning experience. If you are ever presented with the opportunity to study abroad, even for just a short time like I did, take advantage of it.
Author: Tessa Cheshire
Editor: Heather Turner
Copy Editor: Kayd Johanson
Photos Courtesy of Tessa Cheshire
This article was originally published in the October 2024 issue of the University Journal
