Around the World with Theatre Charlotte: England

Madison Culver is a former Charlottean turned globe trotter. Following her recent graduation from Johnson & Wales University, Madison began an embark around the world not dissimilar to the journey Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout take in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

Unlike Fogg and Passepartout, however, Madison is in no hurry to complete a multi-continental race. This means she has been able to stop and see all the sights Fogg and Passepartout missed during their journey—and luckily for us, she is taking Theatre Charlotte along for the adventure by exclusively sharing her stories and photos with us, which we will post here weekly during our production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

To learn more about Madison, please visit Where The Wind Blows Now, the blog she started to chronicle her travels and help people find inspiration in the beauty of life.

Week 1: England
The home of tea time, red telephone boxes, beautiful gardens, and the Queen is naturally England; however, Mr. Fogg has probably enjoyed very little of such. This rigid character, described by Roger Cardinal, is “as cool as the iced beverages he sips at his club; he insists on standards of punctuality and regularity which are utterly inhumane, as witness the way he sacks his first servant because the poor fellow brings him shaving-water two degrees colder than usual”. These are just a few of Mr. Fogg’s unique personality traits, which when paired with his adventurous, risk-taking French manservant make for an incredible journey around the world!

Now, because Mr. Fogg has put such a large bet on the time frame of his journey, he enjoys incredibly brief moments in each place he ventures. So, I’m here to fill in the blanks for you. Here are just a few things Mr. Fogg has missed out on in his own country of residence:

tower bridge

"when the lions drink, london will sink"

london eye

big ben

west minster abbey

gargoyle i made friends with while standing in line.

the albert memorial. its beautiful.

nelson's ship in a bottle

york minster

most of the kings

headless figures. interesting.

edinburgh castle

views from edinburgh castle

edinburgh captured my heart

greyfriar cemetery

headstones in the wall

the uk's version of san francisco...brighton

rocky beach

brighton pier

brighton was amazing!

royal pavilion

walking up to king's college

king's college

clare college courtyard, right outside the entrance to king's college

fantastic ivy building which is part of clare college

view from "The Anchor" (great pub)

stairway to "the mound"

views of cambridge from "the mound"

punting on the river cam//cambridge

the beautiful ben, our river punter.

kitchen bridge//cambridge

in the UK i discovered this "activity" and i absolutely had to do it! zorbing.

ahhhh getting ready

the jurassic coastline

i was nervous to stand because of the crazy winds

man of war

Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs March 16 through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or CarolinaTix.org.