Night One: The Old Rep, Birmingham UK

Our first stop on the UK tour is The Old Rep in Birmingham.

Now… I feel a little bad for The Old Rep.

Because at one point it was just *The Rep*. A perfectly good name. A perfectly good theatre. Everybody happy.

Then one day somebody apparently said, “You know what we need? Another theatre.”

And instead of coming up with a new name like civilized people, they built a new theatre and basically went:

“Well… I guess the original one is the *old* one now.”

Which feels a little harsh.

Imagine waking up one morning and discovering your official title has become “The Old Kevin.”

Not ideal.

Still, The Old Rep wears it well.

Built in 1913, it’s actually the oldest purpose-built repertory theatre in the UK. It opened with a production of *Twelfth Night*, and over the years became one of the great launching pads for British theatre talent. Laurence Olivier performed there early in his career. So did Albert Finney and Derek Jacobi. Not bad company to keep.

And Birmingham itself feels very Vox Lumiere.

The city is famously the birthplace of heavy metal, with bands like Black Sabbath helping shape an entirely new musical universe just down the road. Birmingham also has a deep industrial history that feels strangely connected to *Metropolis* — factories, machinery, steel, smoke, invention, ambition… humanity trying to keep pace with the machines it creates.

Which is probably why Fritz Lang’s vision still feels so uncannily modern nearly a century later.

So “old” or not, *Metropolis* is going to feel very at home there.

Vox Lumiere’s live reimagining of *Metropolis* combines silent film, live music, and immersive performance into something between a concert, cinema experience, and fever dream from the future.

Honestly, Birmingham may be the perfect place to begin.

So what are the takeaways here?

First: be very sure you actually need a new theatre before replacing the perfectly good one you already have.

And second: just because something’s been around a while doesn’t mean it doesn’t still have a few great shows left in it.

No, of course that is not a metaphor about aging rock musicians.

Not at all.

Okay, that’s it. I’m not gonna get mushy.

See ya,

Kevin

P.S. Up next: the dirty secrets of the rock ’n’ roll business.

(Warning: it is significantly less glamorous than you think.)