Recommended Theatre Events For the London Autumn

When the weather turns brisk after a wet and none-too-warm summer we Brits well know that now is the time to enjoy London. The winter is too cold and miserable and the summer is generally blighted by hordes of tourists. But the Spring and Autumn are the highlights of the year with the best cultural events and reasonable weather to enjoy them. This Autumn there is heaps to do with theatre a particular highlight.

Recommended London theatre

Right now there are a number of particularly good productions on stage in London. Whether you are interested in musicals or serious theatre there are in excess of 75 plays in production. However, as I know that many visitors in London are after a jolly show I have profiled three musicals below as well as a serious piece theatre which promises to be one of the most talked-about productions of the decade.

The 39 Steps has just past its second birthday at the Criterion and has just announced that its run has been extended yet again. The play is adapted from the novel by nineteenth century novelist John Buchan and the 1935 film of the book by Alfred Hitchcock. The play is a comedic spoof-thriller about Richard Hannay a London gentleman who is drawn into a foreign plot and ends up on the run himself after a woman is found murdered in his flat. I saw the original London show at the Tricycle before it opened at the Criterion and it is heartily recommended. The production won "Best New Comedy" at the Olivier Awards in 2006. A Broadway spin-off won two Tony Awards this year.

Grease. London revival of the 1972 Broadway hit immortalised by Olivia Newton John and John Travolta in the 1978 film. This 2007 revival has been much acclaimed by critics and audiences. It is full of life and energy and will leave you singing the songs and feeling great.

The Donmar Warehouse is known in London for its confronting dramas. It is an intimate theatre around a horseshoe stage with only three rows so you can feel the actor's effort and sweat throughout. The theatre attracts major stars returning to the stage for intellectual refreshment. In its latest production Shakespeare veteran Kenneth Branagh has cast Hollywood heart-throb Jude Law as Hamlet. Will Law succeed in such a cramped domain? Many stars have returned to the stage in London to sold-out runs but critical panning. I think Law is cut above the rest and will enhance his reputation in this performance which is certain to be one of the most talked-about shows of the year.

The Phantom is back. Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic romance has been revived at Her Majesty's theatre. For those who remember the London launch of the musical in the 1980s, relive the magic.

After the show catch a late supper at Gaucho Piccadilly. Gaucho is a chain of Argentinean restaurants which are recognised as having the best steaks in London. Try an Argentinean merlot with your steak; it should have much more spice and body than the typically soft European and Californian versions of the grape.

Getting to the theatre district is easy. On the Central Line you have stations at Holborn, Tottenham Court Road or Oxford Circus. On the Piccadilly Line Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Holborn (again) may all be helpful. In addition there are plenty of buses from all over London.

House Passes Bill on Deceased Students' Private Student Loans

The U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 28 passed the Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act (H.R. 5458), which would require lenders that issue private student loans to provide additional information to co-signers about their financial obligations on the student loans they co-sign following the death of the primary borrower.

Private student loan issuers would also have to offer information to borrowers about filing a durable power of attorney (DPOA) nomination that would permit another person to make financial, legal, and medical decisions in the event of death or disability of the primary borrower while any of the borrower's private student loans remain open.

A Student Loan Bill With Its Roots in a Family Tragedy

This student loan protection act was sponsored by New Jersey Democratic Rep.

John Adler and was named after Christopher Bryski, a 23-year old college graduate who suffered a serious brain injury in a 2003 accident and died in 2005, after spending two years in a persistent vegetative state. While in college, Bryski had taken out nearly ,000 in private student loans, for which his father had co-signed. After Bryski's accident, his private college loans defaulted, and the lender sought repayment, along with interest, from Bryski's father.

When a student borrower dies or becomes permanently disabled, the balance of any government-issued student loans the borrower had is typically discharged.

In the case of non-federal, private student loans, however, the lender will still seek repayment from the co-signer.

The proposed law is not designed to force private lenders to discharge student loan debts for deceased borrowers, but rather to disclose the co-signer's responsibilities in case the borrower dies or becomes incapacitated while a student loan balance is outstanding. Co-signers guarantee loan repayment but often lack the legal standing to handle a primary borrower's finances should a borrower become incapacitated, as occurred in the Bryski case.

The law would also require university financial aid offices to make similar disclosures to students who are applying for private student loans.

Legislation Could Spur Borrowers to Seek Insurance Protections for Private Student Loans

Should the legislation pass both houses of Congress, it is likely to change the landscape for borrowers and co-borrowers when it comes to the repayment of private student loans.

The bill carries no insurance provisions for student loans, but savvy co-borrowers may be more apt to look into student loan insurance plans, life insurance plans, and other financial protection strategies that could pay off the balance of the student loan if the borrower dies or becomes completely disabled, leaving substantial student loan debts.

Life insurance will generally only pay off an insured borrower's private student loans if the borrower dies. However, disability insurance or student loan insurance packages could pay off outstanding college loans if the primary borrower defaults under other circumstances.

The new law would also require private lenders to offer entrance counseling to borrowers to encourage them to set up a DPOA. Borrowers would not be obligated to actually establish a DPOA or other advance directive, but advocates of the bill hope that the counseling requirement could open the door for better communication between lenders and borrowers, as well as between borrowers and co-signers.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Rep. Adler hopes to find both a sponsor and a receptive audience to the plight of families who may have to assume substantial student loan debt following the incapacity or death of a student borrower.