Well, after coming back from Ireland late last night - as usual - I was predictably wrecked. And I then had an early start today - as usual - followed by an interview at 1 - for which I had to finish an assignment, which I hadn't had a chance to start until yesterday! Well, that turned into a panic, eventually getting done at 12:30, with me convinced I'd have to postpone! So - phew. Of course, I then had the interview. Which I think, and hope, went well. Anyway, with another meeting right after that - and urgent documentation changes that I felt I had to do something about - it was a very long time before I could think about eating. I was mentally and physically exhausted. So - dinner out it was, and the best option around here, for me, tends to be Cote.
It being Valentine's Day, I thought I'd better book. Turned out there wasn't any need, but you never know. I've taken to having bread as a starter, and did again today - for my main, I rather fancied chicken, but could only see one option on the menu, and didn't think it was the one I'd had before. So I was back to my usual steak frites - with a huge knob of delectable garlic butter. Chocolate mousse for dessert, Chardonnay and tap water to drink. Two large glasses of Chardonnay, I'd earned it. And it was all lovely. But dear Lord, I could have been invisible for all the attention I got after I'd got my main - it took forever to get a dessert menu, forever to order dessert, forever to get the bill. And no, they weren't so very busy. Honestly, I know it's service with a smile, but they could have sped it up a bit.
This evening, wouldn't you know it, the West End went all romantic! with a one-night-only performance of West End Musical Love Songs! Well now, that seemed like a good way to spend the evening. Showing in the Lyric, cheapest from the venue. Mind you, considering that the very cheapest are right behind pillars - and remembering the horrendous experience I had in one of those seats before - I went up a price bracket, and booked in the rear stalls. With a pillar "in my sightline", but not squeezing into my legroom. Which should be fine.
I would've taken the bus(es) in. I had a choice of two - the #8 or the #11, which would take longer but would mean I didn't have to change. Waiting in a cold breeze, with rain dripping on me, and neither bus in sight, I consulted the Buses Due app - which took absolutely forever to load. When it did, it said the #8 was imminent.. now, this area sees a lot of buses, but that was one number I couldn't see. When the #11 finally trundled along, consulting the estimated journey time, I decided that it didn't look like it'd get me there in time, at this hour. And with the "imminent" #8 nowhere in sight, I gave up entirely and took the Tube. Alighting at street level, I was glad I knew the area, and which direction to go in - it would've been quite tricky otherwise.
In the event, I made the theatre with five minutes to spare. And for the very first time, the guys waiting with scanners were scanning tickets, rather than inspecting vaccination status! A bag check - a specific enquiry as to whether I'd brought food - and I went in. To find that the stalls are downstairs. Otherwise, not complicated.
Pillar "in sightline"?! Not if you're looking at the stage - only perhaps if something catches your attention in one of the boxes would this pillar obstruct your view. And even if I'd been right behind it, I noticed that it seems a lot thinner than the one I was stuck behind before, so it wouldn't have bothered me so much. Still, I was rather glad not to have it right in front of me.
The stage was festooned with balloons, the audience with young ladies in a variety of crop tops, with a variety of seasonal accessories. To one of whom I got much too up close and personal when, retaking her seat further along my row at the end of the interval, she stumbled (probably on my stuff, to be fair) and skewered me with a stiletto. Ooh - just as well I was wearing boots.
As to the show: hosted by a young lady with an obsession with fiddling with her hair - who also turned out to be rather an excellent singer - it was a glittery bonanza of West End musical stars, complete with a bevy of dancers. Four ladies, two men, as I recall - and the whooping and cheering every time they took the stage was not sexually biased; the ladies and men were cheered in equal measure, it seemed, by all audience members.
The songs were mostly familiar to me - not all though. The first half focused on ballads, the second on songs designed to get us singing and dancing - which we were encouraged to do. It's amazing how many of the songs I knew from other sources though - the many songs from films that were later turned into musicals, and pop songs that became famous in films (and/or musicals) as well. If you were in the front, you could prepare to be interacted with, although no-one suffered the pains of being dragged on stage.
But we were all singing in the end - and as usual, nothing got me going more than the Abba song Lay All Your Love on Me! Yes, I'm now hoarse as a result - long time since I did that at a concert. A couple of musicals I would've liked to have heard something from - but those songs are on the operatic side. Not the thing to get the audience singing along. And yes, this was an excellent show! Hey, and they promised the balloons would be given out at the stage door afterwards. And wouldn't you know it, I just happened to be passing when they did..!
Got buses home.
Tomorrow, I'm at The Glow, in the Royal Court - nice, spooky sounding play about someone with a gift for the supernatural! As usual, not a place you can usually get discounted tickets for - although, in one of those annoying twists, CT came up with cheap tickets after I'd bought mine. But slips tickets tend to be great value, as long as you're not too close to the stage and having to crane your neck.
On Wednesday, I'm back with Guided Walking Tours in Brighton and Sussex, for London By Night - an Illuminating Virtual Tour. Online, should be nice.
On Thursday, back with Crick Crack! which should hopefully happen this time. This is a double bill - The Thief's Tale and Future Imperfect, at Rich Mix, Daniel Morden one of the performers. And there are a couple of others from the London European Club coming, which is cool! Unfortunately, the Crick Crack show that was cancelled a while back is livestreaming the same night from Oxford! which just can't be helped.
On Friday, back with Civilised London for a play called The Ballad of Maria Marten, based on a real-life murder mystery, at Wilton's. Now, I'm rather tired of craning my neck here, so I went for a slightly more expensive seat, with a more direct view - albeit still in the balcony.
And on Saturday, I'm headed off with 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners again, for Laurence Summers' Elementary Sherlock Walking Tour.
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