Our fourth day in the United Kingdom was another busy one.  My traveling buddy Marystephanie and I began by taking a fantastically informative tour of Bletchley Park, a must for all history buffs.  

That evening we took our third trip to London’s West End, to see Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s comedy reimagined by renegade director Jamie Lloyd.  Benedick was played by Tom Hiddleston (perhaps better known as Loki, Thor’s evil brother in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, aka the MCU). 

Hayley Atwell played Beatrice. She is also a veteran of the MCU, playing Agent Peggy Carter in the Captain America films.  She has also appeared as IMF agent Grace who assists agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in the last two Mission: Impossible films.

At any rate, suffice it to say that we were more than excited to see them onstage in Lloyd’s unique production, and we were not disappointed.  

The show has a disco theme, complete with mirror ball, music, and lots of dancing. The songs included “Tell It to my Heart” by Taylor Dane, “Fight for Your Right to Party” by the Beastie Boys, “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite, and so many high-energy hits. (You can actually find the complete list on Spotify!) 

Large pink petals fell from the ceiling throughout the show, allowing Benedick to “hide” under them at one point. And then there was a huge floor-to-ceiling red heart balloon occasionally appearing upstage, under which Benedick also hid. It was wild!

Incidentally, Lloyd also directed the acclaimed new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard which moved from the West End to Broadway.  

I’ve seen it—it is also amazing. He is currently restaging Lloyd Webber’s Evita in the West End this June with Rachel Zegler in the title role. Should be interesting.

But enough theater news!  Before our show at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, we opted into the pre-theatre dinner in the opulent dining room there.  Marystephanie started with a warm goat-cheese salad while I had the smoked salmon.  

We shared, so I can tell you that both were terrific.  She then had the fish pie, while I opted for the ox cheek Bourguignon, which was yummy in spite of its unnecessarily specific name. For dessert, we both had the Black Forest Coupe, which was even more delicious than it sounds.  

Our server told us that we could order a drink for the interval (intermission) and it would be set up on our table for us.  Well, how could we  resist?  We ordered champagne, which came in lovely glass flutes which we finished back in the theater.  It was a perfect night.

We hopped on the Tube back to our South Kensington neighborhood, but our night was not quite over—we had been invited to crash a wedding, about which more next week!