Theatre Trip: Pirates of Penzance

PIRATES OF PENZANCE
(First theatre trip of our stay!)

English National Opera, London Coliseum
Date: 18th February (Saturday), 7:30pm
Seats: Dress Circle, C42/43

Cast Changes: Sergeant of Police (Mark Richardson), Isabel (Lucy Read)

Notes: Mabel was really awesome, flawless notes and with great conviction. Frederic was a little lacklustre (lack of microphone), but very good. Pirate King was wearing a skirt (!) and had some fun in the role. Favourites were other sisters, Edith (straight hair, alto solos), Kate (more comedic).

Staging was very basic, but super effective. Very simple layered stage with rotating platform for ship and staircase. Layers allowed policeman, pirates, and major-general on different layers singing together at same time. Comedic timing great, and (helpfully) lyrics on little screen above stage wile singing was happening. Turns out I still know about 85% of the words!

 

Theatre Trip: RPO Presents The Music of Bond

RPO PRESENTS THE MUSIC OF BOND

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall
Date: 11th April (Tuesday), 7:30pm
Seats: Stalls, H31/32 (on swivel seats!)

Presenter: Fiona Fullerton
Performers: Alison Jiear, Simon Bowman

Notes: Well, this was cool. The Royal Albert Hall is such a great venue. We were in the first row of the stalls!

The orchestra was flawless. The host, Fiona Fullerton (a former Bond girl from the Roger Moore film, 'A View to A Kill') was quite good, shared some interesting stories. Both vocalists was great at the older songs, but they struggled slightly when it came to the Daniel Craig-era songs (they're more rock-y and technically challenging). Simon was freer with the rhythm, which I don't think Husbando appreciated, but Alison was amazing. And she's an Aussie, attended the Con in QLD, and a former Fabulous Singlette!

I'm already looking forward to the next concert at the Royal Albert Hall!

 

Tasty Treats: Cereal Killer Cafe

Cereal Killer Cafe

Camden Town

I found this cafe completely by chance online one day, and I so regret taking almost 2 weeks to actually get there. This cafe is hiding in a small shopfront on Brick Lane, but once you go in, it's 90s child sleepover heaven! The main counter is small, but the walls behind them are packed with boxes and boxes of all kinds of cereal! Yep, this is a cafe that serves mostly cereal (also poptarts), and it is a joyful place. I spent about 10 minutes trying to decide what I wanted...

  

In the end I ordered my Double Rainbow cereal cocktail (Froot Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Marshmallows and Strawberry Milk), a take-home pack of Cinnabon cereal, and a badge, and headed downstairs. Here, more exclusive cereal boxes are on display, along with merchandise from cereal companies. Multiple old-school TVs were showing VHS tapes of Friends, Seinfeld, Care Bears and TMNT, and larger tables had single beds with 90s TV show quilts instead of benches.

 

Now, I wouldn't recommend my choice to everyone (it was amazing, but super super sweet!), but they have a selection of cereal cocktails to suit many people, or you can choose your own cereal/milk/topping combination. I was so happy with my selection, I went and bought some of the cereal marshmallows (I think they're freeze-dried) as well to take home!

 

I didn't eat the Cinnabon cereal at the time - I've been snacking on it dry while at home on the holidays. It's delicious! Next time I have a cereal craving, I know where I'm going!!!