front row in the final
month for BILLY ELLIOT!

20160310_184411Thurs, 10 March 2016, 2:09 pm: I’m stoked to get inside the Victoria Palace Theatre and claim my seat for Britain’s best-reviewed musical of the 2000s.20160310_1409002:25 pm: And it’s not just any seat, either. Sorry, is my front row showing?20160310_142451My years of West End theatre-going have taught me tricks to getting the best seats. In this case, the trick was simply to stake out the BILLY ELLIOT website. If you recall, I shared this amazing deal in a blog post, knowing it could be the final push that some of you needed to commit to the spring 2016 London adventure.

I paid $31.71 (tax and fee inclusive) for this front row seat. Here’s what the lip of the Victoria Palace Theatre stage looks like from that close.20160310_142510Here’s one of my comfortable black walking shoes (the only type of shoe you’ll be happy exploring London in, just so you’ll know when you’re packing), so you can see exactly how close I am to the action. 20160310_142521BILLY ELLIOT closed on 9 April, a month after I saw it. A touring production began making the UK rounds soon afterward. Tickets for it are readily available, but nothing beats seeing the original production in its original theatrical home.20160310_155554

Pre-show and during the intermission, this curtain hides the stage from the audience.

20160310_155633_You don’t think they’d notice if I borrowed this mixing board for the return of the MATT RADIO internet show, do you?20160310_155837crane your neck…20160310_172445Now that BILLY ELLIOT is gone after eleven years, the Victoria Palace Theatre is hosting… HAMILTON! The Broadway show that has critics genuflecting opens live onstage in London this November.20160310_184353

 

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Le Pain Quotidien, French for
“don’t ask for bacon”

Thurs, 10 March 2016, 12:34 pm: A light lunch will sustain me through my afternoon of theatre. I sit down at a trendy vegetarian place at 2 St. Paul’s Churchyard.

It’s not on their regular menu, but as a daily special Le Pain Quotidien is peddling one of my favorite soups.20160310_123404It’s possible my palate is not the most refined, but I can’t tell whether the bread it comes with tastes seasonal or organic. I assure you it does not taste like beer. If it did my TripAdvisor review might be better.

20160310_12532820160310_125321Buttressing the stereotype that vegetarians are pacifists, the managers of this eatery are not going to fight with you if you don’t like their prearranged tip policy.20160310_122832I didn’t balk at the 12.5%, but I would’ve been happier if their vegetarian offerings had been more chips and salsa, less beetroot hummus.

I find out later that there are a dozen or so Le Pain Quotidien outlets throughout London, enough to serve all of the city’s flavour-averse hippies who don’t like to tip.