Naquada

Yesterday we headed into London. First we headed off to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see the Kylie Exhibition. Then we headed over to the West End to see Mama Mia!, which was fantastic. It was a little different to what I expected, for instance you normally associate ABBA with the most outlandish ’70s outfits imaginable, rather than bizarre blacklight-lit frogman costumes!!

In Mamma Mia!, the songs come first, being hit releases by the ’70s Swedish pop music group ABBA. Catherine Johnson has put together a story which connects all the previously unrelated songs, resulting an excellent show. It was a little like being out with Ewald and Wim when they are drunk, the Dutch having the ability to hear something mentioned in a conversation, and being able to remember a song about it, and proceeding to sing it..

The basics of the plot are that Sophie is a 20 year-old woman who lives on a Greek island with her mother, Donna, who is the owner of a modest hotel. Sophie does not know the identity of her father, but has recently discovered that he is one of three of her mother’s former amours. Sophie decides to use the event of her wedding to draw the three possible dads to the island, certain that she will recognize her father when she sees him. Of course all three men show up, of course Sophie can’t figure out which one is her father, and of course no one figures out what Sophie is up to until well into the second act. The plot points fit the the songs quite well in most all instances, and it is an interesting discovery as each seemingly independent song reveals lyrics that are appropriate to the story. It’s also important to say that it’s very very funny, The actors really seem to have a great time, rather than just smiling for show biz..

Mamma Mia! is big and loud, definitely in the style of the music of ABBA. There are no solos or duets – singers’ voices are constantly augmented by not only on stage chorus members’ accompaniment, but the backing of unseen singers backstage in sound booths. This achieves the authentic driving sound of ABBA classics such as “Dancing Queen,” “Honey, Honey,” “S.O.S.,” “Super Trouper,” and of course Mama Mia!

After that, given we were really pushing the boat out, we headed over to Levant, a Lebanese restaurant just off Wigmore Street. We’d been there before, almost a year ago, and loved it.

Levant is completely different to pretty much any place you’ve been. You’ll find it in a small small courtyard just off Wigmore Street. At 11pm on a monday evening it was a little quieter than last time we went (which was buzzing to say the least). The low lighting, candles and eclectic collection of bizarre bazaar items also made for a very welcoming space. The bar area is made up of low chairs and metal topped table. The waiting staff are very friendly, including our Mohicaned waiter!! The whole setting it just like another world.. The belly dancers moving past your table as people laze on cushions and sit at the tables smoking their Hookah, traditional music playing as groups of people sitting in the bar clap in time to the dancers and laugh as they talk loudly in foreign languages.

We settled on the Mezze Feast, an enormous selection of hot and cold Mezze, but it’s presented on brass plates and just seems to keep coming.. You also dont go short on breads and hummus . Unfortunately we overdid it early on and left little room for the selection of meat brochettes and salad that followed, When we were completely stuff we had a massive selection of fresh fruit (pineapples, melons, grapes, apples, and strawberries). Then came the puddings.. two tall platters of Lebanese sweets; warm Turkish delights, dates, and things I have no idea what they were, but tasted like heaven.. and to finish, some mint tea poured in the traditional way (from a very great height), that soothed our over-stretched stomachs.

The whole feel of the place is like some secret place you found in a souk… It’s amazing..

We caught the last train back to Reading, having to try and keep warm on Paddington station, and fell into bed at about 3am..

Technorati Tags: eating, food, hookah, kylie, lebanese, london, london, mamma mia!, museum, shows

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