Kitkat Club

We took a train to Waterloo about 3:45pm and walked to Villers Street. We’d booked an early dinner at L’Ulivo - an Italian right on the tourist track between Charing Cross and Embankment. While we were waiting for M&R I was certain I spied SP walking past.  Maybe I’ll message him to see if it was really him.  M&R joined for dinner ahead of going to the theatre. As I usually do when it’s on the menu, I started with with calamari. I followed it with a vegetarian pizza. Last time I went for an Italian dinner with this group. I ordered the pasta while they ordered the pizza and had food envy all night. I wasn’t making that mistake this time.  The food was fine, PY thinks I said yes to the second bottle of wine when everybody else didn’t want one (but nobody said anything) and the service was attentive but, perhaps, not with a smile.

We then walked across to the Playhouse Theatre which has been rebranded the KitKat Club for the current run of Cabaret.  The entrance is round the back (not though the main doors) and phone cameras are covered with stickers as a very clear reminder the pictures inside are not allowed.  The theatre seems to have been extensively refreshed and reconfigured for Cabaret and it feels quite immersive.  The perforce is in the round - quite literally a round stage that revolves. We are in the dress circle which also seems to be the level from which the orchestra play. 

R had ordered a bottle of champagne - I think that’s the default drink for this production, it feels decadent which, I guess, is the vibe. We collected from a bar that’s in the basement.  All around there are performers and acrobats which add to the club feel.  The reconfiguration of the theatre makes it a bit of a maze but we found our seats - which had fantastic views - and watched Jake Shears appear as the Emcee singing Wilkommen.

It is supposedly one of the most successful musicals of all time with some pretty famous songs. This is a very impressive production and the cast are excellent in a wonderful setting.  There’s a dining option for people in the very front seats of the stalls which make it feel like cabaret lounge experience, even for those of us watching. But, while the story is good, and the undercurrent of the rise of Nazi Germany integral to that story, it’s though-proving but not uplifting.  I think we all walked out into the night in quite a somber mood.