Abstinence - it's behind you!

Fairy Bubbles, not precisely
as she appeared in the panto

My course of antibiotics finished on Sunday, so last night I had a few pints after seeing the rock & roll panto at the Liverpool Playhouse in Liverpool. The panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, was good fun featuring, in addition to the usual characters, Wonder Woman, Mr Spock and Ernie, who rode the fastest milk cart in the West. Needless to say, it's not the most traditional version of the story, with dozens of pop and rock songs from the 1950s ("Hit The Road Jack", as Jack goes on a journey) to the present day (Adele's "Skyfall") cleverly selected to fit the story. The musical backing is provided by members of the cast when they're not acting on stage; they seem to be a multi-talented bunch. Enjoyable, and it finished early enough for us to have a few pints afterwards.

So we went to the Fall Well, an attractive Lloyds bar close to the theatre. I've found that my taste buds have been adversely affected by being unwell so that beer has been almost tasteless to me; I've had very little beer to drink over the last month, and none for the previous week. My first pints were George Wright Pipe Dream (£1.85 a pint), an extremely dry beer, and finished with a pint of Greene King Abbott, a beer I quite like when it's kept well. My sense of taste seems to be returning, so it wasn't a bad way of ending a week of abstinence.

Rock & roll panto

Yesterday I went on the skating rinks that used to be pavements to Liverpool for the annual rock & roll panto in the Everyman Theatre.  I first met several friends in the Everyman Bistro for drinks and something to eat.  The Bistro is well known for its food and my veg curry was very tasty, although mild in curry terms.  The Thornbridge Jaipur IPA (5.9%) was a bit of a disappointment:  my pint wasn't actually off but was certainly too bitter for an IPA.  It went off shortly afterwards, which may explain it.  The beer is usually good in the Everyman.

The panto was wonderful, specially written for the Everyman, with dozens of pop and rock & roll songs from the 50s to the present day, audience participation, cheers, boos and hisses, and water sprayed around the auditorium.  There was even an appearance by Geoff Tracey out of Thunderbirds.  It seems strange nowadays that Dick Whittington's reward is to be Mayor of London, although he does get the girl as well.  I can't imagine Boris saving the world in such style.  The music is performed and sung by the cast who displayed an impressive range of musicianship ~ some good voices too.  The encore was the four women in the cast singing a great version of Lady Marmalade, but it was all good.  The reactions of the children to what was going on were fun; one little voice called out 'Hello' to Dick Whittington as he entered stage right.  The whole thing was highly energetic and full of music, jokes and laughter.

After the panto, we slithered down the hill towards the Globe by Central Station, only to find it closed, so we went into the Richard John Blackler (Wetherspoons) around the corner, where I had a Cotleigh Buzzard but everyone else opted for the Abbot Ale.  The pub was a bit cold and almost empty, so we drank up to get the train home.  But all in all, a great evening.