Let's go to the theatre

Last Friday I was lucky enough to be invited to dinner followed by a performance of "Grease" in the Grand Opera House in Belfast.

I love going to the theatre. After being in a show myself last year I've grown to appreciate the work that goes into producing musicals and plays; and to be honest, it just makes me love them more! 

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself….

We began with dinner at Olio restauranton Brunswick Street. The pre-theatre menu meant that we could each choose a starter and a main dish for a very reasonable price. Looking down the menu, there was quite a variety of choices, such as goats' cheese and beetroot salad, chicken wings with bbq sauce, pâté with red onion marmalade… 

It was a hard decision, but I chose melon with fresh fruit and a passionfruit sauce - in anticipation of the cheesy main to come. Whilst the colours were fairly unappetising, the passionfruit brought a lovely zing to the fruit.

Others picked cheesy garlic and rosemary foccacia (I may have had a bite or two) and crispy potato skins filled with cheese and bacon. Yummy!

Upon reading the menu I'd immediately picked out something I wanted: Mediterranean vegetable lasagne with smoked cheese - hence my healthy starter! This had plenty of layers and vegetables; and whilst I couldn't really taste the smokiness, there was cheesy sauce in abundance. I didn't manage to finish all of it as it got quite heavy after a while! 

I thought the restaurant was good value for money and good for access to the Opera House. However, the portions were quite big and I wouldn't recommend it if you're on a diet - the desserts menu would kill you! 

After we had eaten our fill it was off to the Opera House. The atmosphere in the hall before the play was electric, full of anticipation and excitement. I love going to the theatre; it seems so cultured and the buildings are usually beautiful! It makes me feel connected to the people who watched Shakespeare all those years ago. 

Can you guess what show we went to see?

I didn't manage to get any photos of the performance because I felt it would have been quite rude. Also, I wanted to sit back and be able to enjoy the show! Believe it or not, I'd never seen "Grease" the whole way through and so it was good to finally get the whole storyline! The singers were brilliant - I recognised some from a school play a few years ago - and all in all, whilst the moral of the story may not be ideal (who wants to change to be loved?), the songs were catchy and it made for a good end to the week.

"Grease" isn't showing anymore but there are lots of other good plays and musicals to see, here. What are your favourite musicals?