I had a really incredible time time revisiting London. That third time visiting a city is probably when you stop feeling like you have to hit all of the tourist spots. Even if I had wanted to visit good ole’ Big Ben, I’m told he was completely covered in scaffolding.

My friend Anne, someone I randomly met in a Columbus gay bar in 2016, generously hosted me in her flat in Clapham Common. It was helpful to have a home base from which I could venture in and outside of London.

London is one of those places where people are always passing through and I was able to see a handful of friends that didn’t even live there.

Mighty Hoopla

When I alerted some friends I’d be making an appearance in London they all pointed me toward this festival. The line-up was…niche.

The line-up seemed to have nothing in common except it was full of artists beloved by queer people and largely forgotten by straight people. There wasn’t a single straight man at the entire festival. It felt like a gay pride in the form of a music festival. I met up with my friend Chris after I waited in line for an hour to get my eyelashes done. I knew everyone would be wearing fun outfits, and since fun outfits aren’t backpacker-friendly, I opted to have fun eyelashes.

I felt good about my choice to get my eyelashes done but I wasn’t feeling attractive in the way that you might want to at a music festival. I did bat my rainbow eyelashes at handsome shirtless man and it worked. We ended up hanging out most of the festival until his girlfriends dragged him off in the middle of Chaka Khan’s set. I was not going to miss Chaka Khan. Having a British man say “Oi reeeellly faaaancy yuuuu” is better than sex if we’re being honest.

Manga at The British Museum

London has a curious way of handling their museums. They’re mostly free or donation-based, unless of course you want to see any of the current exhibitions. Exhibitions range from £13-25. If you want to see more than one exhibition you’re practically better off becoming a member at the museum. It was hard to justify paying for any exhibitions on my backpacker budget when there was so much to see for free but I made an exception. The British Museum made the unconventional decision to display a fairly comprehensive exhibition on Japanese graphic comics known as Manga.

There’s a power in the curation and display of this visual medium in an institution as prestigious as The British Museum. My inner-teenager felt validated by the collection, and seeing it all in one place showed the versatility and impact of the medium.

It didn’t hurt that there were some interactive elements. It’s 2019 and every museum curator has to be thinking about what’s going to get featured on someone’s instagram.

Spice World 2019

It happened. I’ve finally reached the age where the world is starting to cater to my nostalgia. There are live-action remakes of the Disney movies I grew up with coming out at a relentless pace, 90s fashion continues to be the rage, and artists of my youth are getting back together to relive their glory days. My friend Sam agreed to go see the Spice Girls at Wembley stadium with me. I met Sam when we were camp counselors in 2009, so this was one way to celebrate 10 years of friendship.

I prepared for the concert by listening to their music. It’s striking how big of a pop culture phenomenon they were in spite of only producing three albums. Their third album didn’t even have Geri, or “Ginger Spice.” I was around 11 during peak “Spice World,” and they were such a big deal that it was somewhat acceptable for young boys to like the Spice Girls.

The show was worth the price of admission alone to see the audience. The Girl Power was out in force. I have never been to a show where so many people were wearing the band’s merchandise. I have also never seen so many people wearing animal prints in my life. Older millennials and Gen X seemed to be the demographics most represented in the crowds. They opened the show with a message of inclusivity, where screens rattled off all the different kinds of people who were welcome at the show (spoiler alert: everyone!). Nearly 25 years after they formed the Spice Girls and they all still looked incredible. Sporty has never looked sportier, and I can say that as someone who went to a Melanie C concert in Zurich. There was a huge camp factor when each of them came out with a “house” of dancers that represented their various personas (Sporty, Ginger (Royal), Baby, and Scary (Animal Print). It made me think that we haven’t had a girl group or boy band with such clearly defined personas since. Most people couldn’t name each of the Spice Girls but I bet a good chunk could list off their personas.

The show hit its emotional apex for me when they sang “Mama” as their second encore. It was exactly six months to the day since my mom died and here I was in London amongst 70,000 people singing “Mama I love you//Mama I care//Mama I love you//Mama my friend//You're my friend.” It was a beautiful moment.

London Theatre

9 to 5

I was eager to see some shows in London since its scene rivals New York in size and quality. I didn’t realize, however, that tickets are far cheaper than Broadway. The first show I saw was the Dolly Parton-scored 9 to 5. I’d visited Dollywood and seen Dolly Parton in concert, so this seemed like a natural next step. It certainly wasn’t the most British option on the table, but it was only £21. The show opened with Dolly Parton onscreen welcoming the crowd and saying something along the lines of “Some people call me the queen of country, but I hear you have your own queen here [pause for laughs]. Well I’m sure there are quite a few queens in the audience tonight.” Classic Dolly.

The show was super cute and the American accents were mostly passable! The film 9 to 5 was proto-#MeToo where women literally live out their fantasy of exacting revenge on their piggish boss. There are rumblings of a Netflix update and I hope “peak tv” gifts us that before it all comes crashing down.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

For the second show I opted to see the new production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre. It starred Game of Throne’s Gwendoline Christie and was notable because it was done in the round with a “pit” full of standing audience members. It was immersive for the audience members in the pit, with actors frequently engaging with audience members always taken by surprise. Of course I needed to be in the pit. Puck snapped at someone standing in his way. Bottom asked someone “I beseech you, unlock your calendar!” after taking someone’s phone. Actors would pop up in different parts of the crowd, which meant I often had either the best or the worst spot in the audience.

The other major notable aspect of the production was the gender swap between Titania and Oberon. Gwendoline Christie, while playing Titania, was for all intents and purposes portraying Oberon. This flipped some of the gender dynamics in an interesting way. It made the scenes where Titania (Oberon) falls in love with Bottom in the form of a donkey funnier for some reason. I might be a bit of a purist, but the production took a few too many liberties with the text. Some of the tweaks for comedic effect undermined other moments where the staging or performance brought out new colors on their own. You start to wonder as an audience member, “Wait..that was so funny, was that in the original play?” The entire cast was terrific, particularly Hammed Animashaun as Bottom and David Moorst as Puck.

The show ended with fairies and stage crew forcing the audience to form a ring around the center while circling the cast. Florence + the Machine’s “You’ve Got the Love played while petals fell from the ceiling. This transitioned to a dance party featuring Beyoncé’s “Love on Top” where giant beach balls in the shape of the moon were thrown into the pit and passed around. I’m a sucker for immersive theatre and the play ended on a euphoric note.

London to head up to Manchester and Liverpool for a couple days. I then hopped on a ferry from Liverpool to go to The Isle of Man.

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