Force of nature Leo treks to panto and Star Wars
May the force be with An T. They say in a few months brave young Jedi Knight
Leo Varadkar will be locked in a fight to the death to save the galaxy with lightsaber-toting Micheal Martin.
In the meantime, An Taoiseach will attend the midnight special showing of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker next Thursday in Dublin with his other half, Matt Barrett. “There’s an official premier on earlier but I’m leaving that to Josepha [Madigan].”
The night itself will present a profound midnight dilemma for An T that even the ultimate spin-doctor Obi-Wan Kenobi might have a difficulty with…
“Matt is a huge Star Wars fan,” Leo told me. “I brought him to the last one as a Christmas present. I’m more of a Trekkie.”
You’re into Star Trek; he’s into Star Wars. How does that dynamic work?
“I guess he’s more into action scenes,” answered An T. “I like intrigue.”
Whatever about intrigue, on Tuesday Leo attended the opening night of the Cheerios Panto Cinderella at the fabulous Pantodome at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham with his sister Sonia and her children.
RTE star Claire Byrne was also there with her children, as was FG TD Kate O’Connell with her children.
Also in the audience to cheer Alan Hughes as Sammy Sausages — to say nothing of Rob Murphy as Buffy, Michele McGrath as the wicked stepmother and Jenny Dixon as the fairy godmother — were Twink, Colette Fitzpatrick, Karen Koster, Ciara Doherty, Clare McKenna, Jenny McCarthy and Bryan Murray.
Jenny Dixon’s husband, TD Tom Neville, also attended, as did Aidan Gillen, and InterContinental GM Nicky Logue and his partner Cathal. The latter power couple attended the recent Cher concert at the 3 Arena with Leo and Matt and Alan Hughes and his husband Karl Broderick — who, of course, wrote and produced the panto, which runs until January.
“I managed to make it along to the panto with my sister and nephews,” Leo told me the day after. “It’s the old Tivoli panto that has moved to the big top in Kilmainham — and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. There is plenty of fun there, for both adults and kids.”
An T added: “I love Christmas, the get-togethers, the movies, the music. It’s also a really stressful time because everyone wants to clear their desk by Christmas Eve — and most of it ends up on mine.”
Once Leo doesn’t have to clear his desk after a general election next year, your diarist will be happy.