pix of David Tennant and Catherine Tate in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ in the West End (and my first reaction)

I will say this, because it’s hard to see how it could change: This production of Much Ado About Nothing is the third funniest thing I’ve ever seen on stage. (The first? Fool Moon on Broadway, a sort of vaudeville clown revue starring Bill Irwin and David Shiner; this review at The New York Times is spot on. The second? The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, in the West End in 1996.) I’ll talk more about why it made me laugh so much in my review proper.

In the meantime, please to drool over some lovely pix of our stars:

More images at WhatsOnStage and Mail Online.

How to make tix fall into your lap: The show is ridiculously sold out, of course, but every morning at 10:30am, the Wyndham’s holds a lottery for 20 great seats. You don’t even need to queue up from dawn: Just arrive between 10 and 10:30 to get a lottery entry ticket -- one per person -- and wait for the drawing. Best thing: If you win, you’ll pay only £10 per ticket. Bad thing: Since it’s one ticket per winner, even if enter with friends, you might not all get in. Still, it’s worth a shot. On the weekday morning that Ken and I tried for tickets, we each got one.