11 June 2007

#23, 09 June 2007

I ended up leaving at 12:45 to get to NYC, and I parked in Hoboken around 3:30. Had to make a few stops along the way, the bank and the gas station in town for cash and something to drink/eat on the way up, and the Wawa in Wescosville to fill up. Their gas is the cheapest around if you pay cash, they give you a discount if you do that.

Got into the city just after 4, but I had to stop in the Mall of Manhattan and use the restroom. And then I got distracted at 39th Street. For those of you who know that area of NYC-- Golda Meir Square, between 39th and 40th. There's this big area of sidewalk. On this area there were six guys and a boombox playing Michael Jackson's music. One of the guys was dressed in black pants, a fedora, and a silver-sequined coat, and there were five other guys all wearing the same outfit (doo-rags, long baggy shirts and shorts, black undershirts) and breakdancing. A crowd was gathering so I decided to stay and watch. They were breakdancing to Thriller and Beat It. The guy dressed like Michael Jackson could dance like Michael Jackson, and the breakdancing was something else. It was pretty impressive. I don't often pay attention to street performers, but this was fun to kill fifteen or so minutes on and I gave 'em a dollar.

It was 4:50 by the time I got to 44th, so I went over to hang out at the Broadhurst instead. Nehal stopped to chat for a few minutes. I asked him about Ben Crawford's absence a few weeks ago, and he said that Ben had hurt his ankle during rehearsal for Javert. Apparently Ben has also gone on for Javert, because Nehal asked me whether I'd seen him as Javert yet. Nehal said that Ben has an impressive voice. Oh man. I so want to see him as Javert. Really badly. Nehal also said, "There seems to be a gunk at the Broadhurst, because everyone has been getting sick from it. I've never seen that before, not even when I was at Studio 54!" and called Max a workhorse who never seems to take time off, when I asked Nehal again whether he had any idea when I could see him on for Enjolras. Ah well, I hope I'll get a chance in the future. Nehal also said that Cameron was at the show that day. As in, Cameron Mackintosh. So there was definitely a bit of a buzz around the theatre. (And explained the little girls running up to the stage door before the evening show going, "I want to see Cameron!" Those kids are so adorable.)

After saying hi to Max, it was time to meet up with Katherine. It took a little bit of time to meet up, but that's okay, I found a few new interesting things, to wit: a Turkish restaurant on 47th between 6th and 7th which looks like it might be a nice spot to eat some time. I've never had Turkish, so I'm quite curious. We walked around the city for a while. I stopped at TKTS to see if there were any seats for LM. Apparently there were but the line was fucking ginormous and there was no way I was going to wait an hour or two in it. Maybe another time. This is how I ended up back at the Broadhurst paying $111.25 for my Row P seat. I should have just taken F22 or the mezz seat that she offered me. So pissed off at Telecharge for that.

Either way, we had a lot of fun walking around and talking about Broadway and other random stuff, and then stopping at Starbucks and having some frappuccinos. Mmmm, frappuccino. Katherine left at 7 for dinner with her family, and I went to hang out at the Broadhurst before the show.

Best story of the night: I was standing by the stage door. Some Filipino ladies were standing by the street, and Lea snuck in with a shopping bag and her glasses on. They shouted her name as she walked in, and she seemed to ignore them. Then Max comes up to the stage door, and as he walks to the door, Lea comes out and says, Hey, was someone looking for me? She goes over to the fans, and I suddenly remember, "Hey, Max? Did they let you get rid of the wig yet?" He said yes and made a 'woot' gesture, and then Lea says, out of the blue, "Yes! I am the happiest person in the world now that the wig is gone!" Bahaha. That, incidentally, was the most conversation I have ever had with Lea. After that Max went in and Lea signed autographs, took pictures, and chatted in Pinoy with the fans. They were so happy to get to talk to her. She's a nice person, but I still feel bad for her being chased by all those fans. Half of the Philippines must have come to see her by now.

The show was great. Everyone was doing well. I've seen the show twenty-three times now, so there was that really stood out in my eyes, but I should make a few notes anyway.
Alex - Tangibly less cranky, although he still needs to lighten up a bit in the Valjean/Javert scene after the barricades.
Ben Davis - Just fantastic. ♥ His "Stars" always makes me a little wibbly inside, and his Suicide makes me a lot wibbly inside.
Lea - I don't really like her take on "I Dreamed a Dream", but she's a fantastic actress. Also, no swearing at Dan, I presume because of Cameron's presence.
Ann - I really hated her on Saturday, for some reason. I haven't hated her before, but that show I just kept wishing she would go away and put Jenny back in her place.
Gary - Eh. No real comment, his performance is exactly the same every time. He can go away now.
Mandy - Honestly, she was not annoying at all until ALFOR. I could stand her performance; didn't particularly like it, but it was tolerable. ALFOR, however, made me twitchy. Poor Adam.
Adam - Adorable, although he still needs to fix his long 'e' vowels. Aie.
Ali - She's so cute. She doesn't change much from performance to performance, though, so I never have anything to say about her. She's got a beautiful voice even if her high C's aren't very strong.
Max - See I never really know what to say. His voice is a lot lighter than Aaron's, and he's definitely a tenor and not a baritone. He looks ten times better without the godawful wig, too, and from my vantage point he looked a lot like Aaron dangling from the barricade. Still doesn't have enough charisma, but I can honestly say I like his Enjolras. I have to say I have a lot of respect for an Enjolras who topples like that over the barricade: headfirst, no hesitation. Haha. This is probably because Aaron wimped out on the toppling due to his back injury, so it's a nice thing to see.
Drew - Entertaining, as always-- he's always doing something different, like in Master of the House today when Gary threw him over to Chip and Marya's table, he acted like he was passed out for a few moments before snapping up and grabbing Chip for an almost!snog. He tries so hard to be entertaining and do something different every time in a cast where fully half the company do the same thing every damn performance, it's refreshing and really rather fun to watch. I don't think he's very Grantaire-ish, but his gay antics are entertaining.
Ben Crawford - IS AMAZING. He slightly changed up his lines as Foreman, and as Courfeyrac he had his hair slicked back, kind of like Doug Kreeger's hair. Also, that man has some pretty impressive sideburns of his own. WANT TO SEE HIS JAVERT SO BADLY.
Matt Clemens - Matt was JD on Saturday, and I really wish he had a regular role as someone, anyone, because Matt wins. He looks a lot better as Montparnasse than JD does, even though I do love JD.
The gay factor: Max and Drew do this differently every time. This is actually dependent on Max, not on Drew; Drew will go along with whatever Max does, haha, and even attempt some slashiness on his own. During Red and Black, "We strive towards a larger goal" he grabs Drew by the collar and forces him back into his chair, with Drew looking appropriately chastised. And in Drink With me, Max grabs him and nuzzles him, and Drew gives him the kicked puppy look. Also during Drink With Me, when Drew says, "Could it be your death means nothing at all," Victor Hawks makes towards him going, "You son of a bitch!" Max restrains him, and at the end of the song, Victor gives Max a pat on the ass as he climbs back up the barricade. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I was highly amused.

Nothing else really to mention, other than the people behind me whispering a lot and humming along to the Prologue music, some people on the other side of the audience laughing loudly at all the even-marginally-funny moments. I did get to chat with Max -- who told me he was just going home because he was feeling rather hoarse; he's so damn cute and I am really getting the gay vibes from him, especially on Saturday night -- and Dan and Ben at the stage door, but eh. Nothing outside of random chatter. I'm not the best conversationalist ever, really. Ben, though... he always asks me if I thought the show was "all right," and I always tell him how fantastic he was. XD He also skipped right through the crowd again because apparently no one recognises him. And there was quite a crowd, not just of Asians either. Didn't even see Lea at the stage door. Drew was there with his wife, Dan's wife was there too. And apparently there was a party after since Victor and Dan and Ben and Jeff Kready and a few of the girls were talking about it and asked Drew if he wanted to go along. Drew said no because they had a babysitter, and he was carrying a shopping bag with toys for his kid. XD So cute. But no real interesting stories from the actors, I guess I got enough of that from Nehal in the afternoon.

And then I headed home. Got to the train station pretty quickly, didn't have to wait for the train, so I managed to leave Hoboken by midnight and was home by 2:30, even stopping for a sandwich and tea to eat at home. Pretty excellent, on the whole, although I was pretty tired when I got home.

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