01 July 2007

#24 and #25

I am really going to need to learn to leave for NYC sooner than 9:30am on two-show Saturdays. I got to the theatre at 1:45, dammit, and I ought to be there an hour earlier than that. It didn't affect my seating really, but I hate having to run so I'm not late. Of course part of the problem is my wacked-out sleep schedule which ended in me not getting to sleep before 4:30am. Argh. No staying up until ridiculous hours before NYC and no whacking at the snooze button. I'm going to have to train myself. XD

Drive to Hoboken was interesting. The good news is they have finished all the construction on I-78! Yay! The bad news is now they're doing construction on US-222 north and southbound around the interchange onto I-78 which caused some delays and weird traffic patterns. This being part of the reason I got to the theatre so damned late. I had to stop at the Subway a block away from the parking garage to pee, because there was no way in hell I was going to make it to the theatre without wetting myself. PATH from Hoboken to 33rd Street was uneventful other than the Matt Clemens look-a-like I saw on the train. This is getting weird. First I saw the Alex look-a-like one night on the way back to Hoboken, June 9th I saw someone who looked almost exactly like Aaron buying a new MetroCard in the Hoboken station, and June 30 I saw a Matt look-a-like.

Right then, the show. Matinee seat was D114 -- orchestra, four rows from the stage, directly behind the front row seat I had in April, on the aisle. Evening seat was Box C, the last box on House Right. Matinee was the better seat but I love sitting up in the boxes. Also, the cast has been pretty well shuffled around.

Cast members staying the same:
Alex Gemignani (Valjean); Lea Salonga (Fantine); Adam Jacobs (Marius); Ali Ewoldt (Cosette); Max von Essen (Enjolras); Ann Harada (Mme Thenardier); Drew Sarich (Grantaire); Dan Bogart (Bamatabois/Combeferre); Chip Leonard (Bishop/Claquesous); Nehal Joshi (Lesgles), Doug Kreeger (Prouvaire); Jeff Kready (Fauchelevent/Babet); Haviland Stillwell (Factory Girl); Nikki Renée Daniels (Madeleine); Becca Ayers, Marya Grandy, Soara-Joye Ross, Idara Victor (ensemble ladies); Kylie Liya Goldstein, Carly Rose Sonenclar and Kaylie Rubinaccio as Young Cosette and Eponine; Zach Rand and Brian D'Addario as Gavroche.
Understudies and new tracks:
Ben Crawford (u/s Javert); Megan McGinnis (Eponine); Stephen Trafton (u/s Foreman/Brujon); Jeremy Hays (u/s Feuilly)
Brand new cast members
Chip Zien (Thenardier); Don Brewer (Courfeyrac); Mike Evariste (Montparnasse); Kevin David Thomas (Major Domo); Lucia Spina (ensemble lady); Christy Faber (Swing).

Whew, think I got everyone. Let's have some details!

· Alex - Meh. I think it says a lot that "meh" is the only comment I can muster.
· Ben Crawford - :D! ♥ He was a little jerky in the matinee, less so in the evening. He looked odd because he's got the full facial hair, presumably because he's the Valjean understudy. Last I saw him he had pretty impressive sideburns of his own, heh. His voice is brilliant. Deep and, dare I say it, classical and heavy. Or, in other words: perfect. The role of Javert ought to be played by a man with a deep, classical voice (so fuck you Cameron Mackintosh). Ben does the little baton-twirl which made me squee. And his Suicide? Oh my god. In the matinee version, he was shouty and kept heaving loud deep breaths during the beginning of the Suicide, but the rest of it was utterly phenomenal: I have not cried at the Suicide since the first time I heard Quast's on the CSR ten years ago. Ben Crawford was appropriately emotional and it really worked. I loved Ben Davis' Suicide a lot but compared to Ben Crawford he seemed a bit unemotional. In short I really really wanna see Ben Crawford many more times as Javert (preferably without beard, haha, though I know that won't happen as long as he's understudying Valjean).
· Lea - I liked her better when she called Dan a "fucking bastard". She's good but I don't like her singing voice as much as her understudies'.
· Megan McGinnis - While I don't like her as much as I like Marissa, I do like her better than I like Celia's, and I definitely like her a lot better than Mandy's.
· Ali - Adorable, as always.
· Adam - Adorable, as always; and still needs to fix those long "ee"s, as usual. He managed quite a bit of laughs during AHFOL in the evening show.
· Max - Was having quite a good day. Vocally rather good. And I do not know what the hell happened in the last few weeks but damn he looked good in that costume. He left the black vest buttoned up during Red and Black which I don't think he used to do (and Aaron didn't); and good god those pants show off a rather nice butt; and ... yeah, Max is really looking good as Enjolras. Never going to be as good as Aaron (but then, who can), however I genuinely enjoy his performance the majority of the time. If he left I'd probably be rather sad (though not as sad as when Aaron left XD). Also! Max stole Aaron's thing during the matinee: bending over the table in Red and Black to 'lecture' Adam. He didn't do it in the evening but... MAX. THAT WAS AARON'S THING. EVEN IF YOU DO HAVE A NICE ASS. If Max'd bent over the barricade too I might've had to say something. XD
· Ann Harada - Why couldn't she have stayed fired?!
· Chip Zien - HO YAY I CAN FINALLY ENJOY MASTER OF THE HOUSE WITHOUT HAVING TO WATCH DREW AND NEHAL FOR ENTERTAINMENT. In other words, I heart Chip Zien and I think he is a great Thenardier: he really does look the part and he is seriously a refreshing change (much for the better) from Gary Beach. Looking forward to seeing him some more. Chip Leonard said it was his second day which explained why he screwed up a few lines during the day -- the best one being, "His watch is no longer ticking but his heart's going strong..and his watch is ticking yet!" in the evening Dog Eat Dog.
· Kaylie Rubinaccio - Finally got to see her and oh my god is it possible that a little Cosette can be worse than Carly?! Aie, mine ears. Her enunciation doesn't suck but her voice is awful and apparently they want the eight year olds to belt. X__X
· Kylie Liya Goldstein - She's pretty inoffensive, which is about all you can ask for it seems from a Young Cosette these days. I miss Tess, she was actually good.
· Brian D'Addario - I heart this kid. "Stop it! I'm here to fight! Let me go!"
· Zach Rand - Not as good as Brian but his deaths are more believable.
· Drew - Saturday was his last day as Grantaire/the drunk. And you could tell he was really having fun. He seemed to be having an on-stage thing with Jeff Kready: a snog during Master of the House, sitting on his lap at the beginning of Red and Black, humping him at the barricades... XD Drew also kissed Nehal in Red and Black, Adam in Red and Black as usual, and Chip during Master of the House in the evening show, oh and he acted like he was throwing up in Kevin's lap during the evening Master of the House. I didn't pay any attention to Drew during the matinee in Master of the House, too busy enjoying Chip Zien and Dan. Nuzzles with Max in the matinee during Drink With Me, but nothing other than a look in the evening. Drew is just so much fun to watch as Grantaire, I'm kind of going to miss him. Even if I do like Matt!R a whole lot more.
· Dan - I ♥ him. His facial expressions are just the best, completely cracking me up during Master of the House -- Chip Zien was being very grabby, and Dan's WTF faces are absolutely priceless -- and he is just so evil as Bamatabois and then just so adorable as Combeferre. ♥
· Stephen Trafton - Such a cute Foreman! I kinda wanted to ruffle his hair. XD
· Nehal - So. Entertaining. Hahaha. He still does the chicken dance on the table in Master of the House, but he added a little something-something: at Thenardier's line "Everybody's boon companion, everybody's bosom friend..." Nehal remarks, "I like bosoms!" I heard this during the matinee 'cause I was so close and just cracked the hell up. ♥ Oh, Nehal. I love that boy. And his Bossuet is almost as much as a drunk as Grantaire is: during the evening show he drank from his bottle more than Drew did in Red and Black, and I think it was Doug Kreeger who leaned over and told him to slow down a little. And I heart his loudhailer. Also, he is terribly amusing as the prison guard in the Prologue, he makes a great cop, hilarious as the sailor in Lovely Ladies, and... yeah, that boy just livens up the stage almost every single time he shows up. ♥
· Mike Evariste - The new JD. He is not JD. I want JD back. Mike doesn't suck, he's just sort of... there. Barely noticeable. Not bad, but not exactly good either.
· Don Brewer - :D I think he's cute and I like him. Still need to get used to him being there, same with Kevin David Thomas.
· Jeremy Hays - Cracked both shows on the high A in "Let them come if they dare -- we'll be there!" (nothing huge or awful, but I could tell) however he reinforced that I don't miss Blake Ginther when he's out. Heh. I really liked the way he took Feuilly's lines in Do You Hear the People Sing; i.e., not just standing there and singing to the audience, but interacting with the barricade boys during the four lines. Very nice.

Er, I can't really think of anything else right now. Will add if anything later. Between shows Jessica and I wandered around a few blocks restaurant hunting. There was a Turkish place that caught my eye a few weeks ago when I was meeting up with Katherine but I decided it was too expensive for food I'd never had before and couldn't be certain I'd eat. We ended up at Galaxy Diner. XD Note for future reference: Their Philly cheesesteaks are not Philly cheesesteaks. You do not put Philly cheesesteaks on a hero. Cheesesteaks are chopped up steak, melted cheese (not cheese-whiz!), and sauce/onions optional, on a sub. It wasn't particularly good, either. Hey, well, can't say I didn't try. During our wanderings we found the National Debt Clock on 6th and 44th so I stopped to take a photo (which I will import and upload later). I'm easily amused, what more can I say?

Stage door:
Max - After the matinee: "I'm exhausted, see you later, I'm going home to sleep" and practically runs home. Such a sweetie. I could hug him. After the evening: he chatted with me for a few seconds but then excused himself to talk to his girlfriend. So possibly the boy is not gay. XD I heart that boy.
Drew - He at least seemed to be very glad that I stuck around for both shows today and indicated that he is very excited to be Valjean -- to wit, I told him I would be there at the end of July when he starts as Valjean, and he went, "WOO!" Haha, oh Drew. He was wearing a lime-green shirt half-unbuttoned under an unbuttoned vest. Boy needs to shave some of that chest hair and grow some facial hair. XD I heart that boy.
Nehal - I did it, I had to: "So Nehal, I hear you like bosoms." He literally made an XD face and told me that he likes to change up his jokes every once in awhile since after Cameron's shake up he wasn't allowed to call Drew an ass anymore. ...and then he went and did the "You ass!" thing for the evening show 'cause it was Drew's last as R and I pointed that out, too. I heart that boy, seriously. He's adorable and so friendly.
Dan - Got to tell him again how much I adore his facial expressions and talk with him about how weird it was to be on vacation and hear about the cast changes. Also, Dan is the source of yet another "You know you've been to LM too many times when" ... when Dan automatically assumes after the Saturday matinee that you'll be there in the evening too. I heart that boy.
Ben Crawford - Stopped him after the matinee and told him that he was wonderful and that the matinee show was the first time I'd cried at Suicide in ten years. Look, the boy is that awesome, I am going to let him know just how much.
Chip Leonard - Missing after the matinee but he told me after the evening that he was just so tired he just fell asleep upstairs afterwards. Aww. But after the evening I got to talk to him for a few minutes about the show and stuff, especially about how great other!Chip was as Thenardier and the weird cast changes. He's so chatty, and as usual wished me a safe drive home. I heart him.

...it feels like I talked to other people but I can't think who. Matt talked to Jessica and not me. Possibly that is the entire list. Once my arms don't look like utter crap from the burn I'ma going to get myself a photo with Ben Crawford. And Nehal. Why have I not gotten a Nehal!pic yet?!

Also! I succeeded in my quest in getting a pedicab to drive me back from 44th to the PATH station on 6th and 33rd! :D $15, the driver was a friendly (and rather cute) Belarussian student. It's an experience, let me tell you. Don't do it with a skirt on, I spent the whole ride holding my skirt down so I wouldn't flash all and sundry on the streets of Manhattan. But it's really fun and I highly recommend giving it a try. I'm not going to do it every time, because hello $15 better spent on food.

Drive home? Made an awesome discovery. The Wawa in Wescosville I always stop at for gas and/or munchies and drinks had GAS AT $2.42/GALLON. WIN WIN WIN. Especially considering fifteen minutes beforehand was the place in Jersey for $2.85 and then twenty minutes later got to the Sheetz in Fleetwood for $2.79. I asked the clerk and he said it's the lowest in the Lehigh Valley (I am thinking $2.42 has to be the lowest in the country considering the national average last I looked a few days ago was $2.80-some.) and that it might go up quite a bit again soon since crude prices are going back up. I don't get how that place's $0.30 lower than any other place but I am so not complaining. Only $20 to fill my tank again! :D

New York again next Saturday. I know Jessica is going too, and possibly Kristin. I'm going to attempt leaving before 9am this time to get to NYC before noon. XD Anyone else who is going to be in the city or wants to come should drop me a line.

1 comment:

Kristin said...

So what's this about Aaron Lazar connected to the new musical Ever After? Is he doing the 2nd reading that's later this month?

I just got interested in it when I found out that Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich are doing the music/lyrics for the show. Now I want to hear a demo!