#19, 5 May 2007

[originally written 6 May 2007, with some small edits]

· Drew = excellent as Javert, holy crap. Would love to see him more often as Javert. Best part of today's matinee show, hands down.

· Max = not!Aaron. Sometimes this is okay (like in Dawn of Anguish, because that he does better than Aaron. He holds out the end of each line (fear, etc.)! ♥), sometimes this is not (like in Red and Black, where his expressions and gestures kept making me WTF). Also, his wig is so Simon Bailey-esque, wtf. And his real hair is not that much shorter than Aaron's, so I don't get WHY he even needs a wig.

· Matt = My favourite R, hands down. He is the picture-perfect image of the R in my head: quiet, sarcastic, and totally R. He's not flamingly gay, he doesn't molest the other barricade boys, but he's so quintessentially Grantaire in his words, voice, expressions, gestures, and body language, that I have to love him. I missed him at the stage door that day, so I saved it for a future show.

· Ann = not awful, but her wig doesn't look very realistic. I didn't particularly like her a lot, but she wasn't awful. The rest of the audience found her funny, so perhaps she's getting into her groove, as others have said she is emphatically dull/unfunny.

· Mandy = Well, she's not as bad as Vera Bolten. But she's pretty close. Holy crap make her stop. First time I have ever refused to applaud a song because it offended my ears so badly.

· Carly = best show she's had in awhile. Her enunciation didn't make me want to spork her tonight.

· Dan = SO ADORABLE AS MARIUS. ♥ I am so glad I got to see him twice that weekend. Adam may fit Hugo's description of Marius better, but Dan somehow fits the costume and the part better onstage. Dan's voice isn't as strong and heavy as Adam's is, but his vowels are a million times better. He may have been having mic problems, as I had trouble hearing him at times, and I was in orch row E center, so it's not like he was very far away. I don't think it was him, he's not usually quiet.

· Lea = Didn't swear at Stephen. Am not sure if it's because she only swears at Dan or if it's because Important People were there. Will see if she does it tomorrow. She also hawked a giant spit stream most of the way across the stage and all over Alex. Payback for him spitting all over her, perhaps? XD

· Brian = having a good show, not overly shouty.

· No comment on Alex or Ali or Gary.

· Ben Crawford = still vocal sex. Holy CRAP do I want to hear his Javert.

· The entire cast came out to wave at the audience after all the curtain calls. I haven't seen that before, not for this production, not even on April 22. Interesting.

· Audience = Very enthusiastic. Got applause for all the usual suspects, and a bunch of unusual places: Who Am I, The Confrontation, Waltz of Treachery, and Drink With Me. I have never, ever, EVER heard applause for Drink With Me. Not at any of the nineteen Broadway revival shows I've seen, not at the two tour shows I've seen, and not on any of the bootlegs I've listened to so far.