#22, 26 May 2007 (and Coram Boy, too!)

[originally written 27 May 2007, with some small edits]

Coram Boy was fantastic. The staging was beautiful and I am just in love with the way they incorporated Messiah into it, ESPECIALLY the way "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" was used. Holy crap it gave me such chills, the ending of Act One, with "For Unto Us..." all around it. ♥ It was a really good play. I don't like straight plays, I get bored with an hour and a half of straight dialogue regardless of how good it is, and I like my stage shows with music in them, so Coram Boy was a great compromise. The actors were excellent and the choir was great and the abridged "Hallelujah Chorus" at the end made me really happy. Also they were selling another version of Messiah at the souvenir table so I had to add that one to my collection too. *g*

After Coram Boy I ran across the street to the Majestic's stage door, where about five other fans were waiting. Man, such a difference from Les Mis! Maybe it's because none of the Phantom theatregoers can find the stage door? XD I saw Michael Shawn Lewis, but since I am an idiot and don't know what he looks like, I let him walk away without getting a picture -- although he did wave at me, because I kept staring at him trying to figure out who he was. So I will definitely be in New York on June 9, for his last day, so I can hopefully get a picture of him. Tentative plan for that day is Rent/LM, and after Rent it'll be up a few blocks to stagedoor Phantom and get MSL, and after that rushing over to the Broadhurst to talk to the boys. Rent will probably be the matinee, just because the evening show will be MSL's last and I really don't want to deal with a mob, haha. (I am kind of entertaining the idea of going up next Sunday just to stagedoor Phantom, but I shouldn't. That would not be wise. Also it would be a huge waste of $3/gallon gas.)

It's Jess' fault that I'm planning on seeing Rent. It's been more than eight years since I've seen the show, and I'm not even sure I still like it. I really liked the Rent movie, have the DVD in fact, but I'm just not as sure that I'll love the Broadway version. Hopefully this time I'll get a good seat where I can see what's going on. (When I saw Rent in 1999, I sat behind this really tall guy who obstructed about 85-90% of my view of the stage, and I was ridiculously disappointed at not really getting to see the show.) And yeah, I have a soft spot for Tim Howar: he was a cute Marius when I saw him in Toronto (and I had a tiny little crush on him. Hey, I was 13, and he was cute, don't laugh at me).

And of course, Les Mis in the evening. I had E21, which for you non-veterans of the Les Mis Broadway revival means fifth row orchestra, partial view all the way on the left. It was a lot more limited than I thought, but no real complaints. This is because I was sleepy and not really in the mood to pay attention to a lot of detals (and I nodded off during Who Am I/Come to Me). Ben was ♥; and I'm really warming up to Max a lot more now that he's warming up to the role a lot more; and Dan's facial expressions are simply the best; and Drew, oh Drew, slapping Adam's ass at the end of DYHTPS and giving Max this really overblown WTF face in Drink With Me. And speaking of Drew, he crossed himself after Eponine snuffed it. WTF? Nehal is still endlessly amusing and I really really really want to see his Enjolras. And Kevin (Ali's boyfriend Kevin, too lazy to dig up the playbill to find the rest of his name) took over for Justin Bohon and I'm getting used to him now, and there's a new female swing although I have absolutely no idea whether Q or Marissa left. Oh, and Ben Crawford was out again. I'm vaguely worried about him, this is the second straight weekend he's not been in, and I'm not completely sure that he's been out the entire preceding week, but it's a reasonable assumption. Stephen Trafton took over for Ben Crawford, and while he wasn't bad, I liked Matt as the Foreman/Courfeyrac a whole lot more. This may be because Matt is four kinds of win, but hey.

Stage door was interesting. Interesting as in we didn't see Drew or Chip at all, not after missing MSL, not before the evening show, and not after the evening show. Sneaky bastards. Didn't get to talk to Dan, as after the matinee he ran off while we were talking to Max and after the evening he was playing at being Rob Hunt or Ben Crawford and running away with his cellphone glued to his ear. Max and Ben are really fun to talk to, haha. Talked about Coram Boy to both Max and Ben, also after the evening show Max and Ben were gleefully comparing stories about running away before anyone caught them for autographs. XD That amused me way more than it should've. Also Max says the costume person is coming to the show next weekend and might let him get rid of the wig then. :D He made some comment about making sure to get "the good side of the 'fro" while I was trying to take a picture of him and Jess, and I told him his real hair is totally better than that wig. XD Max is fun; he's chatty and friendly, and he's terribly cute. I also rather like Kevin and I think it'll be fun to talk to him some more.

I still miss Aaron, though.

Oh yes. Speaking of Aaron. I brought my iPod shuffle along to NYC, and it's quite a nifty little thing. I did not, in fact, lose it. It clips quite well onto a belt loop or purse strap, so I am not as worried about dropping it somewhere. And there is nothing quite like walking down the streets of NYC at 11:45 at night listening to Aaron sing "Hail" from Masada. ♥