The Phantom of the Opera (June 24th)
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| Layla Harrison |
My first show of my trip was Phantom. I was VERY excited for Stage Door at this one, as I very much wanted to meet Layla Harrison (who is my favourite Meg to date) and give her a gift that I had for her, as well as meet Marcus Lovett (who I finally saw play the Phantom; it took three tries, but I did it!), Olivia Brereton (the new alternate Christine, who was replacing my beloved Anna), and Lara Martins (Carlotta; I have seen her three times now). Unfortunately, I missed Lara, but otherwise, tonight was perfect. The first person I met was Layla; I had been so nervous that I wouldn't recognize her that I was creepily staring at everyone who walked out of the door. She had said to just shout her name when I saw her, but I'm an extreme introvert, so things like shouting names and being pushy are hard for me. Fortunately, I recognized her quickly, and when she turned around I was able to say her name and she came right to me. I gave her her present, she gave me a hug (I nearly started crying again!) and we took a few pictures (after major camera issues; I can't apologize enough for that. So sorry Layla!). She thought she had to rush off, but found out that she didn't and came right back to chat to me. It was very kind of her, and I appreciated it very much.
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| Olivia Brereton |
Anyway, we waited quite a while after Layla left, and then Marcus and Olivia came out at the same time. Olivia went straight for some other people, but Marcus walked right towards me. He shook my hand and my dad's (!!), introduced himself, and we talked a bit about university and school. Then I was able to get Olivia's attention when she was done talking to other people, and I spent a little time talking to her as she signed my program. I was moaning about my eyes to my dad a bit when he was taking the picture (I have horrible bags under my eyes that never go away and look bad in pictures) and Olivia was kind enough to say that my eyes were very pretty in the photo.
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| Marcus Lovett |
After this was over, I was a little overwhelmed by kindness. I don't want to say that no one's every kind to me, because it's not true, but when people that you admire and look up to take the time to talk to you and just be nice to you in general, it's very special. And these are memories I cherish.
Thank you to all who reassured me about recognizing Layla, and who were so supportive of me when it came to seeing the show tonight!
Les Miserables (June 26th - Matinee)
Unfortunately I had to dash off to Wicked right when this ended, so I wasn't able to go to Stage Door. I would've loved to say Hi to Carrie and Nicky though! Nicky chastised me on Twitter for not saying Hi; I promise I will next time!
Wicked (June 26th - Evening)
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| Gina Beck |
I have to say, Wicked Stage Door was disappointing. There were SO many people! Nothing like April, when it had just been me. We had to wait quite a while and it was chilly, but I was able to give Gina her present, thankfully, and take a picture with her. I wasn't able to actually talk to her for any length of time though, which makes me feel like a complete idiot because the card I wrote required a bit of explaining. It seemed fine when I wrote it last week, and when I re-read it today, but now I'm regretting it. She's probably laughing at me right now, or thinking I'm some kind of crazy obsessed fan. Oh well. It was nice to see her again, and she was of course very kind.
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| Louise Dearman |
Anyway, I also met Louise again; she was lovely as usual. I was rushing to say something nice because I didn't want to take up too much of her time, so it came out a little garbled. Sorry Louise. But I loved her as Elphaba; I'm sad she's leaving in November. I'm not a huge fan of Willemijn Verkaik, to be honest. I also met Ben Freeman; I was walking away, saw him, and figured I may as well ask for an autograph because I'd never met a Fiyero before. Based on certain things I've read about him, I was flat out terrified of him (you can see in the picture I'm leaning away quite a bit), but I'm glad I've met him now. He and Gina walked away holding hands, which I'm still having issues with (for no logical reason, really).
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| Ben Freeman |
So today wasn't quite what I had hoped, and because I'm someone who dwells on everything that I do or say, I doubt I'll be able to sleep well - if at all - tonight. I don't think I'll be stage door-ing at Once or at whatever I see next week, so this is probably the end of the entries for this post. Stay tuned for some short Wicked and Les Mis reviews, probably coming within the next few days!
*Side note; I'm not photogenic at all, so... yeah, I just felt the need to say that. Standing next to Gina I look even worse than usual. Anyway... night!
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