Touchdown [ROA:94/19]

Warning: Contains spoilers.

I was emotional before I’d even got out of bed, so that was a less than promising start to the day, but I did my best to blame it on tiredness and dragged myself off to see all the places I missed out on yesterday. I mean I’ve kinda been in denial over the whole ‘Sam is leaving’ thing for a while and even now I don’t think I’ve really accepted it, so it wasn’t too hard to keep my head in the metaphorical sand for just a little bit longer. Besides, Staceebear and I had places to be, plus after yesterday’s mistakes I had no intention of skipping any meals. Fortunately I’d planned my morning fairly well and had just the right amount of time to dawdle round all the sites I wanted to see, grabbing a decent brunch while doing so, before heading to the theatre for the matinee.

As for the show, Sam had his own personal muck-up and it was magical. It also meant I couldn’t possibly get teary because I was grinning so damn much. He pulled out all the stops as well; everything from script changes, to lyric tweaks to extra props! He started it off pretty early too, since he threw in a ‘touchdown’ when Bobby caught the dictaphone. It entertained me all the more after everything I’ve previously said on the subject and I was as happy as if my team had actually scored a winner. It pretty much made my day on the spot! Besides, it only got better from there. Admittedly I’m not sure if the subsequent lack of panties was intentional, but I sort of assumed not since he didn’t cut the line and it didn’t make all that sense without them. I figured he probably expected them to be there, but I was so thrown by the ‘touchdown’ that to be honest, I don’t entirely trust my own judgement. In any case, there were no panties, I have no idea why, but I did then spot Lucas walking around wearing them as a hat not long afterwards, so my best guess is they fell on the floor, Lucas retrieved them and then improvised… For the record, I was not complaining at all. Sam also sang ‘I’ve seen a million faces, and I’ve f***ed them all’, which thrilled me no end and sort of vaguely on that subject; I love how he crushes Jodie’s face against his chest in the restroom, so much so that her voice gets muffled, only today he pulled her right in after he’d lifted his shirt up too. Fiiiiiilth! On which note, after he emerged from the stall, he had some toilet paper in his his hand. He held on to it whilst really feeling Bobby up (I mean it might have just been angles, but it looked like he was very much getting into it), then gave Bobby the paper as he was leaving…!

I then had an unexpectedly clear view of the Bourbon stage, which I was especially relieved about because I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to see it tonight. One last unrestricted Arsenal show was just what I needed this afternoon. Plus Sam said ‘suck my d***’ when the focus came back to him after We’re Not Gonna Take It and whilst it’s not the first time he’s said it (I’m sure I’ve heard it a few times, maybe in Sheffield?) I was still delighted. Admittedly the mic didn’t even catch most of it, but it’s not like I didn’t know what he was saying and I’d totally forgotten about it, so it was a very welcome reminder. Sam was certainly on a roll today though, because he also declared ‘I’m the motherf***ing star here’, which he f***ing well is! (I mean sure, they’re all stars to me, but that’s not the point :P). He’s got some excellent ideas too, because one thing he added that I really loved, and not just in a muck-up sense, was bringing Young Groupie’s bear on stage with him in Here I Go Again. When he had Saran bent back over the railing, he was teasing her with the teddy and it was brilliant! It made a lot more sense to me when she then popped up holding it later on, because as I think I’ve said before, the continuity just isn’t there for her character in this production and the bear perfectly connected the two scenes together.

So I’m not sure if this technically counts as a muck-up or if it was just standard tomfoolery, but in the Final Countdown, Sam spanked Adam with his truncheon and Adam seemed to very much enjoy it! It wasn’t the only time S&M featured in this afternoon’s show, but the latter occurrence definitely fell under the definition of a muck-up. I knew something was up as soon as Sam stumbled into the Venus Club, because there was something black and fluffy sticking out of the partially sewn up hole over his left knee. I was incredibly curious, but couldn’t for the life of me work out what it could be. It was only when Jodie dragged him off to the champagne room that he finally pulled ‘it’ out of his trousers (I’m sorry, that phrasing was too good an opportunity to pass up) and it turned out he’d smuggled a black feathered riding crop onto the stage! I’m pretty sure it made Jodie laugh, so I don’t think she was expecting it, but she went with it, snatching it off of him and holding onto it throughout the scene. Once he got on all fours though, she used it properly and it was f***ing brilliant! Plus when Sherrie tried to run off after Drew, he complained that he had ‘more dance and spanking coming’. I really can’t express quite how much I love him for everything he added to this afternoon’s show!

Interestingly though, despite this afternoon’s tweaks, I’ve felt like Sam has been more out of it than usual at the Venus this weekend. Admittedly I’m not sure if I was imagining it, but he seemed almost disinterested at times, like Stacee had seen it all before and wasn’t impressed by any of it. It’s not until he sees Sherrie that he perks up a bit. His apathy was certainly only specific to that scene though. On which note, I don’t think this really counts as a muck-up, but I felt it was worth noting anyway; Sam licked, or at least came very close to licking, the dildo that Sinead was teasing him with during Too Much Time and it was quite glorious. And speaking of his tongue… :P. He stuck it out and pulled an ‘aah’ face at me in Here I Go Again before the spotlight caught him… At least I assume it was at me and and not the kid in the front row! In any case, Ryan grinned at me too, so yay!

And speaking of people who are not Sam… In I Wanna Rock I found myself watching Bobby, who was on his knees on the floor of his platform bit, leaning right back, with his shirt pushed up as far as it would go, whilst he thrust his hips enthusiastically into the air… He may not necessarily be my main focus in that scene, but I’m pretty sure I’d have noticed before now if he did that on a regular basis?! I wondered if he was playing around to entertain Ryan, who was up there with him covering Josh’s track, but whatever prompted it, I was certainly entertained! As for Ryan, it was awesome to see him on stage again and there are already little bits of the way he plays that track that I’ve started to look out for. I love the way he does the clap/stomp bit in Nothing But A Good Time, plus he’s so exuberant in that whole scene, he’s really fun to watch. Also his camp stylist cracks me up. He has a habit of leaping past the bar on his way off stage and it’s frickin’ brilliant!

Of course, Ryan was on for Josh because Josh was on for Drew and whilst I thought he sounded great last time I saw him, he was miles better today. I also loved getting another chance to appreciate all his little quirks he brings to his interpretation of Drew. For example, when he first introduces himself to Sherrie, I love how abruptly he changes tac when his ‘Wolfgang Von Colt’ is met with confusion. He goes from wannabe rockstar to bashful dork in an instant and it’s so cute. On which note, he looked so adorably chuffed when Justice implied that Sherrie had called him a cutie, only for his whole demeanor to drop when it belatedly clicked that she’d probably confused him for Stacee. Bless him. He also really struggled with ‘what about when you f…’ and made a much bigger thing of it than Luke does, properly tripping over the word and then attempting it twice more before finally giving up and just saying ‘Stacee Jaxx’. I thought it gave an extra vulnerability to him and really highlighted how much he’d been hurt by her past actions.

On a slightly different note, in the ‘dramatic conjurer’ scene, Lucas pushed Josh back in a mirror of the way Josh had just pushed him, exactly how I was reminiscing about it the other day, so I was quite delighted! I thought that was gone for good. Also, seeing him again reminded me of something Lucas did last time Josh was on that I forgot to note down at the time: When Lucas does his ‘nay, somebody’ bit after Nothing But A Good Time, he tends to throw his arms out in front of Drew & Dennis as if physically holding them back from continuing to have a good time. Only on that occasion, he took the opportunity to have a good old grope of Josh’s chest while he was at it! And since I’m talking about Lucas; he complimented Alex on his bandana this afternoon (when he popped up in Can’t Fight This Feeling), which made me giggle, although in retrospect, I think I preferred him without it :P.

When Dennis called Stacee in Too Much Time, Cameron called him Stacilee or something like that and I wasn’t the only person who was amused by that one. They were all struggling not to laugh! Plus Vas and Cameron cracked up over something else at one point, but I was watching Sam so I’ve got no clue what happened, I just heard their reactions. I really am loving all of Cameron’s little quirks and what not though. When he questions ‘is that Drew?’ towards the end of Cum On Feel The Noize, he doesn’t waste any time before rocking out as soon as the realisation hits. He’s very supportive! As much as I love Cameron though, Andy seems even more smitten. He’s so much more flirtatious and camp with him, I love it. For example, in the Falco scene, Andy stood behind Cameron and massaged his chest with both hands. Plus he made a circle with his fingers and rather filthy poked his tongue through it after the ‘Easter morning’ line…!

On a rather different note, they seem to have run out of glitter! Both last night and this afternoon, Lucas just snapped his fingers to ‘set a nice mood’, rather than sprinkling the stage with sparkles. Sad times. And equally sad were the three empty seats in the middle of the front row. Admittedly the woman on one side of the gap was clearly enjoying herself a lot, but she also appeared to be accompanied by a small child, so I’m not overly surprised that Lucas didn’t pick on her. In something of a curve ball, he actually went for a woman in the third row. Of course she then had a name he didn’t know, so he ended up checking it with her a few times and rolling it around on his tongue. Then he/whoever is responsible for the whiteboard guessed at ‘Nemin’ and he mouthed something to her during the scene about not knowing how to spell it. The best part though was when he climbed over the seats, and the people in the second row, to get to her at the end! And speaking of the end, Lucas caught me grinning at him when Jodie said ‘Michigan’, so he pulled his Meers face at me, which properly cracked me up.

As for the extra encore, Ryan massively upped his game and followed a forward roll with that jumpy kicky dance thing that I’m not cool enough to know the name of [Edit: I spent a good half hour fruitlessly trying to work out what the f*** viral video I’d seen with it in and am still none the wiser (I was picturing Tom Holland… Apparently it was not Tom Holland), but in the process I did discover the name of the dance. It’s called the Hype or possibly the Shoot Dance… Maybe? It’s kinda confusing and I don’t care enough to look into it. In any case, as I’d vaguely suspected, it has something to do with Fortnite… Whatever that is :P]. Then on top of that, Sam did the knee slide again! Admittedly he was a bit more cautious this time around; there was less slide and he half lost his balance at the end, but I was still delighted. Plus I think he managed to tear open the stitched up hole in his trousers a bit. I mean it’s not as great as it was before it was attacked with a needle, but I’m sure it was gaping a fair bit wider afterwards and it was certainly an improvement :P. And just in case that wasn’t enough, when Lucas went over to him at the back, Sam grabbed hold of Lucas’ head and held him in place for a bit, before turning him around and just carrying on thrusting, refusing to let Lucas go for ages! It was absolutely f***ing brilliant!

Finally, before I get on to stage door, I noticed this afternoon that a new picture has been added to one of the Venus dressing room mirrors, only I couldn’t see who’s in it. It looks like a big group, perhaps a more candid photo than the production shot of Danielle and Zoe, but that’s all I could make out. As such I’ve decided that it’s Stacee surrounded by the Venus girls and I shall continue to believe that until it’s proved otherwise! On another note however, I really had to drag out the whoop for the band before the rest of the room finally clued up and joined in. I rather wish I’d never started the damn thing in the first place, but I just can’t bring myself to let them down now!

And speaking of the band, Barney stopped to say hello after the show and asked how many I was doing this weekend. He thought I was a bit mental when I said all of them, but I pointed out that I’d come all this way, I may as well make the most of it. He also introduced me to AJ, who was depping on bass this week (I did wonder when I saw Elliot posting about panto). Barney asked if I could tell (no) then said it’s because he’s so good and whilst I don’t doubt AJ’s prowess as a musician, I’m not sure I’m the best judge of that. I suspect he’d have had to have been pretty bad for me to pick up on it! Anyway, tonight is also Barney’s last show before Liam takes over next year, so I’m glad I saw him.

I then ended up having a lovely long chat with Marc when he came out a bit later, about where I’ve seen the show and the differences between productions. I told him that whilst I love some of the new stuff, I still miss some of the old stuff. For example, I hate that the band aren’t all on stage, plus the few of them that are keep disappearing behind a curtain. I also mentioned missing Primo’s big Beaver Hunt moment. Amanda then appeared just as I was about to give up and go for food, so I hung on to chat to her briefly. We talked about how many times I’ve seen the show and she commented that I’d have wanted to come out here to see Sam… I sometimes wonder if I’m a little transparent?

As for the cast, I didn’t see Sam, but then I didn’t expect to. I did however wave to Saran & Sinead when they passed and then Adam & Bobby stopped to chat. Adam asked where I was sitting, but Bobby assured me he’d spotted me and asked if I enjoyed the carnage. Naturally my answer was a resounding yes and it sounds like it went down pretty well with them too. They reckoned the whip should stay in it, so I mentioned seeing the fluff poking out of his trousers and wondering what the hell he had stuffed down there. I also said they should keep the bear in Here I Go Again because it works better, so one of them joked about ‘Director Sam Ferriday’. The guy’s got some good ideas though! Ryan stopped too and queried how many this weekend and commented that I got to see Josh. He also asked what I think of the encore, so I assured him I absolutely love it! He called it ‘crazy’, which is a fair assessment. As for Josh, he was with a friend, but paused to say hi, so I took the opportunity to compliment him on his performance. He stroked his throat and said ‘it’s coming back’, so I gathered by that that he doesn’t consider himself back up to full health, but he said he was trying a few things and I assured him I thought he sounded great. Finally, I waved to Rhiannon on her way out and then to Jodie when Rhiannon’s greeting made her look over. I also said a horribly awkward hello to the two of them and Luke when I bumped into them on their way back in (I was only just leaving), so that was fun…! I escaped to a mini-Christmas market after that though and treated myself to a crepe followed by some perfectly roasted chestnuts, so it was all deliciously wonderful in the end.

Peace, love and riding crops,
K xx

[Actual publish date: 7/2/19]

The Bosh Bromance [ROA:93/18]

So this evening found me on the second row, with four empty seats either side of me and four more empty seats in front… Admittedly I could have moved so I wasn’t quite so isolated, but it’s not like they don’t already know I’m a sad little loner and with no one next to me I didn’t have to worry about noisy neighbours so much. Plus with no one in front, there was no one blocking my view of the stage, although… every rose has its thorn, right? There may have been no people in my way, but that didn’t mean the set couldn’t block my view and it did rather badly in Every Rose. The Bourbon Room door was right in front of me and I couldn’t see Sam at all, no matter how far over I leaned. Naturally, I was rather gutted, although it did allow me to appreciate his voice more and even now I still can’t get enough of that ‘bonus’ vocal at the end of his line. In fact, I probably don’t say this enough because I keep getting distracted by everything else (STUBBLE!), but for the record; I love his voice.

That stubble though… I mean, it’s just perfect. I really was worried he was going to shave too, because his wig kept getting caught in it and given what he’s said before about hair in his mouth, I figured it must be annoying him, but no, the stubble was intact and I was (in)appropriately delighted. In fact, I was pretty damn (in)appropriately delighted all night, because in case I haven’t mentioned it, I f***ing love this show and these people, but I had a real moment of never wanting it to end in Wanted Dead Or Alive and gaaaaaaah. Time is moving too fast and I’m not ready to say goodbye and it really don’t get better than this and I know I don’t half go on about it, but I f***ing love Sam and I don’t want him to goooooooooo *wails*… *Ahem*. Ok, I’m done. For now. Ish. So, errr, where was I? On the subject of Wanted, I love how Erin times the ‘to’ at the end of ‘you don’t have to if you don’t want… to’ with the ‘two’ in his countdown to the song. I only half noticed it for ages and then kept forgetting to mention it. Also, when I wasn’t too busy being overwhelmed by how wonderful it all was, I was alert enough to pick up on a little detail; Sam almost seemed to prep for fluffling Josh, stretching out his fingers in a manner not too dissimilar from the ‘tingly fingers’ thing that I do when I want to fluffle, except I usually can’t! Incidentally, Josh happily fluffled himself afterwards too, it was very cute.

So just like this afternoon, Josh held Bobby against him at the start of their ‘love story’, but unlike this afternoon, tonight they stayed pressed together even after their focus shifted to Lucas’ victim. It just meant Bobby ended up bending over, waggling his tongue filthily at the woman in the front row, while Josh took advantage of the position to smack Bobby’s arse and the (b)romance didn’t end there. Admittedly I wasn’t watching them properly in Too Much Time because there was a lot of other stuff going on *cough*STUBBLE*cough*, but after one of them (Bobby?) did something rather violent with his fists that I’m slightly worried was supposed to be sexual, Josh turned around and did his arse clench thing, which Bobby responded to by squeezing a cheek and then sniffing his hand… Even Josh looked a little disturbed by that, but evidently something else caught my attention at that point so I looked away. Only when I looked back, they were in each other’s arms, eyes locked, only a few centimetres away from kissing and moving inexorably closer together until… the lights went out and the scene ended. So close and yet, so far. I ship them so hard :P.

Although on the subject of Josh and arse spanking/grabbing (at least, I think this was tonight, I’m not entirely sure. It’s all a bit of a blur, to be honest); after Josh smacked Jodie’s arse when Sherrie first arrived on the Strip, he then grabbed Luke’s arse too when he passed him on his way into the Bourbon. Luke is sweeping the street outside the front door at that point, while Lucas watches from his perch on the stack of amps. They frequently end up messing about with each other, only I keep forgetting to watch out for it and even when I do remember, I then forget what they got up to by the time I get the chance to note it down. I’ve definitely seen Lucas give Luke a kick up the backside on more than one occasion and the theme is definitely Lucas winding Luke up, but that’s all I can tell you right now. Anyways, continuing on the same theme; obviously Vas can’t goose step here, so in the bit when Hertz guides a rather confused Mayor into stepping with him (towards the back of the stage/desk), he’s replaced it with something else… and grabbed Adam’s arse instead! Although to be fair, Adam’s WTF reaction isn’t all that different. And finally before I stop talking about arses… In the Final Countdown, Sam spanked Lucas with his truncheon when he fell into place behind him on his way round (when the company walk in a circle around Bobby & Alex who are having a heavily choreographed altercation in the middle of the stage), so that was fun :P.

Back to marginally more sensible things and my growing fascination with Cameron’s portrayal of Dennis. I really do wish I had more time to appreciate him and I’d have loved to see where he’d have taken it given the time to really develop the character. To expand on that, I really enjoyed the way he played Drew’s audition scene. He kinda over reacts in a comedic way, falling dramatically back in his chair when he says ‘easy tiger’, but then thinks better of it when Drew starts to walk off. I thought he sounded almost curious when he called him back and I think he’s sufficiently intrigued that he doesn’t want to push Drew too far, especially when he knows his initial reaction has put Drew’s back up. He’s also fleetingly impressed by Drew’s music, even if he’s got a few reservations about his lyrics, so I reckon that’s why he’s less patient with Lonny than he might have been otherwise. Of course it helped that I think Cameron got more feedback from Lucas than usual, so it made sense that his ‘Lonny, go away’s grew increasingly irritable, but whatever was different I loved the way both of them played that whole interaction. Plus Lucas came back on to curtsy after he’d milked us for sympathy and (so I thought) departed. It certainly confused Cameron (who had his back to Lucas and didn’t see him come back on) when the audience suddenly cracked up over a line that had no particular comedy value!

So I have no idea what happened and I didn’t get the opportunity to ask, but when Alex appeared for his Dennis cameo in Can’t Fight, he didn’t have his bandana on. As a result, his wig turned into a mess of fluffy awesomeness and it was one of the best things that happened all night! It was then made even better by the fact that Lucas commented on it, so Cameron patted his when he came back on afterwards. And speaking of wigs… When Sam rode his llama onto the stage, I couldn’t help noticing that there was a deliciously thick stand of fringe caught between his bandana and his hat. I mean, there was a fine stand that escaped significantly earlier and I certainly appreciated that too, but this was better than anything I’ve seen since he got the bandana so it rather got my hopes up and I’m delighted to say those hopes weren’t dashed when he reappeared sans llama. That whole beautiful lock of fringe had indeed escaped the confines of his headgear and was hanging over the bandana looking glorious. I was thrilled.

Somewhat impulsively, I decided to record the second curtain call, because I’ve been seeing clips on social media all week, so clearly everyone else was doing it and I figured why not. Annoyingly the camera on my phone has been having increasingly regular fits and today was no exception so I completely missed the ensemble bow and all of Bobby’s awesome craziness, which sucked. Although Josh later pulled a face at me when he caught sight of the camera and I did at least get the bit at the end when Sam helped Bobby off with his shirt and swung it around before they left the stage, so there’s that…! Plus, most importantly, I got Sam and Lucas doing their usual ‘thing’ at the back, which I can presumably gif, so I will do that at the earliest opportunity and stick it in here ;).

So just in case I wasn’t quite giddy enough, I got a message from Lucas at the interval containing not one, but two photos of he and Sam together and I nearly hyperventilated. My face hurt from smiling so much, they were beautiful and I had totally given up hope of getting a photo of them so it was even better. Plus Sam had his arms up and they were obviously recent because STUBBLE and I genuinely don’t think I could have asked for anything better if I’d been directing the photo shoot myself. The best thing was that he sent me the first picture, then said he thought there was a better one and sent me another…! I’ll confess I nearly replied to the first one with ‘Really? Surely it don’t get better than this?!’, but then he sent me the second one and maybe it does get better than this, because damn! [Edit: I mean it was still my lockscreen six weeks later, so…] I f***ing love those boys and I really can’t thank them enough for indulging my crazy.

Anyway, I managed to pull my giddy self together enough to chat to the Saturday Guy at stage door while we waited for the company. He doesn’t usually wait afterwards as he suffers from standard stagey awkwardness about such things, but since I was there anyway he stuck around and of course they all recognise him from the front row. Admittedly as stage doors go, it wasn’t the most successful, in part because a lot of them left through the middle doors and I wasn’t expecting that, so was badly positioned. I did wave to Sinead and Saran, but spotted Bobby and Adam too late to greet them and didn’t see Alex at all, which sucked since I didn’t see him earlier either. Luke and Jodie vanished somehow (I saw them at the door and then suddenly they were gone) and despite keeping an eye out, I must have missed Cameron too, but on the plus I did manage to stop Tori, so that was something at least. I told her I thought she was brilliant and she gave me a hug! I like her :P. I also had a nice long chat with Josh, so that made up a bit for missing the rest of the ensemble. We mostly chatted about what he’s up to in the break (he’s got a ship gig) and the effect that has on spending time with family over the festive period, but he did add that his other half will be based in London next year, so they’ll get to spend more time together, even though he’ll still be on tour, which is rather lovely. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but it must be a nightmare for stagey couples when they’re both on different tours at the same time.

As for Sam, he came out with Marc and Drew, so they all stopped, but the Saturday Guy ended up chatting to the band, while I fawned over Sam. Of course I hugged him hello, at which point a strand of my hair got caught in his stubble so obviously I then did the only logical thing and earnestly told him quite how much I loved it. He said that since it’s the end of the contract he can get away with growing out his beard and with an opening like that, I caved and asked if he has anything else lined up. I know it’s a horrible question and I hate asking it, but I just couldn’t help myself. Not that I actually know him well enough to know if I’d get a straight answer, but anyway. In any case, he also has a ship gig, next week I believe, but after that is anyone’s guess. Anyway, we talked about his knee slide and he told me he’s done it three times, but keeps hurting himself – the second time he hurt his hand slightly (which I assume is what Bobby was talking about earlier) and this afternoon he really scraped his knee, so he didn’t dare do it again tonight… which is totally understandable, but it’s rather a shame that I apparently recorded the wrong curtain call! I also mentioned that it was such a new show this afternoon, obviously because of Tori and Cameron, but I pointed out that I’d not seen Rhiannon or Erin before either. I think I then said something about how I’d wanted to just watch him, but then there was all this new stuff, so I couldn’t… And it still kinda surprises me how candidly honest I am with him (in a fangirly sense). It feels like I’ve only just met him (I mean, to be fair it’s not exactly been that long since Bromley), so logically I should be more guarded (because I’ve always been so good at subtlety…), yet I always come out with the most ridiculous stuff and it’s fine… at least, I think it’s fine…?! It’s nice though, feeling like I can be me without worrying that he’ll read more into it than I intended. It usually takes years to get to that point!

On which note, I also saw Lucas, who appeared while I was still talking to Sam. I know I gave him a big hug, but I can’t actually remember what we talked about in the end. I know he had some sort of fake cigarette thing he was puffing from, which he was chatting about with the band (I think?). He said he’d stopped smoking a couple of days ago thanks to his new gadget though, so good for him! Anyway, I definitely thanked him (quite profusely) for the photos so he told me they’ve been meaning to do it for ages. I’ll confess I was a bit giddy over the thought that it had been a topic of conversation & not just a lucky coincidence…! I can’t believe I ever doubted them :P.

Needless to say, by the time I finally headed back to my hotel, I was exhausted. Despite that, I would have loved to have gone for a drink on my way back, but by that time of night the markets were shut so my only option was a bar. I didn’t think I could face that by myself, though I was briefly tempted by an Irish pub with a live band that I passed, but it was really busy, so in the end I called in quits. Of course, I didn’t go straight to sleep anyway because I had notes to make, but I was so tired, I had a complete mental block of everything that had happened. All I managed to do was jot down a few stage door notes whilst hoping that the rest would come back to me the following day. There were so many tiny details I knew I wanted to talk about, yet I couldn’t even recall the bigger things. Everything unique about the show was gone… [Edit: I did manage to remember a fair few things over the next few days, hence why I had some stuff to say about the second act. If all I’d had to go on were my notes from that evening, this would have been a significantly shorter post].

So I’d been up for about 20 hours by that point and had barely eaten anything since lunch, so it was probably no surprise that my memory had given up on me entirely. I’m also pretty sure it was a good thing I didn’t get my hands on any alcohol. I nearly ended up in tears and whilst I can (and will) blame that on sleep deprivation and hunger, it’s also beginning to hit me that Sam is leaving tomorrow and I’m really not remotely ok with that… Waaah :(.

Peace, love and rock ‘n’ roll,
K xx

[Actual publish date: 21/1/19.

This has been nearly ready to go for a week or so, but I’ve been distracted by Idiots and didn’t get the chance to finish it. The tour restarts tomorrow though, so even though I’ve still got a few weeks to go til I’m back (and two more blogs to finish before then), I though it was about time to get this out there. Also, for the record, that stunning photo Lucas sent me was my lockscreen right up until a couple of days ago and even then it was a struggle to let it go. Only Nick happened, so… Sorry, Sam! I still love you, I promise!]

STUBBLE! [ROA:92/17]

AKA Facial Fluff – because I’m amused by how many accidentally alliterative (see what I did there) titles starting with F I’ve come up with recently, but not amused enough to change my mind about announcing this post with a simple shout of STUBBLE!

Warning: Contains spoilers.

So it was a very early start to the day. My alarm went off not long after 2am and given that’s usually my bedtime, it was not fun. I also had the genius idea that I could do a walking tour on my arrival, inspired by some of the company who did one the other day (although that’s exactly what I did years ago when I only had a few free hours to see Dublin, so I’m not sure why that didn’t occur to me before). I did think I was cutting it a bit fine, but the flight was on time, the bus to town was easy and stopped a few yards from my hotel (directly opposite a big advert for the show – I got giddy when I saw Lucas’ face) and I had plenty of time to grab some food and catch up on a bit of blogging while I waited for the guide to arrive. Only it started late, the three hour tour turned out to be four and a half, it was a huge group and most of what the guide told us was just a very broad history of Germany, which I actually knew quite a bit of already. We also got caught in a downpour at the Topography of Terrors, at which point I gave up and left. So I got drenched, didn’t have time to go and check in to my hotel, so couldn’t even try to dry off a bit and I also didn’t get to see the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, the bunker or most importantly for me, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Needless to say, I wasn’t in the best mood by the time I made it to the theatre. I was cold, wet, tired and thoroughly fed up. The only saving grace was that I had time to go for a quick rekkie in an attempt to find the stage door and bumped into Barney while I was walking round the back. He pointed out where it was, but told me that no one uses it and they all come out different ways… Which wasn’t as helpful as it could have been, but I gathered I’d be better off round the front, so at least that was something.

Of course once I got inside and saw the stage I felt instantly better. As you may recall, I definitely wasn’t coming to the matinee today, but I like my round numbers and I only needed to add one more to take my total for this leg of the tour (AKA Sam shows) to 20 and besides, round numbers or not, the fact is I just wanted to be there. I came all the way out here to see them, what was the point in denying myself one extra show? Anyway, I’d had my eye on a 9th row ticket all week, but kept dithering in the hope something better would come up and yesterday I got my wish when a single fourth row seat on my favourite side popped up. Clearly it was fate! Especially since it meant I finally got to see Rhiannon as Sherrie. Admittedly it also meant there was far too much new stuff going on on that stage and Sam had frickin’ stubble, so it was all rather overwhelming, but even so I was thrilled to see her and as for the new cast members; wow. I really wish I had more time to watch them, but at least I made the most of my trip out here by coming this afternoon, right?!

So aside from the cast changes, I was fully expecting a few tweaks to the show here and there. What I hadn’t anticipated however, were the tweaks to the staging. For one thing they didn’t have the sheer curtain down the middle of the set, although they did have some big velvet curtains (presumably belonging to the the theatre) that closed at the end of the first act. I assume it was just down to logistics and Lucas disappeared between the velvet ones after getting ‘stuck’ at the front of the stage instead, but I think it lost a lot of the comedy value of sliding under the normal one. Still, on the plus the stage looked much more photogenic at the start and it was nice to be able to see Lucas and the band properly before the show began.

The stage itself was pretty big and much like Dartford, it was set quite far back, with the space over the pit covered up and not really used. When I spoke to Lucas about it later he said he’d have liked to use it, but because of where the lighting rig was, he couldn’t as it wasn’t illuminated. Weirdly however, the arch (that was missing in Sheffield) was really far forward, a fair way from the set. Also, despite the stage size, they still didn’t use the platforms at the sides properly. I’m not sure if it was because of sight lines in the circle (which wrapped around the room like an opera house), but from my perspective the sight lines were terrible. There was a light that totally blocked my view of Sam in Too Much Time, although I took the opportunity to watch the Bourbon Room part of the stage instead. And now I’ve seen it, complete with new Dennis, so that’s all they’re getting. I’m on Sam watch in that bit for the rest of the weekend! Also, while I’m on the subject of the big stage, I realised I wasn’t going mad last Friday when I wondered what happened to Ryan outside the Bourbon in Every Rose. I thought he was meant to be there and was confused as to why he wasn’t, but then Josh didn’t turn up either when he was back in his normal track so I thought I’d somehow got it wrong. In retrospect, I assume they had to lose the extra protestor due to stage size, because tonight Josh was back on the front step where I expected him to be.

They also made a few tweaks to the script, presumably to make it more accessible to a foreign audience. For example ‘narratoring’ became ‘being the narrator’ and ‘formal wear [for pets]’ became ‘evening wear’. For obvious reasons they also skipped the joke about Alec Baldwin and Curly Watts being in the same casting bracket, but I’d wondered if they’d replace it with something and they didn’t. Of course there were also a few changes for Hertz, although less than you might have expected. He had a normal yellow construction helmet instead of the gold German military one and of course he cut the salutes and the goose stepping, which I think are both illegal here [Edit: Apparently goose stepping is not illegal, but nonetheless I imagine it’s not something people would find overly amusing], other than that however, it was pretty much the same as usual. The audience didn’t seem to to have a problem with him though, so I guess there was no need to change anything further.

It was actually kinda fascinating watching the show with such a different crowd. I mean the people around me had NO concept of how to behave and there was loud chatter coming from all angles, but aside from that, it was interesting to see what they laughed at versus what British audiences laugh at. I mean they were really grossed out by the state of the restroom and I think their collective sound of revulsion was the loudest reaction all night. Although that said, the woman next to me reacted comically dramatically to everything and listening to her gasping in shock was funny enough that I considered forgiving the fact that she and her other half talked non-stop (either to each other or to their kids) the entire first act and through a good chunk of the second too. That said, I probably laughed out loud a few times and maybe not necessarily in the same places as the rest of the room, foreign language or no. For example, I may have giggled quite a bit over the latest installment of the Bobby/Josh ‘love story’. This afternoon Josh held Bobby close against him, with Bobby’s back against his chest (at least I think it was that way round… I’m now doubting my own memory) and it was almost sweet… only then Bobby declared ‘no, we can’t’ and reluctantly pulled out of his arms. [Edit: And it’s probably a good thing I’ve not made it to a panto yet, because otherwise I might have helplessly shouted ‘oh yes you can’ back at them!].

So despite my general sense of ‘aaaaaah there’s too much to watch’ I loved getting to see so many new interpretations of the characters and I thought the newbies were incredible. I know they’ve had a few days to find their feet, but even so it’s hardly any time at all and it’s crazy how much they both brought to the roles after so little rehearsal. Tori has an incredible voice, but what I really loved about her was how much she made it her own. She sang it so differently to what I’m used to and anywhere there was room for her to give the vocal her own spin, she did so. It sounded brilliant and I really enjoyed listening to her. Of course her performance was very different too (which I also loved) and I thought her Justice was harsher; more jaded perhaps and less sympathetic, at least early on. I think that made her appear all the more regretful when Drew came a-knocking.

As for Cameron, he’s also got a great voice and it felt like he put more of a stagey twist into Dennis’ vocal than I’ve become used to. He full on sang ‘oh the musical, it never ends’ and he even threw in a bit of a belt at the end; it was quite glorious. He also let’s people finish their lines…! Most notably (for me) was when Stacee was talking about Arsenal’s last tour gig in Portland and Cameron only interrupted at the end of Stacee’s scripted dialogue. I don’t like it when people talk over my Stacee and it’s been an awfully long while since I’ve properly heard the end of that line…! Although on the subject of scripted interruptions. After Cameron declared ‘the Bourbon is an institution’, he finished the line with ‘you can’t just bend me over…’! I’ve got no idea where that came from, but it properly made me laugh. He’s definitely got Dennis’ character nailed and I felt like that came through in every aspect of his performance. I loved the nuances in his acting and there seemed to be a lot going on in the little details of the way he played it. I found him really interesting to watch.

So Cameron also did something that Kevin used to do; moving closer to Luke after he steps away to read the Arsenal article in the newspaper, then scaring the life out of Drew with his unexpected proximity. These days Kevin holds on to Luke’s shoulder and moves with him, so Drew always knows he’s there and I’ve rather missed watching him jump out of his skin, it was fun to have that back. Also, I really liked the way Cameron smirkingly held on to Sherrie until Luke intervened and pushed him back. He relinquished her on demand, but he was certainly enjoying himself in the meantime! Lucas also made me giggle after that when he held Sherrie’s apron in his lap and mimed ‘something’ not-so-little underneath it. On which note (the Lucas note as opposed to the rest of it, but I suppose that’s relevant too…!), Cameron and Lucas seem really comfortable together and they had some great little moments of camaraderie. I mean, he called Lucas ‘sugar lips’ when he told Lucas to her him a beer before Drew’s audition, it was brilliant! Also, Lucas joined in with the silly dance in Can’t Fight This Feeling. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before and I’m too lazy to check, but when Lonny & Dennis hold hands and dance around each other, Dennis does this utterly bizarre, but highly amusing, bouncy, knee lifty thing and today Lucas joined in so they were taking it in turns and it was even more hilarious. I think Cameron is a bit lighter on his feet too, so they were well matched. Not that he could compete with Alex, obviously, but the transition was maybe a little smoother :P. Also on that note, Lucas said something like ‘that’s really contemporary, I love it’ about Alex’s cameo and I’m not sure I’ve heard that one before.

And in case all that wasn’t enough to be getting on with, I had the new old cast too; Rhiannon as Sherrie and therefore Erin as Regina. Of course neither of them got even close to the amount of attention they deserved because there was too damn much new stuff, but hopefully I’ll have more chances to see them in future because they were both great. I mean, Rhiannon has pipes. Not that I didn’t know that already, but I was still impressed. She sounded amazing. Also, on a slight tangent; all the Sherries I’ve seen on this tour have pronounced ‘Chateau Marmont’ totally differently, which I actually rather like (for example, Jodie really goes for the French accent), but to me it will always be the Shaytoo Marimonty and that’s pretty much how Rhiannon pronounced it, so it made me grin.

I saw quite a bit of Rhiannon’s Regina in her Sherrie, but then I think we see a softer, shy-er side to Regina in this production, so perhaps that’s not such a surprise. She still gave her Sherrie a distinct personality though and I think she slotted in somewhere between Jodie and Danielle. She’s very sweet and there’s definitely a lot of naivety there, but she also has spunk and she’s not so nervous of Stacee either. She’s in awe of him of course (who wouldn’t be?), but she’s not scared to go after what she wants. On which note, I’m almost certain there was some face licking today, only I can’t remember when it happened. My best guess was that it was in the restroom, so maybe she licked him? Or vice versa? I really wish I could remember :/. I do recall Sam pointedly looking up Rhiannon’s skirt when he was kneeling on the floor in front of her though.

So, er, I kinda forgot to not watch Sam once he came on properly. I mean it’s not like I’d planned to ignore him, but I really did intend to use this afternoon to focus on all the new stuff. Only his face had new stuff and I was a little bit floored by it. Admittedly I didn’t actually notice it at first, what with the lights and stuff when he was up top in Too Much Time, but once he appeared on the main stage I couldn’t not notice it and holy f***ing hell, if it wasn’t one of the hottest things… He looks amazing with stubble and if he shaves before tonight I’ll cry. Fourth row is far too far away to appreciate it properly!

Of course it then made total sense that Paris’ Constance fell under Stacee’s spell a little earlier than usual (Erin tends to hold out a bit longer)… I mean, I’m sure that’s just how Paris plays it, but it worked as a segue, no?! Anyway, Paris melted when he told her that Arsenal was a living thing; basically as soon as he grabbed her hand and held it against his chest. Also, on a slightly different note [Edit: I’m writing this up really late and didn’t note down which girls were where so I’m doubting my memory, but I’m pretty sure I’m right about this]; Saran was the only groupie getting it on with Stacee mid-set and I guess because that was different and because SAM HAS F***ING STUBBLE AND I CAN’T EVEN, I was paying particular attention to them, so I saw Andy smack her arse with one of his poster rolls. I realise that sounds kinda kinky, but given this is Franz we’re talking about and he maintained an expression of horrified disgust throughout, I think it was done more in the way somewhat might swat at a fly to get rid of it. Still, kinky :P.

As for Erin as Regina; I thought she was really good. She has a great voice and doesn’t usually get a chance to shine, so it was lovely to hear her sing. She also had spirit and despite her baby face, she made an excellent revolutionary leader. Incidentally, I happened to spot her sitting in the front corner of stage right working on her placard and I’ve never noticed Regina doing that before, so that was intriguing. I did wonder why she didn’t have an extra costume for the initial scene in the mayor’s office though. Rhiannon wears a Regina-ish, but slightly more office-y, dress and waistcoat combo, with her hair in a bun, but Erin wore the same costume from the start, with her hair in the same half pony tied with that big ribbony scarfy thing. Not that it matters, but I’m really quite confuzzled by some of the understudy costume choices this tour. Erin did get her own open-pit BBQ animation though and I’d wondered if she would since her face isn’t really visible anyway.

On the subject of projections though; the photo of Lucas and Cameron that they put on the screen at the end looked like it was taken on a phone 5 minutes before the show started, but I actually really liked it! I mean it’s not as good as the fancy canvas they had in town, but despite it’s shadowy nature, I prefer it to the overly polished one they have of Lucas and Kevin. It’s more authentic somehow, even though iPhones weren’t exactly a thing in the 80s and it screams smart phone at me…! As for Lucas, he managed to spot me in the audience even though he thought I wasn’t coming til tomorrow (he messaged me afterwards and said so). I think he must have caught sight of me around halfway through the second act and pulled a few faces at me after that!

So one of the most bizarre things about the whole show was the addition of a second encore, although I certainly wasn’t complaining. The basically just redid the curtain call from the ensemble bows to the end, but with an extra level of crazy. Needless to say, Bobby in particular was absolutely brilliant. He ended up on all fours on the floor, doing some rather intense thrusting, as well as tearing off his jacket and pulling it back and forth between his legs… I feel like that’s a fairly standard (if rather filthy) dance move and there must be a name for it, but I wouldn’t even know what to search for, so I hope you know what I mean…! Still, not to be outdone, Sam gave us an epic knee slide right across the stage and that was even more wonderful. Plus it answered a burning question I had about his trousers. You see, when I wasn’t melting into a incoherent puddle over his facial fluff, I was wondering what he’d done to end up with filthy marks on both knees… I mean I didn’t like to presume, but this is Stacee Jaxx we’re talking about, so… :P.

On Barney’s suggestion, I waited out front after the show and that turned out to be the place to be. I mostly just exchanged hellos as they were all heading out in search of food between shows, but a few of them stopped for a chat. I also saw the guy who does every Saturday (the one I met in Sheffield) and we talked about cheering for the band. I have to say; it’s always good when I know he’s in, because I can follow his lead, rather than having to start it myself. It’s nice to have a day off :P. On which note, Drew said ‘you made it’ as he passed, which made me wonder if there was there a doubt?! Anyway, I complimented Rhiannon as she walked by and she said something about not being on tonight, which briefly confused me (she meant as Sherrie, but I’d thought it was common knowledge that she only had one show, so I initially thought she meant that she wouldn’t be on tonight at all).

Vas paused on his way out and we discussed the fact that he’s still alive as well as the changes they’d made to keep him that way. I then spoke to Bobby (and Adam when he joined us) for a fair while longer and he mentioned that Vas had been (understandably) a bit stressed! He also asked (unprompted) if I liked the knee slide… It’s possible he knows me a little too well…! Although that’s probably not surprising, given how unsubtle I tend to be. Plus I’m even worse on twitter and he keeps liking my tweets… which to be fair I love him for, because no one else cares and it’s rather nice to know that at least they entertain somebody! So of course, I had a reputation to live up to and replied to his comment about the knee slide by telling him that I’d been wondering about the state of the trousers… :P. Although on that note, Bobby said something about someone (Sam?) cutting their finger, but it was more aimed at Adam than me, so I wasn’t sure what he meant. [Edit: Sam mentioned when I saw him after the evening show that he’d hurt his hand during his previous knee slide, so I assume that’s what Bobby was referring to]. I also told them about how and why I’d ended up adding the extra show today and said that I’d been dithering over ninth row when fourth popped up. Bobby then informed me that he’d seen me in fourth, although Adam admitted he hadn’t spotted me. I’ll confess I was rather surprised that anyone saw me that far back though and it’s not like my hair is all that bright right now either. Anyway, as I said, Lucas messaged me afterwards having evidently remembered that I’d asked him about stage door, so I told him I was out front, but didn’t end up seeing him in the end. I wanted to get back to my hotel and check in before the evening show, so assured him I’d catch him later and headed off.

So was it worth the craziness of the morning and the aborted walking tour for that show? Yes, yes it was. I had the best time :D.

Peace, love and fluffy faces,
K xx

[Actual publish date: 10/1/19]

West End Fest

So this one was kind of a tough call. I missed it last year and regretted it, but then it also clashed with West End Unites (which included Simon Lipkin & the original London cast of Avenue Q, as well as a few other notable names such as Michael Xavier), Rosalie Craig at the St James and Kerry Ellis at the Peasantry (although I was a little less bothered by that one), so it was a difficult decision to make. In the end it was Nathan Amzi’s involvement that swung it for me. Part of me was still a little upset that I couldn’t make the others (what I wouldn’t give for a time turner!), but I did have a fantastic night. There were a whole host of incredible performances and I can’t really list them all, but this is a vaguely comprehensive list of everything that stood out for me.

The theme was ‘guilty pleasures’ and what better way could there be of opening such an event than with a High School Musical medley?! I’m not actually sure who the couple were, but I later came to the conclusion that the male singer was David Ribi and I was certainly impressed. He really seemed to be channeling ZEfron and had Troy’s mannerisms right down! Anyway, they sang Start of Something New, Breaking Free and ended on We’re All In This Together. Definitely a strong start to the proceedings!

Sticking with Disney, Sabrina Aloueche and Maria Coyne performed a Frozen medley, with Sabrina singing Let It Go. I love her voice so much! Although it did make me regret my decision not to see Frozen at the cinema today just the teeniest bit. It won’t happen now, I’m determined to wait for the DVD, since I’ve waited this long, but a preorder may well happen…! There was a bit of old school cheese after that with Niall Sheehy singing Des’ree’s Life (which was made particularly brilliant by his introductory comment about the complexity of the lyrics). Aside from Sabrina, who was also one of the organisers, he was one of the main draws for me. He’s a great singer, of course, but he’s also always so funny, I can’t help but adore him. His Electricity last year is on YouTube and it’s sheer brilliance.

I’m also rather fond of Lauren Samuels these days and she sang a couple of numbers too. Her first act performance was Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I really don’t like that song, generally, but I loved the way she did it. She also sang Sk8er Boi in the second act, which showcased her voice better (plus I prefer Avril Lavigne any day). Another organiser was Richard Parnell Page who looked familiar, somehow, but I couldn’t place him. He sang Euphoria with a bit of Viva Forever thrown in at the end and he kinda blew me away. His enunciation was a little unusual and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at first, but he has one hell of a range! I thought he was absolutely incredible.

The act closed with a showcase of a few songs from a new show called Mill On The Floss, by Tom Sutcliffe, I believe. I’m not familiar with the book, but I really enjoyed the performances. The first was a duet between Tom and a girl (who may have been Sarah Mahony, but I’m not certain) about beauty which was was indeed beautiful. Chloe Hart sang a number called Lost and the third was a bit more show stopper-like with more singers, vocal harmonies and whatnot. I thought all the songs were pretty incredible and I’d definitely make a point of seeing it given the chance.

So, it probably shouldn’t have taken me as far as the act break to mention our loveable host, Mr. Scott Garnham. I’m sure it comes as no surprise to any of you that I loved him. In fact I utterly adore him and he always makes me laugh. He’s a great actor and singer, but he also makes a brilliant compere. I love him! He also opened the second act with a Jungle Book medley containing the Bear Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You. Pretty standard choice really! I think the second act was even better than the first, which is high praise indeed. One of my absolute highlights was Aaron Sidwell’s Air Hostess, complete with electro-acoustic guitar and a proper Busted jump at the end! That is what cheese is made of!

On a less guilty pleasure sort of note, one of the most striking performances for me was Ambra Caserotti singing a song called Addiction from a new(ish?) show called the Streets Project. It packed a powerful punch for me; the lyrics were perfect and tied in exactly with the way I feel about certain people – my drug(s). This performance was a little different, though, because there was a male and female dancer performing a beautiful routine. It was incredibly intense and surprisingly erotic given that we were in a church! So between the heartwrenching choreography and a collection of lyrics that were so me it hurt, it was never going to be anything other than amazing. The feels! I need that song in my life.

The second showcase of the evening contained a couple of songs from Sam Cassidy’s new musical; 27. First was a number entitled Orpheus’s Prayer, I think, performed by Ross Wild. It was so intense and a proper rock musical track. Needless to say, I loved it. Although I will mention that I was slightly distracted by his awesome New Rock boots. Justin tweeted a photo of what are presumably his own (new?) New Rocks and it has rekindled my personal desire to own some even though I know it’s completely ridiculous. Seeing another pair this evening didn’t really help the sensible side of me! The second song was more of a company piece and didn’t stand out for me as much, but even more so than with the earlier new show, I left with the certainty that this one needs to be seen in its entirety.

Back to cheese and we had Rebecca Caine singing an operatic version of My Heart Will Go On, an instant winner for me! There was also Tori Allen-Martin, singing Skyscraper. I’ve only really come across her at gigs, but she has an awesome voice. One that definitely captured the theme of the evening was Rob Houchen (who I believe is the current Marius in Les Mis) singing a medley of Heaven Is A Place On Earth & Justin Bieber’s Baby (which I still hate, but is generally far less irritating when sung by an awesome vocalist). There was also Kieran Brown’s rendition of Til I Hear You Sing. I know it’s considered a guilty pleasure (or a self-indulgent ballad, eh, Scott?!), but I still think it’s an incredible musical theatre number and no matter what anyone says, those sweeping melodies and ringing notes will always give me tingles. That said, it did look a little odd when sung by a guy dressed in a red blazer with black trim that looked like it had been stolen off of a member of the Jersey Boys cast! (This was joked about more than once).

And so to the grand finale, which was always going to be the absolute highlight of the evening; Wrong Direction. They were the stars of last year’s Fest and although the lineup has changed a little since then, I was still delighted to finally get a chance to see them! They were comprised of Niall Sheehy with the funniest hair style I’ve seen in ages (I’m not sure if it was a wig or just his real hair straightened, but it was a bit like Sam Cassidy’s style, which looks fab on him, but looked completely ridiculous on Niall!), David Ribi, Aaron Sidwell (I love him, but it did make me laugh when he asked ‘am I sexual?’ and the rest of the boys responded with a sort of meh reaction) and the kick-ass Mr. Nathan Amzi! They performed Backstreet’s Back, complete with proper boyband choreography and it was worth the ticket price for that alone!

I didn’t bother to hang around post-show, but I saw Sam Cassidy on his way out so I felt the need to stop him and tell him I loved his show and thought the music was wonderful. He thanked me and told me I should come and see it. As I mentioned earlier, I’ll definitely be seeing this one, given the chance. Ross’s performance certainly gave it life, but that first song really was spectacular. I also waited around long enough to briefly see Nathan. It was horribly busy so I didn’t really have space for a hug, but I told him I’d seen him on TV and how I couldn’t really express how proud I was! It was just so awesome to see him performing live again *happy sigh*. Although it’s somehow still weird seeing him without the Lonny facial hair! I actually caught up with his battle round on The Voice this afternoon and I was gutted he didn’t get through, but I’m still so damn proud of him. He sounded incredible and just… proud. *sniffle*. Hopefully it won’t be long until I get to hear him sing again, whether it’s in a music capacity or back in theatre.

So overall, I had a pretty awesome night. It was lovely to catch up with a few of my ROAdies again and it was topped off perfectly by the discovery that the Les Mis advert is back on the advertising screen at the Wyndham’s entrance to Leicester Square tube station. In other words, Liam Tamne in all his arse-wiggling, revolutionary glory has returned. He has been missed!

In other news, Tom tweeted that he was back in Hawaii yesterday afternoon (and I had visual confirmation of this from a friend tonight) so with any luck, that means Tuesday is a go (although I checked with a friend and he definitely wasn’t on in the evening). I mean, it probably would have been anyway (particularly as it now sounds like Rob IS in after all), I’m kinda missing the show a little too much to stay away, but it’ll be far happier if I get to see Tom again! Especially since I’m still ever so slightly frustrated by the sub-par Twitter conversation with Justin the other day and could really use the fangirling distraction. (Incidentally, I noticed his last shouty tweet to me about the playwright had vanished, but Merlin knows what that means). It’s also a relief to stop worrying about Tom, though I guess he might be back part time at first? Anyway, further to the initial point of this paragraph, he also mentioned in that tweet that there was a new overture, which sounds intriguing…!

Finally, The Last Carnival’s latest Live In Session video has been postponed until tomorrow night, which kinda sucks as I’m off to Brighton for Room 94. I hadn’t been best pleased by the prospect of having to wait all evening to see it, had it gone up at 7 tonight. Knowing I’ll have to wait overnight is infuriating! They did sort of make it up to me with the news I’d been hoping for, however. They’ve been teasing about a tour announcement for a while and I’ve been trying not to get my hopes up too high in case it was just some sponsorship deal or something similar that would be great for them, but would generally impact me very little. Turns out it’s pretty much the best thing I could think of. They’re going to be doing some videos of the tour, including some behind the scenes action! Hopefully there’ll be some decent performance stuff too (I’d love a professional full show recording), but either way, I’m sure it’ll be amazing. Especially if there is dressing room footage… ;). At the very least I’d assume that this one will actually happen, unlike the Room 94 films that never seemed to appear, despite my having been to two advertised DVD recordings and having to put up with cameras shoved constantly in my face at the London show on their last tour!

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx