Many thanks!

I'd like to thank becroberts, biscuitbear, blacktempest, bramblehedge, chokingcufflink, fushigitenshi, kosquarepelli, muscatlove, pringlepartie, spark_658, sumeragiskank, vanillafire, and yanchamonkey for the birthday wishes. It was super nice of all of you! *hugs*

My birthday was so amazing. I went to see the Les Miz revival and was sitting RIGHT BEHIND THE CONDUCTOR!!! The cast was really good at emoting in particular Fantine, Marius and Valjean. In fact, the Valjean was absolutely amazing and this comes from someone who saw Colm Wilkinson live. Our Valjean was Alexander Gemignani, who was also the Beadle in the recent Sweeney Todd as well as John Hinkley in Assassins. I never would have thought he would make a fabulous Valjean, but wow, so so so good. And he really became Valjean, not just someone playing a role. The Fantine was Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was Mimi in Rent. Her voice at times seemed a little harsh for the role, but she made you really feel for Fantine and in the end one of the things I like about musicals, is when people actually act. It's my biggest problem with most Gilbert and Sullivan/Opera productions. The voices are generally nice but they sacrifice any acting. The Marius was Adam Jacobs who was SO good. He got weepy at various points. The Enjolras was great, he had lovely voice, Granitaire humped the ass of Feuilly (Or maybe it was Combeferre, it was another student) and obsessed over Gavroche. o_O Cosette had a pretty voice and had more personality than some of the other Cosettes I have seen. Javert had a lovely voice and was best in his scenes with the students. Gavroche was adorable, and the Thenardiers were quite good. Eponine was mostly good, at times I felt like she was playing to the audience and not to the other characters though. ^^;; In general, I really liked this cast, they were actually stronger than the original Broadway cast (David Bryant==horrible) and were probably the best cast in total I've seen live.

The worst thing hands down, is the things cut. Yes, I know Les Miserables by heart, so I knew each time something got cut. Exmples: the second verse of Castle on a Cloud, several lines from Fantine's arrest. Several lines from when Gavroche reveals who Javert really is, a line from the Attack on Rue Plumet, and a bunch of other lines. They added a tiny bit where Valjean meets Cosette in the woods. I really really hope they make a CD of this cast since I would actually buy it in a heartbeat.

I waited after and got autographs from: Fantine, Cosette, Eponine, Marius, Valjean, Javert, Enjolras, Granitaire, Gavroche, and Monsieur Thenardier. Madame left without giving any. ~.~ Though I admit the other characters were more important to me cause I so loved some of them (like Valjean *___________* )

All this has reminded me how much I love shows. I need to make sure to se a play or musical more than once a year. If I can go to Japan once a year, I should be able to handle a show. Perhaps I will ask my mother for tickets to see Avenue Q as a gift, or that play about apples...