A.Ham at My.Home

Hamilton on Disney+

July 3, 2020

The Sherry Cave

Yes, folks, I'm blogging about Hamilton from my house as I watch it.  I sent this Pic Collage to Bro and V.  

The last time I saw this show was in Puerto Rico with Lin Manuel Miranda reprising his title role, and I got all emotional thinking about that awesome trip, and the show that they gifted me for my birthday.  Then I started crying and realized that I needed to go back to watching the show and blogging already.  Also, those M&Ms needed my attention.

Love the vocal percussion during the opening castle logo.  Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!

I'm so happy that I can do this and maybe pay better attention another day, like tomorrow.  

I'm also happy that I get to see all of the performers that I hear when listening to my CD, even though I've liked all of the touring performers, too.

"Don't modulate the key and not debate with me!"

Love seeing Jonathan Groff's facial expressions as King George.  I love seeing all of the facial expressions up close!

That lighting with each BOOM!

Rewind is about to break my heart again.   Oh my gosh, her voice is so awesome!!!

Liz is watching right now, too, and loving the close-ups.

"Call me 'son' one more time!"  Whoa, so angry.

Lafayette / Jefferson is probably my favorite role(s) besides Hamilton.  Oh, it's Joe's, too!

I cannot help but say "Immigrants.  We get the job done!" with them, even when in the theatre, although without any sound.

"We'll never be free until we end slavery."

This is drum corps, but dancing with real-looking rifles and a live orchestra instead of brass instruments.  Also, you can't see the instruments.  So maybe Winter Guard?

Uh oh, here comes George again.  Crazy mofo.  "Awesome. Wow."  King George is from the San Fernando Valley.

"When your people say they hate you, don't come crawling back to me."  (You hear that, current President!?!?  Oh, sorry, I'm a little stressed out about our country right now.)

So, what actually happens to Theodosia?  I need to do some research.

Ooh, intermission!

I don't think Jefferson actually needs that cane if he can dance that way.

"We all know who really does the planting."

Love that cabinet meeting, especially when they reference Grandmaster Flash. 

So love Eliza providing the beatbox.

"My dearest, Angelica".  Grammar is important, and I love that they note that.

"Tell my wife John Adams doesn't have a real job anyway."

"Screw your courage to the screwing place." -- Macbeth / Beauty and the Beast / Hamilton

...and then Sherry gets pissed off at Hamilton.  But then again, he was a Tom Cat.

"I said that last time, it became a pastime."  Hey, that word is in my blog title!

Love that "Room Where It Happened" groove.

"You must be out of your go*&*mn mind!"  and then he talks about speaking with King Louis' severed head.

"I'm sorry.  What?"

Yes, George, history has its eyes on you.  Love King George's not realizing that a leader can just step down.  Also, his reaction to John Adams becoming president is hilarious.

Uh oh.  Ominous music.

Such power in Eliza's voice during "Burn".

"Everything is legal in New Jersey."

CRYING NOW.  Unimaginable.

"Can we get back to politics?"

"At least they know I know where France is."

I sometimes wish that my first name started with an "A", so I could sign letters like in the "A.Ham" / "A.Burr" way.

Ahhhhh, this countdown.  Sooo good.

Wise up, eyes up.

I love when she tells her story.  It's making me cry again.

That was so great!  Thank you, Disney, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the cast and crew of Hamilton!  I needed this to make my soul feel better in such a tumultuous time.  Weird,huh?  Because it's not like this is a happy-go-lucky kind of show, but it's just...ahhhh.

Good night, and Happy Independence Day, USA!

Singing in the Shipyard

The Last Ship

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Ahmanson Theatre

Los Angeles, CA

KP wasn't able to use her tickets to see "The Last Ship", so she gave them to me for Bro and V to use.  Thanks, KP!!  She had tickets for another day, too, so I'm glad for that.  I arrived at the Music Center a little bit early, so I bought a glass of wine and a cookie while I waited for the doors to open to the theatre.  Construction recently completed, which included a new fountain, so I just watched that while I played my game on my phone.

Sting is on a theater poster, y'all.

The doors were opened and Bro and V hadn't arrived yet, so I walked around to read the walls, which had some historic photos of performers at the Music Center.

Little did he know back then that he would
be the voice of Vader.

Prior to almost causing a
Global Thermonuclear War

Bro snuck up on me and I ignored his attempt to say hello to me, because I'm used to ignoring people in Downtown LA.  Sorry about that, Bro.  When V joined us, we went to our seats, which were first row balcony, so it was kind of scary for me to be close to the edge, but I liked our view.

Thank you, KP!

It was opening night in LA, but I forgot to look for famous people in the lobby. 

The orchestra is on the stage
as they were for Dear Evan Hanson.

Most of the cast was on stage prior to the show, and they waved to people in the audience, including us.  I'm just letting you know this because SOMEBODY said it would be entered on a blog somewhere.

• Lots of applause as soon as Sting entered the stage.  He did not disappoint!
• I loved Frances McNamee's voice!  She played Meg, and she made me cry, maybe two or three times.
• When they started speaking with their accents, V was concerned that she wouldn't be able to understand what was going on in the show.  Same here, but we eventually got used to the cadence of their speech.
• I don't know how they dance in those heavy boots.
• I wonder if the character of Ellen is supposed to represent Sting, since she is a musician and wants to follow that dream.
• So did Meg just not want to even tell Gideon that she was having his baby?  Maybe he would have come home...or maybe she was afraid that even if he knew, he wouldn't come home.  Of course, I concentrated more on the romance part of the show more than the whole shipyard ordeal.  
• The special effects of the set were really cool.  I especially liked the silhouettes during "When We Danced".

Curtain Call

I looked at the price of the vinyl album autographed by Sting, but the $100.00 price tag was too pricey for me.  So I kept with the magnet that I bought because I liked the stained glass design in the background.

I liked the poignancy of the show, and I think Sting did a great job, as did all of the performers.  

"The Last Ship" runs through February 16, 2020.  Go see him before he goes to his residency in Vegas!

Journey To The Past

Anastasia

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Pantages Theatre

Hollywood, CA

I was happy to see that Goldstar was selling tickets to "Anastasia" at the Pantages, because I wanted to see it but didn't want to spend a lot of money.  Bro happily met up with me while I was eating at The Pie Hole before walking to the theatre for the show.

Trick or Treat Pie
Yes, those are potato chip crumbs!

I bought a tiara as my souvenir, because, well, Princess!  Our seats were upstairs on the left aisle of the center section.  Nice view!  The curtain had images of snowflakes falling.  Bro thought maybe it might snow in the theater later, like at Disneyland.

• I hadn't seen the movie in a long time, but I did notice a bunch of differences in the play, most notably the absence of Rasputin and his bat friend.  I missed them!  The antagonist, instead, was a Bolshevik General named Gleb.
• Great job by little Anastasia, Delilah Rose Pellow! 
• Interesting way of showing what happened the night of the fire.
• How can Anya possibly doubt that she is Anastasia if she is having all of those flashbacks?  I mean, I know she was young when it happened, but how else could she explain all of those memories in the palace?
• What I remember from the movie is that Anya had the key that opened the music box, and not a memory of the method to open the music box.  They couldn't give her a necklace to make it more visual?
• I'm glad that they kept one of my favorite lines "And I recall his yellow cat!"  "I don't believe we taught her that." 
• I liked the set of them traveling on the train.
• Vlad and Lily were hilarious together!  It was no surprise to me that portrayers Edward Staudemayer and Tari Kelly received the biggest applause of the supporting cast.
• Beautiful dancing during "Swan Lake", and I like how it worked with "Quartet at the Ballet".  I need to see that ballet someday.
• I did not enjoy the show as much as I like the movie, but I did like it.  I guess I just really missed my bat, Bartok.  Not because he's the greatest character, but because he's a bat.
• I liked the songs that I knew more than the other ones, but you know, I'm a purist.  
• "Once Upon A December" is still my favorite. I love that song.

Typical Sherry Selfie
Thanks for joining me, Bro!

A Helicopter in Hollywood

Miss Saigon

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Pantages Theater

Hollywood, CA

When I saw that Miss Saigon would be touring to LA, I was excited to get tickets because it had been a really long time since I last saw it.  I arrived early, so I ate a snack at The PieHole while playing Wizards Unite.  There are a BUNCH of inns and fortresses along Hollywood Blvd, so if you play, take some time to go there and enjoy!

Pics of the Touring Cast

Helicopter!

  

 Bro and V wanted to join me, so I met up with them at the theater.  I bought a hat that was themed to the show and had the helicopter logo on the button detail.

Bro's shirt is the same color as the merchandise!

I love the art deco style of this theater, and I always seem to see details I've never noticed before.

We had quite the discussion about the woman's
breast hanging out. 
Like, Bro didn't realize that was her breast.

We took a selfie by the photo op board, and that's when they told me they'd never seen the show before.  "There's a helicopter in the show?"  Oh, boy!  Two newbies!  I thought that Bro had seen it with me the last time I went, but I guess not.

Costumes were on display in the lobby.

Engineer

Engineer

Chris

Kim

Our seats were in the right orchestra section, with a great view of the stage, while being able to see the actors' facial expressions.

Screen/curtain

Excited!

• The cast did not disappoint me in the least.  They all had great voices, and I really liked the chemistry between Chris (Anthony Festa) and Kim (Emily Bautista).
• I especially loved Festa's rendition of "Why God?" -- very nice floating high note.
• I always relate much more to Kim than I do to Ellen (I'm more a fan of the one singing the torch song), but Stacie Bono did a very nice job gaining my sympathy.  
• Eymard Cabling was great as the Engineer, bringing humor to his role with a little bit of ham, but not an offputting amount of it.  
• I was also impressed with J. Daughty's portrayal of John.  He was more of a jerk than I remember John being, but Daughty's voice pretty much made me forget the jerk part during his awesome rendition of "Bui Doi".  He brought soul to the song and made it his own!
• During intermission, Bro was humming parts of the first act, and mashing them up with stuff from Les Miz, because they had the same composers.  
• There were little changes to the lyrics and addition to the story between Kim and Thuy.  I'm a purist so I didn't really like the changes.  Like, I don't remember Thuy's ghost telling her to remember the scene that involves the helicopter, and I thought the "Please" scene came a little bit earlier in the show, but it's been a long time since I've seen it, so I could be wrong.  I just looked at my old CD from the original Broadway Cast, and I'm not going crazy: the song was called "Please", not "Too Much For One Heart", as it is now called.  That first "please" gets me every time and the water works start.
• The helicopter: I thought, when they showed the digital projection on the screen, that maybe they couldn't fit a chopper into this theater (I had previously seen it at the Ahmanson).  So I was disappointed at first, and then, lo and behold, there was the cabin of the real one!  YAY!!!  That's probably my favorite scene of the whole show because that's when you find out how they got separated, and the pleading from everyone, and I'm about to cry again.
• I mean, of course I love the whole story of Chris and Kim falling in love.  I love their songs, especially "The Last Night of the World".  They sang it beautifully.
• I also liked the dancing by the soldiers, because it was a lot of marching.  :)  
• V and Bro liked the show, but V doesn't know if she could see it again because it's so sad.  I'm glad she got to see it at least once, though.

Thanks for joining me, Bro and V!  I believe the show's run has ended at the Pantages, but I highly recommend this show if you get a chance to see it while it is still on tour.

Les Miz Again!

Les Miserables

Les Miserables National Tour

Hollywood Pantages Theatre

Los Angeles, CA

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

My drive to work this morning started with listening to Santa Clara Vanguard's 2013 show "Les Miserables".  Later in the day, a memory came up on Facebook of the time I saw "Whose Line Is It Anyway" and they included "Les Miz" in one of the sketches.  It was like the universe was telling me, "What a perfect day for you to see your favorite show!"

You might be thinking to yourself, "Wait. Didn't she just post a blog very recently about Les Miz?"  Well, yes.  Yes, I did.  But now it's the national touring company's turn.  When I arrived at the theatre, I had plenty of time to shop and relax before being allowed to enter the house and find my seat, which was on the left aisle of the mezzanine in row K, seat 19.

I reminisced about seeing the show my very first time, and it was in this theater, also in the mezzanine, but in one of the back rows.  I was with my family and my best friend's family, and that night, I fell in love with a show that would continue to touch my heart 25 years later.

I always love seeing the iconic poster in LA!

View from my seat

View of stage at intermission

• I enjoyed listening to Nick Cartell's voice (Valjean).  It was strong and powerful, and he hit that high note in "Bring Him Home" and other songs just beautifully.  
• I also liked Andrew Maughan's voice (The Bishop of Digne), and I see now in the program that he is one of the understudies for Valjean, which makes perfect sense to me.  I'd be interested in seeing his performance in the lead role, too.
• As I watch Les Miz more and more, I have come to really despise the Factory Girl.  I guess I'm supposed to do so, but still, she's just so hateful.
• Aubin Bradley (Little Cosette) did a great job!  I wanted to hear her sing more.
• Allison Guinn (Madame Thenardier) was hilarious.  I love the way she used the baguette as her prop for her lines in "Master of the House" to show the difference between "he thinks he's quite a lover", and then breaking off a small piece and singing, "but there's not much there".  Then she violently hacked away at the bread with a huge knife, and I giggled my way through the rest of the song.
• It's a shame that I didn't really care for Paige Smallwood's performance as Eponine, because that is my favorite character in this show.  I thought she sounded too nasal during her recitatives, and while I thought her voice was powerful and her intonation was spot on, I just didn't feel it.  Usually, "On My Own" has me in a mess of tears, and it didn't happen this time.  I did like, though, the way her final note in the song echoed in the silence of the rest of the theater.  That lingered for a while, and it made me smile because the audience let the moment happen instead of jumping to applaud right away.
• I did like Smallwood's part in the trio with Jillian Butler (Cosette) and Joshua Grosso (Marius), as the voices balanced well and sounded lovely together.  
• Butler's lilting voice was quite nice, and her high notes just floated and were divine!
• Grosso's performance had a bit of humor in it that I'm not used to, and I quite enjoyed it.  I especially liked the way he portrayed Marius' nervousness when he squeaked out the seconf line of "A heart full of love" before saying, "I'm doing everything all wrong!"
• Oh, Enjolras, always so earnest.  I was distracted by Matt Shingledecker's breathing, though, like the microphone was too close to his chest or something. 
• I felt like Josh Davis (Javert) didn't feel like singing the low notes much, because he did not do my favorite "Valjean" lyric at the opening of "Confrontation" all slow and menacing the way I like it. 
• I don't know if that was the fault of the orchestration, though, because the entire production seemed to me like it was being performed a couple of metronome clicks faster than I am accustomed.  Like, maybe the director didn't want them to relish their notes the way I want them to do so.  At intermission, I thought, "Isn't it usually 2 hours in by intermission?" It was at "only" an hour and 45 minutes at that time.
• Parker Weathersbee (Gavroche) was awesome.  He had a great voice, and I enjoyed every moment he was on stage, even his small gesture of offering Eponine's hat to Marius after she passed.
• Oh, don't get me wrong, I didn't hate Smallwood's performance in its entirety: I thought her duet with Grosso in "A Little Fall of Rain" was fine, but I think I cried more for Marius than for her, which is not normal for me.
• The set was interesting, because they didn't use the rotating stage for this production. Instead, they used traditional set pieces that were pushed forward, or magically floated across the stage, like one of the tables on house left.  This made the staging a bit strange to me, because I expect the women to be turning on the stage during "Turning", but they weren't.   I missed it the most, though, during the battle scenes, because I like how the original production turns the stage around so that we see the aftermath of Enjolras on the barricade.  With this staging, they show him afterward in the back of a wagon, where they also put Gavroche.  

Although I liked this production, it was not my favorite, but it's still Les Miz, and I still cried, and I was still uplifted by hearing the people sing. 

Sorry about all of the white dots from the lights
One Day More

Nick Cartell as Jean Valjean

Vive L'Apaches

Les Miserables

Arcadia Stage Theatre Company

Arcadia Performing Arts Center

Arcadia, CA

Thursday, March 14, 2019

A few weeks ago, I saw a banner flying above me as I drove down Huntington Drive, advertising that the theatre students at my alma mater would be performing my favorite musical.  Awesome!  I bought my ticket.  I rushed to the high school after work, got in the very long line of General Admission folks, got my ticket scanned, took a couple of pictures in the lobby, used the facilities, and entered the door to the house of the theatre.  I asked where I could get a program, and one of the ushers walked to the other entrance to get one for me, and another one looked for a seat for me.  What service!  She found a seat for me in the front row!  In the center section!  In seat 19!  I felt like the luckiest alumnus in the building.

Photos of the cast

Props and photos of the set

I liked the French flags hanging from the balcony

Director Steven Volpe made announcements from the stage, and talked about the importance of the show in his own life and how the theme of forgiveness and people standing up for their rights is relevant in today's political landscape.  

The first musical he saw was Les Miz

• Brady Stubbs, playing Valjean, had me in tears already during the first song.  He never failed me throughout the show.  I was amazed at the fact that this person was still in high school.  The acting, the singing, just everything.  He was awesome.  I found myself beaming with pride for him, like I was his mom or something, especially during "Bring Him Home", as he sang beautifully, and tackled that last high note like a pro.
• I saw Brady limping and was, like, is that a Valjean limp, or is he actually limping, because I saw him jump off the stairs and was worried that he fell wrong.  So if that was a character thing, it was brilliantly done.  If that's the actual way he walks, then I'm sorry that he had to climb the stairs so often.
• Brady was evenly matched with Joe Ganley as Javert.  His rage and frustration with Valjean was clear, and I was impressed.  I do think that Javert's low range was a little bit too low for Ganley, but he handled those low notes OK anyway.  I loved when he entered the stage after Fantine's Death with "Val...jean" at the low end of his range.  So cool.
• I would have liked for the confrontation between Valjean and Javert to be the full piece, because I love that vocal battle.  Perhaps some of the lyrics were inappropriate for the high school stage, I don't know.  
• Ah, yes, the virtuous Fantine.  Gabriela de Santiago was wonderful as Fantine, and she made me cry, as she was supposed to do.  I didn't like the makeup around her eyes when she was dying (it seemed too red for me), but her voice outshone that, and I loved seeing how tender Valjean was with her at that moment.
• The couple playing the Thenardiers (Andrea Contreras and Alex Zhao) were very funny.  I'm surprised that they were able to recite some of the lyrics from "Master of the House", but they did edit, like using the word "Mercy" instead of "Jesus", which I felt was awkward, but probably necessary.
• Young Cosette (Charlotte Li) and Gavroche (Joshua DeLuca) were cute as could be.  They are students at the middle and elementary schools, and had good stage presence. The lines they flubbed slightly did not flummox them at all, and they were able to carry on, and I think that's great.  I might have crumbled at that age, but they did not.  My problem is that I know those lines by heart, so I'm pretty sure the rest of the audience didn't even notice because they both handled themselves well.
• And then there's my favorite role, Eponine.  Megan Colton did a wonderful job with this role and I felt her pain along with her when she was watching Marius and Cosette fall in love.  In "On My Own", she beautifully sang and displayed the emotion needed for the role, and that big note followed by the "I love him" were especially heart wrenching.
• Marius and Cosette had a nice chemistry, and the voices of their portrayers, Derrik Griggs and Dominique Stellern.
• I was impressed with the commitment from the actors as they sang from their deepest insides, sometimes growling in anger when they sang, and I thought, "YES!  That's the way to give it your all!"  
• The show was shorter than the professional production, partly because of some of the cut portions, but there weren't many of those.  The music was pre-recorded and was at a faster tempo than is played with a live orchestra in the professional shows.
• The costumes were very well done, and looked like what you would see from a professional Broadway show, even from my view in the front row.  Nice job, costume department!  
• I also liked the set.  Instead of having a turntable stage, which would be really expensive to build, a large circular staircase was rotated on the stage, and the performers walked up and down the stairs while they sang.  I loved the way that the stairs were disconnected in the middle when Javert jumps to his death in his final song.  

Can you tell that I loved this performance?  I'm really glad that I was able to go so I could cheer on these young folks.  I wouldn't be surprised if any of the principals became Broadway stars.  I'm still reeling at their amazing talent.  Congratulations on an outstanding opening night, AHS, and thank you for doing justice to my favorite show.

A closer look at some of the cast:
Top: B Stubbs as Valjean & J. Ganley as Javert
2nd row: D. Griggs, D. Stellern, M. Colton, G. DeSantiago
3rd row: D. Ro (Enjolras), A. Contreras, A. Zhao
4th row: C. Li, J. DeLuca, N. Stone (Young Eponine)

I Am An Islander

Come From Away

Segerstrom Hall

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Costa Mesa, CA

Glenndy enjoyed "Come From Away" at the Pantages so much that they wanted to see it again in the OC, and asked if I'd like to join them.  Since we weren't going for the really expensive seats, I was in!  Then they asked if I'd like to go to dinner, and we decided to go to Leatherby's Cafe Rouge.

Dinner was wonderful, despite my feeling that I was sitting in the Cone of Silence.  We got to see a friend of ours, whom we miss from Catal.  We were sorry that we couldn't stay for dessert because our show was going to start soon.  He asked us to meet up with him after the show, and we happily agreed.

Our seats were in the Loge, house right, row T, seats 8-10.  Nobody was sitting in one of the seats in front of me, so I was able to have a clear view of the stage.  I knew a couple of songs from the show from listening to it in Bro's car.  Cindy had told me the basic premise, and I'm glad she did because we didn't really have time to read the program before the show started.  The story is about a town in Nova Scotia, where many of the planes had to land on 9/11 when all flights were grounded.

• This show is non-stop.  It had no intermission, which was unfortunate for me, because I had to miss a couple of songs.  It was nice that they pipe in the sound in the restroom and lobby area so that I could at least hear what was going on.
• Cool staging!  I like how they arranged the chairs from being passengers on a plane, to being passengers on a bus, etc.
• Wow, the actors had at least 2 characters to learn for this show, and there are a LOT of words.  Kudos to y'all for making it look seamless.
• I liked how the relationships developed between the different characters, especially Diane and Nick.  Because I'm a shipper.
• I really liked the mashup of the different religious songs in "Prayer".  I think that was the most poignant part of the show for me.  That, and when the guy realized that he could communicate with the non-English speaker by using passages from the Bible, starting with Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious".
• "I am the executive chef for a major hotel chain!"  
• "Please send the recipe for the cod."
• Crazy how some people had to stay on the plane for 28 hours.  "Do you want some Xanax?"  Dude, I would take it.
• "There are probably a lot of women of childbearing age on those planes."
• "So I went back to Shoppers..."
• Aw, they named him "Gander".
• I really like how we got to see the effect of 9/11 on the people on the other planes, as well as the folks in these generous, lovely towns in Newfoundland, as well as, I'm guessing, in many other parts of the world.  We focus so much on the tragic stories of that horrible day, but this show is about the goodness of people despite fear and terror.
• The band was awesome!  I love that they got their own spot during curtain call.

I bought a CD and a scarf, then we went to George's bar to meet up with our friend, Albert.  After several minutes, he was able to take a break and sit down with us so we could catch up.  It was really great to see him, and we hope to return on a night when we don't see a show, so that we can take our time.  A staff member at the cafe took this pic for us with this lovely backdrop.

Thank you, Albert!

Ah, Belle!

Beauty and the Beast

5-Star Theatricals

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

Saturday, July 21, 2018

My friend Jeff posted on Facebook that Susan Egan would be reprising her role as Belle in Beauty and the Beast one day, and as soon as I saw the post, I alerted Bro and V.  Very soon after that moment, tickets were purchased.  BatB is one of Bro's and my favorite musicals, and Susan is my favorite Belle, so we HAD to go!  

Due to some car trouble I'd been having this week, I took a lyft to Bro's house.  My driver was very friendly.  When I arrived and rang the doorbell, Bro answered the door. Not seeing a car in the driveway, he asked how I got there.  I told him and he said I should just take lyft everywhere so I could have a driver and never have to worry about my own car.  Well, there's a thought!  After curling Miss O's hair (V's first time using a curling iron!), and Mr. B changing his shorts to pants, we were on our way to Thousand Oaks.

We had lunch at Umami burger, which was yummiful.  I had an Impossible Burger for the first time and enjoyed it, so if I see that as an option on hamburger menus, that just might be my new go-to healthy option.  

The theater was located on the same block as the restaurant, so that was convenient!  We did need to drive to the parking structure because of the time limit of the street parking, though.  Bro had his two Beauty and the Beast jackets, so V wore one over her fancy dress.

Our seats were in row L, in the center of the row, so it was a nice view.  The theater is quite nice, and I hope to see other shows there someday.

• Patrick Cassidy (yes, of THAT family!) took the stage and introduced himself as the Artistic Director of 5-star Theatricals.  He talked about the arts program and how thrilled he was that Susan Egan would be reprising her role after 20 years in this production.  I was loud with my appreciation.  He also stated that all of the performances throughout the run were dedicated to Gary Beach, whom was in the OBC as Lumiere, and had passed away this week.
• As soon as I saw Susan Egan, my eyes started to well up with tears.  Ah, Belle!
• Those tears happened a few times, especially when she sang my favorite piece from this musical: "Home".  She still sounds wonderful!  I do not know why it is called "Is This Home?" in the program.
• Also, during "No Matter What".  This song always makes me cry anyway because of the love between Belle and her father, but I think it was bittersweet for me because it made me think of Tom Bosley, and I miss him.   This is not to take away from David Gilchrist's Maurice; he did a great job.
• Jason Chacon did a lovely job as Beast.  He has a beautiful voice and it matched well with Susan's.
• Adam Hollick was hilariously evil as Gaston.  I've always loved "Me" and he and Susan were quite funny together.  Also, he's buff.  I mean, hubba hubba.  It's no wonder those silly girls were so crazy for him.  But Belle knows better.
• "A Change In Me" is a new song to me, which was APPARENTLY added when Brandy took the lead role on Broadway.  
• When the villagers arrived to take Maurice to the Maison des Lunes, Belle was supposed to stand on a bench to show the magic mirror to all of them.  But the bench fell on its side.  She said, "AUGH!", but it was a perfect moment because her character was frustrated with everyone anyway.
• Cogsworth was supposed to have a winding key on his back when Lumiere noticed that he was turning more into a clock, but it wasn't there.  Then a few minutes later after he had gone off stage and come back, the key was there.  Then it somehow got lost again later.  Props can be a pain.  I was worried that the snafus would also affect the transformation, but it was ok.
• I also enjoyed the performances of the secondary characters: Mark Ginsburg (Lumiere), Gregory North (Cogsworth), and Daisy Bishop (understudy for Mrs. Potts).  They worked well together, and were fun to watch.
• The dancing was fun, especially my favorite dance piece: the stein clinking portion of "Gaston".  I teared up a little bit, though, when Lumiere danced with Belle, as I thought of Gary Beach.

After the show, we were treated to a Q&A with the cast, director Yvette Lawrence, music director Dan Redfeld, and choreographer Cheryl Baxter.  This was the only show for which they did this, so we were happy to attend.  (We had also been invited to a little reception before the show with a couple of the actors, but weren't able to make it to that).  

Yvette Lawrence, Susan Egan,
Jason Chacon, and David Gilchrist

• Yvette Lawrence also played Belle at the Shubert Theatre in LA, so she and Susan kept reminding each other of Belle's nuances during rehearsals.
• Adam Hollick's muscles are real and he works out a lot.  
• Jason Chacon kind of got into performing by accident, and soon realized when he had the lowest voice in his class that he could get meaty roles like Beast.

What a great experience for Mr. B's first theatrical show, and for Miss O to hear in person the woman whose song, "Home" she used to listen to every day on the way home from school.  I told Miss O that when I met Susan Egan, I told her about Miss O singing her song, and she was astonished and wished her own kids knew the song.  I also remembered that SE taught me how to take a selfie.

So here you are, in honor of Ms. Egan, a selfie with my halo-halo from later that afternoon.