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Post by LittleLotte394 on Jun 4, 2006 10:07:18 GMT -5
I'll be glad to give a review- if luck is on my side, I'll be able to give it the next day in the "office center" of our hotel. Thank goodness for hotels with high-speed internet!
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Post by Angel on Jun 24, 2006 5:49:23 GMT -5
... I honestly think I'm insane. I just volunteered to do tech crew again. This means another week of intensive, five-and-a-half hour rehearsals. Aie. This time, I'm not stagehanding, though; I'm follow-spotting. That should be fun  This time, our Year 12 Drama class is putting on Inheritance ... lots of Australianisms and swearing that means the Year 7s and 8s are banned from coming to see it ::snickers:: |
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Post by LittleLotte394 on Jun 26, 2006 16:45:32 GMT -5
**Mondo Post Warning* I'm back from New York! I had a fantastic time. Here's the description of Phantom you've all been waiting for, but first, a cast list:
Christine: Jennifer Hope Wills
Erik: Howard McGillin
Raoul: Michael Shawn Lewis
Carlotta: Patricia Phillips
Meg: Heather McFadden
Madame Giry: Marilyn Caskey
Piangi: Roland Rusinek
The managers: George L. Andrews (Andre) & David Cryer (Firmin)
Now, the actual description:
First came the prologue and overture. Nothing special, really. Next came the rehearsals for Hannibal. Let me just say: I love this Carlotta! She was hilarious. There were these two dancers in the back who kept crashing into each other, and Madame Giry kept giving them the look of death. And when the backdrop fell on Carlotta, one of the ballet girls gave a scream worthy of a horror movie.
Next was "Think of Me." There was a verse added to the beginning. Jennifer Wills was better than Emmy Rossum- her voice was better trained for opera. I loved the way she moved around the stage, instead of just standing in one place. She got a little out of breath on those high notes at the end, though.
"Angel of Music" was very nice. It seemed as if the ballet girls practicing near the back of the stage were dancing to the song. Then came "Little Lotte." They sang more of it, instead of just saying it, like in the movie. On "The Angel of Music sings songs in my head," I swear Christine stared right at me!
Then came "The Mirror" and "The Phantom of the Opera." I have only three words: Oh. My. God. It was amazing, and the same goes for "Music of the Night." I was in a trance for pretty much the whole thing. It was that incredible.
Then came "Stranger Than You Dreamt It." OK, when Christine takes Erik's mask in the movie, he gets upset. On stage? He went completely postal on her. Just before "Fear can turn to love," he made these little sobbing sounds, and I just felt so bad for him!
"Magical Lasso" was pretty much the same as the movie, except instead of Madame Giry saying, "Keep your hand at the level of your eyes," to Buquet, she said, "He will burn you with the heat of his eyes." "Notes" was great, as always.
Next was "Prima Donna." Patricia Phillips was fantastic- she was so funny! When Firmin said, "We need you, too," he gave Andre a look that said, "We do?" and Meg gave Madame Giry a look like, "What are they saying?" Raoul kept looking at the notes and shaking his head, as if saying, "What kind of mind does this Opera Ghost have?"
Then came "Il Muto." While they were waiting for Carlotta (as the Countess) to come on, Christine (as Serafimo) was sitting on the bed and clapping her feet together very cutely. And when Carlotta started to croak, everyone began cracking up, especially Erik. Otherwise, very similar to the movie.
Next was quite possibly my favorite scene in the whole show, "All I Ask of You," and the reprise. This song and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" really let Jennifer Wills' talent shine through. Also, where's an "I Heart Michael Shawn Lewis" sign when you need one? Though I must admit that I feared for Ms. Wills' life while they were spinning around. I completely, completely, completely loved the reprise as well. When I find said "I Heart Michael Shawn Lewis" sign, I'm going to search for an "I Heart Howard McGillin" one, too.
Then we had "Masquerade"- wow. I love the stage costumes (particularly Christine's Sugar Plum Fairy-esque gown)- so much more colorful! And when Raoul and Christine sang their little bit, a girl dressed as a monkey kept making all these faces behind them. My little brother nearly died when he saw Erik's Red Death costume- he was begging my mom for one.
"Notes 2" was nice. I loved the way Christine snapped at Carlotta- go Christine!- and the way Carlotta said, "She's mad," after "Twisted Every Way." Then was "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"- yet again, wow. I was blown away by Jennifer Wills here. Erik's fireball staff rocks out loud- much better than a sword.
Then came the penultimate song, "The Point of No Return." I loved it! However, Erik's cape made him look like a cross between an elephant and a Scream without a mask. "Down Once More" was amazing. Erik literally dragged Christine out of the boat! When Raoul got trapped by the Punjab lasso, Christine let out a scream. Erik's "Christine, I love you," was so heartbreaking! A spotlight shone on the mask when Meg picked it up, and it was so cool.
Everyone clapped so hard when the cast came out for bows. Some of the girls treated Michael Shawn Lewis and Howard McGillin like rock stars- yours truly included. The applause for Jennifer Wills was deafening. They got a standing ovation! The whole thing was amazing- I loved it all.
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Post by Jaycee on Jun 28, 2006 13:06:14 GMT -5
My performance of POTO was the other day! It went really well. Although my mother did comment htat "Raoul" looked more like a prop than an actor. *sigh* and "Chrisitne" and I discovered that "raoul" has adhd, which meant it was very hard for us to keep him quiet offstage. My part went really well, though and I didn't screw up on the harmony in AOM! "Christine" was amazing! Well, you'd have to be to play that part without anyone singing the Phantom. EW couldn't find anyone who was a good enough singer to play the part so one of the managers dressed up in a cape and mask and dragged "Christine" off the stage a few times and that was our phantom. There was a lot of stuff cut, so we're not in danger of being sued because in the end it wasn't all that much like the real version. It didn't even have a proper ending, but it was a lot of fun!
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Post by Simple Rose on Jun 28, 2006 15:10:43 GMT -5
Glad to hear it went well, Jaycee!! Meanwhile, there is quite the revolution going on at POTO.com. It's about darn time, too!! Yes, we may yet see some respect for our beloved Raoul... that's all I will say Feel free to hop in on the fun, I know Jaycee has! |
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Post by LittleLotte394 on Jun 28, 2006 15:18:00 GMT -5
I haven't been over to POTO.com in forever....I'm quite pleased to see the changes going on there. Such things can happen when you're on a brief hiatus.
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Post by Jaycee on Jun 28, 2006 18:02:33 GMT -5
Glad to hear it went well, Jaycee!! Meanwhile, there is quite the revolution going on at POTO.com. It's about darn time, too!! Yes, we may yet see some respect for our beloved Raoul... that's all I will say Feel free to hop in on the fun, I know Jaycee has! *evil grin* 'tis awesome! Although all that chatspeak is making my head hurt. I think we're making some progress though! It's terribly hard to pretend I've never seen any version except the movie. Congrats to Em for starting the revolution! You truly are a genius! Also there was another mini-revolution going on in the Raoul's Diary thread. For the moment it's actually sane! People are posting things that could actually appear in his diary! |
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Post by Angel on Jun 30, 2006 9:09:11 GMT -5
Well. I haven't been on for a while ... looks like we've been a busy lot Firstly, thanks for the awesome review, Lotte! Sounds like it was a great performance ... I wish a POTO tour would visit us in Australia ... ::le sigh:: And Jaycee -- I'm so glad it went well for you guys! Don't you just love the post-performance high? (Unless, of course, it's closing night ) And ... an RC revolution on POTO.com? (Dang, I should really get my butt over there ...) Now, an update on yours truly. I've just got back from our first performance of Inheritance, and we probably succeeded in offending everybody in the audience in some way or another. To be frank, I was quite surprised that our drama teacher decided to do it -- there's a helluva lotta swearing, religious jokes, race jokes, gay jokes, sex jokes, etc. But at least we got a lot of laughs, and most of the audience left the theatre bewildered, which, according to our director, meant that we did good. We're being Brechtian, apparently, and the audience must have an intellectual response to the drama, and not an emotional one. Okay. One minor disaster, though. The sound girl mucked up the timing of a gunshot, which ended up looking really funny. The scene is supposed to play out with Lyle whipping Felix, then Maureen fires a shotgun into the air before pointing it at Lyle and threatening to shoot him if he doesn't stop whipping. Fairly simple. Unfortunately, the sound girl played the gunshot when Maureen was pointing the gun at Lyle, so heaps of people were trying to figure out how Lyle managed to survive being shot. There is one scene, though, which I am beginning to strongly dislike. It's Lyle's monologue -- he's drunk, depressed and in a rage, and is moving wildly around the stage generally being scary. The only snag is that the only light is the spotlight. That's me. That means I have to jerk the spotlight around crazily as Lyle rants, raves, staggers, falls over and does a whole array of weird things. Also, this is with the smallest size spotlight possible, so I have to track his face as well. Not easy. (By the way, I want to learn that monologue. It's really powerful ... if you can get over the fact that every other word in it is f***.) Oh, well. I'm having a blast. I absolutely love the whole theatre environment and working with a team. I just can't wait to start on my own drama class's show, in which I will actually get to perform and not tech. |
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Post by Jaycee on Jun 30, 2006 15:13:08 GMT -5
Well. I haven't been on for a while ... looks like we've been a busy lot And Jaycee -- I'm so glad it went well for you guys! Don't you just love the post-performance high? (Unless, of course, it's closing night ) And ... an RC revolution on POTO.com? (Dang, I should really get my butt over there ...) . Unfortunately we only got to perform one night *sigh* the teacher could only get the theatre for one night. And yes, you should come to POTO.com. We could always use more RCers over there. .[/quote] |
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Post by Angel on Jul 2, 2006 9:16:51 GMT -5
::sigh:: No more Inheritance ... I just have bump out tomorrow, which, as usual, could be a blast, or insanely boring. As much as I love working around a theatre, cleaning up and disposing of props is not my idea of a fun-filled afternoon.
I just have to say ... the girl who played Lyle? Abso-bloody-lutely fantastic. I was spotting her monologue, as usual, for the Saturday matinee and watching her do this scene was just incredible. I mean, there was this dead silence in the audience and she's yelling, cursing, staggering around (and yes, pretending to cut herself up with a chainsaw ...) and then she sort of stumbles, and when she gets up, she has tears streaming down her face, defiantly wipes them off and by the time she's halfway through, "What's a farmer without a farm?" I'm pretty much crying myself. I cannot stop going on about it, just ... wow.
And, yes, it was a girl playing Lyle. The joys of going to a single-sex school ...
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Hi-chan
Childhood Sweetheart
Raoul & Christine Forever ^_^
Posts: 47
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Post by Hi-chan on Jul 2, 2006 15:30:25 GMT -5
Wow, everyone's been so busy!  (::mutters to self:: I wonder if anyone even remembers me....  I've been gone for ages!) Ah, well. Anyway, yesterday I just returned from a week-long Alaskan cruise...which was my first, cause I'd never been on a cruise before AT ALL. (My life is generally kind of boring.) It was also only my second time riding an airplane; the first time I rode one, I was too young to remember (I was five and we went to San Francisco...but I don't remember much. I just remember that we went! XP). I was also in Vancouver, Canada for all of 3 hours! XD That was the end of the cruise; we had to catch a plane from Vancouver back to LAX (Los Angeles International Airport...yeah, for those who didn't know, I am from California...and if you did know then I'm just wasting energy typing useless information! ;D; My dad would like to go back to Vancouver some day; I would too. It was a really nice city! Hmm....I may be the last person to ever get to see PotO on stage (or perhaps never, knowing my luck). T.T Heh...I'd go into more detail on my cruise, but I'm still kinda tired...good thing school's over...oh, wait. I have summer school tomorrow. Dang. XD Nah, it's okay, I'm only doing summer school so I can take an extra class in the fall semester, hopefully French I, so I'll be taking French and Spanish! ... ... ^_^ It will be the first semester of my Senior year, class of '07! ^_^ (And everytime I remind myself of that, I feel so old....T.T) Update: I just remembered! On the cruise ship (which was called Sapphire Princess, btw), I met these two other girls. I'm not much for talking (believe it or not!), so I just kinda listened and put in a few words here and there, not that they were listening. But, it just so happens that these two girls liked PotO, and, get this... one of them even liked Raoul!! ;D That was the highlight of my first night on the cruise. I was so happy. ^_^ |
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Post by Jaycee on Jul 2, 2006 15:52:29 GMT -5
My dad would like to go back to Vancouver some day; I would too. It was a really nice city! Hmm....I may be the last person to ever get to see PotO on stage (or perhaps never, knowing my luck). T.T It's kind of funny that you should mention those two things right after the other since POTO is in Vancouver in August... Anyway...I'm torn between excitement and dread. Excitement because my choir is leaving for their tour of China in less than two weeks. Deard because we have 8 hour rehearsals all of next week. BTW, Hi-Chan, what cruise ship were you guys on? My sister has this strange fascination with Cruise ships and knows all of the ones that dock in Vancouver. Don't ask why, my sister is a very strange kid  |
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Hi-chan
Childhood Sweetheart
Raoul & Christine Forever ^_^
Posts: 47
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Post by Hi-chan on Jul 2, 2006 16:03:06 GMT -5
My dad would like to go back to Vancouver some day; I would too. It was a really nice city! Hmm....I may be the last person to ever get to see PotO on stage (or perhaps never, knowing my luck). T.T It's kind of funny that you should mention those two things right after the other since POTO is in Vancouver in August... Anyway...I'm torn between excitement and dread. Excitement because my choir is leaving for their tour of China in less than two weeks. Deard because we have 8 hour rehearsals all of next week. BTW, Hi-Chan, what cruise ship were you guys on? My sister has this strange fascination with Cruise ships and knows all of the ones that dock in Vancouver. Don't ask why, my sister is a very strange kid Well, I updated my post to include the name of the cruise ship. It's called Sapphire Princess. It was really nice, but I never quite got used to it...I was never much for sea travel. On the first full day of the cruise I was even seasick.  The rest of it was okay, though, especially the days when we were in port and I could stand on the ground again! I didn't know that PotO was going to be in Vancouver. Too bad I have band camp in August! XP And, Jaycee, don't fret those 8 hour practices! They'll really fly by, believe it or not. Besides, during band camp, our marching band practices from 1 PM in the afternoon to 10 PM at night! XP You guys are going to China? Wow! The closest thing I've been to being in another country was those three hours I spent in Vancouver. Well, our very first shore excursion was a tour of the Yukon, and we had to cross the Canadian border, so I suppose that counts a bit as well...but....ah, you get the idea. XD I hope your choir has a great time. ^_~ |
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Post by Angel on Jul 3, 2006 8:35:58 GMT -5
Sounds like you had fun, Hi-chan! (I reckon that meeting Raoul-friendly people in odd places really is one of the small joys in life ...) And, Jaycee -- you must be really excited! China! And just generally on long rehearsals ... whenever I get a new rehearsal schedule for a drama or music thing, usually the first thing going through my mind is, 'How will I survive?' But funnily enough, once I get into it, rehearsals are never a chore -- I love them |
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Post by LittleLotte394 on Jul 4, 2006 11:08:13 GMT -5
Wow, Jaycee- China! I've only been to China at Epcot. Don't worry, though, I'm sure the rehearsals can't be that bad- from a girl who, when in her church choir, had 6-hour rehearsals for the First Communion mass.
And a happy Independence Day to the Americans on here (and to anyone else whose country has an Independence Day coming up).
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Post by Jaycee on Jul 6, 2006 23:04:29 GMT -5
Only one day of rehearsals left and then our farewell concert! Although I'm somewhat concerned I won't be able to sing by then. Our director keeps telling us to "save our voices", which is what I'm trying to do, but she still insists that we sing all the high notes. And I have this one high A that I keep having to sing over and over and it's starting to hurt my throat. But I'm getting SO excited about my trip, I don't really care. I'm a little nervous, because California's about the furthest away I've ever been. Kind of ironic, since that's where Hi-Chan lives and the furthest she's ever been is vancouver (I don't actually live in vancouver, but I'm very close)
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Post by Angel on Jul 7, 2006 9:39:08 GMT -5
Aie. I can sympathise with the high notes, Jaycee. I have, erm, fond memories of a piece we did with an entire soprano section that seemed to be solely made up of forte and fortissimo high Gs. Hmm. If you're really worried about your voice, though, I'd suggest just lip-synching, especially if it's starting to hurt. It's not worth killing your voice now before you go away! And have a great time! Bon voyage and safe journey  |
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Post by LittleLotte394 on Jul 10, 2006 18:19:44 GMT -5
(begin rant mode) Grrr. I am going to bash in the heads of the forces of nature. Why? I have come down with chicken pox. And this means I won't be able to go to my great-grandma's party in a few weeks unless the pox wears off by then. I feel really bad- she's turning 95, darn it! Grrr, again. (end rant mode)
OK, I feel better now. Slightly better, anyway. Sorry about your trouble with the high notes, Jaycee. I agree with Angel, just lip-synch if it hurts to sing. Although I can't really say I know what you're going through (since I'm not a soprano), my friend knows...the poor thing strained her voice badly at a concert last year, and had to talk mainly in whispers for a week or so after.
I hope you have a nice time in China, though, and that those high notes don't give you much more trouble.
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Post by Angel on Jul 14, 2006 4:50:21 GMT -5
Aie. I've just finished a really, really awesome holiday music theatre course ... and now I really miss it  It was held at the performing arts university I'm desperate to get into (the same one that Hugh Jackman went to  ) and, of course, now I'm doubly determined to get into it ... although they only pick 18 of of the 800+ applicants to the music theatre course each year ... I will prevail! I hope, anyway. We had a showing for parents today, which was a lot of fun. We did this acappella number called 'Freedom is Coming', a choral performance of 'You Can't Get to Heaven', a song and dance routine to 'Hooverville', a jazz ballet routine and a bunch of skits. I played a genetically modified apple. Don't ask. Please, don't. However, what was really annoying was that for the entire week I had a stuffed up nose, cough and on-and-off sore throat. So I ended up lip-synching a lot in rehearsals and I would crash every afternoon because I had taken so much cold medication (that didn't work, grr). I think I'm starting to get my voice back, now, so that's good. And I accidentally elbowed this poor guy in the nose during 'Hooverville'. That was embarrassing ... I guess I got a bit too enthusiastic with the 'why don't we stuff you?' line ... oops ::is mortified:: |
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Post by LittleLotte394 on Jul 23, 2006 11:52:06 GMT -5
I played a genetically modified apple. Don't ask. Please, don't. ...I don't want to ask. Turns out I will be able to go to my great-grandma's house  . The only bad thing is she doesn't have a computer, so I'll be packing a small library to keep my sane. And after we leave her house, we'll be going to Miami (again), on our...third vaction of the season. (Miami, New York, Miami- hopefully the pattern will repeat itself.) |
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Post by Angel on Jul 29, 2006 9:12:59 GMT -5
I'd hope for a continuation of the pattern, too, Lotte As for me ... not a lot is really happening, apart from that I've just gone back to school. My winter holidays were pretty good, actually. I went to my grandpa's farm and mucked around on the quad bike and motorbike with my cousins. Fun. My mother freaked out a bit, though. She also gave me a couple of driving lessons ... Not actually legal, as I don't have a permit yet, but I can sit for my L-plates whenever I want now I'm sixteen, I just ... haven't got around to reading up for the written. But as I was driving along a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, it didn't really matter. And it was fun. Although I freaked out a bit at first because before, Mum had given me lessons in a manual car and this time it was an automatic. I put it in reverse, it started moving, and I'm sitting there screeching, "Why is it moving? I'm not touching anything!" I was then informed that it was supposed to do that, and can't I see the rapidly approaching bush in my mirrors? Yeah, I'm going to be such a wonderful driver |
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Post by Jaycee on Jul 29, 2006 9:42:22 GMT -5
Aie. I can sympathise with the high notes, Jaycee. I have, erm, fond memories of a piece we did with an entire soprano section that seemed to be solely made up of forte and fortissimo high Gs. Hmm. If you're really worried about your voice, though, I'd suggest just lip-synching, especially if it's starting to hurt. It's not worth killing your voice now before you go away! And have a great time! Bon voyage and safe journey Good thing I took your advice and didn't wreck my voice BEFORE the trip. Unfortunately I did anyway DURINg the trip. And noe I have bronchitis. Which sucks. Other than that, though, the trip was amazing! If i end up downloading my pictures onto the computer I might post some but we're getting prints made so I may not need to. But some of the stuff we saw was just so cool! And some of the theatres we performed in were SO huge! That's all I have time to write now and tomorrow I'm going to my cabin so I won't be around for pretty much the rest of the summer. I'm coming back for POTO of course but not until the end of the month. |
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Post by Angel on Jul 29, 2006 11:30:33 GMT -5
Oh, ouch, Jaycee ... that sucks But health issues aside, it sounds like you had a great time (and I'm really jealous ) I'd love to see some pictures, if you've got some! |
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Post by LittleLotte394 on Aug 3, 2006 13:38:34 GMT -5
OMG. I saw Cats live last night, and it was incredible- as good as POTO! The best part, though, was that it was a total surprise...it was our last full day in Miami, and my mom showed my brother and I the tickets at breakfast. We were pretty sure that the folks up in Jacksonville could hear our shouts of joy.
Cats was in Ft. Lauderdale, so we left 4 hours ahead of time so we could get there and eat dinner before the show. We had our own box, so we could see the stage very well. I was blown away by everything and everyone, especially Angie Smith, who played Grizabella. Her "Memory" made me cry! And I don't cry easily, so that's saying something. Just...so, so amazing, all of it.
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Post by Simple Rose on Aug 3, 2006 20:29:28 GMT -5
Oh, my dear! That must have been spectacular!! I've only seen the first 45 minutes of the film version (with the best-ofs of each character, no audience), and it's absolutely... mystifying. Ethereal. Strange. Altogether something that MUST be seen onstage lol In other news, there's a strong possibility I might get to see Wicked in october!! Wouldn't that be amazing? And to top it all off, there's rumor that Shoshana will be making a few guest appearances around the time that I'm planning to go! I look forward to her Defying Gravity with great fervour. *is excited, can't you tell?* |
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This time, our Year 12 Drama class is putting on Inheritance ... lots of Australianisms and swearing that means the Year 7s and 8s are banned from coming to see it ::snickers::
I've been gone for ages!)
The rest of it was okay, though, especially the days when we were in port and I could stand on the ground again!
It was held at the performing arts university I'm desperate to get into (the same one that Hugh Jackman went to 
) and, of course, now I'm doubly determined to get into it ... although they only pick 18 of of the 800+ applicants to the music theatre course each year ... I will prevail! I hope, anyway.
. The only bad thing is she doesn't have a computer, so I'll be packing a small library to keep my sane. And after we leave her house, we'll be going to Miami (again), on our...third vaction of the season. (Miami, New York, Miami- hopefully the pattern will repeat itself.)