I originally posted this on MySpace

MySpace blog entry entitled: "I heard the people sing!"

Raise your hand if you got the reference right away! Anybody? Anybody? Well, I don't expect you to, really... unless you're Katherine or Leanna, in which case, you had a head's up.

That's right, I saw Les Miserables today! Last night, I asked Katherine, Leanna and Cindi if I should. (I just needed some convincing. It turns out that purchasing a ticket to Les Miz in Seattle cost me more than I spent on any one Broadway show last week.) They all said yes, like it was a no-brainer. I couldn't have asked three better people to tell me what I wanted to hear, when I wanted to hear it. LOL.

The matinee performance was great. One of the best -- if not the best -- performances of Les Miz I've seen. Leanna told me to watch for how well the cast worked together, so I did and I was very impressed. Jason Kraack went on as Jean Valjean instead of Randal Keith. No matter! My first JVJ was an understudy... Hehehe. Gregory Calvin Stone, if you're reading this, hi! (To everyone else, Greg's the one who left the cool comment about pimping out my profile.)

I'm so glad I got to see Daniel Bogart as Marius. I was rather curious to hear him after seeing his older brother Matt play Chris in Miss Saigon and the "Tell My Father" soldier in The Civil War.

Rant and raves:

A rave for Jason Kraack's performance. He rocked!

A rant for some of my fellow audience members. Too many coughed during "On My Own" and "A Little Fall of Rain." Seriously, people. I know some of you can't help it, but at least try to keep it down. Muffle it if you have to. There's nothing like a good hack to ruin a tender moment.

A rave for the entire cast. I really did enjoy this performance. Thanks for waving after your final bow.

A rave for the ending to "A Little Fall of Rain." Actually, I don't know if I should call it a rave. It was just a heartwrenching moment when Melissa Lyons' Eponine closes her eyes and puckers her lips for a kiss while Daniel Bogart's Marius looks down and holds Eponine but doesn't kiss her. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Poor Ep. And then she dies. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

A rave for Claude-Michel Schonberg's gorgeous music. I hadn't heard it in a while.