Gavroche Thenardier at some point, probably

Les Miserables Fifth Performance-6/18/14

In case you didn’t figure it out, we got it approved to do an additional Wednesday performance! We managed to sell this one out as well!

The chorus girl I had mentioned who got sick ended up getting food poisoning, poor thing, and she’ll be out the rest of the run. So I’m taking up a part of her track for the rest of the run.

Speaking of illness, our poor Madame Thenardier had a bad reaction the white harlequin makeup she wears for “Beggars at the Feast”, so she came back to the second weekend a little worse for wear. Poor dear. Thankfully one of our cast members is a doctor and he fixed her up. Now she wears a simple baby powder for that sequence.

But she really is a champ pushing through like that. Despite all that, this “Master of the House” was the best it ever went. The audience cracked up in all the right parts, and the energy was just all around fantastic.

And of course, right before the show, my baby box decided to attack me and I started having cramps like nobody’s business. I’m talking, the kind where it hurts to even stand up. And I had a headache before the show, so I’d already taken ibuprofen so I couldn’t take any more until intermission. But in a way it actually worked nicely for “At the End of the Day” and “Look Down” where I’m supposed to be desponding and in pain. As Aaron Tveit would say “A little more method than I like to go, but….” I mean, that wasn’t pretending, I was TRULY in pain, truly crawling and trying to just make it through without collapsing.

But for me, the best moment was before the show when our Enjolras let me try on the xylophone vest. And I took pictures. And it was marvelous, I was hypervenalating the whole time! (And yes, I did try to “Enjolras” in it, but there wasn’t enough room anywhere in the dressing rooms so that didn’t happen.) But it was still magical.

Backstage the ceiling is leaking, so we have a bucket to catch all the drips. Unfortunately our Major Domo, who is also Grantaire, tripped and splashed the cold water all over himself on the way to his quick change back into Grantaire for the Epilogue. Poor dear, but it was still hysterical. There was also a minor mishap during “Lovely Ladies”, when one of the prostitute’s bracelets flew off. Thankfully it landed right by my knee and so I picked it up and gave it back to her.

And of course, the information about the changes to the Into the Woods movie had just been released, so we had a lot of interesting discussions about that between all of us. And earlier that day I had learned for the first time that Claude Michele-Shonberg had played Courfeyrac on the French concept album, which I think is freaking cool, and I told our Courfeyrac about that and he was all “NO WAY!”

During our encore, I got to stand in front again, this time between Fantine and Jean Valjean. I had this incredible wall of sound around me unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and of course I cried.

I got to talk to several of my friends in the audience afterwards, including a good friend who came up to me bawling her eyes out and hugging me over and over. Apparently she wouldn’t have known about the extra show if she hadn’t seen my Facebook post about it, so she was incredibly grateful to me, as well as just awestruck over the show.

Also ran into another good friend of mine I hadn’t seen since spring break. One of the first things she said to me was “Okay, can I take that Gavroche home with me?” And I said “I don’t blame you honey he’s pretty precious”.

So thankful I got another chance to work and play and interact with this amazing group of people.

Les Mis Tech Rehearsal-May 9, 2014

Another AWESOME tech rehearsal! All costumes are officially in! I tried my outfit on yesterday, and it consist of a burnt orange skirt, and a red long-sleeved blouse with a red vest, and of course my black tights and character shoes. When I’m a lovely lady I add a pink and yellow boa and a red hat to it. For all the other parts I’m in I have a blue shawl. Tonight wasn’t technically a dress rehearsal, but our leads were taking marquee pictures so they were in their outfits for a good portion of the run to be ready for that, and sometimes people would be in the middle of trying something on when they had to go onstage, so we did have some costume wearing going on. Tuesday will be our first full run with costumes and makeup.

In fact, we had a great deal of fun with the costumes. When our Enjolras entered the room with the xylophone vest, I legit started hypervenalating. (And he let me touch it!) We had a lot of fun taking pictures. And our Gavroche tried to photobomb all of them. I yelled/sang at him “Come back Gavroche, don’t you dare!” which earned a high-five for him. I was having a good night inserting the lyrics into conversation. Earlier somebody had said something about Javert, I don’t remember what, and I just stared at them in the eye and declared “You know NOTHING of Javert!” At that point our Feuilly (who happens to be our Javert’s son, FYI) said ti me “I’d like to ask you about Javert’s backstory, but I feel like I’d be here for several hours.” So I just gave him the short version-mom was a prostitute, grew up in jail, etc.

Speaking of our Javert, when he puts his wig and full outfit on he looks EXACTLY like the Javert in Shojo Cosette. It’s a bit frightening. I especially love his hat, although at one point he went into hug Enjolras, and the corner of his hat poked him right in the eye by mistake….which was unfortunate and also hilarious.

And then our Cosette and Eponine took pics together, and somebody yelled “LESBIANS!” and I said “Eposette?” And our Cosette said there’s fan fiction, I’m sure….”

Anyway, my added little bit in “The Robbery” is now happening, and it is awesome. Jean freaking Valjean gives me money, guys! And it was during that scene that I noticed that our Marius, who has blonde, curly hair, actually looks a LOT like Aaron Tveit as Enjolras. (Funny enough, he HAS played Link in Hairspray and Gabe in Next to Normal is one of his dream roles). He is such a great Marius, he Pontmercyed so hard during “Eponine’s Errand” by dropping all the money he was going to give her. I love it so much.

Then during “Do You Hear the People Sing?” I’ve also incorporated “Vive General Lamarque!” so that’s awesome. And once again, the barricade deaths just tore me right open. I don’t think I’ll ever be over it. Tonight they actually screamed each other’s names as they died, and it was just too much to bear.

Our first Friday show is now sold out, and a few more are getting very close to that point. I can’t wait for this show to finally see its first audience.

Les Mis Downtown Performance/Get-Together June 6, 2014

I have to say, this feels like the first day in a very long time where I didn’t have a full-blown rehearsal. But during the day, that just gave me time to reflect, about how I am here, loving my life doing Les Mis…and only because thousands of people elsewhere suffered and labored and toiled in ways that I can never imagine.

Before our downtown get together, we met up at the theatre to pick up our show shirts that we would wear for our presentation downtown. Several of the costumes for the leads had also had come in, so we got the first glimpse at those. And….wow, I fangirled over the freaking costumes. When I saw Thenardier’s blue coat for “Master of the House”, or Cosette’s dark dress with the white lace, or Eponine’s blood-stained shirt, or Javert’s hat…..it just made that all the more real for me. Our Gavroche tried his costume on, and it was pretty spectacular. And I saw Enjolras’s pre-barricade getup, which is pretty snazzy. Although I almost had a heart attack when I didn’t see the xylophone vest. Thankfully, the costumer explained informed me that it was still on the way, as were many of the ensemble costumes. (Oh, and when I tried to type “Cosette’s” on my word document, it tried to change it to “Colette’s”. HA).

I rode over to the event with our Grantaire and Gavroche. Poor Grantaire was upset because the humidity was doing weird things to his hair. And I was one of the only people smart enough to have a purse (A little leather satchel that I wore when we sang) so I ended up holding onto a bunch of things for our cast members. We got to stroll around a bit and enjoy other booths before we got to sing.

I told several people about how a few people on here thought I was a part of the Broadway and/or London company and I got fanmail on here, which everybody got a kick out of. Our Eponine said she want on Tumblr and checked out the Les Mis tag and was just stunned by the love for the show/book/story. She was all “You should have seen these people’s fan art, and the people they put together!” And I was all “Oh, honey, I’ve been there. I AM one of those people.” She mentioned that she was slightly startled that people shipped Enjolras and Eponine.

Cut to the performance-our Jean Valjean kicked things off with “Bring Him Home”, and the noisy streets fell silent when they heard him sing. He truly is a phenomenal talent. That transitioned straight into “One Day More”. Our Marius and Cosette couldn’t be there, so our Fantine and Grantaire did their roles, and I had to mouth them their words before I left the crowds and joined them. We did it full out, our Enjolras and Gavroche even had the gun and red flag, and we did the choreography and everything. I saw a ton of people gather around and stare, opened jawed, recording us on their phones. Our people who usually hit the finally high note couldn’t be there, so I went for it, and it went well. The audience went wild, which was an incredibly satisfying feeling. I can’t wait to see what the full-blown show with an actual, paying audience is like. The full thing is on Youtube, private message me if you want a link.

Afterwards, a group of us went to this downtown restaurant/pub, where we just let loose and socialized to get all the crazy out of our system before diving into show week. A lot of good natured joking and ribbing, mostly pointed at me since I was the youngest there besides our Little Eponine who was there with her mom, who is also in the show. Somehow Aaron Tveit and his next movie Undrafted came up, and I was all “Oh yeah, and he’s in freaking baseball pants!” And at that moment our Enjolras, who was across the table from me, looked right into my eyes and said “Oh sweetie, do you think you’ll be okay?”

As people started to get more relaxed (not me, they came up with the brilliant idea to start singing “One Day More” right there in the restaurant. I was all “Wait, what? Are you serious? Let’s DO IT!” We started to plan it, and since our Jean Valjean wasn’t there, we kind of divided his parts among us. I got the Thenardiers since they weren’t there either. At this point, everybody knows I know the whole show because anytime anybody wasn’t there at rehearsal I would sing their part from the audience so people could stay within the timing of the show and not lose their spots. Our Eponine and Enjolras actually told me I was awesome for doing that, and that I kept rehearsal going, and they appreciated it, which just made me melt into a happy puddle.

So we did it. We did “One Day More” full out in the restaurant, with me as the Thenardiers. Within seconds everybody was watching us, several people recording it, and we got a standing ovation. It was one of the craziest, most surreal moments of my life.

Afterwards, several of us went up the street to see our Jean Valjean doing a gig with his band (Which was why he wasn’t at the pub). It was a pretty spectacular time.

Anyway, Saturday will be my last day to just sort of chill and do whatever until our all-day tech on Sunday, which I am beyond excited for, even if I will miss the Tony’s. Thankfully I have my best friend promising to text me with updates throughout the show.

(Oh, and just now, a Facebook argument/discussion broke out among the cast over Enjolras’s sexuality….)

Les Mis Rehearsal-June 5th (Barricade Day)

Okay, before I start today's post, I'd like to address something.

Several people who have read these posts thought I was a part of the Broadway and/or London company of Les Mis. While I am EXTREMELY flattered, I would like to clarify that no, I am not in either. I am an amateaur who is just really passionate, doing an amateaur production of Les Mis here in the Midwest. Sorry for any confusion.

Anyway....

Wow….where to even begin? During the day I rewatched all the barricade parts in the film, and that just made me weep. I dressed in my revolutionary best for rehearsal for course, a black skirt, boots, and tank top with a red sweatervest over, and carried a red jacket which became my flag.

I wished everyone a happy barricade day when they arrived, and several people had no idea what that was until I told them. Our Gavroche was especially taken aback, he asked me “Wait, this really happened? These characters are real?” And I of course explained not exactly, but students did come to build a barricade, and Victor Hugo was there and wrote about it, and if he hadn’t then these students may have just been lost to history, and we’ll never know which characters/evens in the story were from his imagination and which ones were real. He was totally mesmerized and in awe of my explanation, which made me happy.

I do love that kid. He also came to rehearsal with some blood on his cheek, which he said was his friend’s blood when they were play fighting. (Like I said, he really is his character). And then our Feuilly brought a little catapult he had made to rehearsal, and we flung rubber balls from it outside, so that was fun.

We were a little delayed at the beginning of rehearsal, because a light overheated and caught on fire, so we had to deal with that. No real damage done, but the theatre does smell like smoke now. Our director was out promoting the show at an event with our Eponine who was singing “On My Own”, and he joked “I leave you guys alone for two minutes and you set the building on fire!”

Our Courfeyrac was very sick, so I got to sing for him during rehearsal, which just tugged at my heartstrings all the more. During one of the barricade scenes we had some technical difficulties to deal with, so I ended up checking out the barricade more up close and hanging out with the boys. It was at that point they decided to review with me how to say all of the names. (Bah-whore-rel, Coo-fey-rack, etc.)

Our Grantaire (my GBF) was all “I’m glad we have you, because you know everything.” To which I said “Like I said, I don’t have a life so I obsess over Les Mis and Aaron Tveit,” and he was all “Oh honey, you have a life, it’s just a very weird one”. That caught our Joly’s attention, he thought he had said “queer life”, which made me laugh and say “Well, I am asexual…..”

Then came “A Little Fall of Rain”. Our Marius was also ill, so for that part Gavroche held Eponine and sang to her, and it was the cutest freaking thing. Also slightly hilarious since he’s half her size. It wasn’t long after that before I started thinking once again about all the real barricade boys, and how I wish I knew their names. “Bring Him Home” especially got me right in the gut and I bawled all the way through the Final Battle. Tonight, right before Gavroche died, Enjolras screamed “Gavroche!” and it was the most heartbreaking thing ever. And then all the boys were just NAILING IT with their deaths, crying out for each other and falling, dropping their guns as they died……it just made the anniversary that much more real to me, and I kept sending happy thoughts out the real ones.

I hope they know, somehow, that the world did not forget them.

And then finally, we got the news that one of our stagehands who had been helping out was going to be shipped back out with the army. All these years later, and people are still fighting, still putting their lives on the line to make things right. I will definitely be keeping him in my prayers. He truly is such a nice young man, who was very dedicated to his job as stagehand, and such a joy to be around because of his good attitude.

Anyway, on the anniversary of the fall of the barricade we’re doing our flashmob of "One Day More" downtown to promote the show, and you can bet that I will stand there with every fiber of my being, singing out in their memory under the red flag as our Gavroche waves it on the shoulders of our Feuilly.

The show opens next week, and I feel incredibly blessed.

Les Mis Rehearsal-Juen 3, 2014

Full run through without any major problems! Very proud of where the show is headed so far!

We got the full list for who gets what body mic when, since we only have a totally of 12 to share with the whole cast. I get one from the Bishop after “At the End of the Day” and I wear it for my solo in “Lovely Ladies” before giving it to Marius to wear for the rest of Act One. Our Bishop is also playing Prouvaire, so after he dies I get a mic from him again which I’ll have for “Turning” and then keep for the rest of the show.

Added some cool stuff to “The Beggars”. I have tin cup from “ABC Café” that I beg with, and at one point Gavroche comes out of the sewers and gives me money, which is awesome. I also get shoved by a lot of people, which is fun even though I’m covered in bruises now.

Speaking of “ABC Café”, I still cannot say enough good things about those boys. Enjolras’s delivery of “Grantaire, put the bottle DOWN!” is awesome. And I still get to start the cheering of “Long Live the Republic!”

During Act II, our Eponine changed into a shirt that had fake bullet wounds and blood on it that said “I’m Fine” on it. (See below).

She had it under her coat and Marius didn’t see it until “A Little Fall of Rain”, and I could tell he was having a really hard time not cracking up.

And tonight during “Beggar at the Feast”, I was sitting really close to the stage in the audience, and Thenardier pointed RIGHT at me during “This one’s a queer, but what can you do?” and everybody cracked up. (Well I am asexual…)

Tomorrow we’re adding hair and makeup, and I am SO EXCITED for my “Lovely Ladies” makeup, as well as the dirt for other parts.

Memorial Day Les Mis Rehearsal!

Another fantastic rehearsal. Since it was Memorial Day, we had a potluck/BBQ before-hand and then sang through the whole thing…all three hours. My cry count was at five times.

I brought brownies to said potluck which went over well. Our Gavroche was particularly fond of them-in fact I think he ate about 75% percent of them. Which just makes my heart happy. I mean, I made brownies for Gavroche freaking Thenardier. (I know, not really, but close enough!) Seriously, so much happy at that. I feel like I'm living in the ultimate AU Les Mis fan fiction and it is the best

Today we had one last sit-down sing through so we could fix any last thing that needed fixing before running the whole show with blocking, set, etc. So we sat in a semi-circle and stood up when we sang, sort of like the Tenth Anniversary Cast. I loved it.

 More props came in today, including our actual guns that we will use. They’re super cool-and HUGE! And we got the fake rancid meat for “Master of the House”. (Which I now get to bring on a tray of-Yaay.  I also get to have a bracelet stolen by Madame Thenardier. Go figure).

 Cried during “I Dreamed a Dream”, our Fantine is just a vision. Would have cried during her death, except the people building the set behind us decided to start using the staple gun right at that moment and we all cracked up. And then our “Confrontation”….sweet baby Jesus that was INTENSE! I was literally shaking by the time they were done. “Heart Full of Love” was also awesome, that trio is just the bomb.com. And our Marius has awesome chemistry with both girls which is a plus. “Bring Him Home” also hit me really hard since it was Memorial Day.

 And then at the end of “Do You Hear the People Sing” where we all yell and cheer, I’ve decided to shout “Long live the Republic!” as homage to the brick.

Another rehearsal tomorrow, more to come!

Les Mis Rehearsal Part 3

So yesterday was our first time running Act 2 all the way through.

I don't think I've bragged on our Gavroche yet, so I'm going to do so. He's freaking brilliant, and he's pretty much playing himself. This kid's smart as a whip and such a smart ass, and hold his own with all the grown ups. 

And our Marius....he not only has great chemistry with both our Eponine and our Cosette, but in his portrayal he definitely cares about them both in distinctly different ways. It's perfect, really.

And I most definitely bawled my way through the entire epilogue and most of the Act 2 death scenes like I knew I would. (And yes, our Enjolras does "Enjolras" on the barricade, it's so beautiful and sad at the same time.)

The set is really starting to come together, can't wait until we add costumes and such.