Rock Of Ages – Garrick Theatre 02.11.2013 – Closing Show

November, 2nd, 2013, 7:45pm.
The last show was now not to be avoided anymore. After that hilarious Muck-Up Matinee before, which definitely included more than a few little tears, me, my friends Alison & Sarah and their mums decided to grab some food before the show started (which then included an oddly amount of horrible looking zombies in the local Burger King at Leicester Square – I guess no one had told them Halloween had ended two days ago). When we got back we were greeted by some other RoAdies who then told us they had already seen Shayne Ward – who had been playing Stacee Jaxx in the Original Cast until one year ago – and that he would be in the pub next door, the Garrick Arms right now. Of course we wanted to see him before the show, as after the show, it would be impossible to have a proper chat with him. We then went inside immediately, and just as Alison looked around like a confused cat (sorry Ally 😉 ), asking “I can’t see him, did you see him?” I nudged her, saying “Uhm, he’s standing right there, next to us.” – which was true, Shayne was just standing less than a metre away from me, chatting to some friends! We patiently stood there, and it was more than obvious that we were waiting for him, so it was so kind when at one point, he excused himself to his friends and smiled at us, greeting, asking how we are. He was so lovely and chatty, and he kept telling us – with a seriously sad and devastated expression in his face – that he just didn’t understand why they were closing “Rock Of Ages”, that it was the best show on the West End and he didn’t see any reason to shut it down – he rose even higher in my opinion as he had before, I can tell you. After that, we quickly got our pictures with him and said Goodbye to him, and he told us “See you inside!”. Bless him.

Then it was time, and if I hadn’t been emotional before, I definitely was when the first notes came on. Right next to me, a guy was sat, and knowing Sarah was sitting right behind me, I told him in advance how sorry I was that her and me would be screaming at the top of our lungs during the entire show. He laughed and said it was okay, then asked me how often I had seen the show. I told him that this was my 11th time, and when I wanted to know how often he had seen it, he smiled and said “I’m one of the conducters!”, pointing to the stage – well, that was self-explaining, then, wasn’t it?
The show started, and as soon as Simon Lipkin burst through the door of The Bourbon Room, down those stairs, screaming “What’s going down, last ever Rock Of Ages London?” – the vibe inside that theatre was absolutely MAGICAL. Just as the entire show was. Us RoAdies had arranged in advance that we would get up and give the Cast Standing Ovations at every song; we didn’t, just because I think we were all way too emotional at that point. We did, however, give them ALOT of Standing Ovations, like the one Sandy Moffat & Jodie Jacobs got after “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – which was just under a minute (thanks to the lovely Noor for that information), or after “Here I Go Again”, during which everyone had gotten out of their seats. Four things seriously cracked me up in that show (considering the whole show did, that’s something to say, haha):

1. When Simon/Lonny came on stage to introduce Stacee Jaxx to the audience, and he came to the part where he goes “…and stars are undeniable…like Herpes…am I right, dude?”, for the last time ever, he went completely off script and shouted out loud: “….am I right, SHAYNE WARD?” The audience went completely mental, and we all cheered as loud as we could while Simon was scanning the Stalls for him. Luckily, Shayne and his girlfriend Faye had their seats directly in the middle of Row K, the same row that my friend Sarah and her mum sat in, so when he finally got up and waved around, grinning, I had a perfect view (I won’t deny it: that wasn’t the only time my puffy eyes turned around to look at him and his reaction to this last show!).
2. An enture audience singing “More Than Words” for Natalie Andreou. For that, I probably have to get a bit further back: a few weeks back, Natalie had asked us all on twitter a huge favour. She told us how hard it was that she had all the heartbreaking songs in the show, and asked us to, if she wouldn’t be able to sing on that last show, sing for her instead. Which we did. During her last notes in “Heaven/More Than Words”, just before Carly Mercedes Dyer had her short solo, Natalie completely broke down, when I already thought she actually would keep it together. But when instead of the last words “…’cause I’d already know…”, her voice cracked, we only heard some beep in her microphone, the entire audience went “Awwww…!” (under tears; I was under tears and I bet so was at least half of the people in that room and on that stage), and then the magic happened: everyone in the Stalls, in the Dress Circle & the Grand Circle started singing Natalie’s last words for her! It was the most beautiful moment of my entire life, and it still gives me goosebumps to no end just thinking about it. The vibe in that moment that went through each and everyone of us, the love spreading among us up to Natalie on that stage…I can’t put it into words. We instantly made Nat smile when we were done with her line, and she started laughing, along with Carly, and we knew it was good. We had kept our promise.
3. The Programme Scene. Normally a guarantee to crack you up with tears of laughter. This last time, Simon started with how every time, over the past 2 years he had tried to come up with new stuff for that scene all the time, and that he had strongly thought about how he would choose his stuff for this last time. Then the first few notes and the music of “My Way” by Frank Sinatra started playing – and we were dead. Well, not literally, not yet, but something like that. You know what I mean. Anyways, Simon started singing: “…my friend….you have been in “Mamma Mia”…in High School Musical…and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I did the Scrunchie Rap…uhm, kissed your mother while she’s been in the audience…and then I said you’ve been in the Bob the Builder Arena Tour…can we fix it?( “YES WE CAN” from the entire audience!)…none of which is true, I’m sorry! If you think….that all this time…you could’ve been…in “We Will Rock You”…but no…you were in “Rock Of Ages”…and we did it our way…!” Never have I experienced an audience cheering as loud as they did after those last words. Purely magical.
3. Ross Hunter starting to cry on stage during “High Enough”. Seriously, that man, if you don’t know him, is a ray of sunshine. I have never met anybody who smiles so much, who makes you feel special and who’s body radiates such a warmth and positive energy like his does. Seeing him cracking up during that ballad, lost for words, was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to experience.

Way too soon, it was all over, and Simon came back on stage after the last applause with everyone else on stage, too. He then gave a speech that seriously made my heart melt. I won’t be giving you every detail of it now, because a.) if you read this, you’ve probably been there yourself and b.) if you haven’t been there, it doesn’t matter to explain it to you, as you won’t get the gist of it. I’ll just be giving out one very important thing, the thing that made my heart melt and my tears coming back in a heartbeat. When Simon went on about that one sentence in the show that everyone knows, and that he knows best because he has it now on his body for the rest of his life, he ended with “Sometimes, the dreams that you come in with aren’t always the dreams that you leave with…buy hey, they still rock! And that’s what “Rock Of Ages” is for me.” I think never have any words been so accurate than in that moment.

At the Stage Door…well, let’s say it was horrible. I have never cried so much in my entire life than I did after my last Goodbye to Mr. Lipkin. I remember Sarah & Alison saying to every Cast Member that passed us, seeing me on the floor, dead inside, “Simon broke her”. I remember the wonderful Rebecca trying to raise me up to my feet when Natalie Andreou came out, smiling, and I just couldn’t at first. I remember Nat pulling me into her arm, saying “Come here, crying one!” making me laugh (but I still look awful in that picture) instantly. I remember taking a picture with Jodie Oliver, Tim Howar’s girlfriend and their puppy Rocky, with Jamie Muscato, Dan Fletcher, Nathan Amzi…and I remember Simon staring into Sarah’s, Alison’s & my eyes (although it were barely mine, probably due to the fact I made him feel overwhelmed with my puffy eyes and horrible state of mental health at that moment), telling us how proud he was of being part of this “Rock Of Ages” family, that these fans amazing and the best ones he ever had. That man definitely broke my heart that day and made me feel so proud of him for being the rock for everyone during the last two shows, being all smiley and chatty. He seriously has a heart of gold. And so does everyone else of that Cast.

So now an era has come to an end, it’s over, and the tears slowly begin to dry. I will cherish all the memories forever – the laughter, the tears, the Stage Door moments, the dayseating hours, just everything. And most of all, I will cherish forever everyone I have met over the past year, especially over the past 4 months, people that have seriously grown to my heart and some of them that I definitely never let go again – Laura, Ali, Sarah, Noor, Alison, Sigal, Rebecca, Natalia, Eleanor, Lucy, Kimmi, Jessica, Saz, Ksenya, Steph, Danii, Sophie, Emma, Steve, Abe, Ann, Mandy…I bet I forgot a whole bunch of you, but be assured I thank God that you have been with me on most of this journey. We have shared tears and laughter, drinks and food, and this RoAdie Family has made me feel home for the first time in my life. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being around with me, for making me part of your family – love to all of you!