We Will Rock You – Colosseum Essen 28.06./29.06.2013

1. Friday, 28.06. 2013

Now I officially belong to that part of the Musical Fandom that calls the ticket organisation just less than 24 hours before the event, asking for a last-minute ticket for a show. It was a must-see for me, as I had deeply missed my favourite 2 main actors on stage 3 days before, and I couldn’t wait until the Dernière on sunday.

I don’t really remember if there was anything special this time, I just remember that it was a wonderful feeling to see Chris & Jeannine back on stage (again: I DO have the highest respect for Stuart & Jessica on tuesday, they were great, but just not my faves!), because I feel like the way they harmonize with each other is way more emotional; I always melt when during “Who Wants To Live Forever”, Chris embraces Jeannine so tightly from behind – no Galileo I have seen so far has ever done it that way, and I think it’s a very important little detail.
Anna Lidman being back as Ozzy was good to see – knowing that she was really getting better from her sudden deafness. And she was amazing, the best show I had seen from her. It’s always so touching when after “(No-One But You) Only The Good Die Young”, she turns away when she’s done singing, and everyone in the audience knows she’s crying; to know that she loves what she does so much that it’s really touching her soul is wonderful and an honour to be a witness of.
And the audience was wonderful! I feel like except for my 1st show at the Colosseum on May, 3rd, it got better and better with every show, they were really carried away with enthusiasm every single time, including long and loud standing ovations, cheerings and clappings – I’m very proud I’m a part of this fandom that was around in Essen!

After the show, of course, I went round to the Stage Door, where I was meeting Nurhan & Katharina (whom I had got to know 3 days earlier and already loved them 🙂 ), and we got to talk to Stuart for a while again, who was so lovely and nice, and then, Andrea rushed out of the door, being in a hurry, but still took a few seconds to stop, hugging me and telling me that sadly she hadn’t been on as Ozzy that night, but I just told her I didn’t care, because she was on stage after all, which meant a lot for me, anyways. The girls and me stood around a bit longer, and when Nurhan wanted to take a picture with one of the band members – Jamie Humphreys, a really nice person with an accent that kills me everytime *lol* -, I noticed Nikolas Heiber coming out. I told him I wouldn’t be calling him Madonna again, because I already recognized him a week earlier. He laughed, and I asked him if anybody has recognized him ever since, but he said no, but that it would’t be that bad. I can tell you, I really wanted to hug that one, feeling sorry for him…instead, I asked to take a quick picture (what a stalker am I?), and I felt his arm grabbing me around my waist tightly, and he pulled me onto him close, and we both did the “Rock-Gesture” – I really love the outcome of it, and of course, I liked Niko even more after that 😉

2. Saturday, 29.06.2013

Craziest day/night I have ever experienced, by far…not going into detail in public here, but if you wanna know, just ask. This show was one of my favourites of all the times I went to go see it in Essen. It would be the first and last time I’d finally see Tobias Bieri as Galileo on stage, and I had heard how fab he was. He was playing along with Jeannine Michele Wacker as Scaramouche, and isn’t it such a cute thing if you think about that these two are a couple?! Anyways, due to a promo thing in another city, the main cast wasn’t on that night, meaning that many roles were different this time: Brit would be played by David Michael Johnson (DMJ), who is a total legend for german WWRY fans, being the first ever Brit, Martin Werth would be playing Bap/Pop instead of Dieter Bohlen (dunno the Dominion version of the Bohemian leader right now, sorry :/), Nikolas Heiber would be playing Dieter Bohlen instead of Madonna, Nicole Malangré was going to be on as Killer Queen, and Marjolein Teepen, usually on as one of the Teen Queens, was going to be Ozzy/Meat.

The show was amazing, Tobi really surprised me. When I heard him in “Who Wants To Live Forever”, I was really impressed of how soft and at the same time strong his voice sounded; and with his version of “Hammer To Fall”, he simply blew me away. You gotta know I never got along well with the thought of a blond Galileo with curly hair; for me, it doesn’t fit to the role, for me he somehow needs to have dark, short hair (tell me why I’m so weird about that *lol*). But when I experienced him singing, especially the high and really powerful notes, I whistled inside, because he was so fabulous. And he has this special kind of acting that Chris does not have, something still really childish and cute, which fits him perfectly (should I mention how cute I thought it was that the Shirt that is worn in that role seemed way to small for him and always slided upwards when he raised his arms or moved alot? 🙂 ) And he and Jeannine harmonized SO goddamn well! I had never seen her that happy on stage (she had been very happy before, but I guess being on stage with your boyfriend is always really special 🙂 ), and you could see how much both of them enjoyed their last time together on the WWRY-Stage…they were both absolutely breathtaking, and I really regret that I never had seen them up there before. At the end, during the last few notes of “We Are The Champions”, the stage definitely was all Tobi’s: he encouraged the entire audience to sing along with him he shouted “Eeeeeeooohhhh…” more than once and everybody had to repeat it, and every time he did it, the notes got longer, until at the last one, – which was SO long that no one of us could actually hold it at all -, we all just stood there, laughing, and Tobi….he enjoyed this so much, it was amazing to see we gave him exactly that kind of last Galileo show that he must’ve hoped for. And Jeannine having tears in her eyes proved that she had loved it and was grateful for the audience once again.

At the Stage Door after, first one to come out was Marjolein, and she was so nice! I told her it was nice to see her in a different role this time, and she concluded with “…not so evil, right?” When I had first met her a few weeks back, she must’ve been in a hurry or sth, because she seemed so distant and impatient and kind of annoyed, and I was glad I got to talk to her once more to see that my first impression was wrong 🙂 Then I finally caught Martin Werth…gosh, I had waited so long for this, as I had never recognized him at first, or just didn’t see him coming out…only to see him on SO many of my Stage Door pics with the other actors, actually photobombing almost all shots *lol* I told him that I was really impressed because I hadn’t expected his voice to be so fantastic and good, and that he had really blown me away. After that, I saw Nurhan, one of the 3 girls I had met 4 days earlier, talking to one of the Ensemble Members, Austin Garrett, who played Axl Rose (who oddly looks EXACTLY like Joey Primo in “Rock Of Ages”!!!!), and he was so lovely and cute, I can’t even. He was so touched when Nurhan gave him a small present, and it was really heartbreaking seeing that he had been crying for a couple of minutes, that he actually had a hard time pulling himself together…and it didn’t take long until the poor Nurhan, not being able to see others cry, started crying herself. That was the first moment I realized that the Dernière the next day wouldn’t be a walk in the park – for none of us. If only I had known then HOW much it would be killing me.

After that, Tobi and Jeannine finally came out, and I walked up to Tobi, telling him how breathtaking he had been, that he had really impressed me and that I absolutely had loved his performance, though nobody could hold this last high note of his 🙂 It was so lovely to talk to him and Jeannine, seeing them together (seriously, they must be the cutest couple I’ve ever seen). When I first took a pic with Tobi and then one with Jeannine (I told her how breathtaking I thought Tobi had been, and she laughed and said “Go tell HIM that, he never believes me when I tell him!”), I actually really wanted one with both of them, and somehow, at first, Nurhan ended up taking a picture with ONLY both of them, and it was hilarious and cute at the same time 🙂 After that, I got my pic with both of them, and that one is actually one of my favourite of all pics I took over the past 8 weeks. It’s one more wonderful memory that no one can ever take from me 🙂

Caissie Levy Live At The Hippodrome 26.01.2013

The Hippodrome Casino, in the middle of London, right on Leicester Square – what a venue. I’ve never been to a Casino in my entire life, so I really had no clue what to expect from this one, but I was taken aback when I first stepped foot in its big hall. The many poker tables, the lights, the people, the decoration…it was an amazing view to take in.

We knew that the Concert would be in the Matcham Room, so we soon found our way up to the 2nd floor, where quite a few people were already queueing to get in. I was kind of bouncing off the walls, as I had just got out of seeing “Les Misérables” at the Queens Theatre, and the adrenalin was still rushing through my veins. And the fact that all of a sudden, Oliver Tompsett, and, shortly after him, Paul Ayres passed me and my friend standing at the Top of the Staircase, didn’t make it any better. They both looked so good, and I was so excited to see them on stage that night with Caissie Levy, though I had just seen Oli on stage at the Dominion the night before. It was actually pretty surreal, when I also saw Nathan Amzi crossing our way and entering the Matcham Room; that were so many West End Actors/Singers that I had no chance to actually realize what was happening here. And then that one thing happened that was totally killing me.
As I said, my friend Kim and me were standing at the Top pf the Staircase, and we both took in the scene around us, the people playing Poker and everything, and it was such a stimulus satiation, I can’t begin to explain it. At one moment, I was standing with my back to the Stairs, looking to the Bodyguards standing at the Entrance of the Matcham Room, when my friend suddenly said nothing more than “Stairs, Stairs, Stairs, RIGHT NOW!” I was confused for a second, believing there was someone of HER favourite West End people, but when I turned around, there he was, MY favourite West End person: Simon Lipkin. You have to know: when I was planning that weekend in London, I couldn’t even begin to imagine to be there and not going to see him at “Rock Of Ages”. Sadly, since they’ve moved the Show to The Garrick Theatre, the ticket prices have been increased and there were no day seats available anymore. And as I had already 3 Shows and that Concert in 2 days, I just couldn’t afford an expensive Stalls Ticket for RoA (because, come on: sitting in that Show for me means to sit in the Stalls, period). My heart was honestly bleeding, knowing I was in my favourite city and wouldn’t even get a glimpse of Simon, my favourite RoAdie, as there wasn’t even time to go to the Stage Door for a few minutes. And when it was clear I was going to see the Caissie Levy Concert with Oliver Tompsett & Paul Ayres as Special Guests, my heart was all like “Maybe Simon will be there, too, maybe he will be, who knows?” the entire day, while my rational head was all like “Stop daydreaming and hoping, why on earth would HE be there?!” So when my friend said this Stair thingy (knowing VERY well that he was my favourite, as I couldn’t stop talking about him), and I turned around and saw him coming up the Stairs, just one metre away from us, I was sheer speechless. I hope he didn’t notice it, but I wasn’t able to do anything than just standing there, staring at him passing us…and my mouth was gaping open widely. VERY widely. That had never happen to me before, and when I saw him walking all the way to the end of the queue, it was over for me. That was so surreal, seeing him – who I consider a star at the West End, sue me – just acting like a normal person, and he didn’t show any airs and graces at all, and I couldn’t help but fall even harder for him than I already had three months before. So from the moment me and my friend were taking our seats in The Matcham Room to the beginning of the Concert up to its end, my heart was pounding like crazy. Standing in the queue, I was turning around the entire time, just to get a glimpse of him, and when me and my friend had taken our seats infront of the Stage, my eyes were practically glued to the Entrance, hoping they’d get to see him. Guess I was telling myself that if that would happen, I’d bring up the courage to walk up to him and chat a bit or maybe get another hug and pic with him *lol* Instead, Nathan Amzi came through the entrance just before the show started, and he saw me and my friend looking at the “Les Misérables” Souvenir brochure we brought with us from the Theatre, smiling at us and giving us a thumbs up 🙂
Well, then the Concert started, and what can I say? Everyone was just breathtakingly amazing. EVERYONE. Paul Ayres & Jenny Fitzpatrick sang “Lovebug Lives”, and then, Paul sang alone, “Out Of The Blue”. His voice was perfect in every way, and seeing him on stage so up close was amazing. Everytime he came to the higher notes, my skin was full of goosebumps; he was really, really great.
Sadly, when it was Oliver Tompsett’s turn to sing his solo, I hadn’t switched on my camera, so I don’t even know what his great song was called, only I remember that at first, it was a wonderful ballad, but after a while, turned out to a wonderful uptempo number. And of course, he was absolutely amazing; I totally fell for his voice when I had seen him in “Rock Of Ages” three months before, and he didn’t disappoint me ever since. He has that special thing in his voice that just makes your entire skin turn into massive goosebumps, your heart pounding like wild and your heart just wanting to melt and yourself? Well, it makes you squeak like a little child and feeling the urge to storm onto the Stage and give him massive hugs. He’s absolutely wonderful and the best West End Singer that there is right now.

After that, the main person of that evening stepped onto to the stage, the breathtakingly beautiful Caissie Levy. I already knew her voice inside out from the “Ghost-The Musical” Cast Recording, but still, I was taken aback when I heard her singing live. She was absolutely amazing. Every note was perfect, there was nothing to complain about, and the songs that she presented from her new album were all so wonderful! (though I’m really not a ballad person unless I’m sad and lonely or sth). After a few songs – of which I totally fell with the beautiful “You Are The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me” -, Caissie called Oliver back onto the stage, and they both finally sang their duet together, the song “As Long As You’re Mine” from the Musical “Wicked”, where they had both worked together for quite a while, but somehow never sang together! The first take of that song was already amazing, but when everyone in the audience wanted to hear it a 2nd time, it was even better, as they started off with Oliver running off the Stage and Caissie calling him back up with  compliments, pretending he hadn’t already been there just a few seconds ago, it was hilarious.
After the last song, wich was my absolute highlight – she sang “Without You” from “Ghost” live, it actually brought tears to my eyes because it was so beautiful and I felt like there was no way that anybody could sing that song more perfect and breathtaking, – the Concert already ended, which was really sad, as I had really enjoyed it. I actually wanted to get a picture with Caissie or Oliver or Paul or Simon or Nathan, or to have a chat, but somehow, that didn’t really work out that well, as I just didn’t want to intrude their private space that night (for me, it’s different to wait for them at the Stage Door, sue me). So after half an hour of walking around The Hippodrome, watching the people play Poker, Black Jack, etc., my friend and me finally made our way back to our hostel. And for me, that night was priceless, not only because of the stunning and amazing Concert, but also because my wish came true and I got to see Simon without even being at The Garrick! 🙂

London, Squirrels & Beautiful Architecture 27.01.2013

There I was again, in my favourite town, and sadly, all on my own, as my friend Kim had already left that morning. But after the entire morning was full of rain that didn’t seem to stop, it finally cleared, and though, out of the sun, it was quite chilly, the day became one of the most beautiful I could hope for. From Hyde Park, I slowly walked down all the way over Oxford Street with “Don’t Stop Believin'” from the “Rock Of Ages” Soundtrack in my ear all the time, blaring through my head like there was no tomorrow. And I’m not gonna lie, I was smiling from one ear to another, and I think I actually hopped over Oxford Street every now and then – the people must’ve thought I was totally insane 😀

When I got to Piccadilly Circus, I thought that it was too nice outside to spent the time inside my hostel room until I had to go to the Cinema in the afternoon, so I decided to walk all the way to St. James Park, over to Buckingham Palace and back to Big Ben and the London Eye. The wind was quite strong, but the thought of the hazelnuts in my handbag made me smile like an idiot, as my plan was to go and feed the squirrels – best idea ever! They were the cutest things, and as soon as I stepped onto the grass and slowly walked up to them, they hopped all the way to me, and as I put a hazelnut on my hand, thye shortly sniffed, then took it and hopped away, crunching at the nut for a moment, then ran off and buried it somewhere in the earth. I also teased one of them, as I showed him/her the hazelnut, and when it came to me, held it high up, so the squirrel would stay longer and I’d get a better shot with my camera. What I didn’t consider was 1. that it had rained the entire morning, and the ground was sticky with mud and 2. that the squirrels don’t let you fool them. That specific one suddenly crawled up onto my right leg, clinged itself to my jeans and reached for the nut, and I finally gave in and gave it to him/her – only then I realized the mess it had done, because my jeans were a total mess, there were tiny mudprints all over my right leg. Still, I loved watching these little things running and hopping and crunching and climbing and could barely tell myself that I couldn’t stay here the entire day.

After I pulled myself away from these cuties, I shortly walked over to Buckingham Palace, taking in all the beautiful plants and everything in St. James Park.

I walked over to Big Ben – which I didn’t know was THAT close from where I stood. I suppose I stood there for about 15 minutes without moving, taking pictures with my IPhone, my Nikon Camera, and posted them to facebook and instagram. It was such an amazing feeling to just stand there, the wind blowing, the sun shining, all these people all around me, and just looking at one of the most beautiful architectural thingy there was, and at that moment I really wished I wasn’t alone but with one of my friends to appreciate it even more. Although it was my 2nd time in London, I still couldn’t believe it was real. Is it always like this as a tourist? I hope so, because it’s a beautiful feeling that always brings tears to my eyes. From Big Ben, it were just a few meters to the Bridge and the London Eye, and again, I bet I stood there about 15 minutes just staring at the wonderful and breathtaking scene. This might all seem pretty random to most people, but for someone who desperately wants out of her normal life in Germany, it means the world.

This day had passed so fast, it was unbelievable, and before I noticed, it was time for me to get to the cinema – not before I paid Tesco’s a visit again, to buy chocolate for the last time, and also, some Yorkshire Tea for a friend of mine. After the cinema, I was pretty determined to find out where the Garrick Theatre was – home of my beloved “Rock Of Ages” Show. I knew it was somewhere behind Leicester Square, and I knew it couldn’t be that far away, and though it was already getting dark, and my last night in London had started, I didn’t want to go back to my hostel without having found it. Luckily, suddenly, I stood right infront of it, placed in a small side street a bit after Leicester Square, but easily reachable by foot, and after I saw what they had made of the Theatre, I knew I would be coming back for another RoA show 🙂

I love you, London ♥

Rock Of Ages 23.09.2012 aka The Umbrella War aka “I Can’t Basically Close The Umbrella!”

Before you think “What a freak, goes to the same show 2 nights in a row?!” No, I didn’t. Although I was actually really tempted to…if it wouldn’t have been impossible to get Tickets for that last night before Cast Change. Huge groups of people had camped the infront of the Box Office the entire night, with the temperature not being higher than 4 degrees or something, all to get a ticket, and news were that the people who got there “just” at 5am in the morning, didn’t even get their ticket!

So there was no way I was going to see the show for a 2nd time…which did NOT stop me and my friend to go to the Stage Door at 10:45pm anyways to see the Original Cast one last time…which, with enough time lying between then and now, wasn’t the cleverest idea we’ve ever had.
The entire day, it was raining cats and dogs – literally. It was just the weather you think of when you think of England. And it was definitely NOT a weather to stand guard at any Stage Door at night, when it’s wet, dark and cold. But after my friend and I stayed at our hostel almost the entire afternoon and night, it was very clear to us that there was no way around it, that we just HAD to go to the Shaftesbury that one last time, because we wouldn’t just be able to sleep or rest our minds at all. So at 10:35pm, we stood at the Main Entrance of the Theatre, watched the last bits of the show from afar on a small screen and listened to the music that was blasting through the hall, and when the last big applause came on, we went straight to the Stage Door, both with our Umbrellas held high above our heads. I was quite surprised when a girl stormed past us, thinking that she was just running to get out of the pouring rain. But when we got to the back of the Shaftesbury, I had to see that this exact girl was already standing right at the front of the door, together with two or three others, and I slowly started to wonder if this had really been such a good idea. Anyways, about 15 minutes later, when enough time had passed for the actors to get their make-up off and get ready to go home…that small alley was CROWDED. It was like a Justin Bieber concert, with screaming and shoving girls (no, I’ve never been to a Justin Bieber concert, but I’ve seen enough on TV to know that I’m right about this). At first, I was standing quite in front, but as the minutes passed, a lot of girls thought it was VERY nice to push me back or aside (yes, this was Irony speaking), and I was already starting to freak out and curse, as I get annoyed, pissed off and aggressive VERY fast. My friend was standing a bit behind me, and found it quite amusing that, because of the huge crowd of girls holding their umbrellas, her own umbrella was magically hanging above her head without any need to hold it. Me, on the other hand, got so annoyed that I myself started harshly pushing away the girls that tried to push me to the far end of the crowd. Out of my mouth came the worst english curses and insults, and my friend slowly got worried I’d get into trouble (she kept telling me that I should PLEASE at least curse in german so nobody wold actually understand what I was saying), but I didn’t care and kept shouting “that some people here obviously never heard anything about good manners or education” and the one or other “bitches” may have slipped out of my mouth. During all this, Rohan Tickell stepped out at first, completely overwhelmed by the crowd, but there was no way to get to him. 
After him, Justin Lee Collins came out, and I really, desperately wanted to get a 2nd picture with him, as the first one the night before turned out to be total crap, but again: no chance for me. This all got me mad even more. Then, Sandy Moffat was the next actor to come out, and there my friend and me got lucky. We both pushed forward, and after he took a picture with two twins, he stood right infront of us. We both smiled at him and told him that we were from Germany, and that my friend was from Hamburg (remember that bit in the show where Sandy aka Franz talks about the Confectionary Store in Hamburg?), but that we both weren’t mad at him for this “Gay” reference to germans in the show. He laughed and we could both take a quick picture with him. Mine turned out to be actually absolutely crappy, considering my face, but Sandy was so cute and nice I can see past that 🙂

After that, things somehow went completely out of hand. It was the moment that Shayne Ward opened the door and the screaming REALLY began. Girls with masks of Shayne’s face were waving their hands (and the stupid umbrellas; sometimes I thought one of them would actually trump my eye!) and shoving even more.
At one point, which was the most memorable of that entire night, I noticed a small woman right behind me, and I mean: she was really tiny, she could barely look over my shoulder (sue me, but I didn’t give a shit at that moment). She kept complaining about a girl right at the Stage Door, who had her umbrella so absolutely stupidly in her hand that it completely prevented the people behind her – including me, my friend and the tiny woman behind us, – to see ANYTHING except that blue thing. I kept shouting that she should put her umbrella down, I actually said “Put that goddamn umbrella down!!!” a couple of times, that I must’ve scared my friend I’d going to explode. But would you believe it?! That girl didn’t even care at all! She ignored all my shouting, and when the entire group behind me – literally everyone there – screamed “Put the umbrella down!!!”, she shouted back (and that, my friends, was the memorable moment): “I CAN’T BASICALLY CLOSE THE UMBRELLA!” Trust me, I haven’t been that furious in my entire life, because all I wanted was to see Shayne, to get forward, get a pic with him and leave. And a few minutes later, oh what a magic, that girl somehow managed to close the umbrella she “couldn’t basically close”…and the crowd cheered and clapped their hands.
A couple of minutes of later, I don’t even know anymore how I did it, I had fought my way through to the front and was the next person to get a picture with Shayne, and my heart was pounding so hard, though I was cool as an iceberg (with everything around, my mind wasn’t even capable of understanding anything that was going on). Shayne looked SO good, oh my. I’ve barely seen men who have this special kind of natural beauty, who don’t need a lot of hair gel or special clothes, but Shayne was one of them. You could already see he was shocked by the crowd that had mostly come for him (as he was one of the people who had their last show that night), and that he just wanted to get out of there somehow, but he was nice and polite anyways, and as I asked him to take a pic (feeling creepier than ever), he said “Of course” and I somehow placed myself right beside him, waved my friend forwards and let her take my picture. I don’t like that one, either, but Shayne looks perfect, and that’s all that matters!

The next person that came out was actually the main reason I had to go back again: Simon Lipkin. Only this time, I could read in his face that he was thinking: “What the actual hell is THIS?!” He was so annoyed and stressed (and maybe tired), but still took his time to take a pic with some of the fans, took their gifts and smiled, he even talked a few words with some, and I really give him a high credit for that. I don’t know if I’d reacted like that in that horrible situation, thinking you could actually be in danger to be suffocated or crushed (nothing else could describe it better). I was actually pretty anxious to ask for a pic, as I already had taken an amazing one the night before, and I’d taken several pics taken of him while he was shuffling around the crowd, but the wish to stand right beside him a 2nd time, to be close to my fave, got the better of me, and when I stood infront of him, I asked him for a pic, and he said “Sure”. I took one, but my friend suddenly said it wasn’t a good one, so I “had” to stay a bit longer beside him in his arm (it wasn’t that bad, though LOL), and after it, I thanked him again, but I could see that his mind was somewhere else, that he was so stressed he just wanted to get out, so I gave way to him and got to the back of the crowd.

After the biggest issue for me was solved, me and my friend stepped a bit away from the crowd (who had already cleared itself big time; there weer barely people out there, and I was wondering where they had vanished all of a sudden?) and saw Oliver Tompsett and Dylan Turner standing around, talking with some friends, and just as both of them already wanted to leave, we shouted their names and asked for another pic (I’m not sure, but I think I said something like “Can’t wait to see you in WWRY” to Oliver).

Then we were absolutely done, we started breathing out normally again, and slowly made our way back to our hostel again, and we still couldn’t believe what had just happened at the Shaftesbury. It was all too surreal, and we were both shocked at how ruthless some of the girls were (I wasn’t better, with cursing at all, but I wouldn’t have shoved or pushed anybody as long as they wouldn’t have done it!). As soon as we were back at the hostel, we both looked at our pictures taken, talked about the night, and for the first time, started laughing about it, because in retrospect, it was just too funny how crazy something like that could make people. Just a show with music and acting, a Cast Change, and it felt like the entirety of the Londoner West End got completely insane.
As I said at the beginning, going to the the Stage Door that night wasn’t really our/my cleverest idea, but I don’t regret it anyway, because somehow, I think, you have to make an experience like that if you’re a real Theatre Lover 🙂

Rock Of Ages (Shaftesbury Theatre) 22.09.2012

Three little words: OH. MY. GOD.

That night was the weirdest and also best night I had in my life so far (I know I use to say it very often, sue me) and made me fall in love with Rock Music, Musicals & London forever. But from the beginning.

That weekend was supposed to be the Cast change at the show, with most of the Main Cast leaving. As for me and my friend, we hadn’t ever heard of that Show before, though it was almost running for a year now, but we both decided to try it out, and after I listened to some songs on the RoA website, it was very clear to me that I would even go alone if I had to. And god, what a decision that was. As we knew it would be kind of a fight to get tickets, (which were supposed to be Day Seat Tickets, limited) we got up on Saturday super early to queue for them (the Box Office was supposed to open at 10am, so we were there at about 8:45am I think – after only a bit more than 3 hours of sleep!). When we got there, there was already a bunch of people waiting in line, and also a friend of Kim was standing there, Eszter, who told us that some of the girls had camped infront of the Shaftesbury to be the first in line and I thought “What the hell?” As there were already standing about 20 people infront of us, we slightly started to worry if we would get our Day Seat Tickets (okay, inside, I started actually PANICKING); plus, it was freaking could outside, I could either feel my feet nor my hands after an hour not moving an inch, I was tired and hungry. Then, when the Box Office finally opened, my panic reached a new high (and it really wasn’t helping that my friend kept saying “Forget it, we won’t get a ticket, we just won’t, look at the people infront of us”), when we got to the clerk at the Office and told her what we wanted. And as if God was on our side that day, she said “Right at the front?” and we replied “As far in the front as possible, yes” and it was like music in my ears when she smiled widely and said “You’re lucky, I have two last seats left in row BB, Seats 24 and 25.” I started smiling like a fool and was actually afraid the clerk could hear the lump that fell down in my stomach 🙂

After we spent the entire day sightseeing around London with the most beautiful sunshine, we finally got to the Shaftesbury at 7pm, one hour before the show, and it was actually weird, sitting right at the front and seeing the steps that led down the stage, and I started to think if something would happen to the people in the first row during the show (my “Tarzan” experience with the Gorillas stealing my shoe proved me that things like that did actually happen).

Then the show started with VERY loud Rock Music blaring out of the speakers, which made us a bit uncomfortable at first, as we sat directly infront of them. But when Simon Lipkin made his first appearance as Lonny on stage, it was over for me. That guy was too hilarious, and I can’t remember a single second of the show where I was NOT laughing my ass off. When he came to that moment in the show where he says: “You, my dressing room, 2 minutes!” and points at a girl (usually in the middle of the first row), I was actually already jealous and thought: “Damn, we got the wrong seats!” 😀 So it’s really not easy for me to tell you the exact moment I completely fell for that weird piece of work. What I can tell you is this: Oliver Tompsett. OH MY GOD. That moment he showed up on stage and opened his mouth to sing that certain line that goes “…then law then put me awaaaaahaay!” I was done. That was the best thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life, and I sat there and thought, if I didn’t start breathing again soon, I’d fall out of my seat, drop dead. His voice was killing me, and not only at that scene, but during the entire show! I fell in love with his voice right there and then, and I could completely understand why my friend Eszter adores him so much. The entire Cast was just flawless: Natalie Andreou as Sherrie, Justin Lee Collins as Dennis Dupree, Shayne Ward as Stacee Jaxx (oh my God, what a man, what a role, let me stop drooling!), Jodie Jacobs as Regina, Sandy Moffat as Franz (I think me and my friend Kim where the only ones who actually understood the german line “Immer verdirbst du mir den Spaß!”, which made us giggle for a couple of minutes)…Nathan Amzi as the Mayor…I could go on and on, but fact is: that night at “Rock Of Ages” was the best night of my entire life! And I don’t think I actually have laughed so much and hard in my entire life, and since then, there was nothing that could make me smile more than thinking back to that moment of the show where Lonny (Simon Lipkin) talks with Drew (Oliver Tompsett) about the RoA programme and then, suddenly this happened:
Lonny: “Actually, I…I…I heard this vicious rumour that you…are leaving the show after tomorrow night, to..to…to go and be in “We Will Rock You”…(booing through the entire audience) “…you…you..you BASTARD! You SON OF A BITCH! How can you do this to me?!” (imitating Oli/Drew) “I’m so pretty, I’m gonna be in every Rock Show in the West End!” We’ve been doing this for one year now, and you’re leaving me for FUCKING FREDDY MERCURY!!!”
In that exact moment, it was over for me. I fell head over heels for Simon, the Show and the entirety of London and the West End. That will forever be the most memorable and best moment when it comes to Musicals for me. Priceless, just damn priceless. (And yes, I know that line by heart, every single word, pause and breath of Simon/Lonny.)

When the show ended and I could barely keep myself from hopping up and down, we went straight to the Stage Door, but what I didn’t expect at all were the masses that were already waiting there. I’d never seen something like that, and for a moment I got really worried if I’d even get a chance for a pic at all, and I realized the only way was to fight my way through to the front (I can tell you, considering what happened at the Stage Door the next night, my first “fight” for the front was NOTHING compared to the Umbrella war on sunday, which was the Cast Change Day).

The first person to come out was Justin Lee Collins, and since me and my friend always had to think of Robert Downey Jr. during the show (come on, you can’t deny how much they resemble each other, they’re like twins!), I needed a picture with him, to tell everyone I actually met Robert Downey Jr. *lol* Sadly, my friend was too far behind to take picture, so I made the mistake and gave some girl my camera to take on…which came out as totally blurry -.- But I couldn’t re-do it, as Justin was sadly already on his way home.

The next person to come out simply took my breath away. I mean…Simon Lipkin had already easily entered my heart with his weird Lonny outfit, the Vokuhila, the creepy T-Shirts and his crazy behaviour, but when he stood there, just himself, with this short black hair, the moustache (normally I HATE guys with moustaches!), the black, open jacket and the pink shirt that revealed part of his breast tattoo (and breast), I was so done with this world. I couldn’t stop staring, and I bet that someone must’ve have felt the urge to close my mouth that was gaping open, or, at least, put a bucket under my chin to stop my drooling. Seriously, that man got to me like no other actor/singer ever before. I thought it back then and I still think it: that man is pure beauty. Pure, plain beauty, and everything about him seems perfect (I will not start about his breathtaking british accent, or I might die right here on my couch). I don’t even know anymore how I took the courage to fight myself up to him (trust me, I would’ve killed that night to get to him) and stutter something like “Amazing show! Can we take a picture?” But yes, I did, and this time, thank God, I had a great photographer guy (if he read this: you’ve saved my life that night!) who took my picture so perfectly that today, that pic hangs right beside my bedside.

After that, the only two people we got to catch where Dylan Turner, who played the role of Joey Primo that night, and, of course, Oliver Tompsett. Dylan was just there for a few seconds, it seemed, so we took a quick picture and gone he was.
Oliver was there for a while longer, as almost everyone wanted to take a picture with him, and talk to him and everything – which is completely understandable, considering it was his last but one night at the Shaftesbury before he left for “We Will Rock You” at the Dominion. Thankfully, he was so lovely and nice, kind and patient, and as I walked up to him and asked to take a picture, he said “Yeah, sure” and posed…just why is it he doesn’t ever smile on a pic with me? You’ll see later what I mean. But still, it was a great honour to meet him and all the others that night, amazing actors and singers.