a dream i didn’t want to wake up from… ie the week i spent seeing les mis arena tour in shanghai:
21.12 evening
my first show, james sillman marius, harryjolras & connortaire, natty’s eponine, all for the very first time!
at stage door i met: shaun, jeremy, second james (and almost called him this to his face oops), harry c, connor, dan, and natty!
on the way home, i bumped into: harry c and connor who wished me good night and also told me they’ll see me next year for their alleged concert (i was too stunned to really say anything except hi) and also second james who rushed past me after that (i didn’t say anything)
also on my way to stage door i actually saw harry (grant smith) coming out the side door lol but i didn’t wanna bother him there
22.12
went to disneyland with my friends and unexpectedly bumped into bea, channah and harry along with the little gavs and cosettes. had the letter for harry still in my bag and ended up running back to give it to him, took this photo:
then told him i really wanted to see his marius. i was too stunned to remember to actually speak to bea and channah but i did wave as i was running back to my friends
23.12
woke up with the gut instinct that harry was for some reason going to cover marius that night and tried desperately to get a ticket. failed miserably and wanted to cry, got a ticket for the next night just in case.
went to get first row for stage door since i had nothing better to do. at stage door i met:
harry - told him how i met him at disney the previous day and he remembered (“oh my gosh yes!”) and then told him how i couldn’t get tickets even though i had the instinct he’d be on. he was disappointed for me but didn’t know either whether he would still be covering the next day. took this picture! harry squared because dec named my enjolbear harrybeary
jo - really loved that she stopped to read the page i asked her to sign on, she got very excited about it and i told her my favourite line was underlined (“i’m the daughter of a wolf”)
geddy - immediately got curious about all the tabs on my book (purely for the purpose of being able to find the right page for each actor quickly for stage door lol) and i told him look, here’s bossuet’s intro! it says he’s bald… immediately realising how that sounded and telling him “but you’re not bald” 😭 he gasped when i pointed it out and then before moving on told me he’s going bald and that one day when he’s older… hilarious interaction tbh
also met channah (again) and earl! and abel and jeremy also came out that night, but abel skipped over my section and i’d already gotten jeremy’s earlier
24.12
i walked into the venue and on the cast board: “marius - james sillman”. i wanted to cry, i even considered leaving and selling my ticket. i didn’t know what the reason for adding a show was anymore. but i also knew that i was being dramatic and would enjoy myself even so (second james is a fantastic marius!) so i sat down, and tried to ignore that i missed my chance to see harry marius…
at the end of the day starts… harry d walks out instead of harry. my mind starts spinning. is harry out? or is second james out last minute and harry is marius?!?! harry runs out as marius in look down. i stifle my screams.
i’ll post notes from each show later, but harry’s marius was everything i thought it would be and more 🥹 so so grateful.
there was no stage door this night since they were having their wrap + xmas party. no worries, i needed time to collect my thoughts anyway. went home and wrote a second letter.
25.12
a horrible day in which i got overstimulated by christmas crowds. decided i had to skip stage door that night if there would be one.
my third show, harry was still on as marius! literally felt like the best christmas gift. i also, felt a lot better the moment the theatre went quiet and those first notes started. (this was also the only ticket i had gotten myself and not via a reseller, so it felt like i was always fated to have a harry marius show haha)
by this point in the week, i really only wanted to give harry the second letter, so i decided not to go squeeze into stage door (it’s really horrendously chaotic here…)
on my way into the theatre i saw owain! he was on a call so i only briefly said hi. also saw jonny d earlier on when i walked past the theatre (i didn’t say anything)
26.12
didn’t have a ticket so i just went to wait at stage door in hopes that i could pass the letter. found out on the way that michael had gone on last minute for grantaire 🥹 really highkey regret not rushing home to get my book for him to sign now that we know he’s leaving the tour 💔 no matter, i have a random ticket signed instead.
michael - told him how he was my favourite especially with james and he called the gish “lovely james” 😌
jo - jo has an uncanny ability to make me all giggly ngl, anws i told her about how when i saw her eponine on the 24th i felt like she was thinking about the wolf line we had discussed, and she was so excited! she said she couldn’t stop thinking about it and that she’d written the line down!!!
harry didn’t come out
27.12
well at first i chickened out of waiting for their going to work stage door at the matinee. then i decided i really really didn’t want to go for post-show stage door and risk getting overstimulated again… so i waited at the entrance for the evening show’s going to work stage door. my timing was perfect, i even stopped to take photos of this silly cat on the way, but not five minutes into getting there harry came!!!
it all happened so fast that i didn’t get any recording or anything, but that’s okay, it was a very sweet conversation (lasted about 5 minutes?) that shall remain between him and me (and dec) <3
the most important thing is, i’d only asked if he remembered me before he started telling me that he’d shown the letter to james (ie. they both know about grant a gish now 🙂↔️) and he was just the sweetest to stop and talk to me, and i gave him the second letter!! also took this photo :D
on my way to the theatre i saw natty and abel heading for, i assume, dinner. when i reached the theatre charlie rushed past me. after meeting harry i headed off, and on the way bumped into abel again! this time i did say hi, and he was very sweet and said hii all excited :”)
28.12 matinee
my last show. i found out michael was leaving on the way into the theatre and was an emotional wreck. tried very hard to concentrate both on him in his ensemble track and harry’s marius (yes!! for a third time!!)
randomly bumped into the most cast this day
there’s a museum by the stage door, so i checked it out and as i exited and walked to the front of the theatre, i saw: louis, adam, jonny b and connor, then andrew. at the side door i saw ciaran and harry c, and then michael (michael 😭😭 had half a mind to run up and ask WHYYY but of course i didn’t haha)
after the show, i saw jade waiting by the side door so as i passed her i did say hi and she had the most dazzling smile when i told her she was beautiful <3
then as i was walking to the exit, charlie, beth, jade, emma, georgie, and gabby walked past me, i assume to get dinner… and as i was standing by the exit typing up my show notes louis ran past me. then finally i went to get dinner and unexpectedly as i was walking home, i passed jonny b, jade and harry d (i really wanted to say hi to jonny but got intimidated by them being in a group haha), then later walked in BETWEEN ciaran and harry c?? 😭 i’m tiny so they literally just parted and talked over my head lol
and that’s shanghai!