Well, I can die happy now. :-) Ok, maybe not quite yet, since there are a *few* things I still want to do with my life, but meeting my ultimate theatre idol Colm Wilkinson was a great start. Stacy and I went to Toronto this week to see Les Miserables before it closes in January, and it was amazing. The show was even better than when I saw it in August, and everyone was fantastic. We went expecting not to see Colm as Valjean, since he had been out sick for over a week with the flu and an ear infection, so it made me very happy to walk into the theatre Tuesday night and see that the understudy board did not include him!!! (In fact, there was no understudy board - we saw the full cast both shows, which is very unusual!) I nearly passed out right there in the lobby. :-)
The show, as one would expect, was absolutely fabulous, and you would never have known Colm wasn’t at 100%. We sat in the orchestra level box and it was amazing - the view is a bit obstructed, but it’s not really that bad, and it’s worth it to be so close to the stage and what’s going on. I really felt almost like a part of the show, and caught so many little things and facial expressions and lines said after the mikes were turned back down (line of the show has to go to Tim Howar, the fantastic Marius, who during Red and Black turned to Enjolras and said “I’m trying to discuss something with Monsier here,” referring to Grantaire - too, too funny!). I won’t get into an indepth review here, since I have one posted of the August show elsewhere on this site (more precisely, here :-), but I’ll just say that I enjoyed it even more. Needless to say, Colm was an absolute highlight for me, but when he wasn’t on stage I had a blast watching Stephen Bishop as Grantaire and in the chorus. What a scene-stealer! Stacy and I spent most of the show turning to each other and saying “did you see what Stephen just did?” Things like taking off his boot and sniffing it during the Master of the House scene, and kicking his heels together repeatedly during the wedding scene just had me rolling on the floor. And what a voice on the man! Tim Howar was another highlight as Marius, and Susan Gilmour, Regan Thiel and Jessica-Snow Wilson are just fantastic as Fantine, Cosette, and Eponine. But you can read more about all of them in the review.
After the show, however, was when the real fun started. Stacy had met Tim Howar before, so she called him and told him we were coming, and we went to the stage door to meet him after the show. He was *so* nice, and funny, and spent forever talking to us. Karen and Gill and Stacy had tried to tell me how wonderful he was, and I got to experience it first hand Tuesday night. He had us in stitches the entire time. We also talked to Regan Thiel (she came out at the same time as Tim) and she was as sweet as possible. Then soon after they left Colm came out. He was very tired, but was so incredibly kind and gracious, and talked to us, signed something for me and posed for pictures. I have heard people say he’s cold and unkind at the stage door, but I couldn’t have asked for anything nicer. He looks right at you when you speak, and when he speaks to you, and he used my name 3 or 4 times in our brief conversation, which I thought was great. But we didn’t want to hold him up since he was still sick and everything, so he was soon gone, and I floated back to our hotel. :-) The next day Stacy and I lined up for rush tickets again, and sat in the other orchestra box to see the show - no details here, I promise, just that it was just as great as the night before, and really interesting to see the show twice, so close together.
There are so many other things I wanted to say, but this entry is long enough as it is, so I’ll just end it here. I have to go to bed anyway, so I can get up early and finish studying for my exam tomorrow afternoon. Check out more pictures of my Les Mis experience here, and that’s it for now. Goodnight, all!
