RENT at Hollywood Bowl

My mom and I decided to Park & Ride to the Hollywood Bowl. We had a nice charter bus. Most of the passengers bought their bus tickets for $8 as they boarded. We prepaid on Ticketmaster for $5 + $1.75 service fee, so we saved $1.25.

This was my first time at the Hollywood Bowl.

I love the view of the Hollywood sign!

There were searchlights shining at opposite ends. I definitely had that "Hollywood" feel! I really like the atmosphere. Everyone was just kicking back, having a picnic. Courtney and Keri brought Panera sandwiches for everyone. They were yummy. Also, 75-cent seat cushions are totally worth it! The screens are big, but I liked looking through my binoculars.

8:30 rolled around. The lights turned off. The National Anthem was played on the electric guitar. After a closer look, you see that the guitarist has his back to the audience, and he's wearing a sleveless black tee with plaid pants. It's Roger (Aaron Tveit)! Once he finished, he took a seat, and Mark (Skylar Astin) came out to start the show.

"Rent" was really strong. I was pumped! As I was writing this blog, I learned that Benny is played by Collins Pennie, who was in FAME!

I fell for Aaron Tveit. He looked a lot older than Tripp van der Bilt in Gossip Girl. I LOVE how he was about to strangle Mimi during their argument at the beginning of "Goodbye Love."

I have always felt that "Out Tonight" is a difficult song to nail. Sorry, but Vanessa Hudgens did not nail it. Her peformance was better than the video I saw on YouTube from the night before, but there were times where the notes were just off for me.
BUT her performance got better throughtout the night. "Without You" was really good!

Telly Leung did well as Angel, just as the role demands. He kept up Angel's charm and talent. Skylar Astin as Mark and Tracie Thoms as Joanne brought it as well.

Wayne Brady was very good as Collins. He started off with a higher singing voice than he ended with. Is that just me who noticed?

Nicole Scherzinger was extremely good as Maureen. This version of "Over the Moon" added some hip hop. She was SANS COWBELL. Uh, weird! I can't remember if Joanne mentioned it during "We're Okay." Other than that, it was really good. It makes you forget that Maureen isn't supposed to be super talented.

If you didn't love her before, you ought to now!

There were a couple of technical glitches. "Christmas Bells" wasn't as epic as I wanted.

Other changes I noticed:
- The absence of Mark's interruption/introduction at the beginning of "Life Support"

- Maureen is from Jersey, not Hicksville?

- They cut a verse from "Happy New Year"
- "Seasons of Love B" was cut =/
- They cut out the orgy part of "Contact." It went straight to Angel singing "Take me.."
- They don't admit the truth of about Evita to Benny.
- Collins doesn't rewire the ATM.

There are two giant screens on each side of the stage. They were utilized well. During "What You Own," Mark wark was shone on one side, while Roger was on the other. Then, at the appropriate moment, the scene collided. Some actual footage was shown from Mark's film.

I love this picture during "Seasons of Love"

This picture is from "I'll Cover You (reprise)" without Angel.

I liked the blocking after Mimi jumps over the moon. That final image of everyone singing on the table warms my heart. After "Finale B" ended, the lights went out. The actors took their positions in line at the end of the stage to sing an encore of "Seasons of Love". There wasn't a proper curtain call, and Neil Patrick Harris did not come on stage to bow or anything!! That bummed me out a bit. He obviously is a big part of the reason people came out to these shows.

We had 20 minutes to get back to the buses. We followed the massive crowd down the hill. That was a dumb move. If we had gone down through the seats first, we would have saved 10-15 minutes. Tip for next time!

No One Mourns the Wicked

Wicked Los Angeles had its final curtain last night.

I stood outside before the show. This guy next to me looked super familiar. I couldn't figure out why-- Was he an actor? Is he a part of wicked? Then it hit me. He’s a HUGE part of Wicked. He was Stephen freaking Schwartz -- wicked composer!! OMG. I just stared at him for a little bit, probably with my mouth half open.

Grace was late. They were blinking the lights for final call. I was so nervous we wouldn't be able to see the opening numbers, so I left her ticket at Will Call and went inside. She came 5 minutes later. I’m glad we weren't locked out. They didn't let the others in until "What is this Feeling?"

It definitely wasn't a night to see wicked for the first time. The audience game immense applause for each number/actor/little awesome thing they did. Everyone was hardcore. i saw a couple of green people xD A little girl was wearing green tights and a black dress. Two girls wore Elphaba and Galinda's school uniforms. I saw another girl in Galinda's pink popular dress.

The show was awesome. I missed Alex in the ensemble. They replaced him with another asian lol. I felt the emotion from the actors, especially Eden and Megan. They hit those high notes you only pull out for special occasions, and I greatly appreciated it. DEFYING GRAVITY. Just so WOW. It gets me every time. "For Good." They cried, I cried, it was magic. And then it was over.

They did curtain call. Standing ovations all around. And then *gasp* Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman came out on stage. The creators. It was a really awesome moment for freaks like me. I mean, they're the ones who brought this little world to life. "Thank you, Los Angeles!" was the gist of their speech. Too bad neither Eden nor Megan grabbed the mic.

After, we tried going to the shortcut to the stage door, but it was blocked off. So we had to go all the way around. There were so many people! The line wrapped around the corner. We waited in line for 15 minutes, but we decided we already had pictures and autographs from them, so we left.

Au revoir Wicked LA. I will miss thee. <3

HSM on ICE

Grace's birthday present to me was tickets to see High School Musical: The Ice Tour. It was surprisingly a lot of fun!

There was a red carpet set up outside, but we didn't have time to check it out. When we entered Staples Center, they gave Julia a plastic megaphone because she was young. I almost got one... but they realized I was old >.< . Kenny Ortega was there to introduce the show. The Staples Center website listed the show as SOLD OUT. The 300-level seats weren't used.

The first act is the first HSM. The second act is HSM2. The little kids next to us thought the show was over at intermission. When they found out there was more, they kept screaming, "WE'RE GONNA WATCH HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2!!!" It was so cute.

The ice skating was really cool. It isn't flawless. I saw a bunch of people fall, but I give them props.

Snacks came with fun souvenirs: Cotton candy + Ryan Evans hat & Lemonade + Souvenir cup.

Wicked

It seemed like Wicked was the latest buzz around school. I bought the soundtrack for Grace and the book for myself.

This was the first time we dealt with eBay.

We watched the Wizard of Oz before we left.

Let me just say: it's absolutely magical! Theatre is so cool! The atmosphere and the fact that they performed everything live is so great.

Libby Chessler (Jenna Leigh Green) played Nessarose. Apparently, Grace told me that, but I just don't listen (or hear) sometimes.

I simply adored one of the choir, Alexander Selma. He's my Broadway Charles Klapow. At stage door, I was happy to meet the witches and lead characters, but I was stoked when I got to see Alex.