A Lucy Lawless Musical Theatre Subsite - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
 

5th Avenue Theatre in Collaboration with
The Seattle Men's Chorus
Presents The "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" Musical

Photo contributed by seattlegirl@aol.com
with Lucy Lawless as Dorothy
May 13-15, 2005 - 5 performances in
Seattle, WA

 

MaryD's Not in Kansas Anymore - Part Vl

Well that trip was a waste of time. Utterly waste of time and if you believe what I just wrote I have a great big bridge on Sydney Harbour to sell you :)

What an experience but before I get to my EXCELLENT Seattle adventure, I must mention my trip to San Francisco and thank a few people for making my trip to SF all the more special than it was.

To Chieko and Marilyn for organising that great pup lunch with a perfect view of the Pacific. To everyone who attended thank you and some of you came from a great distance. It was MAJORLY cool and I enjoyed myself a great deal.

Chieko and Jennie - it was a real pleasure to meet you both!

Annie - Practice makes perfect PP Annie and my bill is in the mail! LOL! You are too cool.

Marilyn - my jaw thanks you <g> The rest of me thanks you as well. <vbg>

San Francisco was just an awesome place even with the hills and I'm not sure if they were alive with the sound of music but they were alive with the sound of an Aussie hailing a cab :)

Who knew a gadget shop was just down the road from the hotel. I seem to have a really good gadgetdar :-)
To my absolute amazement 'just down the road' does mean just down the road and not 10 blocks away!
I love the trolley cars and everything about SF - it reminded me so much of home; had the some kind of buzz to it and the weather was just perfect - it only rained once which was a surprise.

Muir Woods was gorgeous and it seems little critters are attracted to me because I had 2 chipmunks at my feet in the coffee shop - photos to be posted soon. Still can't get a squirrel to come home with me. One of these days it will happen.

San Francisco was a delight and has become one of my favourite places in the US.

and so to my trip to Seattle... What can I say. Firstly I'll start with thanking my dear friend Roger for picking me up at the airport and waiting patiently as my luggage took their time to come down. I think it was taking the scenic route.

The skyline of Seattle looked familiar - (I'm a big fan of Fraisier) but I must admit on catching sight of the Space Needle I was a little disappointed - I thought it was taller. We have a similar thing called the Centerpoint Tower which is higher (and I couldn't understand why Chicken Cindy couldn't stand to watch as it climbed to the observation deck). That was nuthin'! <g> There was a whole bunch of Chicken Xenites in that lift <g> No names though but the majority were facing away from the glass doors...tsk tsk <g>

And now to the reason I was there - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It's a long way to travel to see a musical (17 hours but who's counting) and I wasn't sure what to expect since I'm not big on musicals (or wasn't before this event).

I think I conveyed how I felt after the opening night and the report I did with Cindy. We were floating on air. I knew this woman can act, I knew she could sing and dance but she upped it a notch and gave us one hell of a performance. From the opening act to the end, Lucy gave 110% and it was just superb. She was nervous at the start - we were nervous for Lucy but she soon relaxed and was into the swing of it.

We were truly SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE as we went back to the hotel and clustered around my laptop to write a review - it is difficult to put into words the excitement we felt; the absolute joy of watching our favourite actress perform but we tried.

One other thing we learnt was that feeding me beforehand is a good idea :) Pizza at 2 am is just so cool - eating pizza and trying to stay awake long enough to finish our review is even better. Cindy and I make a great team - too bad we live on opposite ends of the planet.

To everyone that had the song "I'm Just a Girl From Little Rock" in their heads - I'm sorry but we couldn't stop singing it ourselves and frankly it only stopped after the 'Chile' song replaced it :) The Seattle Men's Chorus are phenomenonal. What talent.

The other surprise ofthe evening was Faith Prince. I have never heard of Faith before but by the end of the evening I became a fan. Faith is SUPREMELY talented and what a voice. I know a lot of people who went on Amazon.com that night to see what they could find to buy.

Before coming to Seattle to see GPB I initially thought 5 performances were a little much but I am flying 17 hours so I couldn't exactly go to one. After the first performance I wanted more and I wanted more than 5 :-)

Saturday was going to be a busy one - Cindy, Nan and myself trotted up for the photo op with Renee. Renee was jumping up and down, she was happy and alas she wasn't in a wedding dress again but a nice dress and gave everyone a rose (awwwww) to hold. That was so sweet and Renee was just too cute.

We went back for the 2nd performance and Lucy was getting into the role now quite easily. Her Katherine Hepburn imitation was SO spot on (I'm also a HUGE Katherine fan) and made me laugh so much. That little head shake was just too funny.

I met one of my favourite Xenaverse artists - IO from IO Walls - what an absolute treat :)

I went to just one event at the con and that was for Renee. Creation conveniently arranged to have Renee on when the matinee ended so that was great. Renee showed us Diamonds and Guns which was funny (Renee  in the kitten outfit is a scream and so so cute!) and the powerful short film "One Weekend a Month". I tested out my new camera which worked a charm in the dim light <g> Gadgets are so much fun :)

Sunday dawned too quickly and it was going to be a really busy one. At 10 am, my publisher Cavalier Press had organised a book signing and meet & greet. I've never done one of those before. I want to thank Marilyn and Cindy for everything they did - it was just too cool.  The event was slightly hampered by the hotel moving us to another room but I met some pretty cool people. Vada Foster read from IN the Blood of the Greeks which was also a new experience for me - listening to a talented actress and author read my work was new to me and very enjoyable. Many thanks to those that came. A portion of the proceeds from the book is to be donated to a very worthy charity - The House of Ruth which deals with domestic violence. They are based in Maryland.

Once that event was over we went to the second last performance and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves once again. We laughed and roared in appreciation.

The best was yet to come when the final performance arrived. We were sad that it was going to end but we knew this was going to special. It didn't disappoint. I haven't laughed so much in ages and what was even funnier, the cast was having a great time with adlibs, flubs and just general silliness. Lucy kept it together until she too succumbed to the GPB Flub Bug in the second act. Now that was just too funny. We roared. We laughed and we giggled long before the lines were delivered - we knew this show so well. I was laughing so hard I nearly fell out of my chair. It was beyond fantastic; beyond my expectations; it was GLORIOUS. It was stupendous. It was just absofrigginlutely FANTASTIC.

Thanks goes to Kevin Carson who is the box office manager. He was so wonderful in answering a multitude of questions from Lucy fans. Very generous with his time.

A very special thank you goes Kevin Gallagher who was the ASL interpreter together with a woman whose name I have forgotten (my apologies). They did an awesome job. I was watching them (when I wasn't watching Lucy <g>).  How they kept it together when the actors behind them were just so brilliantly funny, I'll never know. I'm quite sure I would be tempted to look back to see what the silliness was.

The orchestra was fantastic and at the end the conductor wore the bent tiara which was hysterical - those in the front row got a good laugh out of it!

And then it was over. We continued to laugh as we left the beautiful 5th Avenue Theatre and made our way to the Space Needle Fundraiser. Lucy once again proved she was a real trooper. Lucy signed, took pictures, hugged and just about gave everyone what they wanted. Where does this woman get her energy from? She was still signing close to midnight! Thank you Lucy once again.

At the Space Needle I got the chance to speak to Tom Luhnow who is the Executive Director for Flying House Productions (Seattle Men's Chorus) and thanked him for putting on heck of a show. It's so cool how these events reach out to the gay community and tell youngsters that it's okay and being gay is not abnormal. It was an absolute pleasure to meet him. If you live in Seattle, go and support them, they deserve all the help they can get.

We also learnt from Tom that there won't be a DVD or CD from the event because of copyright issues which is a real shame.

And so the weekend came to a close but wait there's more :)

I will admit to a certain fondness for a super gadget shop called Frys but it's not my fault. One Miss Katherine Fugate is to blame. Who knew there was going to be a 20th Anniversary sale on that weekend? I didn't but Katherine plopped the paper in front of me at breakfast and the rest, as they say in the classics, is history <g>

Cindy had to twist my arm so I could go with her to the 20th Anniversary Sale at Frys in Renton. I really didn't want to go....REALLY. Anyone want to buy  a slightly used Bridge? <vbg>

We really didn't want to go but a car materialised out of the blue and there we were. Aint it sad :) Another fun day in Little Roc...I mean Seattle :-)

I'm sitting here and smiling as I type this up and for those that didn't go I hope I conveyed to you the joy that was this weekend...some of the things I miss at the moment are:

• I'm missing my friends. I smile and the song "I'm a Little Girl from Little Rock" is echoing in my head,
• I miss the absolutely hysterical laughter we shared
• Watching Lucy sing and dance and the look of absolute joy on her face. Her Katherine Hepburn/Lucille Ball imitations had me laughing so much my head hurt.
• The double peephole in my door that sent Cindy into a laughing fit every time she saw it.
• Teaching Myra how to sound Australian
• Having Cindy translate my Australian into American.
• Meeting up with the ever wonderful Steve Sears in the vendor's area and laughing uproariously. Somehow playtypus, kangaroo and wallaby won't have the same meanings for me anymore :) 
• I miss going to the theatre and watching Lucy dance, sing and
• I miss Faith Prince stomping on a paper and killing it <g>
• I miss Faith doing that silly dance, singing "I'm a Little Girl from Little Rock" and Lucy reacting to it - it was so much fun! The sheer joy on Lucy's face was just awesome.
• I miss the two French lawyers and their silliness
• I miss eating pizza at 2 am and guzzling coke (no one tell my dentist)
• I miss laughing my a** off while singing in the elevator, in the lobby, in the taxi with my friends
• I miss my friends.

What wonderful memories. I'm quite sure if I'm feeling a bit down or someone has annoyed me, I will remember the weekend of the 13-15 May 2005 and smile. It was perfect. So absofrigginlutely perfect. I would do it again in a heartbeat; to hell with 17 hours of flying - this was worth every minute and every cent I spent.

Thank you to Faith Prince, The Seattle Men's Chorus, The cast of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the behind the scenes crew that made it possible.

Thank you Lucy Lawless. Thank you for giving me such treasured memories I will have the rest of my life. Thank you for being the exceptional gifted woman you are and for giving it your all. Your generosity to your fans is amazing and we love you for it.

Fini