Alley 3, Section 202 CC 5
*sniffs sadly* Why did it have to end? Today was to be the last show of this tour...and possibly the last show that I would ever see...unless it comes back again, but that won't be for a long time. I was at the tent at 10am this morning, just as planned and pretty soon after we arrived, Megan arrived. I chatted to her for a bit and gave her the card I made her, then the others started to arrive as well. After feeling like a model for a little while, due to all the photos of the group that were taken (8 cameras!), it was time to find my seat. I'd only organised my tickets the week before, as I mentioned and was very surprised when I managed to get the seat next to Megan! Well...actually, I was in seat 5, but Megan's parents and Mel were kind enough to move along a little, so I was in seat 2 instead.
I tell you...if I thought last night's show was amazing, it was nothing compared to this one. I had a great seat and could see everything and when you can see everything that's going on, it's really something. 'Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats' was brilliant with the full cast and during 'The Naming of Cats' I could hear Mark very clearly again. He has such a great-sounding voice...and it's so deep! This time, I had a short staring competition with Misto, since he was also pretty close. Oliver passed during the song and soon ran back the same way as Emma started her beautiful 'Invitation'. I so admire her for being able to do that! 'The Old Gumbie Cat' was great as usual -- Julie does a wonderful job! Richard made his final entrance and everything seemed to go perfectly. They did the cutest thing at the end of the song: when one of the younger females is supposed to scream, ALL the younger females screamed and all the toms covered their ears! It was so cute! 'Grizabella, the Glamour Cat' was gorgeous again...I've always loved the song.
Mark came on as Bustopher and threw his flower to a young girl sitting in the front row. Misto and Skimble were rather amusing to watch this time -- when Bustopher started telling his story, Misto and Skimble would take a tiny step forward, glance at each other, take another step and so on until they were listening in to Bustopher really closely. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer were brilliant as per usual and everyone cheered when they did their double cartwheel at the end...another spot I envy! They were both flawless. 'Old Deuteronomy' was very sweet and next came 'The Pekes and the Pollicles', which was wonderful! Misto and Skimble were sitting on the steps near me -- again, they were very funny to watch. They threw the things they use to cover their hands into the audience, then went over and got whoever caught them to put them on. Megan got to put Misto's on! Then when they started to bark, Misto was barking at Demeter, until Skimble punched him! *giggles* Then they were barking at each other!
Well...'The Jellicle Ball' was next and what an incredible performance it was today! When you have a full cast up there performing it's something special. Glen did the cloud swing for the final show and the rest of the number was simply incredible. I know I'm using that word a lot, but I'm struggling to think of words to describe it! I guess you had to see it (as a few of you I know did) to know what it was like, so I'm sure you all know what it was like. Delia's 'Memory' was absolutely beautiful as usual and I think most of the audience (particularly us fans!) were all in tears by the end of it. Good thing interval was right after this song! During the interval, we were straight up on stage to talk to Juan, who, as we were talking to him, started to cry -- I guess it wasn't just us who were upset! Jen comforted him until we were told to get off stage. So we did -- and went back to our seats...well, nearly. First we had a look at the piece of stage that Kristina owns now and were given streamers, THEN we went back to our seats.
Juan and Sarah's 'Moments of Happiness' was great as usual...you could see they were starting to realise this was their last time, though...I don't know how they still managed to sing! Particularly Juan! But they did, and did beautifully. 'Gus: the Theatre Cat', along with the wonderful 'Growltiger's Last Stand' was next. What a great song this is! I still love Griddlebone's entrance and I always watch Markham when he slides down the rope. Somehow, Mark was given some flowers so he made Ghengis smell them before stamping on his foot. He took them with him offstage and soon returned as Gus to finish the song. 'Skimbleshanks' was wonderful again and Cara and Nicola worked wonderfully together in 'Macavity'. I have grown to like Nicola's unusual voice and I think she does a great job of Bombalurina -- as does Cara of Demeter.
Next, out came Mr. Mistoffelees -- I love this song! And Oliver does it so well! I still don't know how he does all those turns without putting that other leg down! It's fantastic! Anyway, during this song, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer were sitting right near Meg's chair, and I saw her ruffle up Mungojerrie's wig, which he seemed to enjoy. I had lots of cats running past my aisle, but since I was one seat in, I didn't get much interaction myself -- that was mainly Megan. Delia's make-up still ran during 'Memory' and both the last songs were wonderful. I don't know how Juan got through 'The Ad-dressing of Cats' by himself, but he did. A lot of the cast were crying as Megan, Mel and myself leapt to our feet and gave the cast one last standing ovation. I'm sure the whole fanclub did! Oliver (Misto) glanced down at us and gave me a grin...that would probably be because we were making the most noise!! I threw my streamers as the cast and crew came out and we applauded for about 10 minutes before they all left and we left the tent for the final time.
Meeting up with all the fanclub, I headed around the back of the tent. I thought that most of the cast would probably come out today...and I was right. I saw a lot more of them than I had before. This time, I was armed with both my program AND my camera! So it was time to pounce on the cast as they came out...I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anyone! As well as seeing Mark, Markham, Brian, Delia, Juan, Stephen, Tod, Richard and Oliver (Toth) again, I also saw (in no particular order!) Adam-Jon, Sarah, Emma, Trevor, Glen, Hunter, Kerryn, Rebecca, Helen, Sharyn and Belinda. I also managed to track down Cara, my favourite Demeter, who'd proved elusive so far...but this time I managed to catch her! Yay! Thankyou to everyone who signed my program and thankyou especially to those who allowed me to take photos -- namely Richard, Helen, Sharyn, Cara and Kerryn! But thanks to everyone, anyways! One thing: when Glen handed my program back, I could have sworn he said, "Thanks, Ruth." Maybe it was just my imagination, but thanks, Glen!! You made my day!
