My trip started out quite uneventfully. My flight left New Orleans on time, and I arrived for my layover in Chicago 15 minutes early. My flight out of Chicago was on time, and I arrived in NYC on schedule. I got to my hotel and could barely sleep Wednesday night, I was so excited! I was awake at 6 a.m. Thursday morning, and I discovered my cell phone had pretty much died. I spent hours wandering around the city trying to find a new phone that was on my plan. I did, and then the fun was able to begin!

I met my "soul-mommy" at Rockerfellar Center, and that was great for several reasons. First, after talking online for moths, we finally met each other for the first time. Also, I had never been to Rockerfellar Center, so that was really cool. So, me, "mom", and "little brother" (ha, ha, that's funny, he's 6 ft tall!) did some exploring. "Mom" used to live in NYC, so she knew all the cool places to go. We went to Times Square and found the poster of Max and Laura, and I had my picture taken under it. After that, we had lunch at Maxie's (yes, that's a real place) and I had the salmon (but no garlic mashed potatoes or a side of asparagus). Then we went back to our hotels to get ready for the show.

With all the weight I've lost, and in my new dress, I have to say, I looked SUPER cute! I met mom at Don't Tell Mama, where we attended the Broadway Chatterbox. Seth's guests that night were Jenny Powers and Matt Cavenaugh. The are both incredible. After the show, I had an opportunity to talk to Jenny Powers. She is amazing! Talented, gorgeous, and so sweet! I told her how much I was looking foward to seeing the show, and how Rizzo would be my dream role to play. I also told her that I was Max's 1 fan, and that I'd be at the stage door. She said she would tell him I was there. And, she did. Apparently, she also told other members of the cast as well. She's so cool! I lover her! Jenny Powers is definitely one of my favorite actresses!

After that, we headed to the theatre. While we were waiting in line, I took pictures of the posters outside of the theatre. I heard someone in line behind me make a deroggatory comment about Max's ears! *scowling* I behaved myself, I really did. I simply said, quite loudly, "Max has GREAT ears!" Not too long after that, it was time to take my seat and enjoy the show!

GREASE:

Grease was an amazing show. It was fabulous! The cast was phenominal, the costumes were terrific, and the sets were cool. Of course, anyone who has been reading my posts for any amount of time knows that I'm a fan of Max, and I'm sure you are all thinking this is going to be just another review where I gush about Max. Well, no doubt I will, but the whole show was fabulous, and I want to try and let everyone who hasn't seen it yet know why the MUST GO see it!

The thing that immediately struck me from almost the first scene was Jose Restrepo as Sonny LaTierri. He had some of the funniest lines in the show, and he delivered them in such a dead-pan way, I just cracked up! He was hilarious! He has an amazing comedic timing. He really just nailed every line. Even if you are not a fan of the lead actors in this show, you still need to see it, if for no other reason than to see Jose Restrepo. He has got to be one of the funniest men on Broadway.

Ok, now, allow me to indulge in some excessive gushing: Jenny Powers as Betty Rizzo. OMG!! She was frickin' AMAZING!!! Rizzo has always been on of my favorite characters, and my dream role to play if I had the talent for it. Jenny Powers was the perfect Rizzo. I love Stockard Channing, she is one of my all-time favorite actresses, but Jenny Powers blew her away. She had the right mix of toughness, humor, beauty, and just right amount of vunerability. She was just fantastic! There are just no words for how good she is!

I will say that for the most part, the women's performances struck me more that the men's. I don't know if it's because, well, I'm a woman, or if the girls are simply better actors than the boys. The other performances that really stood out for me were Robyn Hurder as Marty, Lindsay Mendez as Jan, Kirsten Wyatt as Frenchie, and Natalie Hill as Cha-Cha. Daniel Everidge as Roger was really good as well. Oh, and of course, our Danny and Sandy were outstanding.

Robyn Hurder's performance as Marty was very cute. That my be the wrong word, but it is the only word I can come up with. She just so totally reminded me of Marilyn Monroe, but with a more powerful singing voice. "Freddy My Love" was one of my favorite numbers in the show. She also had the best costumes!

Lindsay Mendez was, in a word, adorable! When she and Daniel Everidge performed "Mooning" it was perfect. It had just the right balance of raunchy humor and "just makes you say 'aww'" sweetness. And if yo uthink that is an odd combination, then you just need to go see the show, because it works. The play really, really well off of one another.

I loved Kirsten Wyatt as Frenchie. Like Rizzo, Frenchie is a character that I love and would love to play. She's just fun! And Kirsten Wyatt totally brought that fun to life on the stage.

Natalie Hill as Cha-Cha was so funny! She is a fantastic dancer, and a very funny lady. The costume she wore, and the way she delivered her lines had me laughing like crazy! She was great!

Now, onto what you've all been waiting for, my thoughts on Danny and Sandy. I don't care what the "industry" or the "theatre snobs" think about casting from a reality show. America got it right! We did choose the perfect Danny and Sandy. Max Crumm and Laura Osnes were spectacular in their roles. And I was really glad to see they didn't put Laura in a blonde wig! *lol* Laura, of course, brought the perfect amount of sweetness to the role, and the transformation at the end was flawless. Oh, and I loved when she told off Patty Simcox. It was great! Laura is a really powerful performer. I literally cried my eyes out during "Hopelessy Devoted," and I have heard that song performed many ways by many people, and never cried until I saw Laura perfomr it on that stage. As many times as I've seen her perform that song, and as great as she did it all those times before, her performance Thursday night was the best ever. She is just incredibly talented.

And now I save my favorite actor for last. For those of you who are sick of hearing me gush about Max Crumm, skip this paragraph. Max brought it. He had it all, the sexiness, the humor, the toughness, and the thing that I feel most Dannys have a tough time bringing to the role: the vunerability. Max had it all. I already knew that Max is an extremely talented actor and gifted singer, and seeing ALL of his gifts live on a Broadway stage is something I won't soon forget. My favorite scene in teh show was the drive-in. Max played it to perfection. In that short scene he had to show the ***** boyfriend side, and then when Sandy slammed the door on his...well, let's just say it wasn't his finger, her brought the humor, and finally, once she abandons him, we see the vunerability. Yes, I cried again during "Sandy". As many times as I have seen him sing that song, he was always great, but nothing could have prepared me for how amazing he was that night. It's a good thing I was in the back row, because I really had an urge to run up on stage and comfort him. "You don't need Sandy, Andy can take care of you!" *lol* Ok, finally, just for all my Slumber girls: The yellow track shorts were totally dorky, but Max can make dorky HOT!!! He has fantastic legs!!! YOWZA!!!

Ok, now I just have some random opinions about the production. First of all, while I understand WHY the show was made more "family friendly", I was still disappointed to see it done. Whne I realized they were using the "cleaned up" version of "Greased Lightening," I was just disappointed. The next night, I saw Hairspray, and saw how raunchy it was, I realized how much more "adult" Grease could have been. Ok, second random observation: I don't knkow what the "professional" reviewers are talking about when they talk about how no one in the cast has Broadway voices. Um, hello! I was in the last row, and I got ever note, every word, and every emotion these talented actors were trying to portray. They DID reach the back of a Broadway house.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Even if I wasn't Max Crumm's 1 fan, I still would have loved this show. It's amazing, and if you haven't seen it yet, get tickets and go!

STAGE DOOR:

Is there anyone more amazing that Max Crumm? I don't think so! As if I needed another reason to admire him, he just once again blows me away with how incredible he is. The show was fabulous, and the entire cast was wonderful, but Max blew me away. He is not only extremely hot, and enormously talented, he is also incredibly sweet. "Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst," is the motto I try to live by when going into any situation I'm highly excited about, that way I can maintain some semblance of calm. So, what happened at the stage door after the show was just wonderful, and not at all what I was expecting.

As you all have already noticed, my extremely wonderful friend Eris made a special trip to the city just to save me a spot by the stage door. As an unexpected surprise, NYC9578 (who had just seen Altar Boyz) showed up to keep her company. They had snagged a primo sopt right by the door, and managed to safeguard and Andy-sized spot right at the end of the barracade. The cast came out, and everyone was just wonderful. One of the Pink Ladies (or was it Cha-Cha? You all know that when Max is involved, my memory tends to get fuzzy, and I'm sorry I don't remember who it was) noticed my button and said to me, "So, you're a Slacker Backer?" And I think I said something like, "Yeah, the biggest." And she said, "Are you Marjory? Jenny told us that you were coming." So, I suppose I am gaining fame as Max's 1 fan! Anyway, we chatted with a few more of the cast members, as weel as Laura's husband, Nate. Eris had met him on one of her trips to LA, and he recognized her. Weird, the only thing I remember about that conversation is Eris and I trying to convince him that I was, indeed, Max's 1 fan! *lol* I told him I did the Echoboom fansite, and he said that he watched the movie because of what he saw on my site! How cool is that?!? So, finally, it is time for Max and Laura to come out. Before I go on with the story, let me please just take this time to apologize to Laura. I don't think I said much to her, and I'm sorry. When Max is in proximity, I lose all brain function! Laura, if you see this, I'm sorry! You were fabulous! You were the perfect Sandy! Your performance was spectacular! Ok, so, as you can probably imagine, I turned into an idiot again this time. At least I was able to form actualy words this time. Thank goodness for the steady presence of Eris! Who knows how much more foolish I would have acted if she had not been around! As it was, I still turned into a giddy 12 year old! I swear, one of these days I will act like a normal human being around him, really, I will!

Anyway, I digress. Before Max and Laura came out, a security guard came out and told us to have our items to autograph ready, that they would have their own pens, and that we could only snap photos of them, that they wouldn't be able to pose for pics with anyone. I was listening, I promise, but I totally forgot about that last part, which will become interesting in a little bit. Anyway, when Max came out, he looked over at us, and spotted Eris first, and recognized her and said, "Hi, Sweetie!" Then, he saw me, smiled, and said, "Hey, Marjory!" and immediately came over to where we were. He signed my copy of Echoboom, and, if I'm not mistaken, that makes my copy the only autographed copy in existance. And then, I asked if he would take a picture with me, and the "evil" securtiy guard said "NO", but Max, since he is wonderful, told him, "but that's my fan!" (or something to that effect) and posed with me! Eris snapped the photo, which came out wondefully, and I have another photo for my collection!! Now, of course, no Max-encounter would be complete without me making an idiot of myself, and dude, I did it twice! Ok, let me just preface this by saying that I had been watching my Grease: YTOTIW DVDs during my travel to NYC, so I had a recent frame of reference for this. Max was wearing a blue polo shirt with green and black stripes. I said, quite loudly, apparently, even though I had just meant to tell my friends, "He wore that shirt at Grease Academy!" And he heard me! Yeah, I'm a loser! *lol* Ok, as if that was not bad enough, I had brought Skittles as a kind of funny gift for him, which I forgot to give him when he first approached me, so twice I called to him to let him know. Thank goodness Eris was there, or I would have made an even bigger fool out of myself! Ok, I suppose by now everyone already knows what a huge dork I am, so no one will be surprised at the dorky thing I did next! (Hey, at least I'm a LOVEABLE dork!) So, he comes over to see me again after he makes the rounds to the rest of his adoring fans, and I hand him the Skittles and say something like, "I know this is dorky, but I had to get them so you could have them one last time before you die." Yeah, like I said, I'm a mega-dork, and I know every line in Echoboom. It's quite possible I may know the movie better that he does!

I know I turn into a giddy school girl anytime he is in any sory of proximity to me, and I probably come across as a crazy fan-girl. I am surprised he hasn't started hiding from me yet! *lol* I probably would hide from me! I'm actually not crazy, just enthusiastic. Ok, OVERLY-enthusiastic. Well, he's a celebrity now, and should expect overly-enthusiastic fans. And as far as those kinds of fans go, I'm relatively harmless! *lol*

I do wish though, that I could just be myself around him, so he could me the "real" me, and not the "crazy" me that takes over whenever he is around.

Anyway, after Eris and I finished up at the stage door (I think we were the last to leave) we decided to stop for a drink before she had to catch her train. We went to the Hard Rock, since it was on the way to Penn Station. After that, as we were walking to the station, who should we see just getting off work but Ashley Anderson! We decided to say "hi." I'm not sure if she was surprised to be approached by strangers, but I think she was happy to hear we were fans of the show. We talked to her for several minutes. She is incredibly sweet. I must say, all the actors I met in NYC were all so nice!

Friday, I took a subway to Soho. (First time on a subway!) I met Siren1617 for lunch. We had a great time. An hour was not long enough! But, she had to go back to work, then go home and pack for her own vacation. After that, I got in touch with Eris again, and between her and the guy at the front desk at my hotel, I managed to find TKTS where I got tickets for us to see Hairspray that night!

I met her at Penn Station around five in the evening, where she took meto dinner at Houlihan's. Really great food there. We then walked to the theatre, where we go in line WAY early. Believe it or not, we were not the first ones there! The first person in line was a J.C. Chazet (sp?) "stalker". (He was going to be there to support Lance Bass.) She also happened to be the waitress I got my lunch from at Starbuck's earlier that day! Isn't New York great? Anyway, nothing else of not much happened in line, except for the three of us girls yakking about cute boys. It was pretty much something like this: me: Max, Max, Max; Eris: Derek, Derek, Derek; Starbuck's girl: JC, JC, JC. Somehow, we all just totally related to each other! Then, it was time for the show.

HAIRSPRAY:

All day Thursday, "mom" kept telling me I needed to try and get discount tickecs and go see Hairspray on Friday before I left town. She was telling me how great it is, how high energy, and how I should have the experience of another Broadway show while I still had the chance. While wating at the stage door at Grease with Eris and NYC9578, they both pretty much said the same thing, and gave me info about TKTS.

Well, after much debate, and trying to decide if I would have enough money, I decided they were right, and sometime after seeing Max that night, I think while Eris and I were walking to the Hard Rock, I asked her if she wanted to go see the show with me. Well, as it worked out, she knew in plenty of time that she would be off work early enough to make it to the city, so I headed over to TKTS to get our tickets. Definitely a beter use of my money than getting a bunch of over-priced souveniers!

The show was phenominal! I was hooked from the time I walked into the theatre. The curtain was an unusual design that would come into play later in the show. The first word that comes to mind to describe this show is "colorful". The sets were colorful, the costumes were colorful, the performances were colorful. "Mom" was right, this show is VERY high energy!

Shannon Durig, who played Tracy Turnblad was fantastic! She ahs an incredible vocal delivery, a delightful singing voice, and the girl can DANCE!!! I totally enjoyed watching her perform. She is so beautiful and talented! I can't wait to see what she does next.

Lance Bass as Corny Collins....well, since I was NEVER an NSYNC fan, and after reading Eris' review of the show, lets just say that I was dubious about him at best. However, despite my pre-conceived notions, I thought he did a decent job. He also had what became one of my favorite lines in teh show, and he delivered it hilariously! So yeah, wasn't displeased with his performance at all.

Ashely Parker Angel gave a lovely performance as Link Larkin. Since I don't typically watch reality shows, I actually had no clue who he was until I was clued in by both Eris and Starbuck's girl. He ahs a good voice and is a good dancer. He's also certainly pretty enough to be believable as every teenage girl's heartthrob. I liked him.

OMG! Paul C. Vogt as Edna Turnblad was spectacular!!! Every song, every line he delivered had me laughing hysterically! He had this little improv bit with Jerry Mathers which was probably the funniest thing in the whole show! If I could, I would see this show again just for his performance!

Other than the improv bit he had with Paul C. Vogt, I wasn't overly impressed with Jerry Mathers' performance as Wilbur Turnblad. I mean, he wasn't horrible, but in a show filled with high energy performances, his was somewhat bland.

A highligh of the show was Niki Scalera as Penny Pringleton. She was simply delightful!

After seeing Tevin Cambell as a teeanger on the Fresh Prince, and having been a bit of a fan of his when I was a teenager myself, I was quite excited to see hes was in this show! HIs performance of Seaweed J. Stubbs was wonderful! He was funny, and he still sounded and looked great! He was also hilarious when I saw him at the stage door.

Darlene Love was phenominal as Motormouth Maybelle! What can I say about her that Eris hasn't already said? She brought down the house! She was just incredible.

Finally, let me just say a few words about Ashley Spencer. She was the reason I finally decided to go see this show. This was my Grease weekend, after all, and I wanted to support as many former Greasers as possible! She gave a wonderful performance as antagonist Amber von Tussle. She played this bratty aprt so well, I just wanted to smack her! *lol* She ahs grown so much as a performer since the show. I noticed that she altered the way she sang from how she did on the show. Her "Amber" style of singine was perfect for that role, and definitely a far cry from her "Sandy" style of singing. She is most definitely going to be a star!

I really enjoyed this show, and I'm really glad I went to see it.

Of course, we totally stage doored after the show. I grabbed an extra Playbill to get autographed for Megaplex. (She's obsessed with Hairspray.) And all the actors were incredibly nice. They were all so great to sign both for me. When Ashley Spncer came out, she was totally cool. She remembered Eris from what she did for her sister! It was so cool! Ashley talked to us for at least 10 minutes.

We were right across the street from where Jersey Boys was playing. Eris LOVES John Lloyd Young (Tony winning actor) and her brother knows him, so she headed over there to try and catch him and see if she could get a pic with him. I stayed at Hairspray for a few more minutes so I could help Starbuck's girl get a pic with Lance Bass. Then I headed across the street as well. Eris had already gotten her pic with JLY, but, she told me, "I HAVE to tell him who I am!" I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to do this, or why I thought it would be a good time to do it (I think he may have looked at me) but I said, as I pointed to Eris, "She HAS to tell you who she is!" When she introduced herself, he said, "Oh, you're Jonathan's sister! Have we met before?" He totally recognized her, and not just by name! It was SO cool! I do believe she was quite literally walking on air all the way back to Penn Station!

I wish I would have had enough time to go see Chad in Altar Boyz, but alas, Saturday I had to leave the big city. I had an 11:05 train ticket to go see my Dad in Delaware. Now, you would think that since my flights went off without a hitch that my transportation issues were over, right? Wrong! My train had a 15 minute delay! How funny is that? Anyway, I did make it to DE, and after my Dad picked me up, he took me to my favorite childhood pizza place for dinner. If you are ever in the Rehoboth Beach, DE are, you have to check it out! It's the Pizza Villa, on route 1, next to the Midway Movie Theater. Best pizza anywhere, and I've had a lot of pizza in my lifetime!

Anyway, that's pretty much my trip. Hope you had as much fun reading about it as I did living it!

Again - what an amazing time you must have had... I only wish we could go

i wish you could go, too! hopefully it will be put on dvd. oh, and the cast recording is supposed to be available oct. 2!

Maybe we should start an email/letter campaign to do just that. I read the other day that "Legally Blonde" w/ Laura Bell Bundy and cast is going to be recorded (full stage production) for PBS or something to that effect. Why not "Grease?"

MTV. it's going to be on MTV.

Someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE record it for us!!!! I'll pay for the tape or disc and shipping!! PLEASE!!!!!!!