211125 Frankenstein Musical (First Impressions + Plot Summary)

Leo’s character is a bit like his Monte Cristo Character 2.0. His voice also sounds fuller(?) before.

His movements for the monster are so perfect and disjointed and like “I’ve never used a body before.” Really, really amazing!

It was really funny because I wanted to see Leo in one of Victor’s coats because he goes around in these long awesome cloak things. I assume Henri doesn’t wear them because he’s supposed to be younger and more innocent looking. But. Then he did wear it. Because when he turned into the monster he said he was cold and Victor gave him the coat he was wearing before and helps him put it on.

And…the monster screamed…yeah…that was intense.

Probably my two favorite scenes were the tavern and when the girl treats him. In the tavern (as Henri) he's so joyful and innocent. Such a good friend, and it just made me grin from ear to ear to see. When the girl treats the Monster...the way he lights up and connects with her and struggles to move or communicate. My hearttttt (Plus….when she says he doesn't scare her and he grabs her wrist anhfksjdbs And then she bonks his head and they both laughㅠㅠ)

Characters:

Victor Frankenstein

Eleanor (Victor's sister)

Julia (Victor's childhood friend/wife)

Henri/the Monster

Act 1:

The play opens with the monster coming alive and wow, Leo’s movements were so disjointed and creepy.

Then we go back to the Napoleonic Wars (1815) and Henri is on a battlefield trying to amputate this guy’s leg, but his superior comes and shoots the man. The superior was basically saying it was a waste of time and such, but Henri wanted to save him. (Henri’s whole thing is wanting to prolong life.) Henri is about to be killed basically because he values all life. Then Victor comes along and recognizes him for some paper he’d written before and saves him. So Henri becomes Victor’s science buddy.

Henri wants to protect life and let God create it, but Victor thinks God cursed humanity and we can create life. So there’s conflict there. (Victor is being funded by the military to create a superhuman soldier, but once the war ends, they withdraw their support.)

When the two of them come back to Henri’s hometown (after the war is over), they go to a ball where everyone is gossiping about how weird Victor is, and he leaves right away. And Henri is so cute trying to greet everyone and getting cut off.

A little later, Eleanor (Victor’s sister) comes and tells Henri Victor’s tragic past. Long story short, his mom caught the plague, and his father (a doctor) of course couldn’t save her. Her body is burned, but little Victor retrieves it and cleans it, saying he will save her. He blames his dad for her death, but the dad ends up dying in a housefire when he saves Victor. Little Victor is taken in by Julia’s family, and one day Julia’s puppy is hit by a carriage. He brings the puppy back to life, but it bites Julia and Victor is sent away to live with his caretaker guy.

Back to the present, Victor’s experiment had ailed again, so he went to the tavern to drink his troubles away. Henri goes and finds him getting into a fight with pretty much everyone there. Henri stops the fighting and (in a very adorable way) declares that he will buy everyone’s drinks (to placate them). Thus ensues an energetic and wonderful tavern dance scene. (I couldn’t help but smile throughout it, especially watching Henri’s endearing and joyful dancing. It was so fun and cute with him dancing around everywhere and generally having a good time.)

The two of them need a fresh head for their body, and the caretaker guy set up a deal with the blind(?) undertaker to get a fresh head. The undertaker had murdered a guy and was demanding a higher price. Victor got mad and hit and killed the undertaker. Henri knocks him out and takes him away. By the time Victor comes to, Hanri has taken the blame for the murder and is sentenced to the guillotine. Eleanor tells Victor to go confess, and he does, but Julia’s father says he’s not right in the head, so his confession can’t be believed.

Victor visits Henri in the jail and begs Henri to confess the truth. Henri refuses and says Victor has to continue their research. His dream will live on through Victor.

Henri is executed and Victor brings his head to his lab. He goes through all the process of trying to reanimate the Body, but thinks he has failed. He hears Eleanor and caretaker guy coming and goes to stop them. In the meantime, the monster jolts awake and struggles to move and stand. They come back and see him standing there. Victor tries to approach him, but he is skiddish. Then he says he’s cold, and Victor helps him into the coat he discarded earlier. (I’m not sure if there was a reason for this next bit, but the caretaker was pointing a gun at the monster.) The Monster attacks the caretaker and rips out his throat. Eleanor runs away and Victor tries to subdue the monster. He attempts to choke him, but fails. Then shoots at the monster as he runs away. The monster screams and jumps out the window, and thus ends act one.

Act 2:

It starts basically with Victor getting married to Julia, his childhood friend person. Then it’s their wedding night and there’s thunder and it reminds Victor of his monster, but Julia wants him to pay attention to her on her wedding night. Someone comes in and says Jullia’s dad was hurt in the woods so they go looking for a beast.

Victor comes across the Monster and then Monster tells sort of how he came to be (bc 4 years have passed). He’s also upset that Victor doesn’t ask him anything like how he learned to speak but instead asked why he came back (if I recall).

Flashback to the past again and people were in the forest searching for a “beast”. They find him when he saves a girl from a bear (after none of the humans were going to bother to help her).

The lady sort of in charge of the search took him to be one of the fighters at her fight club place, and they want him to be awful and cruel and kill people grossly in fights. He does fight after being goaded, but he doesn't want to kill. (The people in charge end up killing his opponent(s) for him.) Their flamboyant;;; landlord comes and makes a bet that they can’t beat his champion. If they lose, they have to leave their place. The lady tells her husband(?) to make sure his monster does his job, so he chains up the Monster and beats him up and brands him to make him angry/obedient.

The girl he saved in the woods comes to help clean him up. and he haltingly asks if she’s not afraid of him. She tells him she’s not afraid of him because he’s not human and because he saved her from the bear. She thanks him and tells him about wanting to go to the North Pole where there are no humans. She teaches him to say hello, and the girl was waving in front of his face, and then he copied her and they were laughing really adorably. (Leo was doing a super innocent, all teeth showing type of laugh.) At this point, the Monster can’t quite speak, but he wants to go away with her to the North Pole and it’s all around incredibly precious.

However. Landlord creep approaches the girl and tells her to give the monster some "medicine" and she will be free. After a bit of thinking she does give it to him (because she had just gotten hit for hanging out with the Monster...if I recall).

During the fight, he loses strength and has his arm and leg and neck snapped by the landlord's champion. The lady realizes the Monster was poisoned and gets mad. The girl is brought forth and begs forgiveness from all sides, but no one will have mercy on her. She keeps telling the Monster to stop looking at her. He's just a monster anyway. The landlord and girl are killed, and the lady orders the Monster to be burned. but when they are all gone, he snaps his limbs back into place and leaves (after singing about being a monster even though humans are crap).

Then it's back to the present where the search party is out looking for Julia's father in the woods. I think the monster made it look like Eleanor stabbed Victor's father-in-law. Either way, the father dies and the she is hanged for murder.

Victor is of course upset and brings his sister back to the lab, but the Monster destroyed everything, so he can't bring his sister back.

I seem to have a blank here...but the Monster ends up killing Julia (Victor's wife). At this point, Victor is beyond over his "curse" (everyone around him suffering since he was a kid). He expects the Monster to kill him, but the Monster does not.

The monster goes to the North Pole. Victor soon follows after, and they fight when they meet there. In the fight, Victor is stabbed in the leg and the Monster gets hold of Victor's gun. Rather than shoot Victor, he gives him the gun back. Victor shoots the Monster, who then has a bit of clarity(?) and seems to be Henri once more for a moment. This, the Monster's revenge is complete. There is no way Victor can leave the North Pole alive, and he is utterly alone. He tries to drag the Monster with him, but it is a futile attempt.

If only Victor had tried to tame the Monster, to teach him, instead of immediately trying to "put him down", would things have turned out differently? Or would the cruelty and prejudice of humans inevitably created a "monster" anyway?

181121 - Elisabeth Musical (Leo)

After getting home from the musical last night, I was so keyed up that I wanted to get up and write this right away. I can’t recall the last time it has taken me that long to fall asleep once I’m in bed and ready to go. Plus, this morning I woke up early, and here I am out of bed writing, though I can’t quite believe it myself. There is so much to say, and it is hard to know where to begin. However, I will say that I may just have a new all-time favorite musical on my hands here. (Beware of spoilers, and there is not much on the plot. I’m pretty much saving that for next time.)

Set: From the opening number, I fell in love. The gothic theatricality of it all grasped me in its macabre claws and all reservations I had with buying future tickets flew out the window. I love sets that accentuate a play rather than distract from it and bonus points if there is some sort of unique factor to them. (I am of the mindset that even a bare stage is appropriate for certain plays as long as it fits with the other aspects.) The most stunning feature of the set for Elisabeth is undoubtedly the dual(?)-rotating stage. In Iron Mask, which I recently saw, they utilized moving strips of stage for travel scenes as well as moving set pieces, and these circles were used in similar ways, but there was also so much more there. It was used for traveling, moving location, and (sometimes best of all) just pure, gorgeous dramatic flare. This musical was wonderful in regard to being dramatic while also knowing it was being dramatic, so somehow it worked. (I credit our narrator, Luigi, for keeping the tone of the musical whimsical and even humorous at times.) The center stage backdrop was also unique in that it had cutouts shaped like Elisabeth that could be used as entranceways.

Costume: Your eyes have no chance of getting bored with all the different breath-taking costumes. As I said, from the first scene, I was enraptured, and the costumes were a part of that. In the opening scene, everyone’s attire had a slightly decayed look, mostly represented by cobwebs. If I were a costume expert, I could probably write an essay on each and every outfit in each scene, but suffice to say, I was in no way disappointed. All of the womens dresses were gorgeous, especially Elisabeth’s of course. I was actually quite pleased that they changed the style of her attire throughout her life, as she introduced some radical changes to the styles of the time. I also was (ever so secretly) happy that Death had multiple visually-stunning gothic reaper outfits. (And of course, they looked particularly beautiful accentuated by his unearthly proportions and good looks.) For some reason, I also really liked the Hungarian people’s outfits. I think it was the color scheme that matched without all the colors being the exact same shade.

181028 - Iron Mask Musical (Ken)

It's been 8 million years since I posted on here, but after having seen Jaehwan’s Iron Mask twice, I figured I'd wander over here. (Spoilers ahead)

Act 1 was a buildup of how horrid King Louis was. He gives peasants rotten fruit that couldn't be sent to the army, he steals Raoul’s girlfriend  (who was nearly his fiancée) by cornering her, sending him off to fight, bribing her, and eventually killing him. Not a likable character at all, and Jaehwan has this gloriously haughty air about him (which also carries over into his singing!).

Act 2 is the switcheroo between King Louis and his younger twin brother Philippe, who had been locked away in a prison with an iron mask covering his head. We get to see Jaehwan a lot more in Act 2, and it's really amazing to watch his acting with both characters. He switches back and forth seamlessly with distinct mannerisms and way of speaking for both of them. One of my favorite parts is still his duet with himself in which he sings to his mask and goes back and forth between each character changing his posture and singing voice (not to mention the lighting color changes when he switches!!). It's also super cool to see Jaehwan’s transition from mousy prisoner Philippe to someone more “fit” to be king as he learns how to be one from the three musketeers.

I had hoped I would get into the music more the second time, but I found myself mostly enjoying the same songs sung by the three musketeers or the ensemble that I had enjoyed the first time. As songs, I don't think I actually liked any of Jaehwan’s numbers, but he sings them so beautifully that all can be forgiven.

I'm not an expert on costumes or the history of them, but apparently they are not historically accurate, which is a shame. Honestly, the costumes I liked the most were those of the three musketeers. Jaehwan’s costumes objectively looked ridiculous, but as a whole, with his proportions and good looks, I'm inclined to say he pulled it off. Most people would be swallowed up by the ruffles and sparkles and extravagant embroidery, but not him.

The thing with this musical is that it's mostly actually about the three musketeers, and I'm not necessarily one to complain about the person I came to see (Jaehwan) not appearing all that much because if the musical is good, I'll enjoy it and fall for the other characters and actors. I feel like the only character I ended up liking or caring much about was Portos, but I wanted it to make me care about all the three musketeers and D’artagnan. I do know I cared more about the other two (ex)musketeers the first time I saw it, so part of the fault here lies with the actors. Yet, I felt the plot lacked something, some sort of passion or something, because it shouldn't be a dull story. There is betrayal, mysteries surrounding births, love, loyalty, friendship, honor...so why didn't I love it. I often found myself calculating in my head how much longer the musical would be the second time I saw it. (I did like this one song in Portos’ bar where he started dancing and then a few people joined in and more until everyone was dancing. I liked how organic the dance it felt.)

180422 - 일산 (Ilsan) Fansign (6VIXX)

So I feel a couple ways about fansigns in that I want to see VIXX and talk to them in theory, but I feel a lot of pressure about saying the right thing to the members. If you just go to one fansign in your life, you can think of something really significant and then say that and be done. On the other hand, if you go to lots of fansigns, you can just chat about whatever. However, if you go to just a handful, you’re caught in the in between where you do have more than one chance to talk to them, but really how much do they actually remember you? Also, it may be my imagination, but every other fansign I’ve been to has left something lacking. The other ones are great. This time it was the great kind’s turn to have a go.

I went somewhat early to the venue because I picked up a camera from a friend on the way there. The number I picked (out of 100) was right in the middle, which personally is great to me but for pictures/view in a flat room (without staggered seats;;) is not great. Anywho, I was sitting there, and a friend of mine came over to ask me to film her while she went up. The person next to me must have heard me talking to her in Korean (mostly listening, but still) because after a while, she talked to me. She asked me (super politely and hesitantly) for a post-it, so I told her I got mine from the fan staff. It turned out to be her first fansign, so she was nervous. I told her I was nervous even though it wasn’t my first fansign. And I was. I was so nervous before going up to talk to them, but the thing is, I wasn’t nervous about being near VIXX, I was nervous because I didn’t know what to say. I think this is why I was nervous for the second 도원경 fansign too. Anywho, she and I chatted a bit here and there during the fansign and that was fun and helped my nerves.

180207 - The Last Kiss Musical (Leo)

I think I’ve put off writing about The Last Kiss for long enough. There are various reasons I put it off, one of which being laziness. However, I feel I can give this a good go after seeing the play again today. There will be spoilers ahead. (Warning: mention of suicide)

I have seen the play a couple times now, but somehow have only seen Luna as Mary. As for the role of Taaffe, I of course prefer Kim Jun Hyun. He is just so charismatic and has fabulous chemistry with Leo. Not to mention he is good looking and sings beautifully. I don’t necessarily have anything against Min Young Ki, but I just don’t like how rigid his characters turn out. I feel like I understand why he makes the character choices he does, I just don’t like those choices as much. I’ve seen both of the emperor actors as well, but they both are great. One has more of a fragile almost grandfather-like feel, and the other is the typical acts tough but really sort of cared all along. I think I’ve seen both Stephanies? But I obviously don’t have an impression of how they differ yet;; Larisch is perhaps my favorite character. I liked both actresses’ versions of her, but I think I have a soft spot for Shin Young Sook after seeing her as Carlotta in Phantom.

I’ve said this before, but I love love love watching actors and musicals grow over time. (I also love seeing different actors’ portrayals of the same role.) Leo started out great and just got better, and seeing the play again after almost 2 months, you can really see the difference. All of Leo’s actions became, not more subtle, but perhaps more natural? He’s really fallen into his role beautifully. One thing I have fun with is watching Leo’s characters’ mannerisms because they are so different from his own. His posture, his walk, the way he sits, the way he looks at people; it’s safe to say I was watching Rudolf, not Leo, up there.

171216 - The Last Kiss Musical (Leo)

I’ve been bad about updating on here;; Granted, VIXX hasn’t been doing all that much I could go see. I didn’t write about Titanic either did I? Oops;; Anyway, I saw Leo’s new musical! A couple times actually, so I’ll probably reference those here too in a lump post. (This is a post I never finished, but here it is if you want to read it;;)

The 16th was Leo’s first day in the play, so it was pretty crowded. Ticketing was also competitive, so I decided to just see it from the 3rd floor this first time. The funny thing with all of the VIXX/Leo fans being there for the first day was that I had so many people to see. I wish it didn’t always happen like that. On one big event day I have a bajillion people to see and the rest of the days I’m lucky to have a friend or two I know there. However, those kinds of chaotic days make me feel like I’ve made a nice little place for myself among the fans.

I love seeing musicals (or plays) up close.This feeling is even stronger when it’s Leo’s performances, but I always feel this way because I love to be able to see the actors’ expressions when they act, not just how they are moving around. However, seeing a play from farther away, like the 3rd floor, does have its charms. I did have my handy-dandy opera glasses, but also being able to see the big picture is nice too.

I’d familiarized myself with some of the music beforehand because I find that helps me enjoy musicals ore from the first time I see them. (Your mind has to take in the story and lyrics, plus the Korean in this case, and then adding new music on top of that? It’s just too much to process. I almost always need at least a couple listens to appreciate songs.) Anyway, despite knowing some of the songs, recordings of musicals are always different than actual performances. Plus hearing it in the actors’ voices is different too. One thing with the music that I found amusing was from the prologue I was thinking, “This sounds so Frank Wildhorn-esque.” Frank Wildhorn is the composer of this musical, but also lots of musicals that have been put on in Korea (and also all of the musicals I’ve seen Leo in, which is all but Full House). The prologue reminded me of Monte Cristo in particular for some reason. The music is different of course, but there is a similar vibe I guess. (Let me walk away from this topic because I’m not qualified to talk about music composition.)

171119 - LR Eclipse Concert Day 2

Day 2 was such a blast as well. The shenanigans prior to the concert were different, but just as fun as Day 1. The concert was much the same, but LR talked for longer, which was the best thing ever really. (These events are somewhat out of order as usual;;)

During their first ment they talked about the difference between VIXX concert openings and LR ones. VIXX does 4 to 6 intense songs to open, but LR only did 2 calm ones (Beautiful Liar and Remember). Ravi said he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

171118 - LR Eclipse Concert Day 1

The LR concert was basically the best experience of my life. Not only did I have a wonderful time meeting up with lovely Starlights leading up to the concert, the concert itself exceeded all my hopes and dreams. If they don’t release a DVD I will haunt Jelpi for eternity.

So they opened with Beautiful Liar followed by Remember and just. Wow. Did you know that I love LR??! They somehow just feed off each other and synergize perfectly despite having such different styles.

They did LR versions of Error and Chained Up that were sort of…I don’t know music terms…slowed down? Haha They told us they were going to do Error, but then they went straight into Chained Up. Ravi started it with a rap and the whole audience was just sitting there wondering what song it was until he said “good boy” and there was a collective rise in the energy of the room because we figured out the song, and it was epic. Then they did 아름다운 밤에!!! Not completely sure, but 아름다운 밤에 might very well have been my favorite performance. Who knew the song was that sexy? Who knew they would do such choreo?!

170915 - Music Bank (VIXX LR)

Seeing as Leo was still unwell, I really think LR shouldn’t have been performing at Music Bank, even if Leo wanted to and even if it was their last performance. That being said, I happened to get in, so I went to the live show.

At Music Bank, everyone is seated, and there is a waiting area where the artist come out a couple groups ahead to wait for their turn to perform. The Starlights were seated toward that side, so we had a good view when LR came out. Actually Hyuk also came out, and I doubted my eyes for a moment, but it was definitely his cute smiling face. The seating situation was even better because there was a random light that was illuminating just the row we were in?? What? So Leo and Ravi were over there, so we silently waved our lightsticks, as you do. Ravi did his subdued greet and wave that he does, although I suppose his demeanor was more subdued than usual because of Leo’s condition. (For those who don’t know, or are reading this forever later, Leo was suffering gastrointestinal bleeding at the time;;)

Leo sort of wandered over to see us better and was staring at us, like he does. He waved at us a few separate times and kept staring. It almost felt like he was trying absorb all of our positive vibes and waves of love we were emitting. I don’t know if I was consciously trying to smile or just kept smiling, but some part of me kept thinking that I had to look happy and supportive not sad and worried.

At one point Leo wandered over to Hyuk and did that thing where he leans on people’s shoulders on him. Our little ray of sunshine maknae seemed to be a good “little” source of strength for baby kitty Leo. (Sorry, I just feel very protective of our hurting baby right now.) Then Leo (and Ravi) went over and greeted Kkomae, which just warmed my heart so much. (In case you didn’t know, Kkomae is now a manager for Gfriend!) After that, Leo wandered over and was chatting with Himchan (BAP) for a while before they had to perform.

Leo...was acting strong, but he also was moving sort of...slowly? Weirdly? Granted, he does sometimes swagger around exaggeratedly as if he is about to fall over, but I don’t know. I have no way of knowing how he actually felt and what was my hopes or fears projected onto him.

They did have a stool for Leo to sit on as they performed, and that hurt me. Actually, I was a lot more affected by the performance, by the situation, than I had anticipated. I kept feeling tears prickling at my eyes. Then when the song started, we screamed at the beginning, which we never do normally. The fanchant was the most intense I’ve ever heard or done it. I was in the midst of the 15 of us, but it really seemed so loud and strong. It did this horrid thing to my heart making me feel both stronger and torn into pieces. I kept laughing in between, but not because it was funny...I’m not sure why. Perhaps I was trying not to cry. From where I was, it looked like Leo wanted to cry (but projecting, remember?). The last time I remember being that loud for a fanchant was the very first performance of Chained Up, but the force driving the cheers was quite a different emotion.

I didn’t see it from where I was, but looking at screenshots from the broadcast, you could see that Leo still had the cord from an IV drip stuck in his arm. Poor baby. He really needs to just rest.

At the end, when all the artists go back on stage, Ravi was the only one to come out. He was one of the very first people on stage, but he stayed on the side near to us and bowed to everyone as they passed, and they all bowed back. It was a sort of heartwarming moment for me. Stupid tears were still prickling my eyes thinking about how rough it was for Ravi to be standing on that stage by himself and worrying about Leo. But he drew his star for the camera as usual (which is so touching, the longer he does it, the more amazing and touching it is). He kept looking up at us and waving until the very end. Ravi’s sincerity is one of my favorite things about him. I think his sincerity is why he thinks he is not funny/interesting, but it makes him such a lovable, wonderful person.

170829 - MTV The Show (VIXX LR)

Ravi said that recently Ken is playing Maple Story.

They are soooooo cute compared to 2 years ago and are way more comfortable being on stage and interacting with the fans.

There was a time they came on stage and were mocking each others voices. Leo spoke low like Ravi, and Ravi spoke higher like Leo.

Ravi kept saying he was excited to hear the fan chants. (At first, before ‘Whisper’, Leo asked if there was a fan chant.) They are so cuteㅠㅠㅠ

Once, they came out before the backup dancers and were like, why aren’t they out yet? So when they came out one at a time, Leo counted them off 1 to 6.

The first time they did ‘Feeling’ Leo forgot to do the ‘v’ under Ravi’s chin at the very end and put it up super extra late and it was so precious.

Ravi said we did the fan chant well, but Leo didn’t hear what he said and Ravi wouldn’t tell him, so the fans in standing shouted that Ravi said we did the fan chants well. Then, because in some of the fan chants you have to sing, during ‘Feeling’ Leo said the Starlights sang well and that he had better practice.

After the recording for ‘Feeling’ was over, Ravi said, “It’s over~” Then the Starlights all made a sad ‘Awwwwww’ sound, and Leo pointed at Ravi and said, “You’re too much” (Like...he was being mean to us for ending the recording or something and it was Ravi’s fault ahhaha)

At the end all the fans said, “See you tomorrow!” because there was no limit on the number of people who could sign up, but they couldn’t hear/understand so we ended up saying it like 3 times

170628 - Mata Hari Musical (Leo)

I didn’t get to see Leo arrive today because I was busyㅠㅠ But he was cute when he left (despite him wearing a hat and walking fast combined with no light). He was being careful to look at everyone when he passed by, and I love that. Plus his Instagram post was so sweet! (This is a very non-Leo post, so you’ve been warned.)

I ended up bringing a notebook with me today, so I might remember more about Act 1. Act 2 however may be another story;;

Spoilers abound (and it probably won’t make much sense if you haven’t seen the play because it is all out of order;;)

170621 - Mata Hari Musical (Leo)

I talked to a few people about the play this time around in comparison to last year and have been getting mixed reviews. Honestly, it’s hard to compare the two in terms of which is better because their goals seem different. And what I like in one version probably wouldn’t fit in another version. This post won’t be Leo-centric, so heads up on that.

I ended up getting to the theater pretty early because a friend of mine wanted a nice spot to take pictures of Leo when he arrived. I met up with a very special Twitter friend who was super cool to finally hang with for a bit. It was probably good that she had a friend there as a buffer as well. I feel like we bonded a lot, finally being able to sit around in person. We shared our secret Leo things (...that sounds weird, but oh well;;) and even shook hands over it. Plus she gave me a present, and basically, I’m just as in love with her as ever. Okay...back to Leo now;;;

Leo’s arrivals and departures are probably best experienced through videos and pictures (when experiencing them second-hand), but here we are. I mean, this blog is 86.8% for me anyway hahahaha. Right. Leo. Before he got there, a giant semi-truck parked in the path that he walks down, but luckily he went in the same way anyway. His hair was less fancily put up today, and he only mostly didn’t look my way instead of completely not looking my way. Oh well. Like I always say, leaving is the best. Jumping forward to that bit, my Spanish friend had come to see the play with me and was with me outside as well. (In an amusing turn of events, a lady I’d met at In the Heights and again at a music show was right near me in the line up!) The lights outside went out (they were from the cafe) so everyone, especially the fansites, freaked out for a bit. Then we mostly got over it and after a few minutes, Leo came out wearing a black cap. He was going slowly as usual and definitely acknowledged my presence. I’m not sure if he heard me say he did well, but we can pretend he did.

Back to the musical! (Beware of spoilers!!)

170617 - Mata Hari Musical (Leo)

If you have followed my blog for a long time (over a year), you will know that I fell in love with the 2016 Mata Hari. Sure, I went at first to see Leo, but I fell in love with the music, story, characters, and actors. Because of that, when I heard that the 2017 Mata Hari would be very different, I was honestly a little worried if I would/could like it as much. I went into it knowing that even if I loved it, it would be a different love. However, I also wanted to like it, so perhaps that tricked me into liking it anyway. I did like it though, for whatever reason, and this post will probably feature a lot of comparison between the two versions. I’ll go over Leo’s arrival and departure before talking about the play in case you don’t care about the play/don’t want spoilers.

I don’t have all that much to say about his arrival, but he was so gorgeous. He always is. Possibly my favorite thing with seeing him come and go from musicals is the contrast of when he arrives and when he leaves. He gets there all made up and fabulous, like he’s ready to walk down the catwalk and have his picture taken, but when he leaves, his hair is all down and he is so soft and sweet. He always seems so happy after performances (whether it be a concert or musical) and he takes his time when he leaves. It makes me happy to see him so happy, so I’m glad he has the opportunity to be in a musical again despite it being undoubtedly tiring for him and money-draining for me. Ah. Yeah. He ignored me during arrivals this time. Hahaha. That kid. Like three feet before he got to where I was standing he turned the other way to look at the people on the other side and kept looking that way until he was past me. Jung Taekwoon.

Beware of Spoilers:

170608 - 용산 (Yongsan) Fansign (6VIXX)

This time around the members were in opposite order from the Ilsan fansign, this time going in birthday order from Ravi to Leo. Also, I don’t know if it was because I had coffee and was more alert than the Ilsan fansign, but I definitely had a bit of nervousness this time;; Plus I picked number 97 so I had plenty of time to grow more nervous. On the other hand, I should have had more time to try and calm down.

Honestly, there’s not that much to do while waiting to go talk to them, and I felt that more distinctly than last time because my number was so late (it goes to 100). I was taking some pictures while I waited, but mostly those ones don’t turn out well (in my limited experience).