magicaddict | So Much To Do...

...okay, here's how we're doing since last time.

The talks with supervisor and internal asessor went really quite well, considering. Keiran has given me some set goals (joy of having a design brief), and Andy had no worries about the speed of progression or level of achievement. Situation appears to be normal for this point in a PhD - good.

The program sits finished on the office computer. The proof is going to the committee meeting on Sunday, just gagging to have them say they don't like something. It's too late. I no longer care. I've done something and it's bloody good, kiss my coffee-scented ass if you don't like it. The Print Unit will get it on Monday whether the committee like it or not.

I never expected the response to Daenaram's probation officer publishing an absolution being what it is. It had been intended for Jordan to turn up on a high level game, make Daenaram tell the same story, then pronounce him a free man of the Barony then and there, which would have been an excellent opportunity for me to roleplay, but as he died before he got there and I already had the material written, I didn't want to waste it. I guess nothing ever does survive contact with players.

Last night was spent in the company of Elizabeth and Caroline watching Les Miserables in London in celebration of the former's impending birthday. I am very pleased to say that it has lost precisely none of its enduring appeal, and continues to be the absolutely fantastic spectacle it was when I saw it about ten years ago. The current cast has very good synergy, as no-one stood out as being better or worse than the rest, and the overall standard was gloriously high. As exected, I cried as Fantine & Eponine's ghosts shared their duet to the sound of Valjean's last breaths, as I did the last time, and will the next if it's half as good as this was. Valjean's death scene is probably the most moving in any musical, ever, and it's nice to see that it hasn't been played with or messed about by directors over the years.
As a caveat, it was also nice to see the same staging for At The End Of The Day as the residential director of the national tour taught when I attended a three-day masterclass in Malvern. I resisted the urge to point and shout "I did that!", but it was quite strong.

Roll the hell on with Phantom - the only show I think is better - later this year.

Tonight I get to relax for the last time before the stupidity that is the ISB rehearsal schedule starts with a bang at nine tomorrow morning. I say bang because when Emilie finds out that three quarters of the cast have forgotten the dances entirely, she's going to explode.

My advice? Wash and wear clothing, or something waterproof. Blood doesn't wash out easily.