Montre-moi ton coté sombre
Oct. 24th, 2011 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lesmisloonyWell obviously I have a lot I need to post about after yesterday, but I don't know if I'll have time to give it the detail it deserves. It was a heck of a ridiculous day.
First, I went to meet some friends at the PDS, where one of them was holding a sign saying we needed tickets. There were four of us, and the tickets were GIVEN to us. We went in for free.
The show was fun to watch kind of, but... it was a hot mess. Too much is happening at all times. There are magic tricks and acrobats going on unnecessarily during every scene, which make it hard to follow the plot... and said plot has been watered down from the book to try to accommodate actors who can't sing in the title roles (Dracula and Mina), so to distract from that bizarre choice they've introduced a million new characters, none of which seem necessary. I enjoyed Lola as Poison when she sang, but when she did comedy it just came off as silly or awkward. I immensely enjoyed Gregory as Sorci during En Transe................................................ylvanie but the song didn't really advance the plot or anything, it was just kind of there. I don't even remember the third one's name, the lady who wore a whole lot of glittery black stuff. She sang a few solos well but her character was more underdeveloped than the others' and that's saying something! Not to mention the completely inexplicable addition of "Ange" who floated hilariously over the audience for no reason in act two, sang one song a few minutes later, and was never explained further than that. I still cringe at the Jonathan Harker one's singing voice though I know not everyone hears it the way I do, and his character was stiff and his romance with Mina, who didn't even sing, was totally flat. Dracula didn't scare me or anything, he was just a young dude with his shirt off. He was elegant and hot but didn't seem like a vampire at all. He wasn't menacing. As someone who is REALLY attracted to vampire-y stuff, I was very disappointed in that.
The costumes are creative and interesting, the sets are fun, and the magic tricks I noticed were mostly pretty impressive, but dude. As Tim Gunn would say, Edit edit edit! The girls I was with told me it was great because you had to come back to see the show a lot of times to be able to figure out what was going on. No. You should know what is going on the first time, and when you've seen the show over and over because you love THAT, *then* you start noticing that the dancers are cutting up during one scene or whatever. You should not be completely overwhelmed by dancers the first time you see the show to the point where you forget to watch the actors and you become frustrated because there is no way to follow the plot. Thank goodness I'd read the book and seen movie adaptations, though that didn't help me when it came to the three henchmen and whoever in the world Ange was.
Still, it was the French word "spectacle" suits it perfectly. I know I sound incredibly negative but I wouldn't say I hated it. I'd even hesitate to say I disliked it. I don't mind that I'll be going again in a month or so. But there's not much danger of me getting "Éteindre la lumière" tattooed on my foot.
Also, all my frustrations I felt trying to watch Dracula were similar to the frustrations I had trying to watch the DVD of Le Roi Soleil. "Who's that? Why are people flying? Whatever happened to that character?"
Hot mess.
Even the hardcore groupie types who are at Dracula every weekend, upon seeing me there, were quick to remind me that "It's not MOR!"
I liked the one 1, 2, 3 was staged: for the first time everything was white and all the costumes were red and white. I thought it would be really interesting, but unfortunately there was so much going on in all the dancers that it quickly became just as frustrating as everything else. Some of them were nuns, some of them seemed to be robbers... it was a mess. And everyone said L'Amour et son contraire was the best part, but I spent most of the song watched two acrobats flail around in the sky before I realized that Anais and Golan were being sexy in the corner. At one point during the second act we all put on 3D glasses and watched a short film... which was just MORE of Dracula and Mina dancing on each other. I spent most of the show cracking up at it.
It wasn't a big disappointment or anything; in fact I was relieved to find that I didn't fall in love with it.
Unfortunately, I saw every single fan I'd been trying to avoid there (except my old pal A-Crazy). I was so unaffected by the show and uncomfortable being around those fans that I decided to skip the stage door and head on over to Le Manoir de Paris, a haunted house where my beloved Patrice Maktav was rumoured to be playing Sweeney Todd.
It took me a while to find Le Manoir from the métro stop but soon I heard screams and was delighted to find several guys in costume had ventured into the street and were bothering passersby. I went in--a tall guy passed me and went RAH in my face--and got my ticket. I went over to stand in line.
That part of the event was kind of harrowing; the five or so costumed guys were patrolling the line trying to scare people, which would have been less awkward if I had had a friend go with me. Who goes to a haunted house alone?? This chick. At one point the werewolf guy jumped at someone behind me in line, and she backed into me. We spun around to face each other so she could say Pardon, and... it was Bérénice Faure.
In case you don't know about my MOR groupie days, Bérénice Faure is a dancer. Bérénice Faure was brought to my attention because she was dating Patrice Maktav. I was brought to her attention because I was basically in love with Patrice Maktav. That would have been fine, but no, I had to go and take a picture with her my last weekend where at the last minute I made a rude face. The worst thing is that she knew who I was; though I said no words, when it was my turn to get a picture with her she said "'ello!" with a facial expression that clearly indicated that she was flattered I wanted a picture with her at last. She managed to see the picture somehow, meaning she was on my facebook at some point, and got upset enough to also bring the picture to Patrice's attention, and then he had the awkward task of asking me to take it down.
When she bumped into me I managed to keep my cool, she said Pardon and I gestured and mumbled C'est pas grave, but then I saw her do a massive double-take. Blast. She wasn't alone; she was with Corentin, Fanny, Stefano, and another brunette dancer whose name I don't know. Stefano was flipping through the little brochure and he said Here's Patoche, the Bloody Baker! and they all started chattering and being cute. Bérénice was quiet for a moment, but then she seemed to pull it together and started doing the kind of thing I'd expect from her: she grabbed her friends and screamed I'LL PROTECT YOU as she held them in front of her whenever a monster passed, she tried to make the same noises one of the monster guys was making, she laughed loudly... she's a pretty outgoing person.
Also, at that point I knew that Patrice was DEFINITELY a part of the haunted house.
Suddenly I heard one of the other dancers whisper Isn't that one of the fans of Mozart? and they all went quiet. I was careful not to look at them for a while; I was desperately texting several friends because... of all the times I could have gone to this haunted house, which is open EVERY DAY, I happened to be standing in line with MOR dancers. What is my life. This would only happen to me.
Then I realized that having my phone out meant that my PATRICE<3 phone charm was on full display. Blast. If Bérénice had any doubts that that man-stealing face-making American was inexplicably back in the country before, the phone charm definitely gave me away. I shoved my phone into my pocket but it was too late: she pulled out her iPhone and I clearly saw who she was sending a text to. What could she have possibily needed to tell Patrice so desperately that she was texting him now, knowing full well that he was busy being off-brand Sweeney Todd in the haunted house and wouldn't see his phone until about midnight?
I think it's safe to say that she doesn't like me. With good reason: I was an ass to her.
Also, Patrice and I have become buddies since MOR ended... I mean we were already extremely fond of each other, as anyone who read my stagedoor stories would know, but now that it's not a fan-actor thing it's a little different. We saw each other about two weeks ago in Paris and text somewhat regularly. So I can see why the dancer would be confused/concerned about my appearance at Patrice's haunted house when I am supposed to be back in America leaving him alone.
Anyway, I attempted to hide behind the dancers to avoid the monsters, but they weren't fooled and the tallest one came over and reached over Bérénice's head and was like The little one keeps trying to hide herself... and I was like ummmm okay. I reacted to those monsters the way I reacted to Mikele: awkward grinning as I waited for them to wander away. Meanwhile I was feeling a combination of awkwardness that I was there alone, embarrassment that I didn't know how to behave, and hilarity at how ridiculous my life is. My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding and I know I was blushing. Because if the dancers recognized me, they had to know I knew who they were. So awkward. The line took at least an hour, maybe more. And when we were finally nearing the door Corentin told me to Avance-toi and get back to the front since I had accidentally melted into the dancer group. I did, and then as the group in front was leaving Bérénice told me I could join them and I muttered something about I didn't know them. Then I realized why the dancers were trying to get rid of me: they had some kind of special we're-just-here-to-see-our-friend pass, so they were given a glowstick and told that they could leave through an emergency exit whenever they needed and blah blah. I was a little bit disappointed that I wouldn't be going through the haunted house with the dancers, but also relieved because being near them was SO AWKWARD.
Instead I was lumped in with a blond family just behind, and I was immediately pleased that we were together because one minute into the haunted house I had accidentally grabbed the arm of the mom. It was fine though, because she grabbed me back. It was so much fun! People were jumping out at us, we were terrified to go around corners, and as we entered the first themed room, Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom was jumping around and then there was this bloody zombie Christine done up in chains who wondered down the line moaning Aidez-moi je vous en prie... they were RIGHT in our faces. And I was like oh yeah this is gonna be worth the price of admission. I was laughing in terror the entire time. I've been in some haunted houses in my day, but that was by far the most creative and the most fun. At one point we went into this weird tunnel where the walls were fabric and air was being pumped into them from both sidesso that we were totally in the dark and had to force our way through this tiny crevice that closed up in front and behind us. It mussed my hair. It was so creative though and so terrifying. I loved it.
Finally we came around a corner and there was a wooden staircase with a familiar face crouched on it. The haunted house was pretty dark obviously and pictures weren't allowed, which is a real shame. I think Patrice saw me before he leapt down the stairs, because I was at the edge of the group and he ran down the line going RAWRRR and then spent an extra long time roaring in my face. It was delightful seeing him be like that because he is SUCH a shypants and when we're talking he mumbles and I barely understand anything. Then he was bellowing that he's going to slit our throats and send us to his neighbor who's going to bake us into pies, he started yelling at the little boy that he was going to make him into petits pains which is like, buns. Because he was small. And then he roared for us to get ouuuuut and the family was like eep! and hurried into the next room. I was moving slowly and Patrice was leaning against a wall as we left, but when he saw I was the last one out he jumped up and ran at me going RAWRR again. It was endearing. He loves me.
Anyway, I think the walk-through took about an hour. It was so much fun. I wish it wasn't so expensive, because I'd totally love to go back with some of the other au pairs, but oh well. At least I know Patrice is making money.
So that was my ridiculous day. Every time I leave the house something ridiculous happens to me. That's why I love living in Paris.
(Before you leave your comment, remember that this is an unlocked post. This isn't.)
First, I went to meet some friends at the PDS, where one of them was holding a sign saying we needed tickets. There were four of us, and the tickets were GIVEN to us. We went in for free.
The show was fun to watch kind of, but... it was a hot mess. Too much is happening at all times. There are magic tricks and acrobats going on unnecessarily during every scene, which make it hard to follow the plot... and said plot has been watered down from the book to try to accommodate actors who can't sing in the title roles (Dracula and Mina), so to distract from that bizarre choice they've introduced a million new characters, none of which seem necessary. I enjoyed Lola as Poison when she sang, but when she did comedy it just came off as silly or awkward. I immensely enjoyed Gregory as Sorci during En Transe................................................ylvanie but the song didn't really advance the plot or anything, it was just kind of there. I don't even remember the third one's name, the lady who wore a whole lot of glittery black stuff. She sang a few solos well but her character was more underdeveloped than the others' and that's saying something! Not to mention the completely inexplicable addition of "Ange" who floated hilariously over the audience for no reason in act two, sang one song a few minutes later, and was never explained further than that. I still cringe at the Jonathan Harker one's singing voice though I know not everyone hears it the way I do, and his character was stiff and his romance with Mina, who didn't even sing, was totally flat. Dracula didn't scare me or anything, he was just a young dude with his shirt off. He was elegant and hot but didn't seem like a vampire at all. He wasn't menacing. As someone who is REALLY attracted to vampire-y stuff, I was very disappointed in that.
The costumes are creative and interesting, the sets are fun, and the magic tricks I noticed were mostly pretty impressive, but dude. As Tim Gunn would say, Edit edit edit! The girls I was with told me it was great because you had to come back to see the show a lot of times to be able to figure out what was going on. No. You should know what is going on the first time, and when you've seen the show over and over because you love THAT, *then* you start noticing that the dancers are cutting up during one scene or whatever. You should not be completely overwhelmed by dancers the first time you see the show to the point where you forget to watch the actors and you become frustrated because there is no way to follow the plot. Thank goodness I'd read the book and seen movie adaptations, though that didn't help me when it came to the three henchmen and whoever in the world Ange was.
Still, it was the French word "spectacle" suits it perfectly. I know I sound incredibly negative but I wouldn't say I hated it. I'd even hesitate to say I disliked it. I don't mind that I'll be going again in a month or so. But there's not much danger of me getting "Éteindre la lumière" tattooed on my foot.
Also, all my frustrations I felt trying to watch Dracula were similar to the frustrations I had trying to watch the DVD of Le Roi Soleil. "Who's that? Why are people flying? Whatever happened to that character?"
Hot mess.
Even the hardcore groupie types who are at Dracula every weekend, upon seeing me there, were quick to remind me that "It's not MOR!"
I liked the one 1, 2, 3 was staged: for the first time everything was white and all the costumes were red and white. I thought it would be really interesting, but unfortunately there was so much going on in all the dancers that it quickly became just as frustrating as everything else. Some of them were nuns, some of them seemed to be robbers... it was a mess. And everyone said L'Amour et son contraire was the best part, but I spent most of the song watched two acrobats flail around in the sky before I realized that Anais and Golan were being sexy in the corner. At one point during the second act we all put on 3D glasses and watched a short film... which was just MORE of Dracula and Mina dancing on each other. I spent most of the show cracking up at it.
It wasn't a big disappointment or anything; in fact I was relieved to find that I didn't fall in love with it.
Unfortunately, I saw every single fan I'd been trying to avoid there (except my old pal A-Crazy). I was so unaffected by the show and uncomfortable being around those fans that I decided to skip the stage door and head on over to Le Manoir de Paris, a haunted house where my beloved Patrice Maktav was rumoured to be playing Sweeney Todd.
It took me a while to find Le Manoir from the métro stop but soon I heard screams and was delighted to find several guys in costume had ventured into the street and were bothering passersby. I went in--a tall guy passed me and went RAH in my face--and got my ticket. I went over to stand in line.
That part of the event was kind of harrowing; the five or so costumed guys were patrolling the line trying to scare people, which would have been less awkward if I had had a friend go with me. Who goes to a haunted house alone?? This chick. At one point the werewolf guy jumped at someone behind me in line, and she backed into me. We spun around to face each other so she could say Pardon, and... it was Bérénice Faure.
In case you don't know about my MOR groupie days, Bérénice Faure is a dancer. Bérénice Faure was brought to my attention because she was dating Patrice Maktav. I was brought to her attention because I was basically in love with Patrice Maktav. That would have been fine, but no, I had to go and take a picture with her my last weekend where at the last minute I made a rude face. The worst thing is that she knew who I was; though I said no words, when it was my turn to get a picture with her she said "'ello!" with a facial expression that clearly indicated that she was flattered I wanted a picture with her at last. She managed to see the picture somehow, meaning she was on my facebook at some point, and got upset enough to also bring the picture to Patrice's attention, and then he had the awkward task of asking me to take it down.
When she bumped into me I managed to keep my cool, she said Pardon and I gestured and mumbled C'est pas grave, but then I saw her do a massive double-take. Blast. She wasn't alone; she was with Corentin, Fanny, Stefano, and another brunette dancer whose name I don't know. Stefano was flipping through the little brochure and he said Here's Patoche, the Bloody Baker! and they all started chattering and being cute. Bérénice was quiet for a moment, but then she seemed to pull it together and started doing the kind of thing I'd expect from her: she grabbed her friends and screamed I'LL PROTECT YOU as she held them in front of her whenever a monster passed, she tried to make the same noises one of the monster guys was making, she laughed loudly... she's a pretty outgoing person.
Also, at that point I knew that Patrice was DEFINITELY a part of the haunted house.
Suddenly I heard one of the other dancers whisper Isn't that one of the fans of Mozart? and they all went quiet. I was careful not to look at them for a while; I was desperately texting several friends because... of all the times I could have gone to this haunted house, which is open EVERY DAY, I happened to be standing in line with MOR dancers. What is my life. This would only happen to me.
Then I realized that having my phone out meant that my PATRICE<3 phone charm was on full display. Blast. If Bérénice had any doubts that that man-stealing face-making American was inexplicably back in the country before, the phone charm definitely gave me away. I shoved my phone into my pocket but it was too late: she pulled out her iPhone and I clearly saw who she was sending a text to. What could she have possibily needed to tell Patrice so desperately that she was texting him now, knowing full well that he was busy being off-brand Sweeney Todd in the haunted house and wouldn't see his phone until about midnight?
I think it's safe to say that she doesn't like me. With good reason: I was an ass to her.
Also, Patrice and I have become buddies since MOR ended... I mean we were already extremely fond of each other, as anyone who read my stagedoor stories would know, but now that it's not a fan-actor thing it's a little different. We saw each other about two weeks ago in Paris and text somewhat regularly. So I can see why the dancer would be confused/concerned about my appearance at Patrice's haunted house when I am supposed to be back in America leaving him alone.
Anyway, I attempted to hide behind the dancers to avoid the monsters, but they weren't fooled and the tallest one came over and reached over Bérénice's head and was like The little one keeps trying to hide herself... and I was like ummmm okay. I reacted to those monsters the way I reacted to Mikele: awkward grinning as I waited for them to wander away. Meanwhile I was feeling a combination of awkwardness that I was there alone, embarrassment that I didn't know how to behave, and hilarity at how ridiculous my life is. My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding and I know I was blushing. Because if the dancers recognized me, they had to know I knew who they were. So awkward. The line took at least an hour, maybe more. And when we were finally nearing the door Corentin told me to Avance-toi and get back to the front since I had accidentally melted into the dancer group. I did, and then as the group in front was leaving Bérénice told me I could join them and I muttered something about I didn't know them. Then I realized why the dancers were trying to get rid of me: they had some kind of special we're-just-here-to-see-our-friend pass, so they were given a glowstick and told that they could leave through an emergency exit whenever they needed and blah blah. I was a little bit disappointed that I wouldn't be going through the haunted house with the dancers, but also relieved because being near them was SO AWKWARD.
Instead I was lumped in with a blond family just behind, and I was immediately pleased that we were together because one minute into the haunted house I had accidentally grabbed the arm of the mom. It was fine though, because she grabbed me back. It was so much fun! People were jumping out at us, we were terrified to go around corners, and as we entered the first themed room, Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom was jumping around and then there was this bloody zombie Christine done up in chains who wondered down the line moaning Aidez-moi je vous en prie... they were RIGHT in our faces. And I was like oh yeah this is gonna be worth the price of admission. I was laughing in terror the entire time. I've been in some haunted houses in my day, but that was by far the most creative and the most fun. At one point we went into this weird tunnel where the walls were fabric and air was being pumped into them from both sidesso that we were totally in the dark and had to force our way through this tiny crevice that closed up in front and behind us. It mussed my hair. It was so creative though and so terrifying. I loved it.
Finally we came around a corner and there was a wooden staircase with a familiar face crouched on it. The haunted house was pretty dark obviously and pictures weren't allowed, which is a real shame. I think Patrice saw me before he leapt down the stairs, because I was at the edge of the group and he ran down the line going RAWRRR and then spent an extra long time roaring in my face. It was delightful seeing him be like that because he is SUCH a shypants and when we're talking he mumbles and I barely understand anything. Then he was bellowing that he's going to slit our throats and send us to his neighbor who's going to bake us into pies, he started yelling at the little boy that he was going to make him into petits pains which is like, buns. Because he was small. And then he roared for us to get ouuuuut and the family was like eep! and hurried into the next room. I was moving slowly and Patrice was leaning against a wall as we left, but when he saw I was the last one out he jumped up and ran at me going RAWRR again. It was endearing. He loves me.
Anyway, I think the walk-through took about an hour. It was so much fun. I wish it wasn't so expensive, because I'd totally love to go back with some of the other au pairs, but oh well. At least I know Patrice is making money.
So that was my ridiculous day. Every time I leave the house something ridiculous happens to me. That's why I love living in Paris.
(Before you leave your comment, remember that this is an unlocked post. This isn't.)
