#I’m glad I gave the prologue a watch when I started hearing good reviews for it

[carnelianwings]

Finished Mobile Suit Gundam: the Witch from Mercury and oh my god that series finale. One of the best I’ve seen in a while, probably the only one where I feel satisfied by the ending for the main ship.

(Spoilers behind the cut, plus some rambling as a casual Gundam fan - mostly of Wing/SEED/00 for comparison)

First off - explicit confirmation that SuleMio got married during the time skip? Can’t believe Bamco really said “Finale airs close enough to the end of June, let’s not only have both of them survive, but we’ll have them get married.”

I know there’s some people who think it wasn’t overt enough but if you ask me, this is the sort of ending Gundam does for their main ships. Like yeah Kira/Flay got pretty explicit but she wasn’t the End Game girl for him, that was Lacus and Kira/Lacus is super chaste in comparison (and we’re not going to get into the potential Unfortunate Implications of that here). But even then, in the SEED Destiny remaster finale all we get is a Big Damn Hug for them. The most we ever got for Heero/Relena was the moment where Heero tells her he’ll take out the leaders of both the Earth and Space Colony factions to lay the world at Relena’s feet for her to lead into a new era of peace. (There’s a reason the BL ships are way more popular in Wing fic than the canonical one! 😂) And as for 00’s Setsuna? He merged with an alien consciousness and essentially gets Put On A Bus for 50 years and reunites with his Princess when she’s 81 and blind.

Which brings me to my next point - because the lead writer for G Witch worked on Valvrave (trigger warning for sexual assault if you want to watch Valvrave - it was a late night anime and it showed), I was worried they’d either kill off Miorine in the series finale or put Suletta in a coma (highly possible with how Gundam technology works in universe, plus all the warning signs around Calibarn) to keep things “nebulous” between them and give the writers an out for not having a F/F ship final couple. And it’s not like Gundam doesn’t have precedent for that either - see the Zeta Gundam finale and what happened with Kamille (not sure if that ending got changed with the movies).

But no, we get an “and they lived happily ever after, making their dreams a reality one step at a time” for both girls. I couldn’t believe my ears when Eri referred to herself as Miorine’s sister in law. I started crying when I saw the rings, not just because that was Suletta’s dream, but also the fact that it meant they got married, and that they’ve just been put on a level above most other (Straight) canonical Gundam ships. (Seriously I can’t name another canonical Gundam ship where the characters met, dated, and got married in the course of their own series.) It also meant all the times Miorine reached out to Prospera by saying they’ll be family wasn’t just lip service but had some very real weight behind it. That the Ship Tease moments were meant to be real romantic relationship development beyond the sort of “fake engagement” set up they had in the beginning. And somehow just by doing that it also means they had a much stronger and better fleshed out relationship than what I’m used to for on screen main Gundam ships.

So there you have it. My (not so) hot take on the G Witch finale.

Final rating: 🌈/10, thank you for not Fridging/Coma-ing either Suletta nor Miorine, would watch again, would definitely buy and play their Super Robot Taisen debut game (assuming I have a platform to play it on). Second season could’ve been better with an extra ep in there especially with all the rapid fire politics and side switching, but at the same time I feel like it might’ve slowed things down a bit much so I’m happy with what we got. Also, Super Robot Taisen debut when, Bamco?

[butterbuni]

♥ Prologue ♥

Prologue of Disguise, a Kaminari x Fem Reader

"Hello my dear viewers! Thank you for joining my stream. If your new here thanks for coming. If your one of my regulars welcome back, you know the drill." I looked up at my left monitor watching the numbers of watchers rise as well as the number of donations.

"We are just waiting for one more guest! LightningMcSpark101 he is always late." I rolled my eyes playfully knowing he would be watching the video later when I upload it. My discord rang and I quickly answered it, "Dude you are so late!! The viewers were waiting!" I said into my mic.

"Aw man, I was so sure I was on time this time!" I heard him say from the other end. "Alright alright, all is forgiven! Hurry up and let's get this started. I only have 2 hours today!"

"Sure thing dude! I am so beating you this time!"

"In your dreams Sparky!"

"It's on G/N (Gamertag name)"

I smirked at my screen and took hold of my controller pressing play on the newest battle game that I was sent to try and review.

The screen lit up as it announced my ultimate victory. "Haha! In your face Sparky!! I win once again!"

"Awe man!!! I was so sure I was going to win this time!! You defeated me dude how is that even possible!!!" he exclaimed from his end.

"Ha, you thought. Thanks for helping me show off this game!" I looked over to my left monitor and saw my view had only gained as well as the occasional donation, "I hope you guys enjoyed my demonstration as much as I did! Make sure to go out and buy this amazing game! It's a lot of fun to play especially with friends maybe one of you may get lucky and I would play with you next time. Unfortunately, it is time for me to log off however same time next week. What do you say Sparky?"

"You bet!"

"Bye guys!" I said as I waved goodbye with one hand and clicked end stream. I let out a sigh of relief. That was so much fun. "Sparky you do not know how much fun that was!"

"I am so glad you let me try it out with you! Hey, when are you going to let me see your face you always wear that face mask. I only see half of you!"

"I will let you see my face when pigs fly!" I said scratching the side of my face avoiding not wanting to give him a straight answer. He asks this every single time we go on live together. "Plus it's not like I've seen your face either for all I know you are a 40-year-old man, but you don't sound a day over 15," I said cheerfully.

"Oh wow thanks." he said sarcastically, "I would show you my sexy awesome face but I don't think you would be able to resist me."

"Ha, you wi-"

The alarm on my phone went off stopping all conversation, "Oop looks like my time has come! See ya later dude!" I said quickly changing tabs to end our call. "Aw, c'mon just a little longer. I'll promise I'll be good."

"Sorry, sparky you know the drill I really need to go now," I said hastily wanting... no needing to end the call.

I heard him sigh from the other end. My cursor hovered over the end call button impatiently. My eyes kept darting to my bedroom door. He was taking too long and I didn't want to end without saying goodbye

"I'll catch ya next time G/N. Next time I promise to beat you in whatever game we play."

"Don't hold your breath," I laughed and clicked the end call button. Once it ended, I quickly tore off my face mask and took off my headset. I pulled out a medium-sized box from beneath my desk and put both of them in.

I quickly took out the game cd and put it back into its packaging. I pulled out a bigger box from beneath my desk that had various other games I've collected and put the game in. I sighed, "I wish I didn't have to live like this." Almost as soon as I closed both boxes and put them away, there was a knock on my door.

Fuck. Already?

"One moment!" I called out. Why why why now. I went into my walk-in closet and quickly changed into clothes that my parents deemed suitable for walking around the house. There was another knock at the door, "I'm coming!" I fixed my hair and opened the door quickly revealing my butler. He wore a simple black and white suit with a handkerchief hanging off his arm and as usual his gray hair was slicked back.

"Hello Bertrum," I said standing up as straight as possible.

"Hello ma'am your parents are waiting for you downstairs. Dinner today is coffee-rubbed steak with brussels sprout salad." He bowed down to me.

Great just my luck. I rolled my eyes just before Bertrum rose from his position. "How wonderful I will be down in a second."

He nodded and went on his way. I shut my door closed once he left. With my back against the wall, I slide down to the ground. I wish we could have normal food for one. I would kill for a hamburger right about now.

I got up from the floor and dusted myself off. I might as well get this over with. The sooner I get there the sooner I can leave.

I walked over to my vanity mirror making sure all my 'imperfections' were perfect in the eyes of my parents.

Once I felt ready I walked out of my bedroom making sure to be extra slow about it. I walked through the halls of our family portraits and statues. I've walked this same path for years and each time I still don't feel like I belong.

Every single one of the pictures had a family member who did something great with their lives. Some went on to be some of the greatest support items manufactures. Some became politicians. Some even became costume developers. But here I was, some random teenager who just happened to be born in a family with everything.

I walked down our spiral stairs my hand running down the banister. Well, everything except parents with the capability of love and care.

I walked into the family dining room to see the long table completely dressed in fancy dishes. Both my mom and dad weren't looking at each other. Mother was typing away at something on her laptop and Father was talking to someone on the phone.

I don't even know why they require me here anymore when they wouldn't even pay attention to me.

"Hello Mother. Hello Father." I said flatly announcing myself in. "Hello Y/N," they said without even glancing at me.

I sighed. Of course, they wouldn't even look at me. I am sure they have even forgotten how I looked considering I don't even remember the last time they looked at me for more than 10 seconds.

I took my seat at the far end of the table to wait for the maids to deliver the food.

The dining hall instantly fell into silence with nothing but the clacking of Mother's keyboard and the low gruff talking of Father on his phone. It was unbearable.

Mother finally spoke to me as the maids came into the room with our dinner.

"We have decided where you will be going for high school." She spoke, "With your quirk, we decided that you will go to U.A and join their support course."

"But mother I was planning on becoming a hero like the rest of my friends," I spoke up as a maid dropped my dish in front of me.

She scoffed at me, "I can see why the Todoroki family would want their son to be in the hero course but I don't know why the Yaoyorozu family would let their daughter partake in such a trivial career."

"Mother heroes have a lot of importance in our society! Without them, the world would spiral into chaos. Plus the support course won't even have people to sell their inventions."

"Support for quirks will always be in business with or without the heroes. The heroes are the cause of chaos. They refuse to properly dispose of villains, making our society go into a cycle of a hero-catching villain only for the villain to escape and wreak more havoc. If they would make an example of one of those good for nothing bastards, the people in our society wouldn't have the nerve to stand against heroes."

"But Mother that is such a horrible-" I started to say looking at Mother in disbelief.

"I know you are not talking back to me right now!" she raised her voice at me slamming her fork down on the table.

"No Mother," I said looking down at the plate of food.

"Good."

It was silent once again. Father didn't even bother trying to come to my side and I didn't even bother standing up for myself.

I've learned the hard way that when something is asked of me, I have to do it. Or else.

I picked up my fork and picked at my food. I wasn't even that hungry plus it wasn't like brussel sprouts and steak were very appealing.

"Aren't you eating Y/N?," Father said turning off his phone and picking up his own fork to eat. He only said that to me so he could still pretend to be that caring father he once was in his only little fantasies.

"I just don't have the appetite right now," I said dejectedly. "You should eat your food. Do you know how many kids are starving?" Mother said.

"Maybe you should feed them this nasty stuff," I mumbled.

"I didn't quite hear what you said. Could you repeat that for me?" Mother's eyebrow twitched as she gripped the fork in her hand tightly. I didn't think she could hear me. "I just think we should distribute our wealth to help people less fortunate. People could stop going home hungry," I said dropping my fork down. If she wanted to talk about starving people we can talk about starving people.

"It is not our fault that they made bad choices in their lifetime and ended up poor. Why should we share what we worked hard to get." She said not sparing a glance at me.

I rolled my eyes once she paid more attention to her food than me. Every time I try to have this conversation with her she shuts me down with her hypocritical ass. I stared at her as she ate her food. Who is she to talk about hard work when she worked her way up into my father's pants. The only hard thing she's probably ever done up till now was picking a way how to seduce him.

After a considerable amount of time of pushing my food around my plate the maids came and whisked away our plates. I gave them my thanks. Mother and Father however just picked up their laptop and phones and excused themselves from the table leaving me by my lonesome.

I sighed. Welcome to the life of L/N Y/N.

----------------

Once my parents were out of sight I rushed up the stairs and past the halls filled with everything my family wanted me to be and into my bedroom. The one place in this house that I felt comfortable. The one place in this big mansion that felt like home.

I locked the bedroom door and quickly logged into my computer. I looked at the number of donations I received from today's stream. I let out a yell of excitement seeing the 2000$ on the screen. A whole 500 more than last time.

I could do more with this money. I pulled up a list of local poverty fundraisers. If Mother and Father won't do anything, I will.

I donated the money equally between the topmost trusted charities. As soon as I clicked the submit button for each I felt satisfied. Even if it wasn't much, the money I made off my twitch account was what kept me motivated to keep going. People out there were suffering and people like my parents were sitting down and letting it happen when they could be doing something about it.

I've thought about wiring money from my parents' accounts but I'll just get myself in trouble so two years ago I started live streaming. When I started earning money from it, I realized I could be making a difference with it.

I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. Two years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of going against my parents' wishes but here I am. Created my own monitors from scratch with the help of my quirk and Momo making the parts. I let out a sad laugh. I even went as far as to covering half my face just so I won't be recognized by anyone.

Just as I spun in my chair looking at my ceiling, my phone buzzed on my table. My head perked up looking at it. Who could be texting me at this time?

I picked up my phone seeing it was a discord notification from Sparky. I smiled softly at my phone. It's like he always knew when I was down in the dumps. I may not know who he is behind that screen but he has quickly become my best friend. ~~~~ Y/N Character Sheet 

[glassprism]

Review - Phantom of the Opera Restaged Tour: July 21, 2019 (matinee)

My first live show of Phantom!

THE SHOW Prologue + Overture: Genuine goosebumps here at the Overture. The "journey to the past" aspect looks even better live. One lyric change that I hadn't noticed before was that Raoul said "Leave it" (instead of "Boy!") after winning the monkey music box. Hannibal: Trista Moldovan as Carlotta was the show stealer, and got lots of laughs. She was hilariously abusive with the ballerinas, shoving them out of the way or smacking them with her skirt. She also had a great moment with Andre during her 'Think of Me' when she got her scarf stuck on his face and continued singing while tugging quite forcefully at it. I was also quite happy to catch Kaitlyn Davis and Emma Grimsley as the Princesses; Davis in particular had some nice background moments, chatting up the managers during Carlotta's scene. I had a bit of a tough time spotting Jenna Burns in the corps, but finally caught her when I saw she was the only dancer not going en pointe.

This was also the moment where I felt myself starting to compare the show a little too much to the Copenhagen bootleg I’d just seen the day before, and finding what I was seeing onstage to be lacking. However, yelling “LOWER YOUR STANDARDS” at myself fixed that, and the show became much more enjoyable.

'Think of Me': Decently acted, no complaints here. I'm glad that Christines are no longer waving their arms around like a deranged seagull (I think we can thank Katie Travis for that?); from where I was sitting it's much less movement, but also makes them look much more elegant, in an understated sort of way. I was not a big fan of Jenna Burns's voice, though it's grown on me a bit now; something about the theater's resonance made her sound kind of throaty and sharp, and this was the song where I first noticed it. Dressing Room: Not too much to say, other than the managers being completely drunk off their butts! I was pleased to catch a glimpse of the Phantom as a stagehand; in fact, I'm not sure how anybody can miss him, because he lingers a VERY long time as he passes by Christine. First Lair: Very fine entrance by Derrick Davis, his voice booming out into the theater. The title song was about as expected, though I remember the girl next to me laughing when the Phantom swept over the music stand so enthusiastically that he threw a bunch of music sheets onto the ground. Said girl also clearly said "WTF?" during the blindfold scene in MOTN, which... yeah, totally agree. With all that said... Derrick Davis's acting was a highlight, and he's clearly doing all he can to salvage the blocking. As noted above, he very hesitant, even jumpy, in Christine's presence. There was one point where he moved to take Christine's arm and I could clearly see him reach out, pause, then slowly move to touch her. When Christine "trips" (very poorly and I definitely heard someone in the audience snort at that, but what can you do), it looked partially because it was the Phantom jerking back from touching her, and again there was a visible hesitance when he reached out scoop her up again. Jenna Burns was also pretty good here; I liked how she cradled her head against the Phantom's shoulder before he had even put her to bed. I don't like the idea of it (why are you going to sleep? You are in a strange lair with a strange man!), but she executed it well. Moving onto to 'Stranger Than You Dreamt It'... I thought Davis was much less violent than I remember him, or other restaged tour Phantoms, being (though maybe it's because the last restaged Phantom I watched was Chris Mann, who tried to upper cut Christine in this scene). His "chasing" of Christine was fairly slow and his grabbing her head didn't even look all that threatening. Nor was he all that angry, which was probably my only major criticism of him, that he could have let loose more here. I remember wondering if it was because it was Jenna Burns's first show and he was being more careful with her, or was just less comfortable and less willing to do something risky with her. Interestingly, Christine actually stood up to give him back his mask, which I thought was a nice attempt to shift the power dynamic a bit, though at this point it's too little, too late. (Oh restaged tour, you messed up the dynamic irreparably when you had the Phantom stand through most of this scene, Christine getting up for 10 seconds ain't going to change that.) 'Notes I'/'Prima Donna'/Il Muto: Not a whole lot to say here, except that David Benoit as Firmin was obsessed with money and publicity to the point where it was amusing, almost drunkenly happy with all the negative press the show was getting ("It's PUBLICITY! And the take is VAST!"). Also, due to the angle I was sitting at, I probably saw more of Carlotta, and Trista Moldovan, than I ever wanted to see when she was undressing. One thing that was cool, and which doesn't pop up often on the boots I have, was seeing the Phantom walking around atop the catwalk during the note reading scene. Il Muto was good as well, with Don Attilio getting a lot of laughs. I'm pretty sure Carlotta physically shoved Christine's Pageboy off the couch, which was also amusing, and Jenna Burns had some rather funny and realistic reactions when the cast was trying to recover from the Phantom crashing the opera. Rooftop: Not a lot to say here. I liked how Jenna Burns played the line, "Raoul, I've been there, to his world of unending night!" Instead of chasing him down like other Christines do, she kind of pushed at him but still clung to his arm - so angry but also yearning for comfort, I guess. She didn't play up the "suicide jump" too much, which might explain Jordan Craig's less-than-caring reaction - instead of kneeling and reaching for Christine, he stood for quite a while, just singing lackadaisically to her. The chandelier fall was pretty awesome, lots of sparks and crashing noises, but I don't think it dropped any plastic bits, because I ran down to the lower level to try and grab some but couldn't find any. On the other hand, I got a decent photo of the chandelier practically hanging over the front row. 'Masquerade': The main things I noticed was that Jenna Burns appears to have Katie Travis's / Eva Tavares's Star Princess dress, so boo, no shiny old school Star Princess for her. The second was that Derrick Davis's pants were rolled up high, and I mean quite high - his boots didn't reach where the pants ended, and he did not have any stockings on. I saw leg. I saw SKIN. It was bizarre and I have no idea if that's normal or just a mistake. 'Notes II'/'Twisted Every Way': Not too much to mention, again, except that Jenna Burns's slap needs more oomph to it. I didn't even hear a smack; she could have been slapping air for all I knew. There was a pretty cool effect with the speakers in 'Notes I', where they had the Phantom's voice coming from different speakers to give the effect that he was "moving" somewhere above the audience. The sitzprobe scene was good, mainly because there was a moment where the entire ensemble lost patience with Piangi being unable to sing "tangled with Don Juan" on the right note and shouted "TAN!" at him. Also, I noticed that one of the candles on the piano didn't light, so there was only one candle erupting flames. Still pretty good though. As expected, Meg was completely and ludicrously stand-offish to Christine after the rehearsal, but what was hilarious was that Christine began singing TO her ("In sleep he sang to me..."), leaving me wondering if the two were trying to play up some kind of lesbian relationship between the two (not that I'd be opposed to that...). Graveyard: Not a whole lot to say here either, though I did think Jenna Burns did a good job with this song; I think it was maybe her strongest yet, and I enjoyed how, like a few other Christines before her, she played up the anger Christine felt at her father ("Her father promised her... Her father promised her!"). She could have sustained the last note a bit longer, but that's a very minor complaint. The pyro was cool. And the gunshot effect in 'Seal My Fate' was shockingly loud, and made quite a few people giggle nervously. 'Point of No Return': Jenna Burns did nicely here, I enjoyed how she was practically laying down on the table during the, er, strawberry dangling over her mouth bit. She did start struggling away from the Phantom a bit too early - like, before the Phantom had even put his hands over her face, but like Grace Morgan and Katie Travis before her, she made it quite obvious that she knew he was the Phantom and that she was checking if anyone else did. Oh, and Derrick Davis knelt down when he proposed to her. Jenna Burns took off almost a bit too fast; it didn't give a lot of time for Derrick Davis to react to the unmasking, and he had to go tearing off after her rather quickly. This, hilariously, meant that it looked like Raoul shot the Phantom rather than the policeman behind the Phantom. 'Final Lair': Some great moments here. Derrick Davis was suitably jerky and crazed, Jenna Burns defiant and strong. (Jordan Craig was there. You know, off in the corner the tour relegates Raoul to.) I thought, again, that Davis was a bit less violent than in other videos or compared to other Phantoms; the biggest example of this is when he tossed Christine on the bed, he didn't hold her down (much) or even climb on the bed, just kind of stood shouting at her. It wasn't GREAT, but it's an improvement. He also gave a very loud gasp when he realized he was strangling Christine. Also, my favorite moment of Davis's acting - right before the kiss, as Christine is circling the Phantom, he tried to cover up his deformity from her. It was probably my moment of strongest sympathy for him. Happily, his reaction to the kiss was not as hilarity-inducing as it was on the video him, where he basically flung himself onto his belly to get away from Christine. There was some flailing and pushing away, but it looked more natural. Though I think I saw him crawl under the bed when the mob came in. Ah, the magic of theater.

Anyway, the audience was quite enthusiastic, laughing and clapping at all the right parts, and both Jenna Burns and Derrick Davis got standing ovations. A couple other notes: there were some costumes on display outside, so I snapped some photos of those - nothing anyone hasn't seen before, but it was good to get up close to them. Carlotta's black-and-white costume seemed a particular favorite, judging by the comments I heard. I bought myself a souvenir brochure and a charm bracelet that's way too big for my teeny wrist, but whatever, I now have Phantom memorabilia! I also managed to stagedoor for a bit. Unfortunately there was apparently something of a cast party going on inside, so people were slow to come out and I had to leave after only getting a couple of signatures. But I still met Jenna Burns (she was the first out, was very sweet and took time to talk to everyone in line) and Kaitlyn Davis (who, given she had "only" been in the ensemble that performance, seemed a little hesitant to sign anyone's stuff until I screwed up my courage and went "ARE YOU KAITLYN DAVIS", at which point she did sign, so yay. Though I did not tell her that she's emailed me before asking for video of herself, despite being rather tempted to do so).

So, overall... THE ACTORS Derrick Davis: Probably the highlight of the show for me. He's my favorite of all the Phantoms I've seen in the restaged tour and he lived up to my expectations, and he added in even more touches of hesitation and unsureness. There was also a nervous jerkiness to his movements, especially in 'Final Lair', that reminded me vaguely of Leroux!Phantom. Only major criticism of him, as already noted, was his a-bit-too-restrained STYDI. Otherwise, he rocked the role, and I'm quite glad to have seen him. Jenna Burns: Her very first performance, rather extraordinarily lucky of me, so I cut her a lot of slack. Having said that, she has good potential. Vocally she wasn't quite my favorite, sounding a lot like Jordan Ensign in having a bit of this sharpness in her voice throughout, though at least her vibrato wasn't so strong. Strangely she sounds better on audio than when I heard her live. Her acting was pretty good, she did everything right and was responsive to her co-actors. The main thing she needs to improve on is making it her own - she basically went through the blocking and while she acted it quite well, there wasn't anything memorable about it. I did think she was also rushing through it a bit, starting up each line without taking the time to pause and breathe and let the moment sink in, but again, that's something that comes with time. Overall, I could definitely tell she was new in the role, but there's some good stuff there once she takes the time to dig it out. Jordan Craig: Pretty much a Raoul who exists and not much else - but when it comes to the restaged tour, I'll take it. In retrospect, I think the reason I rated him so high (or at least, higher than the previous restaged tour Raouls) is because he's less aggressive than all of them - at least he's not grabbing Christine's head all the time or acting completely condescending to her. I did not care much for his voice, which sounded oddly tinny, but his acting was not egregiously bad and he had a couple of good moments (like holding Christine's hands a little longer than necessary in 'All I Ask of You') Trista Moldovan: A complete hoot, and has improved so much since I saw her on video. She's in good voice, but I remember her most for her comedic moments, acting the complete diva with all the other cast members. While I might be misremembering, I also thought she snuck in some extra lines in Italian, particularly in Il Muto when the Phantom interrupts the scene. David Benoit and Rob Lindley: Another hilarious set of cast members, both of them playing up the contrast between Firmin's business-like personality and Andre's more artistic, easily flustered temperament. Lindley's Andre was extremely funny during Il Muto too ("Yes, THANK YOU!!" as one of the fops refused to go offstage). Susan Moniz: I generally don't have much to say about Madame Giry, but I did notice that Giry in this production seemed much more... present, if that's the right word. I kept noticing her lurking in the corners or sides of the stage, just observing the proceedings in typically ambiguous manner. The most memorable was in 'Point of No Return' when Christine pulled the hood off the Phantom; I saw her emerge along with the police, which was rather interesting. Phumzile Sojola: A skinny Piangi, if I'm not mistaken! I didn't notice him that much, but he had some good moments in Hannibal ("Rommmmaaaaa! Rommmaaaa! It's very hard for me!") and was a worthy lapdog and fanboy of Trista Moldovan's Carlotta, who in turn was very defensive of him. SarahGrace Mariani: A sassy little Meg, pulling faces and, like her mother, lurking around in the background and trying to stay in the scene even when Madame Giry kept trying to shove her off. Voice could have been better - it was pretty heavy on the vibrato - but I don't expect good singing voices from Meg at this point.

The ensemble too was very strong; I remember M. Reyer was quite funny, in an overbearing and aggressive sort of way. Everyone seemed really into their role, always doing something in the background, to the point where I sometimes forgot to watch the principals because I was too busy looking at what one of the ballerinas was doing. Overall, a memorable day and a good performance for my very first live show!