It must have been... musicals!

A few days ago on FB, Gloria linked to a video clip of Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Concert. All hell broke loose. I spent hours checking out all the other 25th Anniv videos I could find, then onto the 10th Anniv concert, and then Les Mis in general. It's such an incredible musical. I can vividly remember the feeling of seeing it in London's West End, sitting in the first (or maybe second) row, staring into the eyes of Marius...

So yeah, after singing along to all the songs (especially "On my own", the many different renditions that I could find) and probably disturbing the neighbours (this went into the wee hours)... I really really wanted to go see a musical again. While Dallas was no Broadway or West End, the Dallas Summer Musicals showcased many excellent touring productions which I got to enjoy yearly when living there. Here in Finland we're blessed with tons of rock concerts and festivals but a dire want for broadway-style musicals. And English ones are just non-existent.

I found that Les Mis is showing in Turku (in Swedish) and Wicked in Helsinki (in Finnish) -- which comes highly recommended by Evana and Keidy, my musical-loving/attending buddies back in Dallas. While the language is an issue, I thought I'd go for the experience anyway. Besides I know the story and music of Les Mis quite well, and I know some Finnish... so I asked around if anyone would like to go with me. Unfortunately the only ones who responded are my dear friends who are NOT in Finland :( Are Finns generally not interested in musicals?

Then I thought, perhaps I'd go by myself. I'll still have a great time, just like I thoroughly enjoyed the Kölner Philharmoniker when I was traveling alone in Cologne earlier this year. That was possibly the biggest catalyst for me being in TASO now. However, with the uncertainty of my job situation, I'd rather not spend money unnecessarily right now. In addition, I wasn't too impressed with the trailers - well, Wicked is still ok and I don't have a previous experience to compare it to; but the singing and the acting in the Swedish Les Mis are too... comical! Yet not funny! Last I checked, Les Mis isn't a comedy. Oh well, let's see what happens. They're both running for a while longer. Maybe I'll find someone to go with after all, or do an impromptu trip and get tickets at the last minute.

Besides, I went ahead and ordered the Blu-ray for the 25th Anniv concert and the DVD for the 10th from amazon.co.uk :D Oh, did I mention something about saving money? In my defense these are a lot cheaper than the show tickets (plus travel expenses since they're not in Tampere). And free shipping to Finland.

From musicals to... a Roxette concert! Sheba emailed me asking if I was interested to go see Roxette with her. They are still around?? It must have been puppy love time when I was listening to them 20 years ago! I quite like their stuff and Sheba made an offer I couldn't refuse - we'll meet in Cologne next summer to see their concert there :)

Spent the weekend catching up with a few friends - Jessica, Ismo, and Mikko. Mikko is now into martial arts, senshido in particular. I'm kinda intrigued... maybe I'll take a course when they have new sessions available. Also watched Harry Potter 7.1 which had some really great parts although I found it slightly draggy on the whole. I mean it was almost 2.5 hours, which can be considered long for a movie, and it's only part 1!

Back to reading Harry Potter again. Finally got started on book 6. Well actually I've started on it a couple of times but couldn't get past the first 2-3 chapters for some reason. A bit more success this time, now I'm on chapter 14.

OMG, I just discovered A Very Potter Musical and its sequel!