Maggiemags

From @EmmaSBradbury at 23.14:

No mention of Gaz, but a nice review nonetheless from a blogger here: A Tweet from SophieDownend at 10.28pm last night: From the Lancashire Telegraph

Great report Chantel - thanks so much for posting, it seems a while since one of us went! So pleased you have managed to see it so much and that you both had such a wonderful time. Thanks for the pics too - lovely to see

From EllenPusey at 23.55

Thanks for the link Val. Sound clip where he talks about Gaz here: CM_on_Gaz_BBC_Bristol.wma

Thanks for those reports Dorral and ValR - l;ovely to read. So glad you had such an exciting time

Haha - I wish! Sadly not - I'm away that weekend. I may have to change my plans :wink:

Aww, shucks Thank you. I think we all make a pretty good team - and we can certainly knock spots off most of them out there!

Wow - loving that bit Val - thanks for posting.

Missed this one from Monday evening from @yaffle1972 :

A few tweets from @SJHalliwell starting with: And developing into:

Oh, yes! It's just so wonderful to see and hear this response to him after all this time. Loving. Every. Minute

From a blogger here. Plus a few tweets: - @cmriddiough - @jowivipe - @mistywestie - @Charlie6772Still overwhelmed by this amazing response to him - if only all these people had been more open-minded before!

Review of the show from Manchester Confidential. The same review also pops up on Liverpool Confidential.

From the Lancashire Evening Post.

What fantastic pics Suzy and Chantel - you must be thrilled with them, thanks for sharing And for all the reports too - great to read. I couldn't post last night because, to be honest I couldn't really find the words. I'd not particualrly been looking forward to it - other than the fact it was all about Gareth because, much like Snowdrop I'd seen it before and hadn't really cared for it. Indeed, I thought it was all over at the end of the first half and was all set to go home. However, the presence of our main man plus a little more understanding of the story and familiarity with the songs made a huge difference. I thought the sets, projections, colours and lighting (although a bit too dark for me at times) were fabulous. It was like a trip around an art gallery - scene upon scene looked like a familiar painting - beautifully done. Not a huge fan of Fantine I have to say - she just didn't do it for me. I felt she sang under the note if not right off it more than once and whilst Snowdrop thinks that was a direction choice I felt it was wrong. Eponine looked and sounded too modern for the production in my opinion although I thought she was terrific - it just didn't seem to fit. JOJ isn't really my cup of tea, but I recognise that he does what he does VERY well. I saw someone else somewhere commenting that Katie Hall (Cosette) was perhaps a little too old-school for the production and certainly, whilst she sang beautifully, again it didn't seem to quite chime with the rest of the show. I've also seen a fair amount of criticism of the Thenardiers, but personally I thought they were flawless. M. Thenardier is a hateful although wonderfully comedic character (a la Fagin in 'Oliver!') and she's not much better, but bawdies it up in style - terrific. The audience absolutely lapped it up with the people on either side of us in tears at the end and a thundering standing ovation from the whole house at the end. I'm sure there was something else I wanted to comment on, but can't just bring it to mind at the moment. Oh, yes! Gareth!! :tongue: His performance is what I couldn't find the words for last night. What an utter joy to hear him singing live again. His voice has matured beyond any expectations. It's wonderfully rich and he has such control. His diction is clear and he hits every note perfectly. I can listen to him 24/7 any day of the week (can't we all?), but now! Wow. It's just beautiful. His acting is terrific and again, surpasses anything I've seen before from him. It's clear he's never fired a gun in his life :wink:, but you can forgive him that every single time he opens his mouth. He kisses women far too much for my liking and there's way too much touching going on, but Oh. My. God. - I can even forgive all that. Plus - he looks absolutely gorgeous. Those of you who have yet to go have such a treat in store that I'm envious of every single one of you - you're going to love it. Cameron Mackintosh is right - the guy is a gift to musical theatre. There was a definite frisson around us when he appeared on stage. It rippled through the circle and made it even more exciting. A couple of people behind us didn't know who he was which resulted in a complete history of PI1 from the guy with them, complete with an explanation about his stammer and the fact that it disappears when he sings - they seemed impressed There was lots of chatter about him at the interval and on the way out, but we couldn't catch any of it. However, we went for dinner in the restaurant across the road from the theatre and the waiter told us that there had been lots of excitement about him from the customers which was lovely to hear. By the way - we'd highly recommend it as somewhere to go for a pre-show meal. It's called Felicini and is directly opposite the theatre. They recommend you book - the number is 0161 228 6633. Really very good. All in all a fabulous couple of evenings. I'm still not a fan of the show - they could completely cut the first hour for me :wink: , but I'm a bigger fan of Gareth's than ever if that's possible. He was amazing. Bring on the Barbican! *Crosses fingers and toes*

Around two and a quarter hours. It's straight up the M6 and then down the M55, so not a bad run at all - especially at that time of night. I wonder where he'll be staying . . . I have a spare room :wink: And make a great sausage sandwich

Ooo! Look what I found on YouTube! :wink:

Blimey! That was utterly amazing! 'Beyond thrilled' doesn't begin to describe how I'm feeling about this! I've clipped the bit about Gaz - enjoy! CM_on_Gaz_210110.wma

Someone's just tweeted to say: So hopefully LOTS of yummy pics to look forward to!

Oh, My God! I can't quite get my head around all this. We've put up with the polar opposite from so many for so long, this feels GREAT! Anyway, a small mention about the show from a Manchester United-mad blogger who had to miss the match last night to go to the performance. Nothing about Gaz, but he says of the production, here:

Oh, yes. I predict it might well look something like this:

Great report Jenjo - thank you. I love that all these people are having to change their minds about him, it's somehow particularly pleasing when it's a man. Everyone has been so down on him for so, so long that it's just a joy to read of shifting perceptions on an almost daily basis. I'm planning on taking a before and after vote from the audience at the performances this weekend :wink:

No idea, but I'm sure he'll have it all worked out! :wink: Bit more on the money side of things here.

There's been LOADS of stories about this, but typically, I can't find any of them right now. There's a bit about it here. Essentially, CKX acquired 19 some time ago, with Fuller getting a place on the board. He has now left the board, but will continue to consult for them. In return, they will part-finance his new deals which includes a 'Popstars' type search for a boyband (in conjunction with Perez Hilton(!))and a new web-led TV search for talent called 'I Dream' Basically, he's going to be even more rich than he currently is.