Fast Times at East High: Finale

I can't believe HSM has actually ended. I've had such a great time, and I wanted to smuggle onto their tour bus so badly. However, it's been a great experience, and closing night was probably the best night ever.

It was the birthday of the new Sharpay understudy, so here she is with her mostly-finished cake and the Bleacher Creatures (We were given the remains):



I've been collecting autographs on a poster for my friend Diamond and photos for myself. Overall, I got pretty much the entire cast. Here are some of the pictures:

"Troy"


"Gabriella"


"Ryan"


"Coach Bolton" (He gets extra points, as he played Phantom once)


"James" AKA the Earthworm


A couple of "Zeke"'s


The finished poster


Diamond was incredibly thrilled to receive the poster. She's a huge HSM fan, and I'm not sure if she got to see the show.

Probably the best part of the entire show was at the very end, waiting at the stage door. Some 7-year-old fan came running up, asking, "We're you one of the people on the bleachers???" I told her that yes, I was. She smiled before handing me her playbill and innocently requesting, "Would you sign my playbill?"

Will I sign her playbill? YES I WILL! I've never signed anything bigger than a yearbook! Better yet, her sister soon asked if I would sign HERS. My first two autographs, and I wasn't even in the playbill they wanted me to sign. Here's me giving my autograph to Fan #1:



It was fun onstage, offstage, and backstage. There was a slightly different crowd of bleacher creatures last night, and we all got along really well. One of them was a rabid Sweeney Todd fan, and we spent some time discussing the pros and cons of the different casts. Finally, we came to the conclusion that Angela Lansbury is the best Mrs. Lovett, George Hearn is the best Sweeney, Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony, and Ed Saunders as Toby.

I was on stage right while we were onstage, meaning that for about 3 minutes, Sharpay and Ryan were on our side. As a joke, I motioned Ryan over and told him, "I have to agree with you: every sophisticate dance requires a good jazz square." His face brightened with character, high-fiving me and emphasizing, "THANK you! Fianlly, somebody agress with me!" He then got in Sharpay's face and continued. "See? She agrees with me? Bam!" He snapped his fingers on each 'bam'. "Bam! Bam! Bam!" Laughing, I also got into Sharpay's face and added my own "Bam!"

I was also able to talk to the actor who played James. He looked somewhat familiar, so I asked if he was in the detention scene. He nodded, and I tried to refrain from squealing while saying, "I heart earthworm!"

I also got to see him backstage to get a photo. He apologized for being sweaty, but I could have cared less. I quoted the show, telling him that "I'd never seen an earthworm have so much emotion and depth."

It's nice to be home for the evening, but it was an incredible experience. I can't wait for the next audition---can you say RESUME MATERIAL?!?!

"...and reach for the hiiiiiigheeeeeeest....staaaaaaaar!"