Lost. For. Words.

Well, almost... as lost for words as I ever get, anyway.
That was a quite extraordinary afternoon.
I was about 10 years old when I heard Frances Ruffelle singing 'On My
Own' on the radio - and loved it.
On the back of that one song, I raided my money box, and that weekend
I bought the extra-long cassette of the original London cast. (It was
a big risk too - I remember the tape was £11.75, which was an awful
lot of pocket money back then.)
Anyway - that was it. I was totally smitten by the music, and I have
been ever since.
I still have that old tape - Colm Wilkinson sings Valjean, Frances
Ruffelle was Eponine and Michael Ball was Marius.
So, back to 2010... the final song was sung, the performers took their
bows, and then... from behind the scenery walked none other than Colm
Wilkinson, Frances Ruffelle and Michael Ball, along with many more of
the original cast.
It was quite possibly one of the best surprises ever.
It was unbelievable to hear four different Valjeans singing 'Bring Him
Home' together (including old favourite Colm Wilkinson AND new
favourite Alfie Boe!) and then the entire cast singing one of my all-
time favourite songs... 'One Day More'.
Fantastic.
(I've actually bruised my palms from all the clapping.)
Charlie loves the video of the tenth anniversary concert, and whenever
he has it on the telly I've always wished I'd been able to go.
They were filming today for the DVD of this concert (which I imagine
we'll probably acquire when it comes out...) but it's amazing to think
that when Charlie watches this time, I'll be able to think 'I WAS
THERE!'
How cool is that!
Yes, I know, I'm a sad old Les Mis fan, but it never fails to make me
smile (even the sad bits) and as far as I'm concerned, long may it
continue!
Here's to the next 25 years!
:-)