in cyberland, we only drink... diet coke

Today I went to a press conference for the Japan touring production of Rent. It was extra-special cool cause Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp--who originated the roles of Roger and Mark, and played them in the movie--were there too!
Originally I was supposed to get to interview one of them, like one-on-one, but there wasn't enough time or something, so I just ended up going to the press conference at the Shibuya HMV. Which actually turned out to be pretty darn fantastic. So first, AP and Anthony came out and performed "What You Own," literally like 5 feet in front of me! The fanboys behind me were screaming their heads off, lol.

They did a little Q&A bit of course, with the two guys plus Yuka Takara who plays Alexi--cause even tho she's not a huge role in the show, she's the only Japanese cast member, so of course they trotted her out, lol. Tho she was absolutely the most adorable thing I've ever seen. A totally cool person.
Then of course they had to bring out the obligatory tarento, which in this case was Yamada Yu who apparently is a "big fan" of the musical. Whether that's true or not, she acted pretty excited--and was actually pretty cute. Tho... my GOD the woman is tall. I mean, granted she was also wearing like 5 inch heels, but still.

Then, even better--the rest of the cast all came out and joined them and they all sang "Seasons of Love"! well, not the whole cast, but basically all the principals--Collins, Mimi, Angel, Benny, plus Gwen Stewart who does the fantastic female solo in the middle of "Seasons" (she's also an original cast member).

It was absolutely incredible, I was sort of tearing up there for a minute even. I would love to go see the show, but I dunno if I can. I mean, it runs through end of August so I could prob swing it, but I don't know of anyone who would go with me. If I could get a press ticket on the other hand... lol.

Oh, and did I mention I'm now on the radio? In addition to the podcast, I'm on the actual radio now! InterFM (76.1) has a morning show, Good Morning Garage, and every Thursday morning at 9:15am, there's sort of a Metropolis corner, where we come in and talk about what's in the mag, events for the weekend, etc. Rather like the Metpod, actually. Will used to do it, but since he's left they needed a replacement. And both James and I volunteered, so we went together last week for the first time, and now we'll be switching off. James took this morning, so I'll be on next week. It's a lot of fun, but I do have to get up about an hour early in the morning to make it on time. Ah, the sacrifices, lol.

Also, check out my bar review in this week's mag. We're not talking Thrash Zone level or anything, but pretty good all the same. (^_^)