Monday 4th of April saw the arrival of a day I had been waiting for, for several years! Finally I was off to the theatre to see Les Miserables. This truly was an occasion to celebrate!

Les Mis is one of my all time favourite musicals, and I’ve been trying to get to see it for about 10 years. But something Always got in the way.

At the back end of last year, my sister in law Angela suggested a group meet up and a trip to the theatre, and it was the general consensus that this is what we would all like to see. So… Tickets were bought.

Now, Baby Bear is not a musicals fan. And there’s none she hates more than Les Mis. With a passion!

Of course, opposite as they are, it’s one of Little Chicks favourites! As it’s half term from university, she was more than up for a trip to see it with us all.

There’s always a bit of a spanner in the plans, as both girls came down with a horrific cold, cough and sore throat.

I actually volunteered to stay home with Little Chick and miss out on the theatre, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

So, I got myself all dressed up, in a favourite Lindybop dress of mine, the Lana floral Teal dress, accessorising it with red bag, jewellery and shrug, and some little Teal bow Dolly shoes.

The fabulous Cleo at Austintacious hair salon had given me a lovely French pleat with victory rolls, and I teamed that up with cats eye flicks and red lips.

Popping on the train, it was time to get the day off to a start, so treated myself to a little bottle of sparkling wine on the train, sat back, relaxed and read a few more pages of the novel I am heavily into. Utter bliss!

Arriving a little early in London we had to do a little shopping, as I wanted to get Little Chick a couple of gifts as she was left at home all alone. Well, it had to be Laduree,  didn’t it?

I also had my eye on a lovely bag from Accessorize – The red Picnic hamper. I fell in love with this bag, and had ummed and ahhed over buying it, but finally succumbed. Well, it was just far too cute to resist!

After popping to the shops, we headed to a lovely Nicholsons pub, The Wellington.

They have a fabulous upstairs dining room, called Dukes, which as it’s an old building,  is very tall and airy. The food is absolutely beautiful and of course, I opted for my perennial favourite, the mixed grill, chicken, gammon, steak, sausage, fried Egg and chips.  Which was absolutely fabulous!!

After spending a leisurely couple of hours in the pub, we ventured out again to have a mooch around some more shops, before heading to The Queens Theatre for the 730pm showing.

We arrived well before curtains up, and settled in about 15 rows from the front, smack bang in the middle.

Now, having loved the music for a long time, I was well aware of the songs in the show, but after seeing the big screen movie production featuring the gorgeous Hugh Jackman, I was even more aware of the storyline and plot.

I thought this would actually be a bonus, but for me it detracted away from the brilliance of the stage performance. The sheer size and set that is used in the film, set an amazing story, but of course the small stage cannot replicate the vastness of the film effects.

However, this also works in it’s favour. The set which turns and moves, with props that appear and disappear at will is a delight. Live singers will always outweight recorded performances on screen. And these certainly did.

Everyone has their own favourite character within the story. For many it is Jean ValJean, or even the unloved heroine, Eponine. For me, in this performance I was a massive fan of Inspector Javert, and also the little “pup” Gavroche.

However, my favourite of all was Mr and Mrs Thenardier, with the innkeeper being played by the amazing Phil Daniels. He literally was outstanding in the role as the crooked innkeeper. He garnered laughs and sniggers with some of his lines and double entrendres. For me, he stole the show!

I am not ashamed to admit that I shed quite a few tears in certain scenes, especially during the Barricade sequence. The set is a master in design, it twists and turns, making the barricade appear larger and more impressive. I really was blown away by how realistic it was, and got sucked into the story as if I really was in 19th century France.

We finally left the theatre about 1030pm, making our goodbyes, and heading off back to St Pancras.

Unfortunately our train wasn’t leaving until 0015, so we had a bit of a while to kill. We eventually got home around 2am, tired but thoroughly happy.

It really was an amazing day, and the stage show couldn’t have been any more amazing than what it was. My only advice would be, if you are planning to go and see it, and haven’t watched the film….. watch the film after the theatre trip!

Have you seen them both? What did you think?

Till next time, Tx