Madison.. In one word - COLD!

Up at 2.15am to get the 2.30am shuttle.. for a 6am flight :-S
Oh, did i mention that the shuttle actually didn't come till 3? Super Shuttle has been a disaster for me.. but they're the only company that runs 24/7

Got to the airport at 3.35 which wasn't too bad.. but what sucked was that check-in didn't open till 4.. and nothing was open at the airport to do!
Finally checked in at 4, then headed to the food court as the terminal wasn't open. Found one food place that was open and ordered a bagel with cream cheese.. yummy!
Then onto my flight where i slept all the way to chicago. We arrived 1/2 an hour earlier than expected.. so off to maccas i went to get 2 hash browns and a small OJ. Then onto my flight to madison (only 18 people on the flight.. 50 seats on the plane) where i slept all the way there too..

After arriving at Madison, headed down to the arrivals area where Beth (a friend from IMMB and a big theatre fan too) picked me up. We then drove around madison seeing all the 'sights' which was cool.. seeing where the theatre venue was, the main lakes (frozen over), the capitol dome, around the town and uni really..
The she dropped me off at my hostel as she had to go to class.

Checked into the hostel and headed to my room. Free wireless and a room to myself!! (no one else was checking into that room that day apparently)
Decided to buy something to eat (something small to snack on, a mini dinner and something to eat during the show or the next morning). Headed out to find a shop.. bad mistake. It was so cold!! Snow everywhere which was fine, the temp actually wasn't too bad.. it was the damn wind chill that got to me. My hands started to burn they were that cold! Silly me though walked the wrong way around the city centre.. should have turned left and i would have been at a food store, but no.. i turned right and walked the long way around.

Headed back to the hostel to warm up and eat. Jumped online for a bit, then got changed and headed to the theatre. This time it was colder than before and i really struggled walking to the theatre.
But i got there and defrosted. Bought my merch, then headed into the theatre.

Rent was amazing. So glad that i have seen the production live and at a scale like this. I know it has been done a few times in aus... but like a few other shows, it's always better in its home country (eg. WWRY in London.. nothing can beat it venue/set/costuming wise IMO).
The cast were amazing.. of course i really wanted to see Anthony and Adam (the 2 original broadway cast members) perform as really.. when would you ever get the chance? But the other cast members were just as talented :-)
Th guy who played angel (cannot remember his name.. program not near me) was classic.. brought angel to new heights :-) And lexi lawson was great as mimi.
It was kind of weird seeing a blonde maureen.. i'm so used to darker haired women playing the role, but she was amazing either way (i know her name starts with n.. nicole maybe??). Took a while to get used to looks wise (just the hair..) but she made the character her own.

After the show, headed back to the stage door to try and meet the cast. Standing in line for nearly 1/2 an hour in the cold wasn't fun (beth came to stage door to say hi).. especially with no gloves and being sick. After a while the theatre security came out and told the 50+ people waiting in line that they weren't coming out to sign stuff tonight. No offence.. but i thought that was poor. If we could stand in line in the cold for that long, they could do it for a few mins. But i knew they'd have media commitments after the show (which they did).. would have been nice to have known this and not stand around thinking they were going to come out. At least put a sign up on the door, i'm sure people would have been more polite when reading the reason why.. a few people (like myself) were not happy at all. Well.. especially me.. who had hiked all the way around the world to see them!
Beth offered to hold onto my poster and try and get the cast to sign it over the next few days which was nice. Decided to write a note on the back of the poster saying what day i had some to see the show, where i had come from just to see them and how i was a bit disappointed that i didn't get to meet them.. so hopefully they feel bad and sign it for me haha

Then it was the slow, painful and sickening walk back to the hostel. At one stage i thought i was going to pass out.. no joke! It was that cold that i was worried i had been out for too long and lost too much body heat. Took me forever to warm up back at the hostel..