.......... (speechless)

I am in shock.. speechless!!
(will explain later in the blog.. right now, time to talk about what i have been doing)

Arrived in Melbourne Florida on monday. Melbourne is such a quite town. The section i am in is away from the beach, but close to the airport. Got a shuttle (or should i say private car..) to the hotel and decided to have a relaxing night in.
The staff here are so nice.. all willing to help when needed.

After a funny night of chatting to Peter (from WWRY) and others, surfing through the 100+ channels on the tv and eating an entire jumbo bag of cheezels, i headed to bed.

Woke up this morning and felt a lazy day was planned (since i forgot to bring my bathers)..
Headed down for free breakfast, then returned back to the room and had a shower. Then it was check emails, watch some tv, organise transport to the airport the next day and time to have a nap.
After my nap, i headed downstairs to ask them about transport to the King Centre. The reception lady offered to drive me there which was nice.. she then organised for a taxi to pick me up after the show.

When it was time, i headed downstairs to leave for the show.. then problems started. The poor woman's car wouldn't start! She felt so bad.. organised for another staff member to drop me off (in the hotel boss' car!!) at the King Centre. Grabbed the taxi number for incase from the reception then off i went.

I was so excited to see this production of South Pacific.. especially because Carmen was performing in it. The way in which the show is being shown is great.. a very good concept for a touring company. Love the crew costumes though.. very smart. Because they don't have permanent wings/curtains, all the tech crew wear sailor suits to 'fit in' with the show :-P
Was great to attend opening night.. have to say it was a success (may not have been the greatest theatre and best tech.. but the tech will improve and they leave the king centre in 3 days i think anyway).
At interval of the show, i asked around the staff as to where the stage door was as i was hoping to catch Carmen and say hi. I ended up being directed to security who told me they'd take me backstage as they didn't know what door the cast would be using. I was given the chance to go backstage and i didn't even have to beg! haha

Carmen was amazing in the show! She looked fab in her costumes and played Nellie so well. It was great to see her live in something other than Wicked :-) Her voice suits the show so well, and she is definately one of those talented people who can just adapt to a character without having to try super hard. And to see her as a blonde was different.. it suited her! I am still in shock that i actually got to see her peform again..

After the show had finished (standing ovation.. totally deserved!), the security guy took me backstage. He told me to stand on a certain corner to get the best view of the cast coming and going till i recognised Carmen. Haha, catherine you would have loved it.. seeing all the ensemble boys walking around backstage with just jocks on.. haha
I realised when i stood in that spot that she was already in her dressing room because a guy who works in the wig department walked out of her room with a nellie wig and mic. At least i knew where she was and knew that i couldn't miss her now. After a few mins, the security guy came back and asked if i had spotted her and i told him that she was in her dressing room. So he went up to this guy who worked for the show, explained the situation and the guy went into Carmen's room to tell her she had a visitor. He walked back out to ask for my name, then turned around and told her.. then gave that look of 'i don't know who she is.. she says she knows you'..
Carmen came out and was so surprised to see me. She later explained that she had remembered that morning that she knew i was coming to melbourne to see the show.. but could not remember the date of when i was coming. We talked for what felt like hours in the corridor of the venue. She went back and got her stuff from the dressing room whilst i spoke to some of the cast (who were really nice :-D) about home and my trip. We all then as a group walked out of the venue still talking. She was telling the others how we met and they thought it was so funny but so cool that i came down to see the show. She asked me where i was parked and i told her that i was having to wait for a taxi.. she looked at me like i was nuts and told me i was silly.. and that she would drop me off at the hotel. Before i could even answer, both of the 2 guys with us (2 male leads) had their phones out looking up the location of where i needed to go. OMG.. i was about to get driven home by THE Carmen Cusack! I told her i would wait for the taxi and she said she was driving me home.. i couldn't argue with her.. come on, it's carmen! haha

Hoped into her car with another cast member (i know who he was.. i just cannot think of his name at this time) and the first thing she said was 'excuse my driving. hopefully you survive'. Haha, best.. call.. ever!!
We didn't last 2 mins before the navman system started to tell us to drive in circles haha.. was a funny moment. On the way back to the hotel, we spoke about home, how the tour was going, how my trip was going, about school starting, about what's going on with wicked back home, etc.. so much convo for such a small drive. When i was telling them about how my bag broke in Japan and i couldn't repair it, Carmen mentioned she had a big bag that she didn't need anymore and wanted to give it away as an excuse to buy a new bag.. but that it was at her hotel. We joked around saying i should have told her in advance to bring it even though neither of us knew about each others problems before then haha
They dropped me off at my hotel which was nice.. we spent nearly 10 mins talking in the driveway, taking photos and wishing each other luck. Got a few more famous carmen hugs (they are amazing people.. make you feel at home) then i walked back to my room, in shock that i had just been driving home by my theatre idol.. but also sad that i wouldn't be seeing her perform for a while now.

In the middle of a conversation with mum on my phone and my hotel phone begins to ring. Who the hell would be calling me? No one except reception knew the number of the room.. I answered the phone (putting mum on hold) and a voice i recognised said 'Hello Elizabeth, It's Carmen here'. OMG.. Carmen is calling my hotel room. What is going on with the world?? haha
She told me that she had left something for me at reception (i knew straight away what it was.. the bag), that she wished me all luck with school, my trip and the future. I didn't know what to say back.. she was going to make me cry.. haha
I quickly ran down to reception hoping to catch her to say thank you in person, but she had left.. don't blame her though, double show today and it was super late. Her bag is amazing.. big and black.. on wheels and has a working extending handle. You'll all probably think the bag is boring when you see it.. but i don't. After all, it was a bag that she owned.. and gave to me when she didn't have to.
I didn't know what to say or feel as i went back to my room.. she was being so nice to me when really she didn't have to..

I feel so honoured to have her as an inspiration, to have met her in person and see her perform.. she is an amazing woman, so caring..
Oh, there is so much more that i could say about her.. but then i won't stop and i'll embarrasse myself.. so i'll save humiliation and stop now haha

But let me finish off by saying this was the greatest day of my holiday, and close to in my life... Thank you Carmen for everything.. you deserve everything in the world that you desire :-)