Saturday 2 August 2008

Rachel at Belfast Gay Pride














For various reasons which I'll detail later, I waited for four and a half hours to watch Rachel perform.

Was it worth it?

Put it this way, four and a half years would still have been fine with me.

Rachel's performance was unspeakably unspeakably good.

On a stage that was quite literally the back of a lorry, Rachel treated an ecstatic crowd to a medley which included 'Cabaret', 'All That Jazz', 'Maybe This Time' and 'Don't Rain On My Parade.'

I was literally six feet from the side of the stage and I reckon I had a cheshire-cat grin in place throughout the entire performance.














This girl is an absolute mega-star and none of us may ever again have the chance to see her in such an intimate setting. I'm so glad I was there.

I'm sure there are better photos in existence than mine, but they ARE mine and now they're yours too. I feel so privledged to have been there tonight, and not just for the performance.














Afterwards I got to meet Rachel backstage. OK so it was more like a large store room and the two blokes from Strike were skulking in the corner and several others were there too, but did I care? Did I actually notice them? You can work out the answer to both those questions yourself.

What I can say is that Rachel is one of the loveliest people you will ever meet.

I'll write a more detailed account tomorrow and add more photos.

14 comments:

Andy said...

Well David you have now seen Rachel in the Wizard of Oz at the Lyric theatre TWICE, met her at the Munchkins picnic in the park and now seen her perform a magic medley at Gay Pride and got invited back to her dresing room. I'm not sure LUCKY really covers it LOL!

David said...

Well in fairness I wasn't entirely invited Andy, but I just went anyway lol.

Anonymous said...

That last pic is my fav! lol everythings fuzzy and she's crystal clear and shining like a true star!

thats awesome that you've seen her so many times david, are you two on a first name basis by now? lol

Kristin Nicole said...

I'm about to fall over and die. You didn't tell me she sang Defying Gravity! PLEASE tell me you have some kind of audio....even video of it (I can pull the audio off of that if you do and wanna send it....)

I think I hate you, just a touch.

jo said...

omg david, i think you have made enemies in all of rachel's fas now!!! You have met rachel TWICE, as andy said lucky is a huge understatement lol!! What an awesome selection of songs for rachel to perform, i bet you were standing there watching her absolutly star struck, i am soooo jealous right now, y didn't my parents choose to live in belfast!!!

Thanks for the pics and the blog on the day, it looked awesome.

jo xx

Anonymous said...

plz tell me u have video of her perfromance, it would make me very happy

Jill R said...

Rachel looks great in those photos. I'd love to hear her sing 'All That Jazz' its one of my favorite songs and I think she would be brilliant at it.

Chris Worthing said...

Well,David,youve surpassed yourself here..Ive switched on my PC bleary eyed this morning and now Im unbelievably jealous!That performance must have been amazing-it wont be long before Rachel is appearing in her OWN musicals in the West End,shes building up such a repertoire!
On that note,I notice that some of the cast of WWRY are appearing at Arundel Castle on 23rd August..was wondering if anyone knows anything about this,and maybe even if Rachel herself may be putting in a guest performance somewhere along the line?To me,Arundel would be a beautiful place to come in the midst of a hectic rehearsal schedule!

Anonymous said...

WOW RACHEL LOOKS SO DIFFERENT WITH SHORT HAIR!!!!!! LOVE THE LAST PIC!!!!
I WISH I COULD MEET RACHEL YOU ARE SOOOOO LUCKY DAVID!

Anonymous said...

One word... WOW!!!
David, I'm so incredibly jealous. Rachel looks gorgeous and I'm sure her performances were simply fabulous. I can't wait to see her in WWRY, it is going to be the best thing, ever. She also sang my favourite songs at Pride, I so wish I lived in Belfast!!

PS My boyfriend would also like me to point out on here that she's got very nice legs.

David said...

That's interesting about Arundel Chris -- if you get any more info do let us know.

Helen -- re your boyfriend's comment -- funny enough now you come to mention it....he does have a point...

Laur said...

WOW.

=)

That's pretty much the only word I can use to sum up my jealousy! Lol! She looks stunning! And eeee! She sang Defying Gravity! I hope someone somewhere has audio/video of that! I'm off to read the other entry now!

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with Laur! There are no words except WOW to describe my jealousy!!

Ali xx

Katie said...

David, you are one lucky bugger!
So happy for you that you met the lovely lady herself and had a brilliant day! The write up is fantastic - if only I can emulate this one day (soon!!!)