Thank you, everyone, for the reviews and the pics. It's lovely to hear other people's views and to hear about the various Rufus encounters!
Well, I also had a great time seeing the play again, along with fellow Rooftoppers, and met Quoll for the very first time, despite us being members of a previous Rufus site together and founder members here! Thank you all for making the visit so enjoyable - there's nothing better than watching Rufus with a group of like-minded ladies, and nattering about him together! ;D
It was interesting seeing the play again, and especially with the swap-over of the actresses. They also swapped their positions on stage, too, which kind of threw me at first! The dialogue is the same, obviously, but the dynamic between the characters is totally different - Kristin's Anna is definitely edgier than Lia's. To a certain extent it made me think differently about the nature of the relationship between the characters and what the play was all about, than when I saw Lia as Anna and Kristin as Kate.
It was also fascinating to notice other changes between the performances I've seen; for instance, in the way certain words were said or the looks exchanged at certain points, and how the audiences reacted differently - the same line brought a ripple of laughter one time, a great roar another.
One very funny incident occurred in the opening night's performance on Thursday. In one scene, Rufus is supposed to pull the cork out of a bottle of brandy and pour some into a glass....except the top came off, leaving the cork in the bottle! It was essential to the play that he poured some out, so (in character) he pulled a funny face and poked the cork down into the bottle with his finger! Anyone who hadn't seen the play before would have thought that was supposed to happen, but it definitely wasn't!
Poor Rufus, he must have thought "Oh, ****! Not on Press Night!"
Seeing Rufus act on stage is wonderful in itself, but getting to meet him again is just fabulous. As Nell says, Rufus was his usual charming self. He was very generous with his time and more than happy to chat with us - even when interrupted by other fans wanting a pic or an autograph, he came back to our group and continued the conversation, several times. He has a way of putting people at their ease, so there's no need to feel nervous about meeting him.
After seeing him casually dressed, it was lovely to then see him all suited up on Thursday night as he left the theatre on his way to the after-show party - no time for a chat then, but we had a rather unexpected and very special surprise instead.....
(Oh, come on, you don't expect me to tell you
everything, do you?! We have to keep something to ourselves!
)
I took a few photos, although kept forgetting I had a camera in my hand while he was posing for others in our group (d'oh!) so not as many as I could have if I hadn't been dazzled by his gorgeousness (well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). I was grabbing shots quickly so they aren't in the same league as some pics in this thread - thank goodness for Mr Nell, is all I can say! Anyway:
The two above are the cropped versions of ones taken with other Rooftoppers. (If they don't mind the uncropped pics being posted, I'll put them up sometime) (And, yes, I did have my pic taken with him, and no, you're not seeing it.
You might get the cropped version soon, though...)(and it's better than my crops, since Mr Nell took it!
)
The above are self-portraits by Rufus. ;D (Since the ones taken by him are blurry, too, it must be the camera's fault, right?
)
No copying elsewhere, please.
This is the red carpet on the opening night. I didn't see any other stars, but apparently Sir Ben Kingsley attended, as did the actress Twiggy (Kate and Bianca's mother in TOTS) and her husband.
These are views of the stage, taken from the Royal Circle before the opening night. (Thankfully I didn't have to watch it from there - I had a MUCH closer view, in the stalls).
Poster outside the theatre.
And this is the alternative poster on the outside wall of the theatre.
Rousse, as to the number of people around at the stage door, it depends - I suspect day of the week and weather are deciding factors. But however many people are there, I'd say go for it!
Good luck!
(Oh, come on, you don't expect me to tell you everything, do you?! We have to keep something to ourselves! 
)
) No copying elsewhere, please.
, what beautiful photos especially the second one... 
