#also i am like slightly familiar w the musical and have listened to the soundtrack a couple times

[kuiinncedes]

i watched wickeddddddd

[lin-hamuel]

The first is the stage, and the second is from where we were sitting. 

I saw Hamilton in London on 16/12/17 with the original West End cast and god damn was it phenomenal. Obviously it was a dream come true to see something I’ve hardcore listened to since 2015 come to life in front of me, but the whole show is bloody fantastic as a production in itself. I can guarantee you that you could go to see it having never heard of it before and you would still have been blown away.

noteworthy stuff that lifted my soul: 

~ Hamilton was bLOODY tall. (Jamael Westman is 6′4″ damn) It actually suited him really well, especially during Aaron Burr, Sir/My Shot when he was jittery and slightly awkward and restrained but clearly excited. As the show went on there was this major contrast as his movements became more fluid and loose and extravagant as Alexander rose to prominence man even the body language was great

~ also: his voice was so smoooooth. Most of the cast had smoother voices/singing styles than the OBC - like, nearing Philippa Soo quality - and it made the listening experience so flipping pleasurable

~ another surprisingly smooth singing voice: Rachel John as Angelica!!! I love Renée but Rachel blew me away with how damn clear and incredible and almost polished her voice was. she could have been Eliza imo (her acting and portrayal of her frustration and pain in Satisfied was STELLAR) but she was a fantastic Angelica and I am in awe of her talent

~ I was never super into Laurens from the soundtrack alone but my GOD he is MARVELLOUS live. singing? perfect. acting? amazing. 

~ Lauren’s death was PHENOMENAL. Cleve’s voice was beautiful and he stood illuminated in the right hand corner of the stage as Eliza read the letter to him. Alexander looked broken. The pause between Eliza and Ham speaking stretched on for a little bit and in that silence you could hear a pin drop. 

~ Mulligan was perfect and everything you could possibly want 

~ King George III was great. doing a smug lil dance with his cane / reading the pamphlet in the Reynolds Pamphlet. in What Comes Next? he sang “i’m so blue” and stamped his foot and the lighting went blue. everyone laughed like they were hearing the jokes for the first time

~ Yorktown was fucking cool

~ Burr’s ACTING. EXPRESSION. MOVEMENT. AMAZING. His voice was higher pitched than Leslie’s and it worked really well for the emotional/humorous scenes. His portrayal of Burr is certainly quite different to the OBC (It’s far more frantic and emotional if that makes sense?) but it’s still fantastic and really interesting and refreshing to watch 

~ it took me a while to warm to Eliza but boy did I. I think Rachelle has a pretty tough job as people’s expectations are v fixed around the earth-shattering job Phillippa Soo did (mine included tbh) but she was so good. Helpless was adorable and stylish and perfectly lighthearted and she carried that through the show UNTIL Burn (midnight blue lighting, her face angry and betrayed and so powerfully hurt being illuminated by the light of the burning letters was lovely) and Philip’s death (see below). 

~ she was also very different to her OBC counterpart in her portrayal but it was cool tbh! the various interpretations of the characters we’re so familiar with actually work very well and they bring something new to the show and add different spins to something we know so well by now

~ Peggy and Maria were really good. Christine Allado is vv talented 

~ the revolving platform thing is really well used. excellent in the Schuyler Sisters obviously (if you’ve seen even the 10sec youtube clips you know what i mean) but even in Hurricane, where Ham is in the middle and the cast/ensemble are frozen in various positions around it as it rotates. maria rotates to the front at precisely the right times. burr is sent round as he starts singing ‘wait for it’. fan bloody tastic

~ the choreography was fucking enthralling

~ on the soundtrack you can hear and appreciate the backing vocals but they are as loud and prominent as the main voice live and that adds a whole new dimension to the musical. it heightens the experience in ways that I can’t really describe. because of the acoustics and the sheer volume of incredible incredible sound it makes watching it almost an out-of-body experience. and no, i’m not exaggerating. out. of. body. also they’re obviously going to be talented to be in Hamilton but my god they would all be spellbinding as individuals. they make a phenomenal ensemble.

~ they’re all pretty damn attractive tbh

~ Washington was less Diplomatic Dad and more Super Grizzled War Veteran but his voice was just as bloody powerful and fantastic. god One Last Time was twice as good as I expected. I’d buy tickets again for One Last Time (i’d buy tickets again for the whole thing who am I kidding) 

~ 9yo Philip was perfect. unbelievably cute w his lil outfit and bobbing body language and lil stammer and voice. i thought it might be a little weird/unconvincing seeing a man who was just playing a man play a child but it wasn’t at all

~ Lafayette was small and skinny and super athletic

~ Jefferson was rly flamboyant and funny and kept busting out lil funky dance moves here and there. when he was introduced in What’d I Miss? he came out and ofc everyone cheered and he waved his hand like omg no, stahp, guyssss okay keep going

~ Madison just sorta trailed behind him looking exhausted and it was great. after It’s Quiet Uptown and Jefferson was like “can we get back to politics” Madison came out behind him drying his hands on a big ol handkerchief like “pLEASE”

~ I was never particularly affected by Philip’s death so I was NOT ready for it being as moving as it was. He was in a lot of pain - something that doesn’t come through on the soundtrack - plus him being even more lovely and likable live meant his death was a lot harder to swallow. Eliza and Ham are distraught in the reprise and the counting is really intense. it all climaxes when he dies and Eliza just screams, this long, single, agonised scream before breaking down into sobs. Alex tries to touch her but she shrugs him off so he just stands there looking absolutely heartbroken while she cries over Philip.

~ you hear the ‘someday, someday’ part from Dear Theodosia here. this gets its own point because it was so unexpected and possibly the saddest part of the whole show.

~ they stay like that and the platform revolves so they rotate towards the back of the stage while Angelica starts singing It’s Quiet Uptown. It’s Quiet Uptown is so amazing that I haven’t listened to it on the soundtrack since (it is now May) as I don’t want to overwrite my memory of it in any way. 

~ the lighting deserves all of the awards it gets

~ in The World Was Wide Enough, ensemble members stand in a line between Burr and Hamilton and their movement represents the bullet travelling 

~ the victoria palace theatre is stunning

~ the acapella ending of Who Lives, Who Dies was made 50x better (already fantastic ik) by the vocal power/talent of the ensemble. the cast stand in their black outfits in a row and Eliza’s come forward to the front of the stage. as the last note ended she gasped and reached out as though she could see him 

all in all, it was almost supernaturally good. i'd barely seen any visual representation of it beforehand so i had no idea what to expect when seeing it unfold in front of me and when i say it was good enough to be an out-of-body experience for me i am 100% serious. even if you have seen it before, the nuances and the talent of this cast are phenomenal in themselves.

@linmanuel i hope you’re proud of what you’ve created. i always knew it was an absolute gift but seeing it live has made me understand what a genuine masterpiece looks like. 

[traveling-couch-potato]

Puerto Rico Day 9

It’s finally here! HAMILTON DAY!!!! We wanted to do a whole day dedicated to the show but couldn’t fit it all in. We started off with breakfast at La Bombonera in Old San Juan for some Mallorcas (recommendation of Lin-Manuel Miranda himself...via his Twitter). So good. It’s the love child of a donut and croissant if the donut took a more dominant role. It’s sprinkled with powdered sugar and filled with a fried egg, melty swiss, and thin slices of ham.

Puerto Rico is all about those sweet/savory combos and I am here for it!

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The festival wasn’t in full swing yet so we decided to do a bit of a morning walk to the Puerta de San Juan where we entered Paseo del Morro. It’s a gorgeous path along the base of the Castillo San Felipe del Morro right along the water. You get a great view of the giant waves crashing into the rocks on one side and the towering wall structures to the right. 

Leaving through the Puerta de San Juan gate!

The path was full of cats. Literally anywhere you look there’s a cat. There’s feeding stations run by the Save-a-Gato organization which is why all the cats like to gather here.

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Once we finished up the walk we had a lovely chat with another visiting girl (and fellow Hamilton-fan) before we finally regained enough energy to officially enter the grounds of the San Sebastian Street Festival. We started off near the market centers around the Plaza del Quinto Centenario. Tio Danny had a booth set up so we picked up a Maduro (Beef/Plantain Empanadilla) and walked through some of the stalls which featured a ton of local Puerto Rican artists selling everything from painted gourds to pressed flowers to sweets. I’m not much for knick knacks and jewelry but food always calls to me especially if I have no clue what it is. This meant my 2nd purchase of the day was a tiny container of Majarete. It tasted like a blended rice pudding (though it’s apparently made with rice flour) with your typically cinnamon notes but a nice underlying coconut flavor as well. It was extremely viscous so the tiny cup was the perfect size.

The first of many street food snacks courtesy of the San Sebastian Street Festival.

We continued walking until we hit a street lined with Bounty sponsored booths. Angel still hasn’t had a chance to try one of my favorite Puerto Rican foods, Bacalaito, so we had to order one and it was GIGANTIC. This one was more crunchy and flat than my previous one, almost like a fried cracker/pancake crossbreed. But of course I also needed to try something new so a few booths down I pointed at the first item I didn’t know. I ended up with a cup of Sorulittos de Maiz. Basically corn fries. They basically taste like corn meal fries (because that’s what they are). Or corn puffs that were never fully dehydrated. Like every other item here, it was served w/ a side of Mayoketchup. 

Fried foods galore! So good but so bad for you (not that that matters when I’m on vacation!)

Some of the sweets I bought from one of the stalls. They have a ton of lollipops and these coconut/fruit combo bite things (that I clearly don’t know the name of).

We spent a bit more time wandering the festival browsing booths and enjoying the music before we headed out. Of course we needed dessert though so we may a quick trip to Chocobar Cortes so I could get a proper chocolate tasting. I got their Spiced Chocolate (Anise/Cinammon) and one of their Hazelnut. It’s pricey at about $2.50 a pop but it’s worth the occasional indulgence

The day portion of the festival is very family friendly w/ parades (main one was at 5pm on Thursday though you can catch smaller privately organized ones at random unscheduled times), giant head displays, and tons of music.

Tons of live music all around the entire city.

Sad we were gonna miss the parade, but a nice marcher asked us if we want a pic and of course we couldn’t say no.

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After so much food we decided to make the 2 mile trek back to our hotel by foot. On the way we passed by the San Juan capital and decided to take a look around. No line or entrance fee, just a quick security check. The center of the building is gorgeous and although the displays in the building were all in Spanish, it was a nice pitstop.

The center of the building sports this beautifully intricate high ceiling. Pictures absolutely don’t do it justice.

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Once we got back to the hotel, we got ready for our night out to the greatest show in the world: HAMILTON!!! First we had to stop by another restaurant Ricky/Florin recommended to us (along w/ the rest of the internet): Santaella. They do take reservations through Opentable and I would highly recommend it. They place can get very busy depending on your luck. The restaurant itself is gorgeous w/ antique style filament lightbulbs lining the ceilings and a lit tropical plant display window on the back wall. Their food was a bit more American/French w/ a Puerto Rican influence but at this point I was craving a taste of home and welcomed the familiar menu. It is a classier place so no tap, but still water is available at $2.50/person which is more reasonable than other high end restaurants I’ve visited.

Gorgeous restaurant interior. Definitely a slightly dressy place, perfect for a pre-show meal (though service is a bit slow so make sure you have enough time).

We started our meal w/ the Foie Gras Terrine which was served over a fruit jam (I believe guava) and a fresh mini baguette that spouted steam as soon as we snapped it in half. The terrine had a uniform creaminess offset by some roasted pinenuts. The salty and fatty flavors of the foie gras were nicely balanced by the jam too. For our mains my friend got the Veal Cheeks w/ Creole Fricasse and Root Veggie Puree and I got the Marinated Skirt Steak w/ Malanga Shoestring fries. The veal was practically spoonable and the veggie puree had an almost cheesy flavor. Otherwise it was like a very well-made beef stew. The skirt steak was quite tender for such a cheap cut of meat and the marinade was nicely caramelized which brought out a delicious charred sweetness. It was topped w/ a pickled chimichurri that gave my mouth a much needed break cause the meat portion was HUGE. Seriously a delicious meal and I can see why Ricky/Florin would give it the thumbs up

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With our bellies full and our wallets empty, we made the 10 minute walk over to the Luis A. Ferre Theater. Picked up our tickets (which I was freaking out about because the email stated you needed the original purchase card which I forgot), got in line, and got to our seats. Not the best seats since the side overlook obstructed my view slightly but I am infinitely thankful to have been in the room where it happens.

This part is less travel-bloggy and more Hamilton-fanny but this is more or less my diary so who cares. I didn’t think I’d cry too hard. I’ve seen the show 3 times, met Lin, met his family, listened to the soundtrack a million times, I’ve been there done that, but absolutely not, as soon as he walks out I start sobbing. I felt my face scrunch up and tears well up in my eyes as my hero took the stage. The entire crowd cheered and rawred for a solid 2-3 minutes. My voice was still raspy from the cold but I tried anyway. The entire cast is wonderful and I am so ecstatic about seeing them again in San Francisco next month. After the show we booked it to the stagedoor. I’m tagging this post w/ Hamilton so hopefully someone will see this LIN DOES NOT STAGEDOOR. The three Schuyler sisters did though as well as a member of the ensemble. They were all such sweet people and while I hoped to save my $10 bill for Lin to sign, I felt it was appropriate to get it autographed at the last show he’ll ever perform as Hamilton. 

We met some really cool fellow Hamilton fans at the stagedoor (shoutout to my new friend Alicia!) and ended the night with a very interesting conversation with an Usher about the political climate in Puerto Rico among other serious topics. We didn’t end up leaving until past midnight. I’m so fortunate to have been in the crowd to see one of Lin’s last performances.

Tips in case any Hamilton folks finds this post: 1) There are quite a few extra seats. Due to some political stuff, the venue changed and seats were reassigned. Since the new venue is larger, that means there’s a decent number of empty seats.

2) To get the seats just show up at the theater. On our 7:30pm performance night, I met 2 women who got in that started waiting at 4pm. Though they said there were people since 6am.

3) Ticket prices range and it’s easier to get a spot if you’re a single viewer. Also don’t forget the lotto!

4) GOOD LUCK! I hope someone gets to see this and takes a chance at those day of tickets. (Seriously you have a good chance, I met ~10 people this trip that got day of tickets)

[alexisbundy1-blog]

[this post is just for kicks]

ok so i have a playlist called junior (go follow it) that contains almost all the songs i have discovered this year. here are some of my favourites:

“Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” - Kate Bush I first discovered Kate Bush the summer before freshman year. I don’t remember how, but it most definitely links back to having the knowledge that she had a song entitled “Wuthering Heights.” (Sound familiar?) Afterwards, the words “Kate Bush” became a part of my music vocabulary. Did you know she wrote “Wuthering Heights” at 18 years old, became the first woman to ever have a number-one hit in the UK, AND was only 19 when the song hit the charts? When I’m 19, my biggest accomplishment will be doing my own laundry. ANYWAY - so after two years of being a Kate Bush fan, I noticed that her acclaimed album Hounds of Love was finally on Spotify and decided to give it a listen. Her artist page showed that this one song was one of her most popular, so I gave it a go. Not to be hyperbolic, but this song rocked my world. I mean, I knew Kate Bush was one of the coolest people ever, but this song just took her radness to a new level. The synths, the power of her vocals, the lyrics, the video(!!!). Kate Bush is just a tour de force. I love her, and so should you. And also she should have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. Just saying.

“Personal Jesus” - Depeche Mode So technically I first heard this song over the summer but...who cares...I was technically a junior. First of all, this song goes HARD. Between the bassline and the sporadic interjections of synth, “Personal Jesus” is just simply a tune. It makes you feel badass, even if the lyrics don’t really align with that feeling, and I wish I could provide some more persuasive evidence as to why it’s so good, but you have to listen to it yourself. It’s just...a tune. That’s all.

“Edge of Seventeen” - Stevie Nicks Okay so I’m relatively embarrassed to say that I only heard this song in July...and it initially struck me because it shared the same bassline as a Destiny’s Child song...sorry, Stevie. But it’s such a good song!!!! Fun fact: the title comes from a discussion Stevie had with the late, great Tom Petty’s wife, who said she had been in love with Tom since she was the age of seventeen; however, she had a southern drawl, so it sounded as though she was saying “edge of seventeen.” And the rest is history. And you should listen to this song if you haven’t already. Another badass song with a wobbling bassline and cool female vocals.

“Praying” - Kesha No offense to Madison, but I’ve been the Kesha fan from day one. Don’t even @ me. Like, Kesha posters everywhere in my room, buying Kesha albums in secret (my mother wasn’t a fan), knowing all the words to her songs - the works. So when Kesha released this TUNE in late July/August, not only was the world shook - I was so shaken. I was like, “Is this Miss Ke-dollar sign-ha???? Is this Kesha Rose Sebert???” First of all, I was literally in pieces when Kesha’s court case ruling came out, and then she dropped this song and I was like “Adios.” I always knew Kesha was a ~talented songstress~ but her vocals on this song...I cry every time. WHY DIDN’T IT WIN A GRAMMY.

“God Bless America - and All the Beautiful Women In It” - Lana Del Rey No offense....but Lana Del Rey dropped the best album of the year (tied w/ DAMN. again don’t @ me) and it is also the best album of her career. There are a lot of fabulous songs on this album but this is my favourite. It’s so subtly political yet so ethereal. The vocals and guitar on this song just soar. I love Lana so much <3

basically Dua Lipa’s whole debut album - Dua Lipa I’ve been a Dua fan since summer 2016 and when she dropped this album she also drop-kicked me to another planet. Prior to the album’s release, she released hit after hit and I was over here like “Thank u Dua for blessing us with ur killer vocals and ur mega tunes” and THEN she had the AUDACITY to just rock my world with this album. Is it Dark Side of the Moon? No. Is it still a great pop album?? Yes. And do the songs go hard?? They go hard. No offense but every song on this album - even the bad ones (*cough* ��Room for 2″) - are better than “Shape of You” and YET who won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance?? Not Dua Lipa the true winner. Anyway if you have a chance just listen to the whole album. My favourite songs are-jk I love them all. Except for “Room for 2″ just ignore that one.

“Bodak Yellow” - Cardi B ....do i really need to speak on this one...

“Go Gina” - SZA I am still so offended that the Recording Academy snubbed SZA’s debut album but WHATEVER IT’S FINE. This song is about halfway through the album, and it serves as a slight interlude. But it’s my favourite. It’s succinct, it’s gorgeous, it references Martin. SZA is so talented and deserves the world.

“Raspberry Beret” - Prince I first heard this song on the last episode of She’s Gotta Have It, the TV reincarnation of the Spike Lee film. I was a Prince fan, but this song just gave me a new respect for him. It’s not necessarily in the lyrics, but the music is just insane. There’s a combination of Prince’s signature guitar-and-synth combo, but then there’s a harmonica-type instrument as well that ties into Prince’s ventures to an abandoned farm/barn. This is a good memory of Prince. 

“Best Friend” - Sofi Tukker Can I just say...this song deserves better. I know a lot of people have heard it in iPhone ads and whatnot, but Sofi Tukker is just such an amazing group and this was the first song I heard by them and they are so talented. This song just truly goes hard. I’m upset I don’t hear it more often. The wobble of such a strong bassline adds so much energy to an already enthusiastic song. It’s a great mainstream introduction to Sofi Tukker.

the entire Black Panther soundtrack again...do i really need to speak on this....

every song on the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack but especially the Sufjan Stevens songs ok so it’s common knowledge that this movie has damaged me forever, but you know what else damaged me? the soundtrack. who else gets away with intertwining classical piano music and euro eighties hits and sufjan stevens songs? no one except for luca guadagnino. so let’s briefly discuss,,,,first of all i had actually never listened to a psychedelic furs song before and i feel like that’s embarrassing especially for me so “love my way” was just such a wow moment for me. great pop song with great lyrics that truly pertain to the movie. excellent choice. also my new favourite song “paris latino” by bandolero is just so campy and european and eighties. what a tune. and the opening song, “hallelujah junction” by john adams, is just so gorgeous. it’s such a fabulous opener. now lets talk about sufjan stevens....we’re first introduced to his music in the movie with a remix of his song “futile devices.” this remix is so ethereal and stunning; it fits so perfectly within the movie. then there’s the happy little ditty “mystery of love” that basically should have won the oscar but then i saw coco and “remember me” made me cry so i wasn’t too mad. not much to say about this one because it speaks for itself. great song. now,,..,.,.,.”visions of gideon”.....,.,.,this song is so offensive. every time i listen to it i want to sit in front of a fire place for the whole duration of the song and CRY over my lover who is getting married and teaches at columbia. it’s so delicate and haunting. it just makes me cry.

“Lemon” - N.E.R.D & Rihanna idk about you guys but i heard this on the radio like once and i was so offended by how little airplay it received because this song is just so amazing. like pharrell + rihanna = modern musical genius. this was all the world needed. 

“This is America” - Childish Gambino I know literally the entire population of Earth is talking about this song but I think the visuals are the more intriguing part (obviously). Like on its own, the song is great, but the music video adds way more to it, in my opinion. As it has been said numerous times, you really have to watch the video multiple times to catch everything, but it’s such a stunning video that really forces you to think and comprehend everything going on. Props to you, Donald Glover. Even though you have been slightly problematic in the past.

so obviously i could have like a gazillion songs listed here but a) some of them are hard to explain b) i don’t want to offend anyone and c) i tried to make it seem like my taste in music is both good and slightly mainstream so people can #relate. i also discovered a lot of bruce springsteen within this period and i am proud of myself for doing so. okay, well i hope it’s noted that i did this just for fun and would obviously not like to be graded on it i just kind of wanted to have something to reflect on the year! unlike my actual blog post for this month. and i just wanted to have a platform to talk about music and get people to listen to my playlist. ok see you!! go read my real blog post!!

[kkaebsongtypo]

A Change of Plans // Mark Lee pt. 1

(A/N: I was reading fake texts and i was just hit in the heart like ‘damn. I love Mark so much.’ then i started cooking and i just randomly thought of High School musical, and now here i am. Writing a High School musical inspired Mark Lee scenario. The musical i used in this in here was Dear Evan Hansen because i’m absolute trash for that musical. Also, it’s like hella basic because you’re casted as Zoe who is like the female lead, and Mark is casted as Evan Hansen, the male lead. T O T A L L Y  B A S I C. but it’s cute nonetheless :) I hope you  enjoy :D)

pairing: mark x fem theater nerd!reader

genre: (in later parts) fluff, because when have i ever written anything else

warnings/notes: cussing, but that’s about it. The musical may be triggering? I don’t like spoil it or anything, but if you want to know what it’s actually about then you can google it :)

word count: 27280

Side Note: I would highly recommend listening to the soundtrack if you haven’t :)

“You have got to be kidding me.” Mark stood staring at the sheet pinned to the bulletin board. Donghyuck chuckled from where he stood, leaning against the wall.

“I wasn’t lying.” he spoke, looking at Mark and shrugging.

“How am I casted as the Evan Hansen?? How am I the lead? H O W Hyuck?!” Mark turned to Donghyuck with a look of utter confusion and panic.

“This is not how this was supposed to play out.”

-2 weeks earlier-

"Come on dude!"

"It'll be fun!" Mark rolled his eyes as Donghyuck and Jeno continued badgering him.

“Alright! Alright! If I do this, will you guys finally shut up?!” the two other boys nodded eagerly and that was that. Giving in to their peer pressure, Mark scribbled his name on the audition sign up sheet. There was no going back now.

-Day of the Auditions-

“MARK. HURRY UP. WE HAVE TWENTY MINUTES.” Jeno and Donghyuck shoved Marks bag into his locker before dragging him to the theater. Twenty minutes until Donghyucks audition; Jeno was right after; and then it was Marks.

The past week was filled with Donghyucks tutoring; memorizing the audition lines and the audition song: Waving Through a Window. Mark wouldn’t admit it, but he kind of fell in love with the song. He often found himself humming it while doing homework, or walking home. Although he likes the song, that does not mean he was looking forward to this audition.

Of course, it didn’t take long for the three boys to reach the theater. Jeno checked his phone and took a deep breath. Hyuck did the same thing, and smiled.

“Fifteen minutes. You’ll do great dude.” Jeno spoke up and patted Hyucks shoulder. He looked back at Jeno with a look of almost excitement.

“Oh yeah, of course. This is nothing new. We’ve been doing this for years, Jeno. I’m just really pumped.” Jeno chuckled at Hyucks response. He was right though, he and Jeno have been doing this for years. They’ve always been apart of theater together. Mark looked at the two and smiled. Their heads turned to the theater door as it opened. Revealing Ms. Lee, one of the two choir teachers.

“Oh Donghyuck, Jeno, you’re already here.” She smiled at the boys before glancing at the clock.

“Donghyuck, would you like to maybe start early? You could come in now.” Hyuck nodded and followed Ms. Lee into the theater after looking between Jeno and Mark, who smiled at him reassuringly. Jeno looked over to Mark as the door shut.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Mark turned to Jeno, and sighed with a slight chuckle.

“Ah, well. I’m alright. I’m pretty nervous if I’m being honest.” He leaned his head against the wall, looking up. Jeno nodded and spoke softly.

“Yeah, I remember my first audition, grade 7. I totally bombed it. Well, that’s what I thought at least. I ended up getting casted as the supporting character, who happened to be the main character's best friend. Hyuck was that main character, and that’s when we really got close. We kind of developed our love for theater together. At this point, we’ve auditioned for every musical together, and we’ve always been casted. It just takes practice.” Mark watched as Jeno spoke.

“You’ve been practicing with Hyuck right?” Mark nodded. Jeno smiled and rested his hand on Mark’s shoulder briefly.

“You’ll do great. You were basically being tutored by one of the most dedicated theater nerds in this school. Trust me, Hyuck wouldn’t let you go into this without being ready. I know you might not feel ready, but you are.” Mark smiled at Jeno’s words. Within a short few minutes, the door opened and Hyuck walked out, Ms. Lee following close behind.

“Jeno, come on in.” Hyuck sat next to Mark on the floor as Jeno made his way into the theater after giving a thumbs up to his two friends.

“How was it?” Mark asked Hyuck once the door clicked shut. Hyuck glanced at Mark before letting out a breathy laugh, as he noticed the slight worry in Mark’s voice.

“It was good. Pretty simple and straight up. They’ll ask you what part you practiced and then they’ll ask you to go through the script with them from memory; just like I did with you. After that they’ll ask you to sing for them, and you’ll sing Waving Through a Window. They’ll most likely give you a bit of feedback and then that’s all really.” He gave Mark a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry too much dude. I know you’ll do great. You know your lines, you know the song. Don’t worry about your voice either. You have a great voice, a great tone, trust me. You got this.” Mark looked at Donghyuck and nodded with a deep sigh.

“Do you want to go over your lines, practice a little?” Hyuck turned his body to face Mark as he did the same.

“Please...” Mark smiled nervously before Hyuck started to recite script. Minutes later, Jeno came out and smiled at Mark. Mark’s eyes shot to Ms. Lee, as she looked at her clipboard and read out his name.

“Mark Lee? Come on in.” She smiled softly as Jeno and Hyuck gave him some last minute reassurance. Mark took another deep breath and walked into the theater. He stopped on the stage in front of the staff.

“Alright. Hello Mark. I’m Ms. Lee, this is Mr. Oh, and Ms. Kim. How are you doing?” Ms. Lee started basic conversation, which Mark was very grateful for. Almost as if it was an ice breaker.

“Okay, which script did you prepare with for today?” Ms. Lee asked. Mark smiled softly.

“Uh, the one scene between Evan and Zoe.” Ms. Lee nodded and started to recite Zoe’s lines. Mark continued with the familiar lines as the scene went on.

“Okay, now, moving on to the singing portion. Which song did you pick? Mark smiled and rocked forward on his toes slightly.

"Waving Through a Window." Ms. Lee smiled and nodded.

Would you like the instrumental or do you want to sing it acapella?”

“Oh, uh, instrumental please..” Mark took a deep breath as Mr. Oh pressed play and the music started up. He closed his eyes as he began singing.

“I’ve learned to slam on the break, Before I even turn the key, Before I make the mistake, Before I lead with the worst of me.. Give them no reason to stare, No slippin up if you slip away, So I’ve got nothing to share, No I’ve got nothing to say.”

He began slightly shaky, but as the song continued, he grew more confident.

“Step out, Step out of the sun if you keep gettin burned. Step out, Step out of the sun because you’ve learned, Because you’ve learned..”

He could feel a smile making it’s way onto his face as he reached the chorus. At this moment, he felt no nerves. He felt… free.

“On the outside always lookin in will I Ever be more than i’ve always been, Cause’ I’m tap, tap, tappin on the glass I’m waving through a window oh I Try to speak but nobody can hear so I Wait around for an answer to appear While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass, I’m waving through a window oh, Can anybody see, Is anybody waving back at me.?”

Mark glaned at the teachers in front of him, to see them smiling. Mr. Oh stopped the music and Ms. Lee spoke up.

“Thank you Mark, that was great. Just a few notes; You’re stage presents grew the longer you were up here, you clearly got more comfortable. Quickly, you seemed to enjoy your time on stage, is this your first audition for a school musical?” Mark nodded and Ms. Lee smiled, continuing with the notes.

“It was amazing for a first audition. You seemed to enjoy your time on stage. You had very good expression; while going through the script and while singing. Uhm, yes. Over all, that was a great audition. The casting will be posted on the bulletin board right out in the hall next Friday. Thank you again.” Mark smiled and bowed to the staff, thanking them before heading towards the door.

“Hey! How was it?” Donghyuck and Jeno hurried to Mark as he stepped out of the theater.

“Oh, uh it was-” Mark began, only to be slightly interrupted by Ms. Lee calling the next name.

“Y/N, ah good, come on in dear.” Ms. Lee called.

“Hey, good luck!” Donghyuck called out to the girl as she entered the theater. Jeno shot her a smile and a thumbs up, she returned the two gestures before letting the door shut.

“Uh, anyways, it was pretty good. They said that it was pretty good for my first time auditioning for something..” Mark trailed off as the trio made their way to exit the school.

“See! We knew you’d do great! We gotta celebrate!” Jeno smiled proudly and started walking towards the bubble tea store near their school.

-Present day-

"You guys said it was just for fun!" Mark exclaimed in a panic.

"Come on dude. This is great! We're finally going to be on stage all together! We even have a performance with just the three of us! Sincerely, Me! That's so exciting Mark!" Jeno pushed the positives to drown out Marks panic and delirious state.

Mark read over the casting list once more, just to be sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.

Evan Hansen - Mark Lee Heidi Hansen - Jung EunBi Connor Murphy - Lee DongHyuck Zoe Murphy - Y/N Y/l/N Cynthia Murphy - Choi YuNa Larry Murphy - Jung YoonOh Jered Kleinman - Lee JeNo Alana Beck - Myoui Mina ... ... ...

Reality finally sank in. Mark was the lead of the musical. He thought back to his audition and what Ms. Lee said. ‘You seemed to enjoy your time on stage.’ he knew she was right. He loved being on stage.

‘Rehearsals start Monday, February 5th.’

Mark sighed in slight panic once again. He had this weekend to do some research on this musical so he’d be ready for Monday. He looked to his two friends who were chatting happily about choir, or something like that.

“Alright guys. Do you think you two could come over this weekend and teach me everything I need to know about this musical?” Hyuck and Jeno lit up with excitement and agreed right away.

“We can start now!” and with that, Hyuck was leading the other two toward Mark's house.

As the threee boys got comfortable in Mark's room, Donghyuck pulled his laptop out of his bag and pulled up the soundtrack.

“Okay. You already know the basics, so we’ll start with performances. The first performance is ‘Anybody Have a Map’ and it’s performed by...”Mark listened to Donghyuck as he explained the performance, taking mental notes of who sang what, when, and with who. This was going to be a long night.

-Monday @ rehersals-

“Alright everyone! Welcome to the first meeting for our musical this year, Dear Evan Hanson!” Mr. Oh welcomed enthusiastically. The room was full of students. Some were cast, some were makeup artists, some were there for tech crew, other’s were in charge props. Mark didn’t realize how many people would be there for this meeting.

After Mr. Oh and Ms. Lee dismissed all but the actors, they handed out the scripts.

"Evan Hansen."Mr. Oh called. Mark walked up and got his script and returned to his chair between Hyuck and Jeno. He opened up the booklet and was immediately greeted with the acts. The songs were listed along with who sang where. As he read though, he thought back to everything Jeno and Donghyuck told him about the performances; what the songs were about, what emotions they held, whether they were upbeat or not, etc.

Act 1

"Anybody Have a Map?" - Heidi, Cynthia

"Waving Through a Window" - Evan

"For Forever" - Evan

"Sincerely, Me" - Connor, Evan, Jared

"Requiem" - Zoe, Cynthia, Larry

"If I Could Tell Her" - Evan, Zoe

"Disappear" - Connor, Evan, Alana, Jared, Larry, Cynthia, Zoe

"You Will Be Found" - Company

Act 2

"Sincerely, Me" (Reprise)** - Connor, Jared

"To Break in a Glove" - Larry, Evan

"Only Us" - Zoe, Evan

"Good for You" - Heidi, Alana, Jared, Evan

"For Forever" (Reprise)** - Connor

"You Will Be Found" (Reprise)** - Company

"Words Fail" - Evan

"So Big/So Small" - Heidi

"Finale" - Company

Mark took note of where he sang and who he sang with. He mentally face palmed because he didn’t realize how many songs he sang alone; forgetting that he was the main character. He flipped through the script as the teachers spoke, observing all of his lines. Before he knew it, they were being dismissed.

“Don’t forget, we’ll be meeting every Wednesday and Friday. From 3:30 to 6:00.” Ms. Lee called out before everyone filed out of the room.

-Wednesday @ 1st official rehearsal-

Mark, Hyuck, and Jeno made their way to the theater for rehearsals. When they walked inside, they were greeted by Mr. Oh and Ms. Lee, along with the rest of the cast buzzing around. As the last few members came in, everyone took a seat in the first few rows of the theater. Mr. Oh and Ms. Lee made their way onto the stage and began to speak.

“Hello everyone! Today we are going to just listen to the songs in the order they’ll be performed in. So, just be sure to have your scripts on hand and follow along with they lyrics in the last few pages. After each song, we’ll talk about the singers and how they will potentially perform. Alright, let’s get to it.” Mr. Oh finished and pressed play on his laptop.

The first song was ‘Anybody Have a Map’ which would be sang by Heidi Hansen and Cynthia Murphy, Evan and Conner’s mothers.

“Alright. So that song, will be performed by EunBi and YuNa...” Ms. Lee spoke more directly to the two girls, who listened more intently than most other’s. Then, they continued on.

“Waving Through a Window. All of you are familiar with this one. This will be performed by Mark, who is our Evan Hansen. Mark, you did great with this song in your audition so the actually performance will be similar to how you did there...”

...

“Sincerely, Me. Mark, DongHyuck, and Jeno. You boy’s are close right? So this song, as heard, is fun and a little more loose. There will be some 'choreography', but nothing too crazy. This performance should come to you three almost naturally, it’s basically like three close friends fooling around and having fun...”

“Requiem. Y/N, our Zoe, will start off. A little later on into the song, we have YuNa and YoonOh come in. This song is a lot slower than the previous. Of course, this song is beautiful. Y/N, you sang it amazingly in your audition, so it should be easy for you three to mend your voices...”

“If I Could Tell Her is a little bit of a different kind of song. Mark, you will be the one singing most of it, but there is also some dialogue between you and Y/N. So this performance will be a little more like a conversation, similar to Sincerly, Me...”

...

...

...

...

After going through all of the songs, there was about half an hour left. Mr. Oh and Ms. Lee decided to dismiss the class. Jeno, Hyuck, and Mark made their way out after the everyone else. By the time they exited the school, Mark realized that he left his script back in the theater. He mumbled a quiet ‘shoot’ before telling the other two and hurrying back to the theater.

He pushed open the door and quickly scanned the room before his eyes landed on a someone sitting on the edge of the stage. He quietly walked in, and made his way towards the unknown figure. Once he got close enough, he recognized them to be one of the actresses.

“Uhm, hey” She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. She looked up and pulled out her earbuds. Mark gave her a small smile. Hm.. that was kind of adorable.. She smiled back, and put her phone down after pausing her music.

"Hi, um, I'm Y/N."

HOOOKAY. So this is going to be my first serise. I love Dear Evan Hansen, and I thought it would be a cute base thing in a scenario. I'm hoping to have the next part uploaded in a few weeks. I have quite a bit going on in school, and I haven't written any more parts. I am working on some individual scenarios though, so look forward to those! I hope you enjoyed this is little part 1/prologue thing! The next one will be up as soon as I can get it done! ~ Jae☾