Our first day in Sacramento starts with an extra day off since our set has to come all the way from Denver. My best friends Holly (clarinet), John Rapson (Bamabatois) and I decide to go wine tasting in Napa Valley for the day!
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First stop: Fontanella, my favorite winery and best glass of the day (the Cabernet Sauvignon). I highly recommend this place!
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Next stop: Darioush. What is this place?! Incredible!
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The beginning of our Signature Flight tasting. The Viognier was my favorite here.
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Our third and final stop of the day: Mumm, to enjoy some bubbly! To celebrate a great day we ordered every tasting on the menu and enjoyed the beautiful view out on the patio. I liked the DVX 2005 the best.
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Holly, Rapson, Julie (Cosette), myself, and Holly's friend Lindsay outside Mumm after a great day of wine tasting!
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Huge foodie here. After all that wine, we wanted a great meal! Here's the grilled octopus at Grace's Table in downtown Napa. Awesome.
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My main course at Grace's Table, a duck confit cassoulet with a side of wild rice-quinoa. Unbelievable.
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Time to pack up the car trunk and head back to Sacramento! Did you think we would leave Napa Valley empty handed? ;)
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Opening night in Sacramento, CA! Julie (our Cosette while Lauren is away on medical leave for 4 weeks) and I soundcheck "A Heart Full of Love" at the Community Center Theatre.
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Fight call! Love me a good action shot.
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Backstage at wardrobe village before the start of the show... the calm before the storm.
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Intermission, which never seems long enough. After a costume change and a snack, time for some mouthwash so that I'm minty fresh when I get up close and personal with Briana during "A Little Fall of Rain" and for all my smooches with Julie in the finale.
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Day trip with Rapson, Holly and her husband Phil before one of our evening shows to see some big trees! Out on tour, there are always local incredible things to see so we try to explore as much as possible in our free time.
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Not gonna lie... I did frolic the forest pretending I was an elf in Lothlorien in "Lord of the Rings." Yep, I'm a dork.
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#natureselfie #elf #lothlorien
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These trees were just so enormous and incredibly majestic. Nature is incredible. I tried talking to this tree asking if he knew Treebeard. Unfortunately, this tree was not an Ent and therefore did not talk back.
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Peek-a-boo! Rapson and Phil emerge from exploring the hollow inside of a huge fallen tree.
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Took a personal day on Sunday to fly back to NYC for a day for my best friend Newsies star Kara Lindsay's wedding! Isn't she flawless???
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Couldn't be happier for Broadway power couple Kara Lindsay and Kevin Massey. The wedding was so unique, simple and beautiful.
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Me and my classmates from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Class of 2007, all grown up!
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You better believe that if all of us from college are reunited again, we will THROWDOWN on the dance floor!
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Back to Sacramento for work... but time for another day trip before the show! This time: San Francisco! First stop: the Embarcadero Center to get breakfast and start the day with my favorite coffee, Blue Bottle :)
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Next in San Fran, The Walt Disney Family Museum, which has become my favorite museum ever. I so wish I could have taken pics inside... I got so emotional being here, must have cried a couple times.
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Me being a Wild Thing at the Maurice Sendak Exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum
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Before we know it, it's travel day! But this time we have to cross a bigger border... into Canada, the land of loonies and toonies. Erin (Little Cosette) and Gaten (Gavroche) are less than thrilled about having to go through customs. It's far too early!
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After a very early morning, we made it to Vancouver, BC! The kids spend quality time with Uncle Devin at the airport while we wait for our bus to the hotel to arrive.
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First thing on the agenda in a new city: exploring! I go for a late afternoon 5K run in gorgeous Stanley Park. Had to pause to take a pic of this perfect moment in time.
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"Welcome to Canada" company meeting before opening night in Vancouver!
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First food adventure in Vancouver brings me to Meat & Bread in Gastown. Pictured are the meatball (foreground) and porchetta sandwiches, with a kale salad on the side. The porchetta is the best sandwich I have EVER had.
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Our very own part-Newfie Peter Lockyer (Valjean) sound checks "Who Am I?" in the Centre Theatre in Vancouver.
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And I've got my dressing room all unpacked. And yes, that is a stuffed lobster on my table. He's my tour traveling buddy. Thumbs up for opening night in a new country!
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Getting dirty for the start of the show!
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Our dressing room hallway was reminiscent of a college dorm. Shawna (Mme Thernardier) and Briana (Eponine) put on their Mean Girl 'tudes and hair hahaha
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Harassing Rapson in wardrobe village as he prepares his pretty face for his Bamabatois scene.
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Fantine might be delicate onstage, but backstage Genevieve is... well... a zombie vampire. "Lovely Ladies" indeed.
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Between shows on Saturday, I went back to my hotel room to take a nap, and there was a pigeon flying around, no joke! After having maintenance remove the creature, I took a pic of the "presents" it left me. Gross.
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Marius and Cosette prom pic backstage with Julie during her last show Sunday evening :( I love and miss her so!
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Day off! Julie, Rapson, Holly and I decide to visit Grouse Mountain, the Peak of Vancouver. Filled with such expectancy as the lift ascends!
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Grouse Mountain's furry resident, Grinder!
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Rapson took this pic of Grinder. He wasn't ferocious really, just yawning. So cool to see him up close!
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So much to see at Grouse Mountain, including this lumberjack contest. That was a lot of fun. Our guy won!
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Taking the lift to the Eye of the Wind atop the mountain... SO EXCITED!
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We made it! Incredible view of Vancouver down below. The air is so clean here, makes me feel like Superman.
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Holly and Julie with Rapson as he points out the fact that we are currently a staggering 4176.5 feet above Vancouver standing here in the Eye of the Wind, which is an enormous wind turbine!
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Hard to believe The Eye of the Wind's propeller diameter measures 250 feet (75 meters)!
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Family photo! I love going on adventures with these fools.
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Absolutely breathtaking view of the mountains past Vancouver from The Eye of the Wind.
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After spending the day at Grouse Mountain, we go to see the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's performance of Stravinski's Fireworks, Petrouchka, and my favorite, The Rite of Spring. Beautiful music to end a beautiful day off. Gorgeous!
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In the Orpheum lobby after the symphony with Ira (cello), Rapson, Eric (Combeferre), Briana, Holly and Will (viola).
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A big meal to kickoff the start of another week in Vancouver. Cafe Medina brought me the best brunch I have ever had, the Tagine with merguez sausage, accompanied with a lavender almond milk latte on the side. I'm drooling now just thinking about it.
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During half hour one day, I pop in to the kids' room where tutor Ms. Osborn has them working on their summer projects. The girls are making Les Miz quilts and the boys are making Tricolors. Can't wait to see the finished products!
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Dazed and confused. Matt (Jean Prouvaire), Alan (Joly) and Brink (Courfeyrac) get themselves battle ready for the Barricade. I love having this trio of goofballs next to me in wardrobe village.
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One of my favorite meals ever on tour at Minami. Incredible dishes, I wish I could show every single course. Here was the pressed salmon sushi, my favorite dish.
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Another course at Minami, the Wagyu Beef Cha-Soba... Green tea infused soba in a wagyu bolognaise topped with tempura oyster mushrooms, scallions, and a garlic dashi. Wow. I can't even begin to describe the awesomeness of this meal. Unbelievable.
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A group of us entered the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon and have been training for 7 weeks. Anne (Little Cosette Erin's mom), Ira, Matt, Will, Joel (Company Manager), and I are all smiles at 7:28am.
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And about 2 hours later, I cross the finish line with my running buddy Anne. 7 weeks ago, my longest run was 3 miles on a treadmill. This day, I ran 13.1 mi around and through my favorite city on tour yet. A true highlight in my life.
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Sweaty, gross, and exhausted, but Team Les Mis is still smiling!
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Some new additions to my dressing room spread! A half marathon, a matinee show, and I'm still smiling during the evening show after putting on my Marius costume. I have so loved my time in Vancouver.
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Leaving the stage door, the trucks are already parked and the crew has begun load-out. Boo. I want to stay! Next stop: Calgary, AB.
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It's taken me 7 months on tour, but I think I've finally figured out how to pack my suitcase so I never really have to take anything out except my toiletries. Hi, my name is Devin and I bring laziness to a new level.
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Wanna follow my adventures? Check out my fanpage at http://www.facebook.com/ilaw.devin! Here's a teaser to what happened when Les Miz went to Calgary, AB! I may or may not have hiked up a mountain, scaled part of cliff and pretended I was Rafiki :P
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