Well what an incredible night! We (being moi and my friend Carla) arrived at Heaven a little late, I was quite worried as I thought they might have started without us. We couldn't get in through the door too, so we asked around...a nice Turkish man pointed us in the direction of the 'Discotheque Doorbell'! So we buzzed, and hey, presto! Simon was there! He told us that they were delayed in starting, which was great news. Simon is part of the production company, and he took us down to meet the crew...he was really friendly.

We got to the room where the show would be...showing...and got comfy in two chairs in the front row. The stage and set were brilliant - the drum kit was great - but the best part was the luminous screen in the backdrop. It was for showing slides while the show was...showing(!)

Then just out of no-where, David appeared! He came over to where we were sitting. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a white shirt and looked great. He was lovely, grinning the whole time; I could tell he was quite camp, which I was really happy about! The first thing he said to me was "Are you the __ year old?! Aahhhhhh!" in his gorgeous Chicago accent. I was smiling like anything and just nodded. He said, "Yeah, I remember when I was __." I was like "It wasn't that long ago!", but he insisted that it was. He told me about his new sitcom, I think it's called the Sherlock Syndrome? I will find out what it's called and post it again *blush*. I told him about the website, and he was gob smacked...David had no idea about it! He just kept saying, "I have a website?! Someone made me a website?!" I told him Pressley had been on it, and David said he didn't tell him. He was so happy about it though, I think he was just flattered! I gave him a bit of paper with the address on it, and he said he would definitely visit it. Then he had to go get changed...I told him he'd be fantastic and he did that hand movement thing that camp men do! It was like 'Oh, stop!' D'ya know the gesture I mean? David then proceeded to get up on stage and start spinning on the spinning chair going "Wheee! Wheee!" I was in Heaven. Literally.

The band started to tune their guitars, and David stayed on stage with them for a few minutes. One of the band members started playing the beginning of the Time Warp! I yelled, "That's the Rocky Horror Show!" And David said, "Yeah, it's great to hear the old stuff..."

Someone came in with some coffee from Starbucks, so I asked Ben (the Stage Director who invited me...another lovely guy!) what coffee David had. I asked that just for you guys! He checked it for me, but it just said Soya milk. He explained that David was on a little bit of a diet, he just wanted to tone up a bit. There was this little cardboard wrapper around the coffee cup...and lets just say David's isn't there any more!

Then David came on stage with his costume! A gorgeous cowgirl dress with a cape that opened up to reveal writing that said "Never mind the bollocks" I couldn't read the rest of it, but there was definitely an Anarchy symbol on there! First Hedwig made some jokes about being in the nightclub Heaven, and then introduced Yitzhak, her faithful...slave? Servant? Manwhore?! Who knows! David wasn't wearing any make up (this was the first rehearsal they had done on stage, in costume, with the band!) but was wearing his blonde Farrah Fawcett wig. Hedwig and the Angry Inches then went straight into 'Tear Me Down'. Hedwig's German accent was hilarious; I loved the way she kept asking, 'ja?' to the audience at the end of every sentence! It just made it feel more like the musical wasn't really a musical; it was for real [even though it wasn't!]

Hedwig explained that when he was a young boy, he used to draw pictures of the stories that his mother used to tell him. Cue 'The Origin of Love' which had funny slides in the background. Hedwig talks about her mother a lot throughout the first part, which tells you a lot about the tough upbringing she had. I loved the subtle references and jokes about Hansel (Hedwig as a boy) being touched up by his parents; you never actually find out what happened. I thought the oven parts were also a nice touch, and it was really sweet the way that Hedwig demonstrated the oven by putting her head on top of the amp.

I don't really want to say too much about the story as you've probably already got the gist of it from the songs, or you're going to see it. But I will tell you about my favorite bits. The whole of 'Sugar Daddy' was amazingly sexy, just the way Hedwig dances throughout that song is fabulous. I love that way David portrays Hedwig in this scene, and the whole gummy bear thing is hilarious! You'll know what I mean soon....just look at the slides!

Ok picture the costumes....Cowgirl dress with rodeo jacket, black pleather tight halterneck with matching hot pants, the same as before with bubble wrap wrapped round Hedwig!, denim skirt with a kimono top, boxer shirts with silver glitter all over David's body. Get the feeling of the musical?

Another great bit was the way Hedwig was compared to the Berlin wall and its demise, especially in ‘Tear Me Down’. I think it describes Hedwig’s feelings about herself really vividly; it helps you understand her problems with accepting who she has become. I was taking photos and recording clips throughout the whole thing, as I wanted to remember everything and have lots of memories of it, but more about that later!

Halfway through, Carla had to go out to get service on her phone. When she came back she told me that she had spoken to Simon, and he had told her that I could come back another night to see the show; I looked 18! She gave me his card which he had given her to give to me, and she said, “He said just email him. He said he could get you in through the back door or something, you could be like his guest.” I asked him later on about it, and he said don’t worry about the money, and I could bring one or two people along. I was absolutely ecstatic after that! Firstly, I had been told for the first time ever that I looked 18, and also I was getting another opportunity to see David! I was over the moon!

During one of the songs (I can’t actually figure out which one, it was upbeat and definitely mentioned a car wash…someone get back to me on that please!) David came off the stage to sing to the audience. First he went over to Simon and sang a little bit to him, then over to a woman who was also on the production team (I *think*!). Lastly, as I was wishing he would, he came over to me! I think he had got the fact that I was his biggest fan, so he came over to sing to me. There was an empty chair on either side of me, and he got up on them, one leg on each, so he was so he was standing over me, and waved his crotch about in my face!! I was cheering and laughing and going “Woooo” the whole time [and throughout the whole play too…especially during costume changes ] It was just so funny and amazing having him sing to me, and then when he was dancing on me it was just exhilarating and also hilarious. He has so much charisma! That was probably the best part of the night, David dancing on top of me! I actually had to pinch myself a couple of times afterwards, just to check!

The way that Hedwig kept expecting Tommy to mention her was really sad, it just made you feel really bad for her, and it was also meant to show how men have treated Hedwig in general throughout her life. I love the way ‘Wicked Little Town’ is incorporated into it too. It was great how the different characters were played by one person, it was really effective and I loved the Tommy Gnosis accent! I think I’m giving too much away now…I don’t want to tell too much so I think I’ll leave it at that. The show is original, funny, sexy, charismatic, sniping, insightful, touching, emotional, outrageous, inspirational, witty and at the end of the day, it’s a whole load of fun. I promise you that you will love every minute of it; every line cracks you up! Hearing Hedwig’s story being told by David in the German accent is just great, and I am telling you, GO SEE THIS SHOW!!! I’m sure that once all of the final creases are ironed out, and the tiny issues sorted, this musical will be even better than it was last night. Three words: Book. Tickets. Now.

After the rehearsal was over, David was still on stage (in nothing but boxers and body glitter….I’ll leave it to your imagination, and to my camera) sorting out a couple of things, but Carla and I had to go as it was getting late. I thought that that would be it now, as he was obviously busy, but I still wanted a picture with him! Just as we were leaving, David said from the stage, “No no no, don’t leave yet! Let’s go talk!” He got down from the stage and came over to me, took my hand and led me to this little corner. He was holding my hand firmly as we walked over, and I was in total bliss! I didn’t want to let it go! We sat down in a couple of chairs, and David gushes to me, “You guys were total Saints for sitting through that!” I kept telling him how great and incredible he was, but he was having none of it! Then Carla reminded him of a couple of times when he forgot his lines, to which he replied, “Yeah I know! I should just write them on my arm!” Cue him pretending to write all over his arm! Then he got a bit serious and said, “Listen honey I know you were taking pictures and recording through the play, but I need you to not put those on the internet. If these get out on the net, it could affect ticket prices, and some people might think I’m not ready, you know, like…’This guys not good at all’. Obviously when you come back no-one can stop you taking pictures through, but as this was a rehearsal I don’t want people to think I’m not ready. I need to be able to trust you, promise me you won’t put them there.” So I promised him. And that is why I can only add one of the pictures to the album, the one taken afterwards.

After that I asked him if I could get a picture with him, and he said of course, so I got my camera out again and gave it to Carla to take the picture. He gestured for me to sit right up next to him, nearly on his lap, so I did! I put my arm around his waist (I HAD to! For the good of mankind!) His skin is so damn soft! I told him that and he was like Nooo! So I told him that he had legs to die for and a cleavage better than mine! I think he liked that   And then Snap! The moment was captured forever…

Then along came Simon with a magic marker, he told David to sign the posters he had given to me earlier! He gave Carla and me a foam wig and poster each, but Carla gave her stuff to me as she knew it would mean a lot more to me…ahhh! The programmes were coming the next day, so Ben said he would give us a couple the next time we came. David signed the first one; “To Sweet Tania. With love, David Bedella” He asked me if he should put the same thing on other one, but I said “No! Be original!” So he put, “To my “Web Goddess”, With Love, David Bedella”

Then he asked me again, “Listen, I want to trust you, actually no; I *do* trust you because anyone who would take the time out to make a website about me must have my best interests at heart. Please, do not put those photos on the internet.” I said, “I promise” again, and then I got out my right hand pinkie!! He cried “Yeah, pinkie promise”, and we joint pinkies and shook, while Carla and Simon just gave us bemused looks…

Then it was goodbye time. I said bye to David, and he said “Take care, maybe see you soon as they’ve invited you back, haven’t they?” And I replied “Yeah, hopefully see you soon!” Then Simon was like, “Email me!" And he wanted me to do a review online…and here it is! I just really did not want to leave, but I had to. We walked up to the door, and typically we couldn’t get out, so I had to go back to get someone to let us out! As you can probably see from this account, the whole night was just…well…the only word I can think of is surreal. Totally surreal.