Les Misérables fanatic could be a record breaker
Guinness World Records call Sally Frith's 957 visits to the London stage show an "amazing achievement" and encourage her to make a claim for the record
More than 60 million people have been to see the stage production of Les Misérables - but nearly one in every 60,000 tickets was purchased by superfan Sally Frith.
Gloucestershire-based Sally, who has been to see the musical of Victor Hugo's novel an astonishing 957 times over 25 years, has travelled to London, Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester - and even Sweden and New York - to see the show.
Her excursions to London, where she sees most performances, take her four hours in total, covering a distance of over 100 miles (161 km) each way on the train from her bungalow in Stroud to the Queen's Theatre in London's West End.
"I think it is one of the greatest musicals ever written. I love the story, love the songs and everything about it, and I've got to know quite a few cast members over the years.
Of the cast's reaction to her multiple visits she revealed, "Some are quite shocked and some have heard from other cast members that I'm a regular visitor, but on the whole the majority of the cast are lovely." She told BBC News.
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In addition to Sally's vast collection of tickets, she also owns a considerable haul of memorabilia, including photos of herself with cast members, scores of programmes, T-shirts, mugs, videos, cassette tapes and more - but admits to not knowing the full expense of her hobby.
"They worked it out once and it was about £40,000 but that was a long time ago. So it is probably about £50,000 now at least."
Guinness World Records responded to Miss Frith's devotion to the show, telling RadioTimes.com her visits are an "amazing achievement". Although the world records adjudicator doesn't currently monitor such a record, they recommended that Miss Frith has her achievement reviewed by their management team.
So after her scores of visits to the stage show, how does Sally feel about the film production that was released in UK cinemas today and stars Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway?
"I will have to look at it with a totally different mind-frame because it's going to be a film, not a stage version, but from what I've heard it's going to be absolutely mind-blowing."
Do you know anyone who can challenge Sally's record of 957 visits to a stage show by a single individual? Let us know in the comments box below....
