The Phantom of the Opera (April 18th, 2014)

The Phantom of the Opera

This was a very exciting show for me; I had a new Christine who I’d really wanted to see on, and at the last moment I found out that my favourite Raoul was on as well, so that was an awesome bonus. It’s also always nice when I know some people that are watching the same show as me, so that was fun. I’ve covered most of this cast (as it was nearly exactly the same both nights, other than different Christines and missing Layla) in the other review and I’ve put a link to that in the bottom of this review.

Onto Ashleigh; I feel very lucky to have been able to make it to this show because I very much wanted to see her play Christine. Ever since Olivia (there’s a story there, but that’s for another time), I like to see as much variety as I can. One, because it’s a nice experience and I wanted to see Ashleigh anyway because she’s been lovely when I’ve spoken to her, but also because it helps me to understand the variety of ways a character can be portrayed, and this helps solidify (and sometimes change) what I do and don’t like. Also, it’s possible to not like a portrayal (ie. Character choices) but still think it was well done. Anyway, Ashleigh as Christine. I have very mixed feelings, but that said, I definitely did like it  (if that makes sense at all). As in, there were things I didn’t like and things I did like, but the overall impression was ‘like’. I want to see her again for comparison’s sake as it’s hard to tell if someone’s just having an off day, but oh well. The thing I didn’t like was her voice. I don’t know why but I expected her to have a big voice, and it didn’t seem very strong or confident at all. It sounded fine sometimes, but other times I wasn’t even sure if she was hitting the notes. But with something like singing it is very hard to tell if it’s their normal voice or an off day, so I don’t want to put too much stock in that. That’s why the likes outweighs the dislike, and honestly I’m not too fussed about the vocal technique. I go for characterization of the voice over pure vocal strength. My only other issue with her was some of the movement…. She has a thing for back-arching; sort of leaning back from the hips up a lot. It didn’t really make sense, and it just looked awkward and uncomfortable. But I really, really loved her acting. She’s got the most interesting facial expressions. She does the Angel of Music ‘trance’ the best I’ve seen; her eyes sort of glaze over and roll back a bit. It’s very creepy and quite realistic. Also she’s very consistent; the acting isn’t in and out, and the character stayed quite consistent through the show (with the necessary change as the show progressed, of course). The transitions that are made are believable. Her faces during the Final Lair are huge, but she’s mastered the expressive faces without overdoing it. Some movements could have been sharper to be more consistent with her Christine’s personality during the Final Lair, but not a massive issue. I also thought she and Antony were a nice pairing; their portrayals complemented each other nicely and the relationship was believable. So overall liked her, although I do have mildly mixed feelings, and I definitely want to see her again (though I’m not optimistic that will happen…).

I’ve covered Scott, Antony and Cat (as well as other notable performances) in my other review; see: http://strangerthanyoudreamt.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-phantom-of-opera-april-19th-2014.html

The Phantom of the Opera (April 19th, 2014)

The Phantom of the Opera

My Double-Show Day

This was only the second time I've done a double-show day (though I have another one scheduled), and I enjoy it so much. Not only do I get to see my favourite show twice (spoiled, I know) but I get to analyse two shows with identical casts right beside each other. It's fascinating. 

Anyway, keeping this one short (I don't think anyone needs another Olivia-Soliloquy, though I'd be more than happy to write one); mostly just point form notes of things I liked, disliked, random thoughts, etc. I knew this show would be Olivia, which was why I did both shows, but I got lucky and Antony was on as well, which is an awesome bonus. Layla wasn't on for either show, so I noticed a lot of new things about the ballet, the other dancers, etc, so that's getting it's own section/paragraph. Otherwise, excuse the lack of organisation. My brain isn't functioning properly at the moment. 

**Disclaimer: When I'm commenting on blocking/spacing/etc. I realise it's often a director choice, not the actor. However, it's impossible for me to discern who made the decision, and I'm not trying to say I want it changed. It's just my thoughts on how I might like to see it differently, or what I think does/doesn't work. It's not intended as a criticism of any of the performers. Seriously, I love this cast so much, and I'd never want to hurt any of their feelings.**

Scott (Phantom) - Not my favourite, though I don't dislike him. He complements Harriet better than Olivia; Harriet has a bit more of a mellow approach which is better matched by Scott's rather melodramatic Phantom. With Scott and Olivia it's a bit too much on one stage, but it's definitely him that's overdoing it. There's a point where I'm just thinking, "Ok, I get it, you're crazy. Now please stop!" It's just too much, especially the Final Lair. Big, powerful voice though. The first "Insolent boy" comes out of nowhere and is very striking. 

Olivia (Christine) - I adore her portrayal of Christine, but I'd sort of reached the point where I expected it to stay the same for the next little while. There's only so much more she can do, right? Wrong, apparently. She's improved, which was very unnerving when you think it's perfect already. The acting is still high quality, believable, and she does the character exactly the way I want it done (I hate 'doe-eyed' Christine portrayals), but her voice has just gotten much better! It's not that it was bad to begin with; it was gorgeous. I love the way she uses her voice for characterisation; she doesn't just sing through the songs. The voice, face, and movement all work together. But back to the point; she's got a really powerful voice! The cadenza at the end of Think of Me was the best I've heard from her. And it wasn't a one-show phenomenon because she sounded incredible for both shows. Anyway, I'm as impressed as ever. 10 shows, and she still manages to really draw you into the story and the character. It's great. Potentially only have two shows of her left, so that's… depressing, to put it mildly. On one hand, I'm interested to see what she'd bring to another role (I'd LOVE to see her as Luisa in Zorro or Elphaba in Wicked), but perfect Christines are rare. There was one thing  I didn't like; there's a bit in Il Muto when Carlotta/Countess and Christine/Serafimo jump on the bed and stick their faces behind the fan. Harriet and Ashleigh both turn their faces inwards so they're hidden behind the fan, but Olivia keeps it outwards so from either side you can see her face sticking out from the fan. It's just a bit weird since Countess and Serafimo are supposed to be 'kissing' behind the fan so it makes more sense to have both of their faces hidden. But specific song-wise: Think of Me is fantastically done; she does sound pretty bad the first few lines (as she's supposed to), and then throughout the song there's a huge amount of growth and change in the voice, until you get to the cadenza which is just a bit epic. Wishing is gorgeous as usual (I cried - didn't think that was possibly with my antibiotic-filled eyes); I think this song is the best example of how she acts with her voice as well as her face and body. Some really picture-perfect moments in the second show. Again, massive voice during this show, so the songs were extra-powerful. Twisted Every Way killed me a bit; the terror and fear were so real, you could feel it in the audience. Heartbreaking, really. 

Antony (Raoul) - Love, love, LOVE his Raoul. Sometimes, when I've got a not-so-good Raoul on, I just think Christine should leave Phantom and Raoul to sort themselves out and jump in the boat on her own. But Antony's Raoul has a lot of dimension and he's not as much of a vain idiot that Raoul often is.   He's confident and still fits the mould of the time period, but he seems much more sensitive and aware of Christine. He's got a massive, powerful voice as well, which is great. But Antony-Raoul's best is the Final Lair. It's really, really incredible. First of all, bridge jump. It's important and I like it when it's actually in the show. But anyway, I like that his first thought isn't to get out of the lair, but to go after the Phantom and Christine has to hold him back. It reinforces his superhero-esque image. The noose is fluffing terrifying (it worked this time! Haha); I know what to expect, but it freaks me out every time. His Raoul really fights it at first, then you can sort of see him struggling as time goes by. He completely turns away for the Phantom/Christine kiss, which is heartbreaking. Then when the Phantom threatens him with the candle (seriously though, what's he going to do, set Raoul on fire? They're next to a lake, for goodness sake), Christine says "No/Please!" (first show was please, second was no) and Raoul repeats this, and I nearly cried again because Raoul has a vulnerable side. Who knew? It was amazing. Yeah, he's super brave and is really fighting for Christine, but in that moment you see that he doesn't want to die/lose Christine. It's sad. Really, really effective. But sad. And then the way he throws himself on the ground and takes forever to get up (with Christine's help) is hard to watch, because he's so powerful the rest of the show. At that  point, I'm usually thinking something like, "seriously Christine, go with him already! He pretty much just died for you!" Anyway, awesome Raoul. So many little character additions that really make Raoul more likeable (as I said, Raoul can come off as a bit - ok, a lot - of a jerk, in which case you have to wonder what's wrong with Christine's head. So a likeable Raoul is important!)

AIAOY needs it's own thing because it's Antony and Olivia (can't put it with only one of their paragraphs) and this combination is perfect! Probably my least favourite song in the show (aside from Notes), but these two do it so beautifully it's hard not to like it. It's so much less cheesy when the relationship between Christine and Raoul is more believable. 

Cat (Meg) - Cat gets her own bit because she has improved SO much. She's not anticipating her lines anymore, her expression has gotten a lot better, her voice seems stronger. She draws attention for the right reasons now. I wish they'd style her wig a bit differently though; it looks quite limp. 

Everyone else - Sassy Carlotta! It's my favourite thing (though one of these days I want Carlotta to hit someone with her umbrella during Notes/Prima Donna. That'd be hilarious). She and Jeremy complement each other very well. Jeremy's got brilliant comedic timing. I also really like this conductor; he's fun to watch. He really gets into it (he was singing along to POTO) and his eyes sparkle when he's conducting. It's cool to watch. Had the understudy (2nd cover?) Firmin on, and he was awesome. I probably liked him more than the principle Firmin. He just missed the timing on one thing at the beginning of Masquerade, but otherwise had a great sense of comedy. 

So usually why I like the 2 show days is because I like seeing the differences between shows. They actually weren't too different this time. I think Olivia was a bit tired for the second show; didn't show in the voice or acting at all, but she nearly tripped coming out of the boat during POTO, which was a bit scary. I don't know if this was on purpose or not (it was funny either way) but she nearly fell over a few times during the curtain call. I love curtain calls with Olivia and Antony because they're not so serious. Probably my least favourite thing about Phantom is the curtain call, because it's still very… professional, whereas at Les Mis, for example, they fool around quite a bit during the curtain call. It's nice to see when the actors are having a good time as well. Also I think this was the first time Olivia hasn't had a major costume malfunction when I've been watching (whenever I watch her I keep expecting the entire costume to come open or something, that's how many issues she had when I've been watching), so maybe that curse is broken now. I think they've redone the Elissa skirts? Looks like the Christines are sort of snapping them into place so they stay aligned, and I don't think that was around before (they used to slip halfway around through the song). Olivia's dressing gown looks new too, though it may not be. It just looks a lot fuller and richer. Also love the front row because I really get to look at the details. And a big thing for me: you get to look right at the actors' eyes up close. Because it's in the eyes that you see the depth of the character. 

And finally…

The Things I Noticed When Layla Wasn't On

Since I didn't have Layla to watch, I was mostly focusing on the dances as a whole, and on Georgia and Danielle (since I like watching Georgia and was told I would like Danielle, so had to watch her too). I love Georgia's effortless flexibility and Danielle has the most beautiful arms, and a great quality of movement. So I'm glad I got to see a bit more of them. In the group dances, it's usually Layla that draws the eye, but with her gone, I was surprised that Cat was drawing the attention the most. She's got some great expressions, and I like her as a dancer better than I thought I did. 

Hannibal - They'd left a gap where Layla usually was on the entrance; I guess another of the girls was supposed to shift over and fill it in, but the dancers were perfectly matched down the sides and the back, so I think I would've had Cat shift to the middle. She did eventually, but there was a large gap at the very beginning. The 'archy' bit looked very incomplete with a missing dancer. Since there was an uneven number of girls, one of the dancers (I think Charise. I'm beginning to figure out the other dancers' names) sort of vanished when they needed to divide into two groups to even it out. Seamlessly done; I didn't see when she went out or came in (she was just suddenly gone, and then she was there again). 

Buquet - Love the one girl who says "Ew, that's horrid!" in that scene. Cracks me up every time. Not 100% sure who this girl is, but she's got amazing facial expressions. They're hilarious. Didn't notice a missing dancer in this one, so that's good. 

Il Muto - No gaps or awkward spacing this time, if you didn't know better you wouldn't've noticed a missing dancer. Danielle ended up with a solo pirouette; done beautifully, and positioned so that it didn't look like there were usually two turners. I noticed that Cat does Il Muto?! I'd never noticed that before; I always thought it was just the cover Megs that danced the Il Muto ballet as well.

Masquerade - Gap on the staircase where Layla usually is, definitely a missing dancer in this part in the back where Triton Girl (no clue who plays her) and Gypsy are doing these kicks/attitudes. It looks weird with only the one dancer. Watched Danielle (Fish), as I usually ignore that costume because it's so hideous (that headpiece is nauseating). She really is a beautiful dancer. She makes that stupid costume look less awkward. Funnily, if they took the nose/mouth piece of the headpiece and the 'tails' on the skirt away, it'd be a nice costume. It's a nice colour and the bodice and skirt are beautiful. Ah well. They can't all be perfect. Still love the Butterfly because sparkly. And purple. I love sparkly purple things. And Triton Girl, same reason (sparkles!!). 

That pretty much covers the things I noticed when Layla wasn't on. I'm sure there are more things, and I'll add them in later when I remember them. 

ENB Lest We Forget (April 6th, 2014)

English National Ballet's

Lest We Forget

On Sunday April 6th, I attended the matinee of the English National Ballet's Lest We Forget, a collection of four pieces commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The only ballets I'd previously seen live were The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland, both with the National Ballet of Canada, as well as recordings of Coppelia, Giselle, and Swan Lake. Essentially, all classical ballets, so seeing something more contemporary was a new experience. Overall, despite it being like nothing I'd ever seen before, I very much enjoyed Lest We Forget. I've divided my thoughts up based on each piece and a general summary at the end. Everything's point form, as I didn't take notes during the show so it's just me pulling together sometimes-vague memories. 

Disclaimer: I know very little about ballet, its terminology, the rules of choreography, etc. so if I've gotten something wrong, apologies. I'm applying my Rhythmic Gymnastics background with my small amount of knowledge of ballet (based on having danced for just under a year) and hoping for the best. But really, artistry and choreography are in the eye of the beholder. Anyway, this is all just my opinion/thoughts. 

Also, I made a point of not reading too much about the pieces before I saw them. I wanted to watch them and form an opinion on what I thought they were about and then read what they were supposed to be about, and see how well I thought they communicated the meaning. As it turned out, I 'misunderstood' most of them and actually got Second Breath and No Man's Land confused with each other. I'm not sure if that's a me thing or if that's the way it would've looked to anyone who saw it without reading the summaries of the pieces beforehand.

No Man's Land:

- Not my favourite piece of the evening, though the duet made me cry. It was so beautifully danced, and incredibly poignant. My historian brain was a little annoyed at the manipulation of facts about the death toll in WWI, but of course I understand artistic manipulation. Some things have to be… redesigned to fit the idea of the piece. 

- Main issue is that I just didn't get it. It was repetitive (same lifts over and over - this was actually an issue through most of the pieces). I got the point, but I don't think the execution was as elegant as it could've been. All gorgeous dancers of course, but too much emphasis on butt/leg stroking/patting and costume removing/replacing (seriously, keep the vest on or take it off. Pick one!)

- The yellow gloves annoyed me at first, but they grew on me. I probably would've scrapped the back of the apron for the girls; it was distracting and unnecessary. Wasn't really sure about the costume change for the principle female dancer in this piece. I probably would've kept her in the same styles of the others, but changed the colour instead of putting her in a completely different costume.

- This piece was nice and as I said, the duet made me cry, but as compared to the others it was somewhat forgettable. 

Firebird:

- Gorgeous, gorgeous dancer playing the Firebird (Kseniya Ovsyanick). Beautiful extension and lines, lovely expression. Fierce when she needed to be, but weak and vulnerable at times as well. Struggled with the costume change a bit (looked like it got caught on her shoe?) but managed to get it off in the end. She reminded me of Ganna Rizatdinova with a bit of an Obrasztsova look about her. Anyway, she was wonderful. I have a soft spot for pointe, so I liked that the girls in this dance were all en pointe. 

- Loved the guy with the solo part in the middle; powerful, fierce, very in time with the music. It was a nice moment.

- Only complaint is that the number of people in the dance could've been cut in half (four could easily have been removed). That many people seemed unnecessary. I would've removed either the 'purple' or the 'black' dancers and had their parts combined into one. There were just too many people on stage, and it didn't add anything to the piece. It got distracting, especially when they got out of time with each other. There was one point where the vast number of people worked to enhance the idea of confusion on stage and opposed to being a detriment to the focus, but I still would have whittled down the number a bit.  

- This was my favourite piece though; I liked the variety of choreography, the beautiful lifts, and the stunning costumes. The intricacies made it more interesting to watch, and the concept was probably the easiest to grasp of the four pieces. 

Second Breath:

- Mixed feelings about this piece. Some parts were incredible; the synchronisation was stunning. But it got REALLY repetitive. The were a good 90-120 seconds where they were doing the same thing over… and over… and over… It was nice the first few times but it lost its effectiveness after three or four.  

- The ensemble bits were beautifully danced though. I question the choreography a bit, but the dancing itself was stunning. It's so weird for me to see men who are expressive with gorgeous legs, arms, and feet, since I'm used to the horror that are male figure skaters and gymnasts (mostly gymnasts. I can't stand men's gymnastics). 

- Didn't like the acro-esque element at all. I think something went wrong with one bit because it looked very… wrong, as if they were struggling to compensate for an error. But the standing-on-shoulders thing was too reminiscent of Acro Gymnastics and really didn't fit with the rest of the ballet, or even the rest of the individual piece. That's the main dislike of this piece. 

- The duet in the middle was stunning. Absolutely beautiful. No awkward lifts, beautiful choreography, beautiful dancing. 

- And finally: Abs. That is all. 

Dust:

- It was cool to spot Joan Sebastian Zamora, a dancer from my favourite documentary First Position, in this. He was part of the ensemble, but it's great to see how far he's come since First Position. 

- Adored the intricacies of the 'wave' the dancers formed with their arms. It was breathtaking. 

- What I didn't like was the dancer at the beginning (and throughout the piece) contorting himself, slapping and scraping at his back, etc. I think they were trying to allude to PTSD, or the mental and physical damage done by war, but it looked a bit too exorcist (edit: apparently PTSD was not what they were getting at, but that's what it came off as). I thought it was nicely danced and obviously everyone worked very hard, but I just didn't feel the solo male dancer's character that much. Maybe the beginning bit should've been a bit shorted and that might've made the character more tolerable.  

- Really, I thought this piece was a bit weird. But weird in a good way, even if I didn't really get it. Probably my second favourite piece of the evening, after Firebird. 

The general impression of Lest We Forget is that the duets and solo dances were its strongest parts. The ensemble dances were less well choreographed (repetition galore!). However, it was a beautiful, dark, thought-provoking show, and I very much enjoyed it. Highly recommend going to see it, whether you think it's up your alley or not. It's completely not what I usually like, but definitely worth seeing. 

Phantom of the Opera (April 5th, 2014)

The Phantom of the Opera

I'm dividing this review into acts for a change, since each act was sort of it's own entity. Not super detailed, but some noticeable things. 

Act One

It was nice to see Harriet's Christine again. I still don't love it, but it's still improved from the last time I saw her (didn't connect to that show at all…). I still can't watch her without analysing her, but I've at least pinpointed what I don't like about her Christine. It's the voice; she's got this gorgeous, full, beautiful voice… but every song sounds the same. Her movement and her face tell a story, but her voice never changes. I noticed this most in All I Ask of You and Wishing. She could be so, so good, but she needs to let the voice go a bit at points. It doesn't always need to be perfect; imperfections tell the story better. 

Anyway, Hannibal was fun; loved that Harriet's starting to figure out the dancing. Her shoes matched everyone else's this time (in the past they've been bright white). Jeremy is brilliant in Hannibal; he just makes the most of every second he's on stage, and really brings a lot of humour to the show. Microphone issues for Monsieur Reyer, but other than that, Hannibal/Think of Me was clean. No comment on Cat jumping up early again. Think of me was gorgeous; I still think it's Harriet's best song (closely followed by PONR and Twisted Every Way). 

I watched the degas ballet during the Meg/Christine and Raoul/Christine scenes. I did catch Harriet's reading of the letter from Raoul; loved the confusion-turn-to-realisation look that she had. Nice Angel of Music; Harriet has such a beautiful face, she can make pretty much anything look good (I say this because the 'Angel of Music face'; that is, the dreamy, dipsy facial expression, annoys me to no end, but Harriet makes it tolerable). Nice enough title song. Music of the Night was dull; Gero's voice was great but they don't connect as well as Olivia and Gero do. The mask got knocked off too early, but Harriet did a great 'run and fall' (very believable) and Gero's 'Stranger' was wonderfully creepy.

Didn't pay attention in Notes/Prima Donna. I only like that song when Layla is in it (hooray for three dimensional characters!), otherwise it's my least favourite song/scene in the entire show. Fiona was better today; less shrill, better accent, stronger overall portrayal. Il Muto was hilarious; I love how Fiona does that scene. It's funny. 

All I ask of you was very meh. Pretty boring, nice voices but nothing else happened. No connection between Raoul and Christine. The Chandelier had a bit of a delay coming down, so everyone was standing there looking shocked for a few moments before it came down.

An eventful Act Two
Act two of this show was quite something. The first act was pretty dull, so I was expecting a similar second act. Didn't happen, obviously.

First of all, Harriet in Notes II: EPIC. Loved her; loved the emotion, loved that she let herself go a bit. It wasn't all about the big voice anymore, and she is truly at her best when she's not all about the voice. Another Harriet thing that made the second act interesting: Aminta Dress. Huge rip in the back; the ruffle was hanging halfway to the ground. She stepped on it. And her boot caught it. I have no idea how she untangled herself but for a second I thought she was going to end up on the floor. Nice save, but the ruffle was completely ripped and I was terrified she was going to step on it again and fall. Everything was fine, but it made PONR much more… nerve-wracking?

Backing up a bit to Masquerade. They forgot to drop the curtain and the stairs weren't going back. So from the audience (I was three rows back and on the opposite side of the stage), you could hear "Get the stairs back! Get the stairs back!" And the stairs went back before the curtain went down. So unlike the onstage bloopers, this was a very poorly handled issue by the backstage crew. They needed to not be so loud… because if I could hear it, other people certainly could. It didn't ruin the show, but they needed not to panic. I thought after the fact that maybe they were short staffed and someone missed their cue, but still. If I can hear you from the audience, you're doing something wrong.

The big event of act two was the Final Lair. Something happened with the noose, and I'm not sure what, but it didn't end up around Sean's neck. So Sean just sort of fell over and attached himself to the gate on the floor. Now, in theory, he probably should've stayed on his feet and attached himself to the gate that way, but in practice, he had a split second to figure it out, and what he did worked fine (the only issue I had is that he was blocked by the music box from my side of the stage). I think he handled it very well, and Gero and Harriet both did a good job working around it. Gero hurried up the candle bit of the 'noose release' (obviously noose-less) so the conductor had to play catch up a bit. But again, it was fine. Everyone handled it well. Yes, it was obvious that something went wrong, but it wasn't a disaster. A disaster would've been if they all sort of stood there not knowing what to do. I think the masquerade staircase is a bigger issue than this was.

The Phantom of the Opera (April 4th, 2014)

The Phantom of the Opera

This is definitely going to be another point-formy review; I wasn't paying enough attention to mental note-taking to really write anything too detailed. Lately I just want to sit and watch, not obsessively note every single move. It's a good fallback when the show is boring (a rarity), but it's more relaxing just to enjoy it. There are certain things I remember, and that's what I write. Anyway, lecture over.

Geronimo Rauch (Phantom) - WOW that was a Final Lair! Basically from the beginning of PONR, the show was on fire. It was so intense. Gero was great as usual, lots of energy. He's toned down the heavy breathing a bit, but I could still do without it even more. I actually thought he was Scott for a minute because of the heavy breathing. Anyway, love his energy, love his voice. Music of the Night is so beautifully sung. I swear he's shrunk or Olivia's grown though… he seemed very small in stature today. He left out the choking thing today, but I don't think it was necessary and I don't think it would've worked if he'd tried it. It's hard to explain, but it wasn't necessary this time.

Olivia Brereton (Christine) - 8 shows, I should be sick of her by now. But I'm not. Her portrayal is really consistent (which I like because I think her interpretation of Christine is perfect), but she adds new little details all the time, which keep it really fresh. I've only recently noticed how good her PONR is; I sort of noticed last time, but she really kills PONR. It's sultry and sexy without being too over the top. I usually zone out during PONR just because people have a tendency to overdo the sexy, but I think Olivia has a nice balance going. It gets the idea across without overdoing it. Also, I think this was probably the vocally strongest 2nd act I've seen from her. Huge voice, lots of power behind it. It showed the most in PONR and the Final Lair. I could hear lines I usually miss, which was nice. As I mentioned previously, that Final Lair was epic. It looked like she was crying at one point. I love her strong, passionate protection of Raoul (even though this Raoul totally doesn't deserve it). For this show, I don't think either Phantom or Raoul was the 'right' choice, so I like that she played it like she was sorry for both… I don't know, it just worked. 

Sean Palmer (Raoul) - Erm… no comment. Boring. Self centred. Totally not deserving of being saved from the noose. Wimpy. Although he did fight the noose a bit more than usual. Can I have Superhero Raoul (otherwise known as Antony) back please?

Cat Lane (Meg) - Still (!!) jumping up too early in Hannibal. Literally on her feet and looking distressed before anything has actually happened. It's April. She should've figured it out by now. Nothing going on in her face or body during Notes. I did like the way she did that step back and run before the curtain opens for the journey to the final lair. Her voice is nice enough; not particularly strong but she hits all the notes. 

Fiona Finsbury (Carlotta) - Really, really strong Il Muto. I loved that she was really 'acting' it; she was Carlotta playing a part, and it was over the top and silly, perfect for the scene. She wasn't afraid to bring out Carlotta's more mean side (the 'your part is silent, little toad' saw her grabbing Christine's wrists quite tightly and pushing her away). Her "She's mad" was good too; less abrupt and more of a realisation than Lara's. But she needs to do something different with her eye makeup (it doesn't suit her; her eyes look too massive with the current makeup), and her voice can be very shrill and grating. It was also uneven; sometimes she was too loud, other times you couldn't hear her at all. And the accent. It needs work. I realise for her it's not natural, but it was overdone and very contrived sounding. But I think she has a lot of potential and I could see her being very strong with some adjustments. 

Others: Yay for being able to watch Degas Ballet again. I'm still in love with this one girl's penche. It's so effortless and beautiful. The ballet itself is very smooth and clean. I just love watching it. Noticed a few costumes in Masquerade that I hadn't noticed before; didn't like either of them. New gypsy costume for Layla; I love it. Weird colour combination, but it's a nice colour for her and I think it balances out the red wig better. Also, SPARKLY. No major bloopers, just a few understudies on for the ensemble roles and some random trips/slips in various dances. But a relatively clean show all in all, and it was great as usual.