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:
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