I guess the title is a bit grand, but really, this is just my list of favourite nuances and details that Olivia puts into her portrayal of Christine. It's these little details that I'm going to miss the most about her Christine, so I thought it'd be nice to put them all together so I can remember them (and perhaps so other people can see what they missed ;) ). Even after 14 shows, I'm sure there are things that I've missed, but here are my top ten (you've no idea how hard it was to narrow down just 10) favourite moments of Olivia Brereton's Christine (in no particular order, though my absolute favourites are grouped towards the end). A lot of it you really need to know the show to know the moments I'm talking about, so… good luck!
1. The way she uses her voice
This one's pretty general, but Olivia really acts with her voice. You can hear Christine's emotions without having to see what's going on onstage. But it's not overdone at all; every aspect of her portrayal - voice, look, acting, etc. comes together perfectly such that no one thing overwhelms the others. But anyway, it's the acting with her voice that I think is really incredible, because it's not something everyone can or does do, and it really makes the character.
2. Stranger Than You Dreamt It (and some other things related to it)
When she's handing back the mask to the Phantom, she sort of nods, as if telling the Phantom that it's ok, he can trust her. Even though a few seconds before she was scared out of her mind, Christine realises how hurt the Phantom is. In a way, it's like she understands him as a person, which makes sense as you see how she interacts with him through the show. Then of course you get to the part where she snaps in Final Lair, but even after that you can still see her feeling pity for him. I've no idea what Olivia's take on this is, but the way I see this is that Christine does care about the Phantom, and she doesn't want to hurt him. It's a nice touch and I love the consistency.
3. When Raoul drags Christine away at the end of the Final Lair
This is particularly effective when it's Antony playing opposite Olivia. I can never tell exactly what she's saying, but it's something along the lines of "I can't leave", which after all she's been through with the Phantom is bizarre but understandable (side note on Antony - that kiss on the cheek while he was trying to pull her away. I may have squeaked a bit. It was really cute). But she really fights Raoul at first, and then of course she comes back. I think this ties back to #2; she doesn't want to be cruel to the Phantom. I guess it shows him that there is still some good in the world.
4. The Ending of Point of No Return
I love the way that the Phantom has to grab her arm, and then as soon as she possibly can she tears her hands free. All of this is done with so much bravery on her face that her pleading for the off-stage people to help her when the Phantom's dragging her away is hard to bear.
5. The end-of-wishing-head-nod
This is something she's always done, and it's very small but very poignant. Right after Wishing has finished and she's walking back across the stage, she stops, looks out to the audience, does a small nod, and wipes her eyes as she continues walking. The whole song is about letting go of her father and learning how to live, and that little nod, accepting that her father's gone and she must move on, shows that Christine has really made a journey through that sound.
6. "My Protector"
During the Wandering Child trio after Wishing with Raoul, Phantom, and Christine. When she's singing "Angel of Music, my protector" the way her arms, face, and voice come out on "protector"…. I just can't describe it. It's something else entirely. But it really emphasises that through all of the horrible things Phantom has done, Christine still sees the good in him. Obviously she's sort of in a trance at that point as well, but it makes it clearer why Christine is so conflicted.
7. The Pause Before Tears of Hate (and the line itself)
This is quite something. I've always liked the way she sang it, but the timing was never exactly the way I wanted it. But now it's utterly perfect. The big long pause, the building tension in her face and body, and then it just comes out all at once. I don't want to say she spits the line out, but that's the basic way of describing it. It really is "tears of hate" in its most literal sense. It's incredibly powerful.
8. Serafimo
It's funny. She plays it up, makes it comical. All of Serafimo's little quirks are big and overdone, perfect for the character. Not a whole lot to say, but I just love her way of playing Serafimo. It shows that Christine can do more than just sing. And heck, after all Christine's gone through and will go through, it's nice to see her theoretically having some fun with it.
9. Point of No Return Twirl
The PONR dress' skirt is perfect for swishing and twirling, and only Olivia does the twirl. It's when the Phantom lets go of her arm at "let the dream descend," it's almost as if she uses the momentum from pulling her arm away to launch into the twirl… no one else does it, and it goes perfectly with the music, and I love it.
10. All of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
Olivia does pretty much everything really well (as you can tell - I legitimately cannot think of something reasonable to not like about her), but Wishing is just her song. The way she sings each and every word (especially "And speaks my name!" and "why can't the past just die!") it feels so raw and real. Every face, every gesture - it's heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time.
Bonus: (told you I couldn't pick just 10) Carlotta's Think of Me
This was the first thing I ever noticed about Olivia's Christine, and it's a detail that, even though she doesn't do it every time, has stuck with me. I don't know why, but I have always found it incredibly effective. While Carlotta was singing her over the top Think of Me, Olivia's Christine would be mouthing the words, head down and with little movement at first, and then a bit bolder and towards the audience at the end. It was a beautiful and poignant moment and remains one of my favourite details of Olivia's.
Bonus number 2: The Costume Mishaps
Ok, so this isn't exactly a detail, but I thought it was quite funny that of all 14 shows I saw, she had a wardrobe-malfunction-free show once, possibly twice. Personal favourites of mine include the Wishing cloak coming undone and Olivia spent Wishing with her arms wrapped around herself to keep it on,. Another time (and this happened on her last show too) the Aminta dress came way too far open during the journey to the Final Lair and was slipping pretty far down, especially over one shoulder. The reason I liked seeing these things happen is because she doesn't panic, she doesn't ignore it. She actually makes them work. For example, with the Aminta dress slipping off, she waited until the Phantom had thrown her back on the boat and then pulled the costume back up very protectively. It just made sense (I mean, there's no point ignoring costume issues. They're obviously there, so make fixing them fit the scene).
Bonus number 3: The 'naturalness' of her Christine
A weird one to explain, but I'll give it a go. Nothing she does seems contrived or like she's acting. It's just Christine. And Christine, as a real person, plays with the loose bits of her costumes sometimes and isn't always 100% focused on what everyone else is doing. Little details like that (ignoring the big details like the sheer amount of emotion Olivia puts into her Christine) just make Christine so much more lifelike, which makes it much easier to connect with the character.
I could go on and on (heck, I'll probably come back and add to this over the next few days), but here's a last thought: Olivia brings Christine to life in a way no other person has, and I doubt anyone else ever will. She took risks, she tried new things, and the result was a character that had so many dimensions that you couldn't not believe in the character. The voice, the dancing, the acting; they all come together so beautifully that I couldn't ask for anything more or anything different.
Well, that's that! Can't believe it's been more than a year since I first saw Olivia's Christine (and I really can't believe I was upset about 'having' to see her in the first place. Thank goodness for Layla). Olivia's a truly spectacular Christine, and no one will be able to match her in the role. While she's on that stage, she just is Christine. Olivia herself is an all-around incredible performer, and I'm positive she will be very successful in all of her further endeavours.
This one's pretty general, but Olivia really acts with her voice. You can hear Christine's emotions without having to see what's going on onstage. But it's not overdone at all; every aspect of her portrayal - voice, look, acting, etc. comes together perfectly such that no one thing overwhelms the others. But anyway, it's the acting with her voice that I think is really incredible, because it's not something everyone can or does do, and it really makes the character.
2. Stranger Than You Dreamt It (and some other things related to it)
When she's handing back the mask to the Phantom, she sort of nods, as if telling the Phantom that it's ok, he can trust her. Even though a few seconds before she was scared out of her mind, Christine realises how hurt the Phantom is. In a way, it's like she understands him as a person, which makes sense as you see how she interacts with him through the show. Then of course you get to the part where she snaps in Final Lair, but even after that you can still see her feeling pity for him. I've no idea what Olivia's take on this is, but the way I see this is that Christine does care about the Phantom, and she doesn't want to hurt him. It's a nice touch and I love the consistency.
3. When Raoul drags Christine away at the end of the Final Lair
This is particularly effective when it's Antony playing opposite Olivia. I can never tell exactly what she's saying, but it's something along the lines of "I can't leave", which after all she's been through with the Phantom is bizarre but understandable (side note on Antony - that kiss on the cheek while he was trying to pull her away. I may have squeaked a bit. It was really cute). But she really fights Raoul at first, and then of course she comes back. I think this ties back to #2; she doesn't want to be cruel to the Phantom. I guess it shows him that there is still some good in the world.
4. The Ending of Point of No Return
I love the way that the Phantom has to grab her arm, and then as soon as she possibly can she tears her hands free. All of this is done with so much bravery on her face that her pleading for the off-stage people to help her when the Phantom's dragging her away is hard to bear.
5. The end-of-wishing-head-nod
This is something she's always done, and it's very small but very poignant. Right after Wishing has finished and she's walking back across the stage, she stops, looks out to the audience, does a small nod, and wipes her eyes as she continues walking. The whole song is about letting go of her father and learning how to live, and that little nod, accepting that her father's gone and she must move on, shows that Christine has really made a journey through that sound.
6. "My Protector"
During the Wandering Child trio after Wishing with Raoul, Phantom, and Christine. When she's singing "Angel of Music, my protector" the way her arms, face, and voice come out on "protector"…. I just can't describe it. It's something else entirely. But it really emphasises that through all of the horrible things Phantom has done, Christine still sees the good in him. Obviously she's sort of in a trance at that point as well, but it makes it clearer why Christine is so conflicted.
7. The Pause Before Tears of Hate (and the line itself)
This is quite something. I've always liked the way she sang it, but the timing was never exactly the way I wanted it. But now it's utterly perfect. The big long pause, the building tension in her face and body, and then it just comes out all at once. I don't want to say she spits the line out, but that's the basic way of describing it. It really is "tears of hate" in its most literal sense. It's incredibly powerful.
8. Serafimo
It's funny. She plays it up, makes it comical. All of Serafimo's little quirks are big and overdone, perfect for the character. Not a whole lot to say, but I just love her way of playing Serafimo. It shows that Christine can do more than just sing. And heck, after all Christine's gone through and will go through, it's nice to see her theoretically having some fun with it.
9. Point of No Return Twirl
The PONR dress' skirt is perfect for swishing and twirling, and only Olivia does the twirl. It's when the Phantom lets go of her arm at "let the dream descend," it's almost as if she uses the momentum from pulling her arm away to launch into the twirl… no one else does it, and it goes perfectly with the music, and I love it.
10. All of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
Olivia does pretty much everything really well (as you can tell - I legitimately cannot think of something reasonable to not like about her), but Wishing is just her song. The way she sings each and every word (especially "And speaks my name!" and "why can't the past just die!") it feels so raw and real. Every face, every gesture - it's heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time.
Bonus: (told you I couldn't pick just 10) Carlotta's Think of Me
This was the first thing I ever noticed about Olivia's Christine, and it's a detail that, even though she doesn't do it every time, has stuck with me. I don't know why, but I have always found it incredibly effective. While Carlotta was singing her over the top Think of Me, Olivia's Christine would be mouthing the words, head down and with little movement at first, and then a bit bolder and towards the audience at the end. It was a beautiful and poignant moment and remains one of my favourite details of Olivia's.
Bonus number 2: The Costume Mishaps
Ok, so this isn't exactly a detail, but I thought it was quite funny that of all 14 shows I saw, she had a wardrobe-malfunction-free show once, possibly twice. Personal favourites of mine include the Wishing cloak coming undone and Olivia spent Wishing with her arms wrapped around herself to keep it on,. Another time (and this happened on her last show too) the Aminta dress came way too far open during the journey to the Final Lair and was slipping pretty far down, especially over one shoulder. The reason I liked seeing these things happen is because she doesn't panic, she doesn't ignore it. She actually makes them work. For example, with the Aminta dress slipping off, she waited until the Phantom had thrown her back on the boat and then pulled the costume back up very protectively. It just made sense (I mean, there's no point ignoring costume issues. They're obviously there, so make fixing them fit the scene).
Bonus number 3: The 'naturalness' of her Christine
A weird one to explain, but I'll give it a go. Nothing she does seems contrived or like she's acting. It's just Christine. And Christine, as a real person, plays with the loose bits of her costumes sometimes and isn't always 100% focused on what everyone else is doing. Little details like that (ignoring the big details like the sheer amount of emotion Olivia puts into her Christine) just make Christine so much more lifelike, which makes it much easier to connect with the character.
I could go on and on (heck, I'll probably come back and add to this over the next few days), but here's a last thought: Olivia brings Christine to life in a way no other person has, and I doubt anyone else ever will. She took risks, she tried new things, and the result was a character that had so many dimensions that you couldn't not believe in the character. The voice, the dancing, the acting; they all come together so beautifully that I couldn't ask for anything more or anything different.
Well, that's that! Can't believe it's been more than a year since I first saw Olivia's Christine (and I really can't believe I was upset about 'having' to see her in the first place. Thank goodness for Layla). Olivia's a truly spectacular Christine, and no one will be able to match her in the role. While she's on that stage, she just is Christine. Olivia herself is an all-around incredible performer, and I'm positive she will be very successful in all of her further endeavours.
