The Phantom of the Opera (Cast Change, August 30th, 2014)

The Phantom of the Opera

Cast Change Saturday

On August 30th, the final performances of the 2013/14 cast, I was lucky enough to be able to see both shows. I honestly don't remember a whole lot of them (especially the second one as I was sobbing through most of it), but I'll note down some details that I remember. The casts for the Matinee and evening were the same, aside from Harriet Jones being on as Christine at the Matinee and Olivia Brereton for the evening.

Matinee Cast

The Matinee was what I'm told is known as a 'Muck up', where the performers added and changed all sorts of funny little details. I'm laughed more than cried this show, thanks to all the silly additions. My favourite by far was Ashleigh Fleming. She became a blonde Hannibal Princess, a mask-less Mirror Bride (don't know how she pulled this off. I swear she never blinked or moved a face muscle), a blue-haired Triangle Girl, and completely overdid her part in the Don Juan rehearsal (which I thought was hysterical and awesome). Anna Shircliff was another funny one; she wore a dark BG wig but a blonde fringe (how they did that, I've no idea), what looked like a Passarino wig for her Triton Girl in Masquerade, and I'm 99% sure she had her dressing gown on backwards for Bridge Christine. Charise Renouf (who's awesome parents I sat next to during the show) wore a BG wig for Masquerade. I'm not sure who (swing Fiona?), but one of the BGs left her Degas hair bow in for floor-Christine. Cat Lane wore a Mme Giry wig for Masquerade. Jeremy Secomb drew out the longest "haaaaaaas come home" I think is humanly possible. It was so long, clear, and impressive that the entire cast started clapping on stage, and the audience was cheering by the time he was halfway through. Jeremy also hung out in Box 5 with Raoul during Il Muto. At Curtain Call, Geronimo had a sign taped to his tailcoat. I've no idea what it said, but Harriet was laughing quite hard so it must've been funny. 

Cat Lane's Mme. Giry Wig
for Masquerade
(Cat's Instagram)

About the performances themselves, Harriet's first act is very strong. Her "Think of Me" is full of joy, it's infectious. But her second act seemed to fall flat with very wooden and 'rehearsed' acting (Wishing was the main culprit for this. I don't think crying can get much faker-looking than that). Antony was on fire this show; I thought he was going to murder the Phantom during the Final Lair (I've seen him go pretty insane, but he actually spit at the Phantom! Never seen that before). I really loved how much he struggled against the noose (on his absolute tippy-toes the entire time), and when the Phantom kissed Christine, he struggled harder, then on the second kiss turned the entire noose around to look away. Antony actually makes you feel for Raoul, which is awesome considering I mostly consider Raoul to be a stuck-up, arrogant jerk. Geronimo was fine during the show; he held back a bit at the matinee, but overall everything was good enough. No complaints, but nothing particularly stuck out.

Evening Cast

The second show was incredibly emotional before I even sat down. However, I had the good fortune of  sitting next to some incredibly friendly people, and that helped with the worst of my emotions. Regardless, I still sobbed my way through most of the show. There were so many incredible performers, principles and ensemble alike, who left that night. It was impossible to watch each of the leaving people's performances as much as I would have wanted to, so I picked my battles. Obviously Olivia was the priority, but I also tried to focus on Antony, Jeremy, Cat, and Ashleigh. If I'm being totally honest, I don't remember a whole lot about the show. It sort of rushed by in a flurry of tears (I started crying as soon as I saw Olivia had tears in her eyes during Hannibal. And I'm not usually a crier. RG kind of whips that out of you). So I'll write about what I remember, but you can find detailed thoughts on Olivia's Christine, compiled from this show and the August 29th show, at the bottom of this post.

It was a relatively smooth show; no issues that I could pick out. The part of the show I enjoyed the most  was probably the Il Muto ballet, because it was the one time I wasn't thinking "This is the last time I'll see _____!" Beautifully danced as usual; I love how much energy the BGs put into that piece. It's so intricate and yet delicate at the same time - I love it! Cat has improved over the summer (as has the styling of her wig) and now I'm quite sad to be seeing her go. She was a cute Meg with a solid voice and nice dancing and acting, and she will certainly be missed. Jeremy was a funny, personable Piangi. He made Piangi stand out in a good way, making it so much sadder when the character meets his untimely end. His big voice, brilliant comedic timing, and adorable relationship with his Carlotta (Lara Martins) has always been a highlight of this cast. Ashleigh had the most wonderful facial expressions during Hannibal and Don Juan (she's such a joy to watch), and her Mirror Bride has always been spot on (and a beautiful and well-acted Christine as well).

Of course, it wouldn't've been an Olivia-Christine show without a wardrobe malfunction. Minor ones this time, though. Her scarf got caught on either the Elissa skirt or Hannibal bodice during Think of Me (it actually looked kind of cool because the scarf was catching the air when she moved - she managed to shake it loose by the end of the song though). And one of my favourite mishaps, just because of the way she makes it work, the Aminta dress coming too far off her shoulders. It's happened a couple of times, and I love that she waits to fix it until the Phantom is done manhandling her, and then while looking absolutely terrified tries to pull it back over her shoulder in a very protective way as opposed to just yanking it back into place (that would feel out of character).

Olivia and Antony
(Olivia's Twitter)

One very poignant moment of this show was All I Ask of You. Olivia and Antony are a beautiful pairing; they just click so perfectly and it makes Christine and Raoul's relationship much more tolerable (and, dare I say it, romantic). Well, Olivia was clearly crying during AIAOY, and Antony was giving her longer hugs and wiping away her real tears. It was so, so adorable. Antony and Olivia are a truly special pairing. In a way, I'm glad they're both leaving at the same time; it'd be hard to see one without the other. I seriously lost it during the AIAOY reprise at the very end, because it sounded as if they were both choking up. Both made these roles their own; Antony's Superhero, likeable Raoul and Olivia's interesting and multidimensional Christine.

Geronimo Rauch, Olivia Brereton, and
Antony Hansen
(the best trio)(Antony's Twitter)

Another favourite moment was, of course, Wishing. Olivia's song; many people can sing it. Some can act it too. But no one captures the emotion the same way Olivia does. She does the exact same hands, arms, and head movements every time, but each time I see it, it feels like the first time. Every word she sings is absolutely full of emotion, and I was sobbing into my hands by the time she sang "and speaks my name" with her signature way of singing that last word. It rips your heart out every single time. She's also the only one who can pull off the crying at the beginning without making it look fake and ridiculous. Everything just feels so real, and that's why her Christine is so easy to sympathise with. The way she does the Journey to the Graveyard bit is almost haunting, which I think helps it to seem less contrived/rehearsed.

Unfortunately, I don't remember a whole lot else about the show. I do know that it was incredibly emotional for both the audience and performers, and despite crying through it, I enjoyed it immensely. Everyone put their heart and soul into this performance, and it was absolutely breathtaking.

It was very, very sad (I was crying into a friends shoulder after the show - thank you Sabine!) saying goodbye to all of these incredible performers. Each and every one of them has given brilliant performances during their time in Phantom, and I'm so glad I've written about nearly every performance so I and others can remember how amazing they all were in their respective roles. Wishing every departing member of this cast all the best as they continue their careers. I know we'll be seeing much more of them all in the future.

With Olivia Brereton after
her final performance
(myself)

Links
The Best of Olivia Brereton
The 2014/15 Cast Debut

The Phantom of the Opera (Debut of the new cast, September 1st, 2014)

The Phantom of the Opera

New Cast Debut

September 1st, 2014, marked the debut of the new cast of The Phantom of the Opera in London, including new a new Christine, Raoul, Piangi, and Meg, as well as two new Ballet Girls and a mostly new ensemble. After having such an incredible cast finish on Saturday, I was wary of the new group, especially since few of them had a good track record - or a track record of any kind! I had a rough idea of what I was walking into, and I was mostly unsurprised, and disappointed, with the new cast. But there were a few pleasant surprises, and a few parts that I enjoyed about the new bunch. I should also say that I'm not giving any leeway for nerves (i.e. you won't hear me say, "I'll put that down to nerves, it'll be better next time." Nope, don't do that. There are ways to combat nerves, and regardless, it's not good to let nerves affect a performance to the point that the audience can notice it). 

Emmi Christensson
(Phantom Official Site)

The auction scene started out as normal. Liam Tamne as Raoul had a bit of weird speaking/singing going on - he was emphasising strange words and taking rather bizarre pauses here and there. The one thing I'll say for him in this scene is that he's got a very clear voice; it's very easy to hear and understand. Chandelier went up without a hitch, though for obvious reasons I wasn't feeling the usual excitement I do when it begins to rise. In Hannibal, the new ensemble looks great. Some costumes looked a bit ill-fitting (Lisa-Anne Wood's Hannibal Princess doesn't look to fit her very well and some of the BGs have bizarrely cut/fitted bodices). There are a whole host of new wigs. I didn't notice that there were new wild-women wigs, but apparently there were. Most of the BGs appear to have gotten new wigs. Some changed shade (i.e. Layla appears to have a darker wig, and there are more blondes), others kept their normal shade. Meg (Alicia Beck) was a brunette, though I didn't mind that as much as I thought I would. It's a nice colour, but it's a shame the wig was very, very flat. Christine (Emmi Christensson) also had a nearly straight wig, and it was a rather unflattering shade of blonde. I know she's a natural blonde, but the shade they chose for her wig suits neither her nor the costumes. But more on that later. Emmi also has a very weirdly cut Hannibal Bodice (and I think all the girls got new tiaras? But maybe I just wasn't paying attention before). The new Piangi (John Ellis) hasn't got a very big voice; I found it lacking in volume as well as being able to hold the notes. No sense of humour either; Piangi's supposed to be a funny character. All of the clever lines were so poorly delivered. Also, they need to get rid of his blue eyeshadow. Lara did a beautiful Think of Me as usual; I looked over at Hannibal Princess when Lara was singing and she's doing that Olivia-Christine thing where she mouths along - I think I'm going to like her Christine. when the set came down, there was the usual screaming from the BGs…. but nothing from Meg. She opened her mouth and said the line, but I only caught "….Phantom of…..Opera!" The BGs were much quieter than usual in general (I found out later that the BG who usually carries the volume in it wasn't mic'd today, so that explains that). Alicia clearly does not have a strong voice (nor do I actually find her dancing very interesting - she sort of smirked through the whole thing, and I don't even think she was standing up particularly straight - something about it just looked bizarre), so her "Christine Daae could sing it, sir!" was sort of an inaudible squeak. As soon as Emmi spoke her first line, I could tell her accent was going to be a problem. It's very, very audible in her spoken voice, and a bit in her singing voice. Her Think of Me was fine, nothing extraordinary. She was shaking (I assume nerves) and did this weird little hip jiggle on the cadenza. By this point I could tell there wasn't going to be a whole lot of acting go on (I didn't expect an established character, but I expected something), nor did I find her voice pleasant (rather shrill in some places, raspy in others, some words sounded bizarre or the notes were held in the wrong places). 

The Raoul/Christine scene and Angel of Music were nice enough; nothing special (though I did like Liam's early character development. He's made Raoul more of a self-centred jerk than I prefer, but it's not badly done). Emmi's accent was a bit off here as well (as it was for pretty much every song, unless I say otherwise). Side note: I think the BGs have new Degas costumes; those things were puffy! The Phantom of the Opera was ok. This was probably the only song where I didn't hear her accent (probably because it's prerecorded and she had a few tries to get it right). Her lip synching isn't great, but I've seen worse. I honestly only watched Geronimo during MOTN, and he was fluffing awesome as he always is (the perfect balance of creepy and charming). I Remember/Stranger were fine. I mostly watched the Mirror Bride, to be honest. Lisa-Anne Wood's picked a different position than Ashleigh and she seemed to have some trouble holding it, but I'm equating that to a lack of practice. Buquet was fine as normal, Notes was lacklustre without Cat's spunkiness and Jeremy's humour. Alicia has some cute moments (i.e. when Mme Giry dismisses her from Christine's dressing room, she stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes; it was funny), but aside from a carbon copy of Jeremy and Lara's interaction during Prima Donna, John has no merits. I didn't enjoy Emmi in Il Muto; there was just nothing to it. Alicia's costume for that scene is a bizarre colour - I probably would've gone with something more purple and a different shape of dress. Enough said about that. Loved the Il Muto Ballet as usual; the BGs seem to be a good bunch, though I would've preferred if Georgia had taken the solo part instead of Alicia. AIAOY was nothing special. Again, Liam's done quite well. Arrogant portrayal and very overacted at points, but overall it was good, and opposite Emmi's very flat portrayal, it was nice to have something more well-developed. Emmi's dropping the ends of letters off of words, and again struggling to hit the notes (well, that's what it sounds like to me. There was something off about her voice; it just didn't sound right). The chandelier coming down was sort of "I'm going to stand here with my mouth open until something happens." Not the most convincing acting. 

Liam Tamne
(Phantom official site)

Onto act 2 (yes, this is going to be a long review). Started nicely enough with Masquerade. The new Masquerade dress is pretty hideous, but it's the only colour that the new Christine wig looked nice with. I just wish they'd stop it with those horrible Elizabethan ruffs on the bodice and sleeves. They're not flattering on either Harriet or Emmi, and the costume itself looks very plastic-y. The new Triton Girl's wig is very blue. Too blue, it clashes with the costume. Despite being made 2nd cover Meg, Georgia is still the Butterfly (thankfully - I love that particular costume to bits). Danielle (goldfish) disappeared so the bane of my existence (hula girl) made an appearance. The monkey costume didn't look any different. I didn't get a good look at most of the ensemble costumes, so I can't say anything about Triangle girl et. al. Meg's costume is very unflattering on her. The skirt is far too puffy; it looks ridiculous. Cat could pull it off because she was little and cute, but on Alicia's longer, slimmer frame, it just looks stupid (there's no other word for it). It looked like Liam got in the way of two of the BGs as they nearly missed their kicks (if they'd kicked at the normal time, he would've gotten a boot up his nose). Notes II/Twisted Every Way aren't really worth commenting on. Aside from Liam, all the new people in it were mediocre at best. Don Juan Rehearsal was fine. New Passarino's laughter isn't as funny. I sort of ignored Emmi and Alicia and watched Lisa-Anne (I was pining for Olivia and she's as close as I'm going to get with the new cast). Loved her facial expressions; not overdone, but still big and funny. At least as good, possibly better than Ashleigh's. Wishing wasn't as painful as I thought it'd be. The fake crying was pretty bad, but she did a nice "Little Lotte" and there were a few other moments that were quite nicely done. Still lacked emotion, but it wasn't painful to watch/listen to (still a weird voice, but oh well). Wandering Child was well done on Liam's part. I've already said it all, but he's doing a good job. I think he forgot a line as it was a bit slow coming out, but he got there in the end.

In PONR, Emmi made a lyric mistake. Instead of "To that moment where words run dry," she sand "to that moment where dreams come true." I'm not sure where those particular words came from, but I'll give her this: she didn't flinch, and if you didn't know the lyrics, you wouldn't recognise the mistake, so well done to her on that. In ending to PONR, she did a very good job trying to resist the Phantom, such that he had to grab her hand because she wouldn't hold it herself. She also did a convincing job pulling the Phantom's cloak and mask/hair off. I could believe that the Phantom wouldn't have seen it coming. I almost wonder if she forgot the choreography a few times though, as sometimes she'd get half way through a move, stop, and then rush the rest of it (the apple on the skirt… I nearly cried it was so badly done. She'll wear a hole in the dress if she keeps that up). The Final Lair wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either. Liam was fabulous (he wiggled around too much in the noose, but that might be a personal preference, and he didn't do some of the things I've loved that Antony did, but again, personal preference). Emmi was ok in this, surprisingly. She does angry better than any other emotion. Bit of an awkward moment when Geronimo grabbed her and she didn't respond the way he or I expected, so he had to throw her down a bit early. Not a fan of Emmi's wedding dress; the skirt was very limp and the bodice seems to be missing something. Too much emphasis on the shellfish bra thing. I don't mind the current style of west end wedding dresses, but I hate that shellfish bra. My main complaint about her and Liam in the Final Lair was when they were waiting for the Phantom to chase after them, that's just it - they were waiting. Standing there, arms around each other, just waiting. Emmi did do a great face when he came after them though. Total lack of emotion when giving back the ring. 

Well, that was that! It definitely wasn't a very enjoyable show. Unlike Harriet, who was just oozing potential in her early shows, I don't see anything in Emmi. Liam's definitely got a lot in him and I'm hoping he continues to give passionate performances and doesn't settle into it too much. There's nothing worse than a bored Raoul. I see potential for improvement in Alicia as well; she just need to work on her voice more; both hitting the notes and getting her volume up. No comment on the Piangi. All the new BGs seem good, though I wasn't paying too close attention to the new girls. Very good ensemble; they've got some big voices, great acting, and interesting details in their parts; most of them (especially Lisa-Anne Wood and Lyndsey Gardiner) managed to give their very short-lived ensemble characters a personality, which I appreciate. Some interesting new costumes, both nice and not-so-nice. 

I'm not going to hurry back, nor am I going to recommend this particular cast to anyone (definitely aim for a Harriet show, then you're almost guaranteed a pretty strong trio). Though it wasn't as awful as I had predicted, I didn't enjoy it very much.