The Phantom of the Opera (Sept. 12th, 2013)(New Cast!)

This is mostly just a point form review of the cast that I saw, both new and old.

The Cast...

Geronimo (Phantom) - Loved Geronimo; he had an incredible voice. I was really impressed by his Final Lair; it was passionate, crazed, maniacal - everything I love about the Phantom. The only thing I missed from him was the hands (I'm one of those people that likes when the Phantom has "sexy hands", for lack of a better term), and he was quite passive during Point of No Return. I'd like to have seen him moving about a little more, getting more into the moment. Otherwise, no complaints. He's obviously not totally comfortable with some parts yet (he was gripping the side of the angel for dear life during I Gave You My Music), but that'll come with time and practice. Overall, I really liked him!

Sofia Escobar as Christine

Sofia (Christine) - I didn't love Sofia; I feel like she was performing more like it was a concert as opposed to a stage show. In the first act especially; there was so much smiling and not very much acting. I didn't get Christine's transformation with her; she jumped right into a mature, more confident Christine. I thought she improved vastly in the second act; Twisted Every Way, Wishing, Past the Point of No Return, and the Final Lair were very good. I think Sofia does passionate and fierce very well when she puts her mind to it, but the first act was just... not right. Her accent bugged me quite a bit as well, which is really funny because when I met her, she had next to no accent. The theory that my friend developed was that she's trying to disguise it, and thereby making it worse. We also thought that she might have gotten too settled into her role; I think the break she's taking to get married will do her good, and hopefully she can come back to the role with a fresh approach. I didn't dislike Sofia, but she's not my favourite. Her strongest point was definitely Point of No Return; that was the one time I felt she had 100% captured the character. Music of the Night was also good for her, and I liked her quite a bit in the Final Lair. If she could do the first act the way she does the second, she'd be wonderful.

Sean (Raoul) - Sean was definitely a background Raoul; I felt like the show could've gone on without him and not much would've been different. I thought Meg was a much stronger presence for Christine in this show than Raoul; aside from the love interest bit, Meg could easily have taken his place. I didn't see any passion, any interest... I really don't have much to say about him. He didn't do much. His voice was fine, I liked his hairstyle... that's about it. I missed Antony's Final-Lair-faceplant. I'm usually a team Raoul person, but I was pretty indifferent at this point. 

Lara Martins as Carlotta

Lara (Carlotta) - I finally met Lara! It took me 11 months and 4 shows, but I finally did it! She was very lovely. And if you read my blog, you already know how much I love Lara's Carlotta. She's fiery, she's sassy, she's a complete diva, and I love it! It was weird how nice she was at Stage Door, because I had this Carlotta-esque personality in my head and Lara does it so well that I couldn't imagine the person being different from the character.

Jeremy (Piangi) - I've seen his Piangi as many times as I've seen Lara's Carlotta; I'm not particularly passionate about him, but I think he's very good, and I enjoy his portrayal of Piangi. 

Jacinta (Mme. Giry) - I wasn't fond of her voice; she seemed too young and not forceful enough. She was fine, but I wouldn't have any qualms about seeing another Mme. Giry. 

Layla Harrison as Meg

Layla (Meg) - Everyone knows that I adore Layla's Meg; she's the best rounded Meg I've ever seen (even when not in top form, she sings better than all the other Meg's I've seen). Something I love about Layla's Meg is that she makes Meg smart. Kind of a weird thing to say, but let me explain. Meg is usually portrayed as kind of a ditzy blonde who's really only there to be the Phantom's resident announcer, but people forget that Meg can't be stupid. She's the one who realises the trouble that Christine is in before anyone else does and sees the need to protect her, she's the one that tries to warn everyone about the danger, and she's also the first one to find the Lair. Meg is intelligent, and brave, and I love Layla because she shows that Meg is more than just a silly, brainless dancer (trying to fight agains the stereotypes of dumb blondes ;) ). 

Andy and Martin (Firmin and Andre) - I liked these two more than the more famous pairing that has just left; I felt that they were stronger performers, with a better sense of comedic timing. Again, not particularly passionate about them, but I did like them very much. 

A bit about the show...

It was pretty 'perfect' in the sense that there weren't any major mistakes. The veil got left on the stage during the curtain call and one of the ballet girls had to grab it and throw it in the wings, but that was about it. It wasn't an incredible performance, but I did enjoy it. I had fun sitting with my friend, seeing my favourite Meg, and seeing a bit of the new cast. I'm not in a hurry to see Sofia again; I'm hoping to catch Olivia (whom I adore) or Harriet (whom I haven't yet seen) on my next trip. 

Stage door...

This was a really funny experience at Stage Door; it is the first time I've been there with a friend instead of a parent, and the first time I've Stage Door-ed after a matinee. We'd had a bit of an advanced warning from Layla about it possibly taking some time to get out, so we were prepared to wait a while. It was quicker than expected though; Sofia was out very quickly, then Lara, shortly followed by Layla. Geronimo took a while, but we did get to meet him, which was nice. The funny part was that we were chatting about who we were going to meet, talking about everyone by first names, and people started asking us questions because it must have sounded like we had an idea of what was going on. We had people asking us when they would come out, what everyone's names were, etc. It was quite fun as we were able to answer all questions, and made us feel quite important :) It was especially nice that Layla recognised us right away, giving a little more credence to our familiarity with the cast. It was quite a cool feeling! Anyway, I feel kind of bad because both my friend and I were quite shy, so we had to make Layla had to go grab someone to take our group photo. Layla's possibly one of the nicest people I've ever met, and I definitely can't wait to see her Megging again! (although I'm still unhappy with myself for rambling; it makes sense in my head, but comes out sounding either odd, disjointed, or creepy. "I want your feet!" Nice one, Elizabeth. I'm so used to hanging around with sports people who say things like that all the time). Also hoping I can catch Lara again before Claire returns; I'd love to meet her again as well. 

That's another Phantom show finished for me; I'm sad it's over, but I'm already looking forward to my next trip (hopefully in November). If you're going to Phantom, I hope you have an incredible time!