The Phantom of the Opera
Just a quick review covering this show. I didn't see a lot during the first act so I can't be as detailed as I usually am (and also I was tired, and just wanted to watch for once instead of analysing). But I had Antony on as Raoul, so he's worth a mention, and of course the perfection that is Olivia Brereton as Christine deserves one as well, plus a few others.
Olivia first - she is absolutely captivating no matter where you're sitting in the theatre. Her facial expressions are readable from way in the back, but not so large that when you're in the front they're overwhelming. It was her Think of Me that pulled me out of the panic attack; I was standing in the hallway, heard her singing and went back in to watch (intending to come back out afterwards) and from then on I was mostly fine. Still shaky, but I was able to watch the show again. And once I'd moved to the stalls, I was completely involved in the story again. So yeah, that's my new word for Olivia; captivating.
Antony is my favourite Raoul for one reason: his Raoul is completely badass. He makes Sean's Raoul seem very girly and wimpy by comparison (just as I was starting to warm up to Sean, Antony has to go and be brilliant. Typical ;) ). He's a very courageous Raoul (I wanted to cheer when he did the dive into the lake. I missed that detail so much!), and he's not arrogant. He gives off a more protective vibe, and it's more believable that Christine would choose him in the end. I'm 100% team Raoul, but that doesn't mean I like Raoul. I just think he's better for Christine than the Phantom. But despite still being a bit of a jerk, Antony's Raoul seems to go to lengths to protect and do what he thinks is best for Christine. For Antony's Raoul, his chauvinism is merely a reflection of the time period, not a dominant characteristic particular to Raoul. He's a more likeable Raoul, despite being completely badass (he looks as though he's about to rip the Phantom's head off at one point. It was beautiful).
Gero was awesome as usual, but seemed to have less energy than he normally does. I'll attribute that to his just coming back from holiday. Still liked him, but missed some of the usual fire during the Final Lair.
Marc V, the understudy Piangi, is improving. He still doesn't quite have the comic flair of Jeremy, but he's gotten much better since I last saw him. He's learning to read the crowd's reaction, try different things, and take risks.
Honestly didn't pay much attention to Cat during this show or the last, so I can't tell you whether she's improved or not. I guess all that says is that she's easy to ignore… that can't be a good thing, but I guess it's better than my getting annoyed because I don't like the way she does things? Oh well. I want to like her, I really do, I just don't.
As usual, you can't take your eyes off Layla during the group dance numbers. She's just so expressive! But I am beginning to quite like one of the other dancers; not sure who she is, but she does a killer penche (it's probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my life), and I think the same dancer is the butterfly in Masquerade (I'm basing this on flexibility, approximate build/height, and shape of jawline… so I might be wrong), but I like the effortless flexibility and the ease of movement. If she could just do something with her face, she'd rival Layla for attention-drawing. I think this girl is also the dancer who does the 'walk off' at the end of Angel of Music, and I wish she'd slow it down a bit! I always think that's an effective moment, that last dancer slowly leaving the stage, and now it's been rushed to the point of being sort of pointless.
I think that's pretty much it… if I think of anything else, I shall update.
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