The Phantom of the Opera
I'm feeling incredibly lucky to have been at this show. By complete coincidence, Lisa-Anne Wood - the Christine understudy that everyone has been telling me that I had to see, that I'd love, who was so special - was on. I'm always a bit skeptical when I hear so many good things; I've been known to love what other people hate and vice versa. But not so with this. Lisa-Anne was absolutely fantastic. Definitely my favourite Christine of the current three and among my top three all-time favourites. I had three things that I didn't like. Three. That's very nearly a record for me (Layla Harrison holds that record at one minor complaint). Even my absolute favourite Christine had a "do not like" list the length of my forearm. But Lisa-Anne was very nearly flawless. I'll try to write a detailed review, but honestly I sat through the show with my mouth hanging open and don't remember a lot of the detail. I'll organise this review by actor; I've covered all of the other main cast before, so I'll write a bit about them, the ensemble, and the ballet girls, but my main focus here is the new Christine.
Geronimo Rauch (Phantom)
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| Geronimo Rauch with Harriet Jones (tumblr) |
Lisa-Anne Wood (u/s Christine)
Wow. Just wow. That was all I could think during the show. Usually I'm pretty coherent and can form more eloquent thoughts about what I like, don't like, anything interesting that happened, etc. Nope. Mouth hung open for most of the first act, and I cried through half of the second.
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| Lisa-Anne Wood as Christine Daae (tumblr) |
Performance-wise, I was really, really impressed. I could not believe it was only her third show. A little lyric slip up in Angel of Music, but nothing anyone would have noticed. It's easiest to start with the things I didn't like, since they were so few. Mainly a lacklustre Serafimo in Il Muto (though I question if this might be down to direction more than a personal character choice as Emmi does it exactly the same way); I prefer it done a la Olivia Brereton or Samantha Hill - out there, kind of silly, over exaggerated - it's a nice moment of fun before the scary stuff begins. The other two things are both in Wishing; she had her cloak wrapped around her nicely at the end, then sort of let it go to walk off stage; I think it would've been more effective to keep it wrapped around herself. As well, in the Angel of Music Trio, I would've preferred if she'd brought her arms in on protector and then flung them back out on "come to me" the way that Harriet and Olivia do/did, instead of just leaving them out. Just down to personal preference really. What she did was fine though, I'm just being pedantic.
My absolute favourite part was Lisa-Anne in the Don Juan Rehearsal. Her face through that whole thing - it was this heartbreaking mixture of terror and sadness. Perfect lead in to Wishing. Also loved her Twisted Every Way; that's where I started crying. She was trying so hard to get Raoul and everyone else's attention and understanding and they just didn't - you could see her slowly losing her mind through the scene. It was very well done. Another favourite moment was Stranger Than You Dreamt It; she did the mask grab very nicely, and the trip, fall, and everything after that was perfectly done. Great reactions, the emotion was very real and convincing. It was fabulous. PONR was a great song for her; she really played the character and got into it. The mask grab here was really well done as well; she ripped it off, then just screamed (and dropped the mask, but that's irrelevant). You could feel the terror in it. It was very visceral. Final Lair was quite something; when the Phantom was threatening Raoul she just screamed "NO!!" and really stood up to the Phantom after that, which is exactly what I like to see. Finally, during Notes II: WOW. So much variety of emotions in there. Just… wow. Sadness to anger to fear - it was all in there, and in the lead up to "stop, I'll go mad!" you could literally see her losing it. Absolutely brilliant. All in all, the acting and reactions to everything were just wonderful. Accurate, meaningful, emotional - I thought Lisa-Anne absolutely nailed the acting. Nice character development and growth, but still kept it consistent, which I loved.
Voice-wise I was a little unsure (usually it's good acting, mediocre voice, or vice versa) but pleasantly surprised that she has a very strong voice. She uses somewhat of a child-like tone, but not in a twee way, if that makes sense. It worked and I liked it. And oh my goodness that cadenza in Think of Me. I haven't heard it done that well in years. She drew it out and played with it much more than any Christines I've seen recently, and it was gorgeous. Actually I really liked her Think of Me all-around; loved the voice, loved the bright, cheerful acting. There was something very joyful about it; it was lovely.
Voice-wise I was a little unsure (usually it's good acting, mediocre voice, or vice versa) but pleasantly surprised that she has a very strong voice. She uses somewhat of a child-like tone, but not in a twee way, if that makes sense. It worked and I liked it. And oh my goodness that cadenza in Think of Me. I haven't heard it done that well in years. She drew it out and played with it much more than any Christines I've seen recently, and it was gorgeous. Actually I really liked her Think of Me all-around; loved the voice, loved the bright, cheerful acting. There was something very joyful about it; it was lovely.
Not too much else to say (as I said, I struggle to remember details; I was far more engrossed in the show than I have been lately); she was just really, really perfect, and I'm anxious to see her Christine again!
Liam Tamne (Raoul)
I swear, every time Christine looks to him for comfort he gets this look on his face like "what do I do with this human who is clinging to me?" Decent voice, he's toned down the gasping and choking.
Everyone else
Much better Meg from Alicia; toned down, less obnoxious. It was much improved from Saturday's show. Still not the biggest fan of this Piangi; it's not dramatic and funny enough for my liking. Lara Martins gave a sassy, funny Carlotta as usual. Great performance from her. Mme Giry understudy whose name escapes me was lovely; I've seen a lot of her and while she doesn't quite have the presence of Jacinta Mulcahy, she does a creepy and engaging Mme Giry. Managers were fine as usual.
Ensemble
Different swing on in Lisa-Anne's track this time; her Hannibal princess dress is stunning too! Why can't they give the regular a properly fitted dress but the swings have a wonderful one? Strange. I like the way the auction worker (I think Oliver Savile?) reveals the pistol and skulls in the auction scene. I don't know why, but it makes everyone, including myself, chuckle.
Ballet Girls
Annoyingly I couldn't see much of the ballet today. Conductor's head was blocking most of them in Hannibal (also, does Lisa-Anne dance en pointe? It kind of looked like that but I couldn't be sure. Anyway, she's a competent dancer, which I think is important for Christine), and I couldn't watch Degas because I was watching Angel of Music (for once). Loved Il Muto though, and Masquerade is still one of my favourite scenes because of all of the dancing. Special mention to Layla Harrison, who just oozes elegance and grace when she dances, and I was very annoyed that I couldn't see much of her during Hannibal.
Final Thoughts
Go see Lisa-Anne Wood's Christine. That is all.
Oh, and Layla Harrison's Meg, while you're at it. I don't know if they'll have dates together, but if they do, that'll be a golden combination.
Updated 'Favourites' list
Go see Lisa-Anne Wood's Christine. That is all.
Oh, and Layla Harrison's Meg, while you're at it. I don't know if they'll have dates together, but if they do, that'll be a golden combination.
Updated 'Favourites' list
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