The Phantom of the Opera (April 10th and 11th, 2015)

The Phantom of the Opera

This is kind of a two shows in one review, though I'm doing it by actor rather than chronologically. The casts were mostly the same both nights, but with Emmi Christensson as Christine on the 10th and Harriet Jones on the 11th. I’m keeping everything fairly brief; just a few things I wanted to say about each person.

Scott Davies (Phantom)

I don’t adore his Phantom, but it’s nice to see every once in a while, and I haven’t seen him since last October or November (I think…) so I was happy to see him again.

Scott Davies (POTO Twitter)

There are a lot of things Scott does really well. His voice is really fabulous; powerful and strong, and it really echoes through the theatre, which makes it feel like the Phantom literally is everywhere. I also love how he keeps up a very consistent character in that you can sense the crazy underneath the calm exterior early on, so the insanity kind of builds up in a believable way. There’s no unprompted snap or turnaround, which I like. The Phantom is a hard character to read, so keeping a consistent, believable character is essential.

The thing that irritates me most about Scott is in the Final Lair. He really, really draws out the moments from the kiss to letting Raoul free. It’s not effective; rather than dramatic, it feels overdrawn and exhausted. I really don’t like how much time he spends threatening Raoul with the candle – what are you going to do, set his hair on fire? He’s soaking wet and you’re on a lake… nice idea. I’d rather he just grab the candle and get it over with; it makes more sense. My favourite way to handle this part of the scene is when the Phantom spends the little marching-music-bit mostly with Christine or on his own ‘considering his options’ (facial expression and blocking are key here), and the release of Raoul is very sudden and unpredictable. It just makes more sense.

All in all, I like Scott’s Phantom. It’s not among my favourites, but it’s refreshing to see every once in a while, just because it’s quite different from everyone else.

Emmi Christensson (Christine)

Emmi Christensson
(Her website)

I’ve been a lot more impressed by her Christine as of late (to be honest, her jumping in and basically saving the show when Harriet went off ill is a big reason for that. You can’t not respect someone who can do that and still pull off a good performance). I still think she lacks a real character to Christine; she goes for a spacy, zoned-out Christine, but then her Christine gets sort of angry. Maybe that’s why I find her Christine hard to sympathise with; theres nothing there to be sympathetic to. There’s no vulnerability, no underlying passion/fire that makes you really care about the character. On the bright side, her accent doesn’t emerge nearly as often as it used to, and she sings beautifully. The one thing I do like is how, when the Phantom lunges at Raoul in the Final Lair, Emmi throws herself between them and yells, “Don’t touch him!” I like it, it fits. I feel like I should have more to say about her, but I don’t. There’s just not a lot to talk about that I haven’t already mentioned in past reviews.

Harriet Jones (Christine)

I have really terrible luck trying to see Harriet as Christine, but I finally had her on for a full show! It was really nice as I’m loving her Christine lately and she and Layla Harrison as Meg are just the golden pair. Layla’s a very spunky, perceptive, ‘present’ Meg (in that she doesn’t just sit there and smile – more on that later), and Harriet’s Christine actually responds to this. They seem like they really have a relationship, rather than Meg doing all the work in the friendship and Christine staring off blankly into space. That’s probably the area where I think Harriet has really improved; she doesn’t stare blankly into space anymore. I get that that might’ve been a character choice, but it’s so much more believable when Christine is engaged with what’s going on around her.

Harriet’s voice is stunning of course, but now she’s really making the songs her own, adding nice little touches here and there. Think of Me is just glorious vocally, but there are certain little… I don’t want to call them accents but I can’t think of a better word,  in the way she sings certain words or phrases. You can hear her as a person (well, character) in her singing voice. It just gives everything a bit more personality. The reason Harriet’s TOM stands out to me so much is that it’s very easy to make that song sound very choppy (like at “promise me / that sometimes” – does that make any sense at all? Probably not, but I know what I mean - it’s sort of the transition between the more ‘neutral’ bits and the big operatic notes. She makes everything flow together rather than just big notes here and there.)

 

I seriously, seriously love her Point of No Return. That’s always been one of my main favourite moments of hers, but something about it today was perfect. The one thing I think I don’t like is at, “speech disappears into silence… silence,” she sort of holds her skirt back… it just looks awkward. And that’s probably why the poor skirt has gotten so limp; it’s so amazing and swishy normally; let it go! (let it go, don’t hold it back anymore…) Speaking of that line, that’s another one that you can really hear her in it, rather than it being all opera singer. Another of those is “…consume us” and “When will the blood begin to race, the sleeping bud burst into bloom?” I don’t know why I like how she sings it, I just do. There’s something about it that makes the song come alive; she’s not just singing, she’s living.

I think I said in past reviews that I had no good reason for not liking her Christine – and had so many reasons to love it - I just didn’t. Well, finally, I have lots of reasons to love her Christine, and I do! I’m not sure exactly what the shift was, but I’m happy because it’s been bugging me since this time last year. I’m really looking forward to seeing her again, hopefully when I’m down there for more Layla-Meg in May!

Layla Harrison (Meg)

Layla Harrison and Harriet Jones
(Operafantomet Tumblr)

Layla Harrison as Meg Giry… what is there left to say? She’s absolutely extraordinary. There is absolutely no one that can match Layla’s portrayal of Meg; she’s nails every single aspect of the character, from her dancing, to her singing, to her acting – she is second to none. Layla creates a developed and thoughtful character with very little material and stage time to go on. Her acting and stage presence is sublime; she makes you feel for and care about a character that is otherwise easy to push to the side. Layla makes you remember who Meg is, and why she’s important.

I wish I could talk about everything, but I want to mention a few little things that stood out to me. First of all, her singing voice. Layla has a beautiful voice, and unlike other Megs, it doesn’t come out overly cutesy or forced. It’s very clear, pure, and natural; the perfect sound for Meg. She holds her own vocally opposite Harriet’s Christine (and Emmi’s, but Harriet has the stronger voice of those two), which is not an easy thing to do.

Layla Harrison

I also adore her dancing. She extends everything to the absolute last second, then gracefully floats into the next movement or extension. Layla makes everything she does look so elegant and effortless; when she does the pirouettes in the hoops in Il Muto, you don’t get the sense that she’s panicking about those. Some girls tend to look right at their feet the whole time – snapping their head up just in time for the pirouette - and you can tell they’re worried about making a wrong step; Layla’s just look effortless. And again, absolutely floating out of the final one. It’s just gorgeous to watch.

I love how Layla’s Meg is constantly engaged with Christine and the other ballet girls. She’s their star dancer a bit of a diva at times, so it makes sense that she’s just one of those people that talks to everyone, and that is always very ‘present’. The relationship between Meg and Christine is one of my favourite things in the show, and in the past, I’ve seen the responsibility of establishing that relationship fall entirely onto Meg’s shoulders (zoned-out Christines are not my favourite). Unlike others who shrink into the shadows because of this, Layla really stands out and builds up a believable and adorable relationship with her Christines (especially Harriet, though this is because Harriet actively commits to building the friendship as well). Layla and Harriet are so cute as a Meg/Christine duo; their hand holding and little smiles here and there make it real, rather than a friendship that’s ‘just for show’.

Layla Harrison as Meg
(Tumblr)

Another moment I really like of Layla’s is Notes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; if you’re not watching Layla-Meg during Notes (and you should be – she draws your attention so easily). She creates a personality for Meg without making it obnoxious, and really puts that personality to good use. The eye rolls, sighs, and other subtle actions show exactly how Meg is reacting to the situation. Her interactions with other characters are really thoughtful; nothing seems random or out of place. And sometimes, it’s Layla’s actions that make something make sense. For example, the discovery of Piangi’s body. Layla’s Meg absolutely loses it (that scream is ear shattering!) and then keeps up the distress until she exits the stage. Besides making you realize just how crucial Piangi’s murder is to the eventual end of the show (“Revenge Piangi! Revenge for Buquet!” face it, Piangi was a lot more loved than Buquet; his death and Christine’s capture were catalysts for the mob going after the Phantom), it also gives Meg something to react to, which Layla does (so many Meg’s just scream, hug Raoul, then seem totally unaffected. Hardly realistic). Anyway, it’s all of these details that Layla puts into her performance that makes Meg such a valuable character.

Most importantly, one never tires of watching Layla’s Meg. She keeps it fresh and interesting while maintaining a consistent and believable character. Though the entire show was full of great performances and I love the show itself, Layla’s Meg was absolutely the highlight both nights.

Fiona Finsbury (Carlotta)

Fiona is another understudy that I completely adore. She’s got a fabulous voice for sure, but it’s her acting and interpretation of Carlotta that is really unique.

Fiona Finsbury
(Fiona's Twitter)

I love how she does Carlotta’s panic after the curtain falls on her; she looks absolutely terrified, not just angry. This makes her walking out on the show seem less diva-ish; she’s not doing it out of spite, but out of fear for her safety. Of course, Fiona still keeps Carlotta’s diva-ness very out there, but there’s more to her than just being a prima donna. I love the range of emotions Fiona puts across in Notes/Prima Donna; it makes her very entertaining and interesting to watch. Another favourite moment of mine is “She’s mad!” She doesn’t just say it and leave it there; she sort of smirks at Piangi after the fact, and looks rather chastened when he doesn’t respond in kind. It does make you kind of hate Carlotta for treating Christine that way, but at the same time, the commitment to a consistent character on Fiona’s part is just fabulous.

One final thing that really stood out in my mind was during Don Juan; Fiona/Carlotta looked absolutely terrified. Huge eyes, hesitant movements – it was really effective at communicating that this was not your normal every day performance; Carlotta had seen what the Phantom could do to people, and he’d already gone after her once – who’s to say he wouldn’t try it again in this performance? I think choosing to portray Carlotta as very fearful in this scene was an excellent decision. Fiona is very clever with her character choices, and everything is very well done.

I had a really great time at these two shows. It’s shows like these that remind me why I keep coming back to Phantom. The passion and talent these performers put into the show are amazing, and I think it’s 90% of the reason Phantom is still going strong today. Sure, the story’s nice, the costumes and set are gorgeous – but without these incredible performers, all of that would be meaningless.

Well, that was awfully philosophical. On that note, hope you enjoyed this (very mangled and nonsensical) review! I may review the show or shows in May – not sure yet. I’ll also be posting a review of Sweeney Todd sometime next week, so stay tuned!

Broadway Baby!

Broadway, Baby!

v. 2

Seeing so many shows in such a short period of time, it's so much easier for me to do short little reviews of all of them, rather than big, detailed reviews of one or two. I did this kind of thing last time I went to NYC and I think it turned out ok. If anyone wants a bit more detail on one of the shows, please let me know and I'll do my best. But I'll just write a bit about notable moments in each show, what I liked and didn't like, etc. Broadway is a very different experience from London, so my brain's confused, but I'll do my best. Hope you enjoy!

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (March 18th Matinee)

This was, without a doubt, my favourite show of the trip. And it was a spontaneous ticket I bought two hours before the show started. Isn't that always the way. It's a bit of a slow start (the first proper scene feels like it takes forever setting out the action for the rest of the show), but once it starts, it doesn't stop. It's funny, clever, fast-paced, and just an all-around good time. Despite the warning in the show's opening song, the show itself isn't gory or creepy; but then again, maybe that's part of the humour. You walk in expecting something dark and disturbing, and you instead get something fun and exciting; a tad predictable, but entertaining and with some unexpected twists and turns along the way.

I'll start by talking a bit about the set, tech, and costuming. I adored the costumes. Historically accurate, but slightly exaggerated to emphasise the mood of the show. The fabrics chosen were gorgeous and reacted really well to the stage lights. Even the black costumes practically glowed. Each character had a specific colour (i.e. Sibella had pink/red, Phoebe had blue/purple, the D'Ysquiths always had shimmery, dark fabrics - Sibella even had an entire song dedicated to her love of pink. I approve!), which I thought was really effective at maintaining consistency. That's a pretty bad explanation, but something about it just worked. I liked it. The fitting was also gorgeous; I covet most of Phoebe and Sibella's costumes.  The set was gorgeous as well. There was sort of a stage-within-a-stage thing going on, which was nice. Whenever something was 'the story' that Monty's 'guide' was telling, it was on the little stage, which had very intricate sets; whereas when something was happening 'in the moment' (i.e. it wasn't part of Monty's inner monologue), it happened in the foreground in front of or to the side of the stage-within-a-stage. It was really useful for communicating the separation between the two parts of the story. I also loved the use of tech; it was never overdone, and when used, it was used exceptionally well. Highlights include Monty's first murder of a D'Ysquith (which involved said D'Ysquith falling off a very tall building and going *splat* on the ground, blood pooling everywhere. Yes, that was all done on a screen, and it was incredible).

Scarlett Strallen, Jeff Kready, and Catherine Walker
(Broadwaybox)

My favourite part of the show was, by far, a scene  (pictured; "I've Decided to Marry You") between Sibella, Monty, and Phoebe. I don't want to give too much away (as I highly recommend seeing the show yourself, if you can), but the choreography, acting, and the idea of the scene itself was just amazingly funny. The to-and-fro between the characters weaving through the doors, and the fact that the audience knew exactly what was happening and the characters didn't - it was enormously entertaining and incredibly well executed. I could've watched that scene again and again.

I won't give away any more specifics about the show itself; it's definitely something you have to see to understand (and love). It's not one of those shows that could be written about in detail as if one were writing a novel; there are too many little intricacies that are integral to the story, so you have to see it to believe it. So I'll just quickly talk about a few performers that caught my eye before I call it a day on this review.

Scarlett Strallen is always a favourite; I've seen her in so many shows by this point (at least 3, anyway) and she never fails to impress. She captured the humorous and more serious sides of Sibella, sang beautifully, and was just incredibly entertaining. Jeff Kready as Monty Navarro was also enormously entertaining. I can't put my finger on any one thing - he was the total package. But the biggest standout was Greg Jackson, who played every single member of the D'Ysquith family - including the women (aside from Phoebe). That's a grand total of eight characters, each of them unique in characteristics and personality, and most with their own, very individual song-and-dance numbers (and, of course, hilariously dramatic death scene - this included death by decapitation (by weights), falling from a height, and being eaten by cannibals, among others). Jackson, the standby for the D'Ysquiths, did an absolutely incredible job at bringing individuality to each character. He was astounding.

I highly recommend A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder; it's worth visiting NYC just for this show. I haven't been so highly entertained by a new show in a long time. If I were one for giving stars on my reviews, this would get six!

Matilda the Musical (March 18th Evening)

Children's Cast
(Fina Strazza was later
replaced by Brooklyn Shuck)

This was a very interesting experience. It was very, very different from the West End version (there's an overture on Broadway? The accents were a bit strange too; some did British, some American, some an awkward cross between the two), but we also had a cast-change mid show; Fina Strazza was Matilda for the first 2/3 of the first act (the last song she appeared in was Chokey Chant). When the library set came on after Loud, everything suddenly stopped. It was quiet and dark for a few minutes, and then an announcement was made that Fina had suddenly become ill, and they were preparing Brooklyn Shuck (who must have been on standby that night) to go on. About 10 minutes later the show resumed with Brooklyn as Matilda. And my goodness, that girl was good.

Shuck and Strazza
(tumblr)

From what I saw, Fina was a really nice Matilda; her voice and line delivery were a bit mechanical, and she went for a reasonably stoic portrayal. It wasn't my favourite, but I liked where it was going. She had a lovely singing voice and looked absolutely adorable (if a bit tall); it's a shame she got ill (though we were assured at the end of the show that she was going to be just fine).

Brooklyn was an amazing Matilda. Absolutely incredible, especially considering she can't have had more than 20 minutes to prepare to go on. I'm sad that I didn't see most of her first act as I think it would've been amazing. But I enjoyed what I did see of her, and it was enough to make her my favourite Matilda. I did get a bit concerned that she might go off sick as well, as she seemed to be struggling to breathe at one point and kept moving around uncomfortably, but I guess it was just her acting as she seemed fine (if a bit tired) at Curtain Call.

Anyway, to talk a bit about her portrayal a bit. It was unique to anything else I'd seen before at Matilda in that she doesn't depend on her singing voice to carry the character. Brooklyn is very perceptive; she spends a lot of time reacting to the situation, adapting her portrayal to the situation unfolding in front of her. Many Matildas just sit and observe without doing much; Brooklyn reacts; she's engaged in what's happening. Her 'Quiet' especially was really wonderful. She had a powerful voice when she wanted to, but mostly she focused on expressing Matilda's feelings through the songs. She took some beautiful long pauses, letting the audience appreciate the silence and the emotional journey Matilda was on. I also liked that Brooklyn went very deadpan when she was sad or telling the lies to Miss Honey or Mrs Phelps. It was a nice little piece of acting that made the character come to life, and as the characters came to know Matilda, it meant that they could tell when she was lying (which made her little confessions much more… sweet, I guess is the word for it. You felt sad for Matilda, trying to keep it all in, and happy that she could finally confess). Her hugging Miss Honey at the end of the first act ("You're going to hug all the air out of me!") was absolutely adorable; she just kept hugging tighter and tighter. I wish I remembered more about Brooklyn; I really do. But if you get the chance to see her, do it. She's an absolutely amazing Matilda.

The children's cast was alright. Noah Baird as Nigel fluffed his lines once (someone whispered them to him from the side) and was early for a cue (the Narcolepsy bit; Fina had to drop the second half of her lines because he started waking up too early). Cole Alex Edelstein was an ok Bruce; nice voice, but nothing stood out. Same with Grace Capeless as Lavender; nice singing voice and decent acting, but she mangled her words and was very hard to understand. Alice, Eric, Hortensia, and Tommy were done very well; I wasn't paying too much attention to any of them (though the girls playing Alice and Hortensia looked very alike), but they were all wonderful. I loved little GiaNina Paolantonio as Amanda; she seemed a bit nervous about the throw (she kept rearranging her braids) but she was adorable and a nice little singer and dancer, and very professional (she nearly fell off the swing when she was trying to stand up on it in "When I Grow Up"; scary, but she handled it very well. Her face didn't show any fright).

Lesli Margherita
(Tumblr)

The adult cast was quite good. The ensemble is much stronger than in London (no bearded students here! Sergei's beard was fake, and looked just as good. London, you don't need a bearded student!); better dancing, better acting, and they just look better for their parts. I loved Lesli Margherita as Mrs Wormwood; she was so spunky and sparkly. Loud was so much fun because she adds so many cool little details to it; she doesn't just sing the song, she lives it. Her dancing was amazing. I'm not sure who played Rudolpho, but he was fabulous too. A lot of fun to watch (Rudolpho's my favourite character in the show, so a good Rudolpho is important to me!). Mr Wormwood was nice; he was very scary at first, but it was cute to see how he was almost sad to see Matilda go at the end. You got the sense that somewhere in there, he loved his daughter, and knew that staying with Miss Honey was what was best for her. Speaking of Miss Honey, Alison Luff was really good. Not my favourite, but good. She has a very powerful voice and her acting was spot on. I loved her reaction to Bruce's finishing the cake; it was so over the top and ridiculous, but somehow just worked. You could see Miss Honey's emotional growth through the show, which was nice. Christopher Sieber was a very manly Miss Trunchbull, but he was funny and terrifying when it was suitable, and his acting was great. All in all, I loved the adult cast of Broadway's Matilda.

I had a great time at Matilda; I'd definitely love to return to the Broadway show, or see some of the things they do in this show (like Brooklyn and Lesli's acting, Alison's performance, and the adult cast) to happen in the London show. Matilda is definitely worth a trip, either in NYC or London!

The Phantom of the Opera (March 19th Evening)

I… don't even know where to start with this one. It was just bad. But it's not fair to leave it just at that, so of course I'll elaborate.

First, the orchestra/sound. The vocals were very loud. Almost overwhelmingly so; whereas the orchestra was barely audible (from the second row of the Orchestra/Stalls, mind). I know the West End Phantom orchestra is famous for its size, so I'm guessing that the Broadway orchestra just isn't large enough to match the size of the auditorium and vocal power of the cast. Vocally, the cast was relatively strong. James Barbour (Phantom) had a very deep voice, but it was loud and powerful. His high notes were very virbrato-y and not as pure and clear as I like, but it wasn't necessarily bad. Just different. Julia Udine (Christine) had a lovely voice - at times. It was very clear and sweet at some points, very low and powerful at others, and had some moments of being very thin and quiet. The first two were both great sounds for her, so I'd like to see her pick one or the other to stick with. She'd flip between 'voice types' every few words, which made the songs sound very bizarre. Julia's spoken and sung words were wholly different; she doesn't act with her singing voice at all, which I think her performance could benefit from. Jeremy Hays (Raoul) also had a very deep, loud voice (he and Barbour sounded very alike). It was ok for Raoul, nothing extraordinary, but not bad. 

The acting was probably the most intolerable part of this show. Nobody could act. At all. And it wasn't me being pedantic; my friend, who was seeing the show for the first time and therefore had no bias, agreed that the acting was pretty pathetic. I'm inclined to say it was a problem of direction rather than actors; there wasn't a single performer who I felt really captured their character, which is problematic. Julia Udine came the closest; her Christine at least had a bit of substance. But there was still no discernible characteristics to the character. Even Carlotta, who is the easiest to pull off (she can easily be portrayed as a one-dimensional diva - I don't like it, but it's easy to do) was entirely undeveloped. There were some things I felt were vastly overacted (such as      ), but mostly I was underwhelmed and disappointed by the complete lack of acting, performance, or character development. 

Julia Udine (Christine)
(tumblr)

A few more random notes; the dancing was a mess (sloppy, sloppy, sloppy!); they were in synch, I'll give them that, but there was no unity or connection between the dancers, no spark or expression from any of them. One ballet girl was very Charise Renouf-esque, with big facial expression, funny little lines on the side - I liked her. Julia Udine danced en pointe, but she really shouldn't be. She was barely en pointe at all, which is just not safe. She was an otherwise ok dancer though, as Christine should be. The girl playing Meg Giry (Kara Klein) had one facial expression (a very cute, annoying smile) and a thing for very precise enunciation. A semi-decent singing voice, but otherwise a less-than-average Meg. The other strange thing about this show was the speed. The music seemed very, very slow (especially the Il Muto ballet), but the performers were seriously rushing their lines (Notes, for example, went by at lighting speed). Some of their pronunciation was a bit strange as well, though I can't remember exact examples at the moment.

Also, costumes. Gah. Such terrible fitting. The sleeves on Julia's Wishing Dress hang on her, the bodice is lumpy and doesn't fit (it looks like they've shoved padding around the chest to try to make it fit); the bodices on the hannibal ballet costumes are wrinkled and bunch up around the girls' waists, and the rope skirts are cut unevenly; Some of Julia's skirts (Think of Me skirt especially) as well as some ensemble costumes are far too short. Many of the masquerade costumes looked limp and well-worn, lacking sparkle and just generally looking pretty droopy (the Butterfly costume, for example). Julia's Masquerade costume was gorgeous though. The London Costume department (and by the looks of it, Russia's and Germany's) is doing a fabulous job; Broadway's needs to do the same.

So, all in all, this was a disappointing performance, and I'm not in a hurry to go back to the Broadway production. The London production is in far better shape; it's sharper, the acting and direction is better, the character portrayals are more thoughtful and well-developed, and the dancing and choreography is very well maintained and performed. London also has better costumes. Generally, London's Phantom just feels fresher and sharper than Broadway's, which just comes off as stale and tired.

An American in Paris (March 20th Evening)

Robbie Fairchild and Leanne Cope

First things first - this was the worst audience I have ever experienced. Hands down. The people behind me on one side talked through the entire second act (and when I asked them to stop, the man right behind me started waving his hand in my face), and behind me on the other side, a women ate individually wrapped sweets through the whole second act. In the first act, I saw people get up and leave not 10 minutes into the show, people moving seats (which involved moving from the middle of the row - in the middle of a scene, mind), three phones went off, there was constant talking and whispering, and that's not even all of it. It was atrocious. And it wasn't teenagers or young kids - it was adults (mostly older people). If I could sit still and quietly in a theatre by age 5, you'd think they'd know better. I think part of the problem was that they made the no-phones, recording, etc. announcement in French. Of course, it's still obvious what was being said, but it not being in English made it easier for people to ignore. Anyway, onto the show itself.

Leanne Cope and Ensemble (Capezio)

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. It's still in previews, and that shows - there's some cleaning and tightening up that needs to be done, but for such a new show, it's off to an amazing start. I thought the story itself was a bit of a jumble; it felt like there were scenes missing and the audience had to connect the dots during a given scene as to what had happened or was happening. This was helped a bit by having Adam (Brandon Uranowitz) as a narrator of sorts, but the story got a bit confusing in certain bits (for example, I would've liked a bit more clarification on what was going on with Lise's family - it sort of all came out at once and then ceased to be important - and of where Milo (Jill Paice, of 'Matilda' fame) came from - she just spontaneously showed up from who knows where). I've never seen the movie though, and according to my mum, the show was mirroring the movie very closely, so it must be one of those times where screen doesn't quite translate to stage. The choreography was nice enough;  Christopher Wheeldon produces nice ballets (Alice in Wonderland and Winter's Tale are incredible pieces), though the ballet choreography in the show didn't feel like anything particularly revolutionary. My main issue with the choreography is that nothing made Leanne (Lise) stand out from the other dancers other than the fact that she had solo parts. She didn't do anything that was special or unique; there was nothing that made you think "Ah, I know why Lise was picked to be the star!" I think it would've been effective to have some very unique choreography based solely on any special skills she has (every dancer has something), rather than something that the ensemble dancers all do at some point during the show. I also thought the sets and costuming were very well done; bright colours, detailed sets, historically accurate costumes - it was great!

Leanne Cope
(youtube)

The stars of the show were NYCB Principal Robert Fairchild and Royal Ballet Soloist Leanne Cope. I was a bit skeptical of this at first. It seemed suspiciously similar to celebrity casting, especially in Leanne's case (bringing someone all the way from London isn't a small matter). She was either an incredibly special, talented performer, or a favourite of a director/choreographer. I can't speak for the latter, but the former is certainly true. Leanne's character, Lise, has only one song of her own ("The Man I Love"), a few brief solos in other songs, and not a lot of speaking. But what she does have, Leanne delivered with feeling and sensitivity, making Lise come to life in a way that felt very genuine. She has a nice singing voice (not extraordinary, but she hits the notes, has a nice amount of power and volume), though she tends to lose her french accent when she sings, so that's something to be worked on. I did think the accent was accurate otherwise; it was definitely stereotypically French-french (rather than quebecois), but no so heavy that she was incomprehensible. A well-thought out balance between a believable accent and an understandable accent. Her acting was very ballet-esque (which makes sense for the character and the actress herself); a lot of her acting was in the slight head turns, the hand movements, the way she held her body - as I said, very ballet, but it worked well enough. Her dancing itself was beautiful. Gorgeous extensions, gorgeous feet. She is so incredibly elegant and graceful. All in all, I thought she did an excellent job (also, props to her for her costume/shoe changes. How she managed to change costumes and into pointe shoes in less than 20 seconds - yes, I counted - I have no idea. It was very impressive though!)

Robbie Fairchild and Leanne Cope

I was very pleasantly surprised by Robbie Fairchild. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought he was a seasoned broadway performer. He portrayed his character absolutely perfectly; great accent, good singing voice, fabulous acting ability. Jerry Mulligan, Robbie's character, could be a little obnoxious at times, but at heart he was kind and loving, and I thought Robbie did an excellent job of conveying this. I especially enjoyed "I've Got Beginners Luck" and "Liza" (hey, a song all about me! Well, Russian me); he was charming and humorous in these songs, and as I've said, he has a very good singing voice. Who knew so many ballet dancers could sing? My one issue with Leanne and Robbie was that I didn't really feel an intense connection between the two of them that made their (especially his) love for each other palpable. But maybe that will come with time.

Other notable performances included Jill Paice as Milo Davenport, an art dealer and ballet fan (simply put) who falls in 'love' with Robbie's Jerry. Jill did a nice job at creating a sympathetic, humorous character out of a rather stale, cliche base (seriously, some of Milo's lines are just… anyway, she's not an easy character to care about). Brandon Uranowitz as Adam was very funny; he had great comedic timing, and was serious when he needed to be. It wasn't anything extraordinary, but I did enjoy his performance.

'An American in Paris' is very raw, and very new. There is certainly work to be done, but overall, it's an excellent show and definitely worth a trip to see. I would advise trying to sit farther forward in the orchestra as I felt that as far back as I was (Row U), I was missing some of the subtleties of the performance. But it is so worth seeing just for the extraordinary sets and performances by the leads.

The Phantom of the Opera (March 7th, 2015)

The Phantom of the Opera

Principal Cast

Two amazing shows in two days - my brain is a little tired. I'm going to have a go at organising this review chronologically rather than by person, since aside from Harriet Jones (Christine) and one of the managers, it was the exact same cast as last night. Going into this, I was really excited to see Harriet's Christine against Earl's Phantom; he was very violent with Lisa-Anne, but Harriet's Christine is very gentle and timid, and a lot less headstrong than Lisa-Annes, so I was legitimately concerned (someone please remind me that this is a show) about the wellbeing of Harriet's Christine. Fortunately Earl toned it down a lot in that respect. There were a lot of really excellent performances in this show (and some I wasn't so fond of, but isn't that always the way?), so I'm excited to write about it! Anyway, onto the review:

The Auction

I like how Oliver plays old-Raoul; he changes the way he sings and the way his face moves, unlike others who just put on a raspy voice and leave it at that. He doesn't even look like the same person with all the fake facial hair and the changed facial expressions. I liked it a lot. 

Hannibal -> Angel of Music

I still get a bit pouty when the Ballet Girls dance out and Layla's not in her spot. The ballet leaves something to be desired without her beautiful, elegant dancing. A couple of the girls (Danielle, Claire, Daisy) are lovely, but aside from them, no one else really extends everything to the last possible second, such that the movements seem very abrupt from some people. Anyway, moving on. Hannibal was nice. I'm not the biggest fan of this Piangi; his voice doesn't seem right for the part (it's very dull and almost raspy, if that makes sense? There's no fullness to it) and he does everything exactly the same every single time. There's nothing fresh about it. 

Harriet Jones
(Operafantomet on Tumblr)

I loved Fiona Finsbury's Carlotta. Like, entirely adored it. But just in Hannibal, she had the entire Prima Donna, "I'm the best, everyone look at me!" vibe going on. It was sooo Carlotta. A touch obnoxious and very haughty, but justifiably so in that she had a fabulous voice and great stage presence, so you can see why Carlotta's the mega star. I loved how worked up her Carlotta got when the set curtain fell down; she was visibly very shaken. I like this because it didn't make it seem like Carlotta just had a tantrum and left; she was actually terrified for her safety, and walking out was the result of a lot of scary moments for her. And that's when I started to feel bad for Carlotta and had to stop for a second and think, "wait, what?" I never feel bad for Carlotta. Shows you what detailed, thoughtful portrayals can do to your perception of a character.

Harriet's Think of Me was gorgeous. She started off very stiff and nervous; the first "think of me..." was barely audible. I like that the first person Christine turns to is Meg (even if Meg was a bit wooden in this performance). The rest of the song was just divine though; Harriet's voice is absolutely stunning, and she grasps the ingenue-esque acting so well. It really feels like you're watching a young singer come to life on stage for the first time. I love it. But I've always liked Harriet's Think of Me.

Angel of Music was cute; Georgia (Meg) has a nice voice; she's a very young, very cute Meg, even if she's lacking some depth of character. Harriet and Georgia looks so alike with the similar wig colours, height/build, and face shapes - it's a little unnerving. But they were a cute Christine and Meg combination, and their voices sounded good together. 

I love, love, LOVE Oliver as Raoul. Adore. The way he says, "Where is your red scarf" is so charming  and adorable. He doesn't give off that vain, self-centred vibe at all. He and Harriet were a lovely Christine/Raoul pair; she's so gentle and sweet and he's so kind and caring, it just worked. Great voices on both parts; I love that Oliver's got really great volume (you can always hear his singing parts, whereas often Raoul fades into the background behind Christine and others). 

Awesome Angel of Music from Harriet. I don't have much to say about it other than it was amazing. Harriet's really getting her facial expressions down; she has this thing that whenever the Phantom's around, she gets a very… haunted look on her face. It's not exactly a trance, but it's not full awareness either. I love it. It's different, and it works for her.

Phantom of the Opera -> Stranger Than You Dreamt It

Earl Carpenter
(Earl's Twitter)

Earl's lip synching was so much better this show. I guess it's just a matter of practice and him getting used to it again. Harriet's always been very good with faking the singing, though from my angle off to the side I noticed that when her back is mostly to the audience, she barely moves her mouth (speaking of noticing things being off to the side; one of the stage hands spent the better part of Notes II velcroing a piece of black fabric onto something. The bright yellow tape on the walkie talkie on his/her belt didn't help. Someone else forgot to close the curtain at one point, so I could see people running around backstage. It was awesome). I guess the majority of people can't see that though (I was five seats in, in the second row), so no biggie. I just love the colours in this scene though; Harriet's wig gets very light under the lights, so with that white gown she's practically glowing agains the blue and black fog, and you can really only see the Phantom's mask and the sparkle of his cape. It's very effective. One thing I really liked that Earl did was when he was doing "SING!", he moved his arms like he was conducting her, not just shouting at her to sing. It was a really nice touch. 

Music of the Night was entrancing, which I think is the way it needs to be. I was trying to watch Harriet to get a sense of how she responded to the new Phantom, but for the most part I couldn't take my eyes off of Earl. Powerful voice with lovely intonations here and there. Also, Earl's generally really good with his hands and his movement; he seems to truly control the portcullis and the mannequin.

Stranger Than You Dreamt It was scary. Not as bad as last night, but scary. Earl's Phantom completely loses his marbles when Christine rips his mask off, and Harriet did very well getting a bit more panicked than she usually does. I like how when the Phantom sings, "Who dreams of beauty, secretly…" he gestures to the mannequin and basically adopts the stance of a sad puppy. It's almost heartbreaking. I really, really, really love how Earl does the mask return. As Harriet started to reach for it, he tried to as well, but pulled back when he realised she was already reaching for it. He sort of steals glances at her as she picks it up and looks at it, and the relief when she hands it to him is so palpable. 

Notes -> Il Muto

Fiona Finsbury
(Tumblr)

I'm just going to ignore everyone but Carlotta in Notes because that scene makes me sad without Layla's spark in it. Fiona as Carlotta was extraordinary in this scene. Such a haughty, imperious diva at times. She wasn't just going along with the scene; it felt like she was the one controlling how everything worked out. I loved her ferocity when the Phantom was challenging them all; her face just said, "It's on."

Also loved Fiona-Carlotta in Il Muto. She really 'acts' the scene; and by that I mean it's Carlotta acting badly ("Carlotta must be taught to act, not her normal trick of strutting round the stage!" Right?! Fiona's the only Carlotta who seems to have taken that line into account and designed her portrayal of Carlotta to fit it). Harriet's nice in this scene too; she embraces the Seraphimo character for the most part, and does get quite scared looking when the Phantom pops up. Harriet-Christine looks horrified when Carlotta's voice starts to go; it's funny and sad all at the same time (that was the annoying thing - I actually felt really sorry for Carlotta! Fiona-Carlotta looked so traumatised I couldn't not). The one thing I'd say is I prefer when Carlottas use the fan a bit more extensively rather than it just hanging around on their wrist a lot.  

All I Ask of You -> Interval

This. I cried. Raoul is so adorable, holding onto Christine, kissing her head…. so cute. He's really protective of her, and wants to keep her close to him rather than letting her off on her own. It's adorable (and yes I'm overusing that word, but it's accurate). Anyway, strong voices, adorable (there I go again!) relationship between the two… it was perfect.

I still don't get why Raoul is onstage at the end of the first act (well, obvious reason, but why would Raoul be anywhere near the stage? Also, why is the Phantom sending the chandelier down on Christine? On Carlotta I understand, but Christine? Even if she ticked him off by singing a gorgeous love song with Raoul, it seems a bit extreme to seriously attempt to kill her. 

Masquerade -> Raoul/Mme Giry

Another song that's very pout-inducing without my favourite Meg and dancer on. It's weird how much of a difference one person makes. Guess it's the stage presence, because there weren't any gaps in the dancers or anything. Anyway, it was nice. Masquerade's usually pretty consistent; I've never seen anything majorly interesting happen.

From my angle during the Raoul/Mme Giry scene, I could see Harriet walking on for Notes II. That quick change is fast! Oliver and Jacinta have great volume; oftentimes you can hear the staircase pulling back over top of the scene, but not this time.

Notes II -> Wishing

Harriet Jones
(Harriet's Twitter)

Harriet's Christine is just so calm and timid, it's not fun to see her get upset, so it's particularly annoying that Carlotta (and Piangi and everyone but Mme Giry) are blaming her for creating everything, because you can see her going from being angry at Carlotta, to being completely and utterly defeated. She looked a bit deranged by it all, actually, which was very different, but it was a realistic character development, so it worked. I'm enjoying some of the neat little character quirks Harriet's coming up with lately. Carlotta's "She's mad!" (said with a devious little chuckle) was perfectly timed and suited the scene perfectly. Christine looked literally mad at this point (the wig had gone a bit wild too, adding to the effect). I liked how when Christine ran away, Oliver slammed his hands on the chair, started to run after her, then went and threatened the Phantom. 

Don Juan rehearsal was fine. Liked Fiona's faces and unimpressed little vocalisations. Her Carlotta seemed really fed up with it all, and is going to do her darnedest to show everyone how annoyed she is, but is still there because she remembers what happened last time she ticked off the Phantom. You have to laugh at how little she cares about Christine's little mental breakdown just moments before. 

And this is where I totally lost it. Harriet's really figuring this song out. She's emoting it, rather than just singing the song with a crystal clear voice like she used to. It's much more effective from an emotional perspective, especially after Twisted Every Way. I loved that she spoke more than sang "no more silent tears". I don't know why. Sometimes things just work, and there's no good reason that they do, they just do. This was one of those. 

The Wandering Child trio was great. Earl's got that fabulous voice that draws you right in, so it makes sense that that's exactly what happens to Christine. 

Harriet Jones
(Tumblr)

Point of No Return -> Final Lair

This was the part I was concerned about, because it was really violent last night. Poor Lisa-Anne has to be sore from all that today.

Anyway, Earl toned it down a lot, thankfully. It's nice that he keeps that faux italian accent going for a bit to keep up the pre tense. It makes it more believable that Christine wouldn't know it was him that way. I liked Harriet's PONR a lot, though I wish she wouldn't manhandle her skirt so much. On the bright side, I think I've figured out the exact constriction of that skirt. Otherwise, I think she does a nice PONR. It's not too sultry; she keeps it appropriate for Christine. Harriet also did really nicely with fighting to get away from the Phantom after she realise it's him (that scream, by the way. Loud. And awesome); like Lisa, she didn't give into him at all. Harriet's usually quite sympathetic to the Phantom, but she wasn't this time, which was really good. 

Final Lair was intense, to say the least. I don't really know how to process it at the moment, so I'm just going to make a few notes tonight then expand on it tomorrow when I've had time to think about what happened. One of the things I really liked was when the Phantom was singing the bit about the joys of the flesh, he reached towards her and Harriet just noped (excuse my language, I'm a teenager, I'm entitled to use that phrase) right out of there. She did not want him anywhere near her, which made the veil and all that hard to watch, and also made the kiss, where she put her hand right over the deformity (thank you!!) all the more effective. It made Christine look very compassionate. 

Harriet Jones and Oliver Savile
(Oliver's Twitter)

Tears of Hate was great; slow build up, took her time with it, then exploded. I loved it. Harriet was really good at standing up to the Phantom in this; she got very confrontational, even after he'd thrown her around quite a bit. At "Angel of Music, who deserves this?" he had to give up and back away from her or get walked right off the stage. Very well done. I still really like the way Earl does "You try my patience; make your choice!" all quickly and loudly; no pause to think in there. Another one of those things that just worked. He takes his time getting to releasing Raoul after the kiss; but he doesn't just sort of ramble or waste time to build up tension. He looks back to Christine, looks at Raoul - you can see him processing what's going on around him and trying to decide to do what's right, or what he wants to do. 

Interestingly, Raoul was the last person left on stage before the Phantom yelled at him. Christine was out of there like a shot. Earl's Phantom doesn't chase Raoul and Christine off; he slumps in his chair and just tells them to go, with an eerie sort of calm. I died a little inside when Earl just held his hand out for the ring. Completely and utterly defeated. I felt a lot more sympathy for his Phantom tonight than last night. Probably because he was less scary, but still. He also does a good cloak sweep on the throne to hide the fact that he's disappearing. 

As I said, I'll come back to this bit tomorrow when I've thought about it a bit more. 

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this show; the cast was completely on fire (for the most part, anyway). It was just an all-around good show. I'd say the highlights were probably Earl as the Phantom and Fiona as Carlotta, though I really enjoyed Harriet as Christine too. I may or may not have cried through most of the first act (and accidentally dug a few holes in my arm with my nails during the Final Lair). I wish I could see it again tomorrow, but oh well. It was a great time while it lasted. And the quickest stage door ever allowed me to get to writing this very quickly, so it's mostly fresh in my memory.