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sorenthelegend · 6 years

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Thoughts on Phantom 🌹🎶❤️ (West End, August 6th 2018)

(Hahaha the post was too long so I’m going to put Act I here and reblog to add Act II 💖)

Last night I went to see The Phantom of The Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London - my first ever West End show and my first time ever seeing Phantom!!! Safe to say it was AMAZING 😍 it was everything I could have hoped for and more!! I had Ben Lewis (!!!) as the Phantom, Bridget Costello as Christine and Jeremy Taylor as Raoul, all of whom were absolutely brilliant!

Ben Lewis’ Phantom.....what can I say? The first word that springs to mind is captivating - every moment he was on stage I was utterly spellbound. He puts so much emotion into his performance, and I had tears in my eyes more than once. He really captured the difference in the Phantom from when he first takes Christine down to his lair to when he takes her again after Don Juan - you can see how much the unmasking breaks him, he loses his gentleness and becomes more erratic, and he breaks down SO WELL. Everything about Ben Lewis is amazing.

Bridget Costello is STUNNING!!! Not only is she beautiful, her dancing is amazing and her voice is gorgeous. She had such amazing technique with everything she did - she conveyed even the subtlest of Christine’s emotions perfectly, and her performance was stellar.

Jeremy Taylor was brilliant, my Angry Boi™️ Raoul 😩😍 I honestly fell in love with his version of the character - he was more aggressive than I expected, but it was due to his fierce protectiveness over Christine, and you could really feel his animosity towards the Phantom. Absolutely amazing.

Prologue/Overture: ohhhh I got actual CHILLS when the chandelier went up 😍 idk if it was intentional but the lights flickered in time with the music? The orchestra were incredible (more on them later), and the atmosphere was so great

Hannibal: Piangi, you deserve the world. Hannibal was brilliant - the dancing was great, the music was really good, but mainly it was HILARIOUS 😂 my boi Wade the Elephant had a bedazzled helmet (you live your best life, Wade) Carlotta smacking the newspaper out of someone’s hand while she was singing is somehow a mood (petty goals my gal) also was she flirting with Andre?!? The “AMATEURS” line was perfect, the look on his face was just 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

Think of Me: Okay this was so well acted it hurt 😩 Christine started off really shy and quiet, but once she lost herself in the music she was confident and strong and all-around PERFECT 😍 she had such a breathless smile on her face the whole time, you could tell how much she loved to sing and loved her music. Raoul said “brava” instead of “bravo” and I was so proud, also he didn’t randomly get up and leave like in 2004 so the boy has gained some sense 😂 the cadenza was absolutely gorgeous and I’m jealous of that high note 😩😍

Angel of Music: Meg has such a good voice!! It was sweet and innocent and harmonised beautifully with Christine’s. There were different lyrics to the ones I know (instead of the “Christine you must have been dreaming” lines we had “I watched your face from the shadows/Distant through all the applause/I hear your voice in the darkness/But the words aren’t yours!”) and I LOVED them - it was like Meg was just as excited about Christine’s Angel of Music as she was, rather than her trying to tell Christine that her Angel isn’t real. Loved it.

Little Lotte/The Mirror: Raoul walked into the dressing room and said “Christine Daaé where is your red scarf” and I almost died because somehow the way he said it was really attractive 😂 I loved the harmonies in this, and I really enjoyed the interaction between the two. Christine’s fear when she talked about how strict her Angel is was really good, it subtly set up the dynamic of fear between Christine and the Phantom (which only becomes more evident with the progression of the story). I got chills again at the mirror opening, I totally get why Christine was so hypnotised 👀

The Phantom of the Opera: TITLE SONGGGGG 😍😍😍 the way they showed the descent into the underground was really clever (they had a staircase-type thing that slowly lowered as they walked across it, giving the impression that it was sloping downwards) and the CANDLES omg there were SO MANY OF THEM 😂 during the “sing for me”s at the end of the song the Phantom moved his hands like he was drawing her voice out from her, and he properly went “ohh” when she hit the right notes (the self-caress bit was almost like he was trying to regain his composure)😩😍 I never thought I’d fall in love with someone because of the way they toss a hat away but DEAR GOD it was glorious 👀😍😩👌🏻

Music of the Night: 😭😍 the singing was, as ever, absolutely perfect, and the acting in this was superb - there was a lot of chemistry between the two, and he kept flinching away when he touched Christine, like he couldn’t believe he was able to. At the “touch me, trust me” lines, he had closed his eyes and she reached up to touch his mask, and he instantly pulls away and grabs her wrist with wide eyes. The doll was suitably creepy, but it’s great because we get to see the Phantom carrying Christine (he strong)👀 It was beautiful.

I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It: Okay the performance of the Phantom when composing was perfect - he was scrambling for a pen, jumping up and scribbling furiously when he worked out a phrase, blowing on the ink to dry it so it wouldn’t smudge....10/10. Christine tried to take his mask off a few times but he was so focused on his composition that he didn’t notice (she only missed because he jumped up to write stuff down) and his reaction when she did take off the mask was so well done. He screamed when she took it off and chased her about the lair, trying to get the mask back (and you could tell she was genuinely scared of him) before collapsing on the floor. The “damn you, curse you” line was so full of emotion (he kind of groaned at her?? “ohHhhhH DAMN you” 😂 I loved it, you could feel his frustration) and he then proceeded to fully break down in tears as he sang STYDI. I almost cried watching him, he was so broken and tearful (you could almost HEAR his tears in his voice), and once he put his mask back on you could tell he was annoyed at himself for getting so upset and tried to almost angrily compose himself 😂 honestly one of my highlights of the whole show

Magical Lasso: The ballet girls all ran away screaming when a guy in a cloak and hat walked past 😂 Madame Giry was raging, wish she’d slapped him it would have been gold

Notes I: The looks on their faces when they were reading the notes 😂👌🏻 André did a little sad face at “the dancing was a lamentable mess :(“ and the “what is it that we’re meant to have wrote” was obviously brilliant, it was hilarious - this was Angry Raoul’s debut, he was PISSED about that letter and even MORE pissed when Carlotta accused him of sending hers

Prima Donna: I really liked this one, usually it’s not one of my favourites but it was really well done - when the managers did the bit about “although he may demur/He must have been with her” Raoul stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at them half-disgusted, half-angry, shaking his head a bit. Meg spent the first part of the song looking around the managers’ desk for the notes and examining them, like she was looking for clues as to who the Phantom was. At the end they all sang “sing Prima Donna once more” in a different manner - Raoul was angry and almost sarcastic, Madame Giry looked so done, Carlotta was having the time of her life (but the best was Raoul - he almost spat out the words “prima donna”, so much venom, I love my Angry Boi)

Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh: I would genuinely pay good money to see the whole of this opera 😂 the fops looked great, Piangi KILLED it, and it was all going brilliantly until the Phantom shows up to ruin the party. The croaking was great, but I also really liked how Christine forgot her blocking because she was scared of the Phantom. His laugh was proper chilling 👌🏻 the ballet was so good, André walked into about four dancers trying to get off the stage, and I loved the shadows behind the scenery showing the Phantom. If Buquet was a doll it was a hella accurate doll, it was dead realistic 😂 the chaos on the stage was brilliant, and the laughter really cemented the Phantom as a total maniac

Why Have You Brought Us Here: you could really see Christine’s fear in this, also I liked how on the “there inside your mind” lyric Raoul gestured towards Christine’s head, like he was trying to convince her that the Phantom was a figment of her imagination. I missed a lot of Angry Christine here because where I was sitting it was hard to see downstage right (ie the bit of the stage on my left-hand side), but she moved out into centre stage for “but his voice” - Raoul looked at her all concerned during this bit, and you know that he genuinely believes Christine has imagined the man

All I Ask of You: Raoul is my protective boi and I love him okay 😩 he hugged her tighter when he sang “I’m here, no one will harm you”, and he had a determined look in his eyes and more of an edge to his voice, like he was daring the Phantom to try and harm Christine. It was such a sweet and romantic song, the kiss was more gentle than most I’ve seen before, it was just like watching two teenagers in love, plus their voices are so powerful (chills again)

All I Ask of You (Reprise): My HEART 😭😩 this was so heartbreaking, he was crying the whole way through and looked like he was physically in pain (particularly during “he was bound to love you when he heard you sing” - because the Phantom taught her to sing, I think he blames himself for that). When Christine and Raoul were singing he covered his ears and shook his head while sobbing her name, and it was painful to watch 😭 I had the absolute fear while the angel was going back up because he STOOD UP (please don’t fall off), he was so dramatic and angry and I SWEAR to you he was looking RIGHT AT US at this bit - the chandelier falling was SO intense, it fell so much quicker than I was expecting, what an amazing end to the first act

(Act II to follow! 😂)

#phantom of the opera #poto #west end #review #phantom #alw #musical #ben lewis #anna gathers her thoughts #musical theatre #andrew lloyd webber

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glassprism · 7 years

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"Ask a Phantom"- any 5 questions of your choice

You mean I get a choice? Well then...

1. Who is your favorite ALW musical Phantom?

(I’m doing this so if I one day make a Favorite Phantoms video, I’ll just copy my descriptions from here).

Michael Crawford - Besides respecting him for his contributions to the character, I especially loved his acting and the way he moved as the Phantom. It was intensely elegant, sensual in how controlled he was, and capable of immense grief. It also worked extremely well with Sarah Brightman’s acting (which I also like), as she also felt just a bit larger than life, a bit dramatic; together they gave the show this darkly romantic vibe that I think was needed when it first opened. Most Phantoms that came after went for a grittier and more realistic approach, which I also love, but it also makes Crawford’s interpretation stand out all the more.

Ethan Freeman - What a Leroux-accurate Phantom, and unlike other actors who have taken that approach, he managed to do it without becoming too campy. His Phantom was old, isolated, and creepy, and it showed even down to his physicality: a hunched over, beetle-like scuttling around Christine that just made me want to whisk Christine out of his lair. Wonderful emotions at the end, where he would show a dreamy happiness at finally achieving love even in the midst of his sadness at losing Christine.

Hugh Panaro - A changeable Phantom that took a little while to grow on me, with a voice like dark chocolate. His Phantom was a sarcastic little s***, mocking Raoul throughout the 'Final Lair' and injecting a constant tone of sarcasm in his words. He was also childish, in every sense of the word: a selfish boy who loved pulling dangerous pranks and laughing at other people's (mostly Raoul's) troubles when they annoyed him, but also a lonely, abandoned child at the end. Changed his performance throughout his two runs and even depending on the Christine he was with, and kept throwing in new details, which made every performance feel fresh.

Earl Carpenter - Probably one of the most nuanced Phantoms I've ever seen. Sure, his voice was pretty iffy during his first run; sure, he was vanilla as heck in the restaged tour (though I blame the blocking). But at his best, in the original production? He put incredible thought into his performance, and it showed: the way he would mirror Christine's movements, as if the two of them were in sync with each other's thoughts; the tiny uncertain gestures he had in 'Music of the Night', never quite sure if he should touch Christine or if she would accept him; the sudden confusion in 'Point of No Return' as Christine suddenly takes over the song; the moments of hesitation in the 'Final Lair' when Christine breaks down, like he too knows that what he's doing is wrong, but has gone too far to stop... it's incredible to watch.

5. Who is your favorite character that’s not Erik?

I like how this seems to assume that most people’s favorite is Erik... but really, my favorite character, including Erik, would still be Christine. I adore her strength, her growth, her endless compassion, and (in the ALW musical) her awesome, awesome wardrobe.

She would then be followed by Raoul, Carlotta, maybe Meg, possibly the Persian, Madeline from Kay’s book (her character, flawed as she is, fascinates me)... and then maybe Erik.

(I’m just kind of tired of the phandom’s extreme emphasis on Erik and E/C, which is why he is dumped at the bottom. Sorry dude.)

17. Have you ever written a phan phic?

Apart from that horrifying fic I attempted when I was 17 which was described in the last question, yes: I wrote a retelling of Love Never Dies that I (at the time) thought fixed the big problems with LND, like making Raoul a loving husband, giving Christine more agency, and having the Phantom actually attempt a moment of redemption. (Still E/C-supportive though, so fair warning.) I also wanted to deal with the Phantom as a father, so that’s in there as well. I haven’t read it in a while, and I’m not sure I want to; I think I’ve grown a lot more as a phan, so there’s probably a ton of stuff in it that I would instantly see as problematic, and honestly, if I were to write it now, I’d completely redo it so that it’s more of a family and psychological drama with the Phantom barely a character, but hey, it’s there.

Also, the title is stupid as hell.

18. Who are your favorite artists/writers in the phandom?

I no longer read or write fic for POTO, but some of my favorite artists would be:

Muirin007 - I love the sharp edges and textured look of her art, and just how bony and angular her Erik looks

Elf-in-mirror - There’s something soft and wonderfully luminous about her art that just makes me want to stare at it for hours

RJDaae - I absolutely love the slightly cartoonish look and the bright colors of her works

23. If you had the chance to ask Gaston Leroux one question, what would it be?

“How do you really feel about Love Never Dies, anyway?”

I dunno... I often see remarks along the lines of “Leroux would be turning in his grave over [insert hated adaptation here]!”, and sure, maybe he might be mad at how some of his themes have fallen by the wayside. At the same time, I like to think he’s a pretty chill guy who is just really happy (and maybe a bit bemused) at the success, and numerous adaptations, this one novel of his has received. So that question would be my litmus test for discerning his overall attitude.

Thanks for the question!

#ask a phan #musicalheart168 #GP gets asks

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