28 April 2016 – The Phantom of the Opera – Her Majesty’s Theatre
Scott Davies (standby), Celinde
Schoenmaker, Ashley Stillburn (u/s), Megan Llewllyn, John Ellis, Michael Matus,
Christopher Dickins, Jacinta Mulcahy
I
found out earlier this year that you can queue for day tickets at Her Majesty’s
Theatre on Thursdays for the matinee.
Usually working Thursdays, I wasn’t able to put this into practice at
the end of January when it was my (potentially last?) opportunity to see John
Owen-Jones as the Phantom before the new actor, Ben Forster, took over. I decided it would make a memorable birthday
to try to get day tickets, so Jamie and I queued up at 8:15 am, being the first
one in the queue which by 10:00 had about 25 people in it. This meant we got middle front row seats,
which although they were rather cramped (and we had Polish students behind us
who whispered through the entire performance), were pretty memorable. I’ve never been able to afford stalls tickets
at Her Majesty’s Theatre before (and I think the only other time I’ve ever seen
the show in the stalls was my second time in Albuquerque, though it’s possible
I was sitting in the stalls in Denver, I can’t remember). Being so close to the stage was very
thrilling, and while I worried that it might impact visibility, the only time
that I could even claim it did was during the title song (more on that
below). What was the really impressive
part, however, was getting to see the detail on the costumes. Obviously you can see in the programme[1] how
ornate and be-sequined they are, but it never really hit home until I was
actually looking at them.
Prologue
I have
only recently realized that there are periodic resident directors of the show,
which presumably is why I remember (for at least two occasions when I saw the
show) the corpse-like lighting on the Auctioneer. Do you know why I have realized this? Because it’s the same actor—the same actor,
Philip Griffiths, has been playing the Auctioneer and Reyer for 25 years (!!)
in 2016. (I am also quite sure he is
playing Reyer in the 25th Anniversary concert.) Also, seeing them up close, I realized that
the porters have to be damn near imperturbable despite the funny BBC
Rent-a-beard facial hair stuck on their faces.
There’s not a lot of scope for those roles, but it really is all about
the voice for 75% of the theatre—I don’t think you can see any expression on
their faces from the grand circle and royal circle. As Lot 663 was sold, a porter took it past
Raoul, and he sort of smirked at it as it went by. “Thank YOU, sir.” One of the great mysteries of life is why the
Robert le Diable skulls get a gasp
but this audience (which is probably the most sluggish, unresponsive audience I
have ever had at Phantom; shame on
them) failed to laugh at all the really funny parts[2]. That’s one reason I’m persevering and writing
this review: I want the cast to know
they did a great job!
For
the first time EVER, I could see Madame Giry’s costume in this scene. It was elaborate and looked very warm! It seemed to consist of an 1890s-style hat
with birdcage veil and a big poufy fur wrap.
From the angle at which I was sitting, I could see a steady blue light
coming from the bottom of the music box as the porter handed it over. Is that the radio control? Now, Ashley Stillburn was the understudy
Raoul, and to be honest, he did seem a bit stiff in his portrayal. Vocally I thought he was quite good. He was fine as old Raoul. The Nurse placed her hand on his shoulder as
Lot 665 was announced. “Thank you,
again, sir.” When he shouted “Boy” it very much sounded as though he’d said, “Oi!” He definitely tried to depict some
soul-searching to do regarding his mortality at “will you still play / when all
the rest of us are dead?” The Nurse
tried to comfort him. I felt like the
Auctioneer was very shouty at “frighten away the ghosts of so long ago with a
little illumination gentlemen!!!!”
I was
afraid that sitting so close to the orchestra would mean they would be too loud
and the singers would be drowned out, but it was okay—the worst that could be
said was the floor seemed to shake toward the end of the Overture during
crashes of percussion.
Hannibal/Think
of Me
Why
did Carlotta stroke the fake head so much?
Whose head is it anyway? I must
have known at some point, but I’ve forgotten.
Megan Llwellyn (who I think is Welsh) has a wonderful voice, I had no
qualms whatsoever about it. I did
wonder—as I was sitting there in the front row with Carlotta’s bosoms spilling
out at me—whether there is any “ideal” Carlotta[3]—plump
and the typical Valkyrie, or thin and hard-edged, like Minnie Driver or the
first Carlotta I saw, Julie Schmidt? The
Slave Master was the same one I saw two years ago, evidently his name is Simon
Rackley. John Ellis’ (Piangi) voice is
great. I saw him two years ago; if
anything, he is even better now.
Although he is quite tall and negates a roly-poly Piangi, I found he had
an impressive ability to recede into the background of scenes when necessary.
I
really liked the managers in this cast; they were probably the best surprise
for me. I ADORED Michael Matus as
Firmin, and there was a warmth and genuineness to Christopher Dickins as
André. André here struck me as
Carlotta’s honest-to-goodness fan.
Gareth Snook makes an interesting André, but he has a very fake-show-biz
slightly sleazy aspect to his portrayal, whereas I felt Dickins had no
malice. He was, for example, not
particularly scuzzy when Meg became prominent in the ballet. Matus’ fussy Firmin stole many a scene for
me. He seemed uncomfortable with people
of artistic temperament. He also has a mobile
and expressive face and great comic timing, always reacting to everything going
on. There’s always a little variation on
the managers’ hairstyles dependent on personality, etc., and maybe it was because
I had just been looking at Regency portraits in the National Gallery that day,
but Firmin appeared to have a Regency-style hairdo glued to his forehead which
somehow reflected in the portrayal. He
turned away rather uncomfortably from Piangi when he was introduced (as opposed
to some Firmins who just accidentally ignore Piangi). “Five bars will be QUITE sufficient.” And Reyer’s coat! What a dandy!! Again, seeing it up close was a new
experience.
I
don’t think Hadrian Delacey was playing Buquet (and I stupidly didn’t get a
photo of the cast board). As Buquet
looked like . . . a refugee from the French Revolution.
André
got on his knees for “These things do happen” to take Carlotta’s hands—again,
genuinely aggrieved. “These things do
happen? You have been here five
minutes. What do you know?” Then she pointed at Firmin. “And YOU!
You are as bad as him.” She
touched her crown/hairdo like Minnie Driver in the film. She said in a very exaggerated way as if
using air quotes for “DIS TING does not ‘appen!” There were quite a few laughs for
“Ubaldo—Andiamo!” Actually, this was the
first big laugh of the show! Piangi
minced across the stage quite humorously and gave a very late “Amateurs!” Firmin was very skeptical when they suggested
Christine could sing it. He actually
seemed on the verge of hitting Meg after the backdrop fell! “A chorus
girl? HA!”
Ah,
now, here, Celinde Schoenmaker, the relatively new Christine (I was pleased not
to get Emmi Christensson—who I liked quite a lot—simply because I wanted to
experience a new Christine). I had mixed
feelings about her portrayal, mainly her vocals as her acting choices were
quite effective IMHO. She’s the first
Christine I’ve ever seen with an auburn wig, and she’s quite tall—I think she
may have been taller than Scott Davies!
It was a very reedy beginning to TOM.
Firmin’s expression before Mme Giry struck with her cane was like “I
told you so.” This was probably the
song of CS’ I liked the least. She was
sort of chewing the ends of syllables.
The vocal tone was pure but very pop-ish and oddly irritating from time
to time. I couldn’t quite figure out what the deal was—occasionally a
husky/nasal sort of thing like Céline Dion, or some other singer I can’t quite
pinpoint. I just didn’t like it
personally.
Ashley
Stillburn’s voice reminded me of Patrick Wilson though not quite as warm. As a bonus, he was reasonably good-looking,
rather boy-next-door Raoul. Usually
Raoul has this cascade of pomaded curls to denote him as fop, but Stillburn
didn’t, just sideburns. André rather
playfully got him to be less demonstrative after the “Brava!” rather than “Oh
don’t do that.” The cadenza was very
powerful and elaborate. The audience
seemed amused by the turnaround effect.
Angel
of Music/Little Lotte/The Dressing Room
I had
no thoughts whatsoever on “Brava . . .” I did at least know from the call board
that Scott Davies was the Phantom (I had only just started following Ben
Forster on Instagram and should have put two and two together; he was out of
town ergo he couldn’t be the Phantom!).
I didn’t mind this at all as I had wanted to see Scott Davies for a long
time, as a Phantom about whom I had heard differing opinions.
I was
close enough to the stage to see for the first time a cute little
(silent/quiet) discussion between Christine and Reyer after she took the
bouquets backstage. Alicia Beck was
Meg. Vocally, she was okay, kind of
shrill (I’m very hard on Megs). The duet
was nice. I also reflected here that
the Wardrobe Mistress is a thankless part—she stamps on stage only to go again
after being handed Christine’s ballet slippers and skirt! Glorified props mistress! Mme Giry wasn’t particularly angry for “Meg
Giry, are you a dancer?” Meg looked very
proud to be called a dancer, then abashed as she left. Maybe for time immemorial, after Mme Girys
have said, “I was asked to give you this,” Christines have said “Thank you,”
but it was the first time I noticed it.
Mme
Firmin is also thankless part! Why is
Firmin married and André isn’t? In this
particular cast, Mme Firmin looked very young, so once again I began to wonder
how she had ended up marrying Firmin who was older and probably a far from
ideal husband. Maybe it was a
companionate marriage. Maybe she married
him for his money and he married her for respectability. Maybe I overthink these things. They were all
quite amused but not sordidly so for “It appears they have met before.”
Christine
was quite tender and almost sad about “Father . . . playing the violin.” Beautiful
duet.
Christine
was very certain and sad about “Well, Father is dead.” She looked very frustrated with Raoul as he
left, very in the vein of the book where a young and naïve Raoul keeps thinking
he knows best for Christine. I did
wonder, actually for the first time, why Christine locked Raoul out. (I
remembered that each time before the blackout as Raoul shouts “Angel!” that the
door almost mockingly opens after he’s banged on it several times, but I always
assumed the Phantom had played one of his tricks by locking it and then letting
it open after they had disappeared.) Did
she think he would take her to supper by force?
Did she think he might hurt the Angel of Music (in the book, the first
thing she thinks when the chandelier falls is that the Voice might be
hurt)? Did she think the Angel might
hurt Raoul? In the film there’s some
collusion between Mme Giry and the (quite corporeal) Phantom which looks very
dodgy indeed. Anyone know what’s going
on?
Scott
Davies has a powerful and athletic voice, very, very rarely did it give any
evidence of not being 100% perfect. It
reminded me of, among others, Ethan Freeman and Gary Mauer. CS was rather subdued in this scene except at
“Angel, my soul was weak, forgive me” when she looked a little culpable.
Title
Song/Music of the Night
This
sounded good generally. The first Phantom
double held up his hand up abruptly in front of Christine’s face to make her
stop. The second double on the catwalk
at the top was going crazy with the lantern.
What was he looking for/afraid of?
Raoul? As the lair arose, all we
could see in the front row was a blast of fog machine in our faces (including
the conductor’s, who seemed unfazed) for almost the whole verse! Then the boat appeared at the back. The candelabrums looked good but they were a
little hard to see, as was the boat turning around.
There
was a good if not flamboyant hat toss and cloak removal. SD’s hands were at the side of his mask to
slick down his hair. Here was definitely
a hand acting Phantom; he kept them visible and showy at the sides of his
thighs much of the time during this scene (and indeed, for much of the
show). The “Sing for me”s were good,
quite loud breathing though not panting.
I can’t remember if this actually happened, but my memory is that he
went over to the music stand and pressed his arms against it, almost bracing
himself on it, during the cadenza. CS
held out her arms on the final note, then afterwards became shocked and
embarrassed. Not necessarily the loss of
her sexual innocence, but she definitely felt she had been pushed too far.
SD was
very aggressive at the organ. He stroked
the pages of the score, “My music . . .”
He really seemed to value his music as personified in the score, and I
don’t know if that is meant to suggest his muse was his all, or that his desire
for Christine was personified or uplifted in his music? Anyway, it was interesting and intense. MOTN was great other than “soar” which was less
than sublime. At “caress you” he didn’t try
to caress her. That was when he went
over to the music stand and pressed against it for sure. When he drove her away
from touching his face at the portcullis, she didn’t seem to be scared for very
long as she ran across the stage, quickly turning into coquettish Christine. He made quite a show of putting his arm on
her collarbone for “floating, falling”—as if making damned sure he couldn’t be
accused of groping her! He was
practically nibbling on her ear for “trust me, savour each sensation”—this was
quite sexy, and I don’t remember seeing it like that before. The dust cover got a bit stuck on the mirror. “Niiight” was okay, sounded a little off-key
and not held for very long.
STYDI
OMG
the robes. Once again, seeing them up
close impressed me with how ornate they were.
I always enjoy how the different Phantoms edit their Don Juan Triumphant score. SD actually got super frustrated with the
score and was like swearing at it. I
know the Phantom (for some anachronistic reason) uses a quill pen, but I can’t
remember having seen before that it was black.
Again,
similarly to how Emmi Christensson did it, was half-flirty thing going as CS
tried to remove the mask. Davies reacted
with a big scream; the whole “damn you, curse you” bit was very shouty-screamy
(as opposed to some Phantom’s voices which ache or crack). I don’t remember previously seeing that when
the Phantom collapses after the last “curse you!” that we basically just get
his back and legs (though it’s possible it’s always been staged like this). A nice little sob, “Oh, Christine.” CS was good here. She looked revolted for
“Fear can turn to love,” and also at “repulsive carcass.” The Phantom persisted in some sad-sounding
crying, and it affected Christine, too.
She was definitely thinking about what to do. He got much closer to her than most Phantoms
do at that stage, and she seemed physically ill at the prospect he would get
nearer—very Susan Kay-ish (“I would die if you touched me” etc). She seemed to decide that the best thing to
do would be to give the mask back, though it wasn’t clear whether that was to
cover up the nausea-inducing deformity or make him feel better. “Those two
FOOLS who run my theatre.”
Buquet
was totally unconcerned by Mme Giry’s warning, going like “whatever” at her.
Notes/Prima
Donna
OMG
Firmin.
He
kissed the newspaper after “gossip’s worth its weight in gold.” André didn’t seem particularly worried that
“we have no cast.” He was like “what’s
this?” when handed “it seems you’ve got one too.” He was further genuinely horrified at “we
were hardly bereft when Carlotta left” and at “the dancing was a lamentable
mess!” Firmin was enjoying examining the notes—he actually turned it over at
“PTO” which now makes total sense. I was
very amused at how annoyed the managers were at being accused by Raoul of
abducting Christine. “HOW should we
know?” “OF COURSE NOT!” An excellent and funny “Wrote” . . . . . .
“Written!”
André
was genuinely quite delighted with his “Ah welcome back!” when Carlotta
returned. Carlotta, for her part, was genuinely
annoyed but not OTT for “A letter which I rather resent.” More delightfully dry managers: “As if he
would!” Carlotta looked very satisfied as Raoul read out “Your days at the
Opéra Populaire are numbered” and then was trying to get Raoul to shut up with
“Christine Daaé will be singing . . .” Firmin actually seemed to think
everything was hunky dory with “our meeting is adjourned.” André was pure fannish genuineness when he
cried, “AND ALWAYS WILL BE!” Firmin was
making big, demonstrative hand motions, “the SILENT role!!” They both got on their knees.
When
Carlotta said to Firmin, “It’s useless trying to appease me,” it was as if she
felt she totally saw through him as a completely mercenary man (who wasn’t
nearly as into the art side of it as André clearly was, though I think that’s a
bit unfair on this Firmin who just seemed to want to deal with as few mishaps
as possible in addition to running a lucrative business). Similarly, when she said to André, “You’re
only saying this to please me,” it
was as if she meant she understood the kindness behind the flattery but doubted
that he really wanted her to sing in Il
Muto. The “We-need-you-too!” was
hilariously mechanical, rather Dalek-like! Firmin painfully got down on his knees
and then up again for “Your devotees are on their knees.” Carlotta and Piangi looked quite happy at
“Think of your muse” and shocked when
Firmin followed that up with “the queues round the theatre!”
Il
Muto
The
costumes in Il Muto are so
beautiful. Don Attilo continued with his
bonk bonk bonk gestures. This may be
standard, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it—Carlotta got very annoyed with
the hairdresser as she was saying “Adio!”—he was putting a mask over her face
to powder her wig. I don’t quite know
why she was annoyed.
As
with the last Carlotta I saw, I found myself pondering how she could look so
different and actually much younger and prettier when wearing the Countess
costume. I think I figured it out,
though. It’s the wig. The Carlotta wig and Carlotta’s 1880s
high-necked costumes age her, whereas the low neckline and powdery lightness of
the wig actually make her look youthful.
It’s strange but true.
We
could see up Carlotta’s skirt as she embraced “Serafimo.” There was an interesting interpretation of “Your part is si-lent. Little toad.” It was as if she was talking to
a deaf person or someone who was idiotic.
Davies nailed the maniacal laughter.
From where we were sitting, I had to look directly above me in order to
see the Phantom in this scene, and indeed, he seemed to look right down at me
at “Behold!” Firmin looked like he was
having a heart attack and/or an ulcer at,“It was an accident. Simply” (you know) “an accident.” Great stuff.
Rooftop/AIAOY/Reprise
As
suggested before, Stillburn was a little bit wooden in his portrayal, not
terribly convincing on “There is no Phantom of the Opera!” One the other hand, CS was insulted, “Raoul, I’ve been there!!” She also seemed quite disgusted by the
memory, even before she got to, “Raoul, I’ve seen him!” She was a bit less passionate at “Yet his
voice . . .” than some Christines. The
song itself was nicely sung, a good rendition, and well-characterized. She sang, “All I want is freedom” as if it
was a bashful confession. Possibly a
fluff at “Share each day with me.” There
were some very cute multiple flirtatious kisses right before “I must go.” It was interesting—after “Wait for me,
Raoul,” she heard him say, “Christine, I love you,” she actually seemed to
decide something, then, and there, as if up until that point she wasn’t
prepared to run away with Raoul. One had
to look directly up to see the Phantom in the angel. The rendition of this song was not at all to
my taste, kind of petulant and whiny.
Masquerade
André’s
skeleton costume got no laugh—COME ON!
As said above, the bit parts in the show, which perhaps cannot be seen
very well far away, come alive in the front row. The footman serving drinks—OMG, what a
supercilious expression on his face throughout “Masquerade”! I wondered how I would find the scene in the
front row, and I have to say it was stunning and impressive. I could actually hear the monkey’s band and
could see the man at the top of the stairs (the one who makes it possible for
the Red Death to appear) both times.
Raoul was slightly aggressively annoyed with Christine: “Then (FREAKIN’) LET them see!” When Red Death appeared, his hands were at
the top of his thighs on the outside as he came down the stairs and menaced. Meg’s reaction shots as she turned away in
fear were powerful. Finally, I understand
why everyone is whispering, “Christine . . . Christine,” basically warning her
to stay away from the Phantom as she is trapped in deer-in-headlights. The double was going a bit nuts with the jaw
movements of the skull mask before he disappeared
Notes
II/Sitzprobe
No
rolling staircase noise! Hooray! Raoul was most intrigued and emphatic on,“A
composer?”
The
managers tiptoed away for “I’ve managed to assign a rather minor role . . .”
Carlotta played “The things I have to do for my art” as honest and not
diva-ish. Piangi really tossed the score
for “gibberish art!” I was surprised at
the subdued quality of Christine here.
The managers and Raoul were not particularly persecuting Mme Giry for
“Help us / on his side?” For “She’s
mad,” Carlotta made a “mad” gesture, not vicious or sympathetic, matter-of-fact. André and Raoul helped Christine into the
chair and then back again as she sat down.
She got quite emotional for “He’ll always be there singing songs in my
head!!” “I can’t. I won’t do it.” Interestingly, and just as I
was thinking the opposite (LOL), Christine seemed to be nodding along and
agreeing with Raoul at “You said yourself . . .” and also a slight hint of all
that “man” entails. She also agreed
with him for “don’t think that I don’t care.”
While
Christine was singing Aminta’s part, Carlotta was following along in the score,
not so much making fun as trying to find fault with her, quite literally “she
doesn’t have the voice.” The guy laughing
was very funny – “NEARLY . . . but no.”
Carlotta got very cowed for “Can you be certain of that, Signora?” “Those
who TAN-TAN-TANgle with Don Juan!” Carlotta swatted Reyer in the butt with the
score! Does she do that every
time?!
Graveyard/WYWSHA/Wandering
Child
WYWSHA
was, in my opinion, CS’ best song.
During the violin intro, she put her hands over her face. She held “NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!”, though I
have since learned this is a recent London Christine thing. I was surprised to find the graveyard set was
beautiful close up. CS didn’t wait long
while the bells rang to start singing “Little Lotte . . .” “You were warm
and . . . GENTLE.” She was tearful for “Help me say goodbye.”
By
that token, she was quite visibly upset for “Wildly my mind beats against you!”
and did not notice or care about Raoul.
A beautiful “I am your Angel of Music . . .” Interesting emphasis on “Whatever
you MAY believe, this man this thing.” They
were already basically gone for “Don’t stop . . .” There was a wonderful,
anguished “DON’T GO!” This followed by quite
an angry “Now let it be war upon you both!”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but the momentary blaze of the fire
at the end of this scene was almost blinding at such close range!
PONR
Once
again, the little roles—the policeman/marksman in the pit was very near to us,
and really going for it –“How will I know?”
This Passarino looked so young! A
great laugh from Piangi/Don Juan—really naturalistic but evil.
The
song itself was well-sung, though in performance it was a little disappointing,
given that Davies was such a hand actor.
There was no panting, no stroking, nothing out of the ordinary,
really. As she pulled up the cowl, he
got quite angry at her, sort of growling, then sort of weighing up his options,
actually apparently seeing the
managers in the wings and realizing he couldn’t successfully escape that way. Christine
looked devastated when he began singing her own words back to her; that was
very effective. He seemed to come upon
the ring thing as a sudden flash of inspiration—it was very sweet and affecting
and full of pathos. Short though it was,
this little “Say you’ll share with me . . .” was possibly my favorite Davies
scene in the whole show.
Down
Once More/Final Lair
“Down
Once More” was shouty-screamy. He was quite
physically rough with her, she looked as if she had either passed out in the
boat or was shielding her face from him with her forearms. After the sublimity of the “Say you’ll share
with me . . .” I was surprised that the “Why . . . Whyyyyyhhhhyyy?” was possibly
a little OTT.
The Ratcatcher
bit made no sense at all, what is the point of even having it in the show? Mme Giry just seems to scream for no
reason. I thought I had a real epiphany
moment when I thought I could see the Shade in the wings, but I was wrong—it
was just one of the pursuers actually waiting
in the wings. No one seemed to care
about Raoul jumping off the bridge—sometimes audiences are quite impressed.
She
was so disgusted for “joys of the flesh” and seemed quite annoyed that he
seemed to think (delusionally) that his face was the cause of all the problems. “Scrrrap of clothing.” He really turned her around for “Turn around
and face.” He was looking around for the
final touch and found the bouquet, which he arranged. He was shocked and devastated when she said,
“It’s in your soul.” When Raoul arrived,
the Phantom was twitchy with his hands at the throne, “Your luuuuver makes a
passionate plea!” The Phantom got very agitated when Raoul shouted “I love
her!” Seated in the throne, he didn’t
turn around for “the world showed no compassion to me.” “LET ME SEE HER!” The portcullis barely seemed to rise, but
maybe it was the angle from which I was looking. Right before the Phantom sang, “Monsieur, I
bid you welcome,” Christine seemed to be trying to show Raoul the way out, but
Raoul was too focused on challenging the Phantom.
At “This
is the choice!” the Phantom went over to the organ, again caressing the score
on the music stand. He looked completely
devastated at “the tears I might have shed” as if he realized he’d bungled his
chance, that he should have appealed to her compassion first and foremost
instead of making this ludicrous ultimatum. “Too late for turning back” was
said as if almost to himself. Christine
was very emotional for “you deceived me” and on her knees for “I gave my mind
blindly.” A very angry, “YOU TRRRRRY MY
PATIENCE!!!”, then more calm at “Make your choice.” As she waited for his decision, he was turned
away, hands twitching. You could see the
gears turning in CS’ mind, she did actually have to think about what she was
going to do. Wow, the kissing looked
great—he touched his lip as if unable to believe it. The moment after the kiss was very drawn
out. She kept pleading with him, though
I couldn’t understand what she was actually saying. He was very into threatening Raoul with the
candle—which seemed to scare Raoul although it doesn’t make a lot of sense—he’s
going to set his hair on fire or what?
“Go now and leave me!” was not my favorite
rendition ever, a bit OTT. Lovely
emphasis on “Paper faces on parade.” He was so happy when she returned, she was
having a really hard time—she was trying to hand back the ring, and he wouldn’t
take it. During the AIAOY reprise as
they were fading away in the background, he sobbed throughout, still holding
the ring out and not wanting to return it to his finger. As they left, he ran after her, staggering,
as if to return the veil? Or something?
I wasn’t quite sure, but it was interesting to see the Phantom returning to a
rather child-like state. (Though I do
miss the “I love you”s repeated which the US tour Phantoms used to do . .
.) The final note was excellent. Wow.
As I
said before, I was ashamed of the audience—they were quite unresponsive, you
could tell the applause at the end just wasn’t sparkling with electricity. So I am sorry about that. It was a very good performance, and I enjoyed
it a lot.
[1] It being
my birthday, I splurged a little (but not a lot; combined they cost £9) to buy
both programmes, the new cast one (which is lovely and has text I haven’t read
before given I haven’t bought one of these programmes in 15 years) and the Her
Majesty’s Theatre one.
[2] I had a
theory about this later. I think maybe
50% of the audience were not native English-speakers, so possibly a lot of it
went over their heads.
[3] I had
another brainwave while watching Wendy Ferguson in the role in the 25th
Anniversary Concert that took me back to the Rhapsody on Leroux days and that wonderful book-length fan fiction
I read about how Carlotta was the real Little
Lotte.
