#honestly ]ive been holding thisin for months

[christinegone]

               you know how a few months ago i wrote about the london production of phantom and how much i love it ??    yeah this is an updated and more specific ramble about why i follow london canon more then other productions !!   as always this is going to be under a see more, because this is going to be long !! thank you in advance if you get through this ramble and a half.

as you all know, im london trash 101.   to this day i still believe london casts of many musicals are better then the new york productions . ( not in hamiltons case though cause london didnt really get any heavy hitters for its og cast unlike new york but thats another story entirely, and im not a hamilton blog so its irrelevant rn )   , yes im a lil biased cause the only musicals ive ever seen have been in london and i currently live in london, but this is an opinion which i doubt i’ll ever sway on. 

now london phantom’s casts, especially in recent years, have been slightly hit or miss.  the current cast ( ben, kelly and jeremy ) . are the strongest trio, since 2012 ?? in my opinion. recent casts have had one or two good leads, but never have all three been strong, btw im also including the alternative christines into this factor cause again, amy is a brilliant alt this year.     its clear, that the production team at phantom london made sure to go back to operatic christines, unlike celinde who was definitely not an operatic christine. 

london phantom has been a bit worse for wear in the past years with casts and that god horrible neon masquerade dress.     i love the london masquerade dress, but the neon ones gave me a migraine whenever i saw them live.   like jesus christ it killed me.     it seems like alw doesnt care for phantom that much, despite it being the most successful musical he’s done.     hal prince doesnt care for the london production, saying once, he didn’t recognise it anymore because the new director has strayed from the og direction.  

but honestly,   theres nothing wrong with london phantom when it comes to staging or even the cast or costumes.    its the lack of respect some phantom fans have for it.     i saw the show a few weeks ago.      and im not ashamed to say,   i didn’t enjoy it this time around.    the cast was amazing and on point as usual, but i was constantly on edge because the couple behind me kept commenting on the show.   whispering and making remarks during the songs.    normally london audiences are polite, we dont clap in the middle of songs, we normally dont talk and ive never seen anyone get kicked out a theatre before.   but honestly, that couple almost ruined my entire night.    they didn’t have a good thing to say.    which again, is their opinion but dont talk about the other casts you have seen, while the current cast is performing, wait until the interval or when you get home. 

i do want to point out that from now on, im only following the london production of phantom.   i gave up on the ny production years ago, due to me disliking casting over there and after the whole sierra spam, i just started to hate the ny production.    i never listen to ny audios unless its of a christine i need to hear.    the only ny christine in recent years i rate is samantha hill.   because her christine is perfect from what i see.    i hated how they moved her performance so it was sierra singing on a special day for phantom ny and not samantha.    sam never got noticed by the ny production, even when she was principle because sierra was still around.     the fact that sierra returned to the ny production for another run after, annoyed the hell out of me.   but thats another topic, honestly. 

to me, i feel safe when listening to the london audios, to the london casts.    ive seen the show four times in london.    her majesties theatre is home for me.   for so long i was bullied because i wanted to be christine daae in phantom london.   i may be doing history, but next week i start singing lessons again.   ive never said this out loud, but one day i will get an agent,   then .   i’ll try to audition for christine.    until then, im going to obsess over the london production whenever i can !!