#nehal joshi

[rocklobsterart]

“The ballet from Act… 3 of tonight’s performance.

The ballet…

NOW!”

A tribute to the one.. the only… Nehal Joshi as Monsieur Andre.

[marleneoftheopera]

More photos from Broadway’s 35th anniversary.

[cdaae]

Nehal Joshi

By Greg Mills

[withallthingslove]

The Phantom of the Opera Broadway Thoughts/Review - April 4, 2023

The main trio was Jeremy Stolle, Julia Udine, John Riddle and it was my first time seeing all three of them in these roles! Unless I win the lottery tomorrow for the final performance this was my last time seeing Phantom on Broadway before it closes and it proved to be the performance I needed to have closure.

Nehal Joshi continues to add something every performance as Andre. During Hannibal, he linked arms with Piangi during a choreography bit and then he went to stand by the elephant to sing like he was a member of the ensemble. 

Julia really comes alive during Think of Me it’s obvious that her Christine loves performing once she gets over her initial nervousness.

As the candles rose during the title song, Jeremy was feeling himself and he spun the boat pole in a circle like it was a lightsaber before starting to row again and it was ~ hot ~

When Julia got out of the boat, he grabbed her hips and kind of spun her to look at him and it was also hot. His cape twirl and the way he throws it down onto the bed boat while not breaking eye contact with Christine is also hot. His phantom definitely has some Leo somewhere in his chart he is a slutty showman

I had seen some reviews on here saying that in recent months Jeremy’s voice has sounded strained while playing the Phantom. Vocally he struggled with the “I have brought you” part of MOTN, the end of AIAOY reprise, and “deep as hell” in Down Once More but those were the only parts he had to adjust the notes.

The Phantom and Christine almost kissed while leaning up against the portcullis. Which made the phantom chasing her to that corner of the lair in STYDI feel like a cruel parallel

During I Remember... Julia starts singing while lying down which seemed more realistic.

John’s Raoul is so so so earnest. That’s the best word to describe him. Right before Primadonna when the managers said Christine would play the page boy his head jerked up like “say what?”

When they are scrambling to read the Phantoms note from Madame Giry Firmin dropped the note to the ground

Jeremy’s Phantom really shines while messing with Carlotta he soaks up taunting her and is having a ball stealing the attention away (again there is Leo somewhere in his chart)

During the ballet scene, all of the ballerinas were adding little extra things in their performance while the shadows and murder are happening like adding lines saying “Did you see that?” and playing up the humor and fear. 

John’s love language as Raoul is definitely physical touch but before kissing Christine for the first time he seemed so hesitant and nervous even though it was so apparent he wanted to.

During Wishing, it comes across like Julia’s Christine has been compartmentalizing or was in denial about her dad’s death. And her “her father promised her” is very pointed like she’s angry at her dad for dying

In Wandering Child, Jeremy isn’t really paternal he’s more of a patronizing “I know you have daddy issues” and he caressed his face during “far from my fathering gaze.” Julia was actively trying to resist it like physically trying to fight against the trance which I appreciated

John was ready to FIGHT in Wandering Child he charged up to the grave and it seemed like if Julia didn’t stop him he would have climbed up the wall to the Phantom. 

An overall note about John… he seems to really pay attention to what the Phantom does. He keeps glancing at the chandelier during Il Muto and he notices the Phantom almost as early as Christine does in Masquerade. And while he’s protective of Christine he seems to be analyzing the Phantom, possibly sizing him up or trying to figure out what he’s going to do next. And I think this works really well in the last half of act II where Raoul is leading the charge because of course he is. He’s like “I’ve been studying this guy I have an idea” which also plays into the earnestness of John’s portrayal.

Jeremy’s vocals I think were strongest during PONR and his character really leans into the horniness of the song. Once Julia realizes it’s him she performed the most over-the-top sexy I’ve seen Christine do but it seemed to be to taunt the phantom. Like fully flashed her entire leg when she put her foot up on the bench.

When the Phantom proposes, Julia gently shook her head with her eyes pleading “please don’t ask that of me” and god it was such a subtle acting moment but it stood out to me so much. And then she ripped off his mask to get him to stfu

Jeremy’s Phantom has a strong attachment to his mask. As soon as he gets it back in STYDI, you can see his whole demeanor change. In the Final Lair, when he sang “A mask my first unfeeling scrape of clothing” he started to cry as if he was truly remembering his first mask. And then he realizes he’s being vulnerable in front of Christine and he gets mad at her pitying him 

John is the only Raoul I’ve seen act like he’s being strangled the whole time during the final lair. Some eventually stop struggling but he kept it up the whole time. His energy was just really refreshing.

At one point Julia tried to put her arms around the Phantom’s shoulders to plead with him, and Jeremy ducked out from her (I don’t know how since he’s so much taller) 

Jeremy was scaryyyyyy when he leaned over Christine before “you try my patience” and even after he turned around Julia was still frozen terrified. I think that was the first time I’ve ever watched it live and actually felt really really scared for Christine. Her fear was just so palpable.

After the kiss, when the Phantom walks up to Raoul, John started breathing really hard like he thought the Phantom was going to kill him and Julia’s desperate “No!” showed that she thought the same.

Because of how much Julia’s Christine wanted to be free of the Phantom it surprised my how sad her Christine seemed during the ring return. It did seem to be the mostly out of pity though. 

There was no second “I love you.” When Jeremy was standing watching Christine and Raoul ride off on the boat together, something about his body language really captured the finality of his loneliness in that moment.

When I saw Phantom in December after so many years away all it did was reawaken my love of the show, and when I saw it in March the performance was so chaotic I was distraught (an understatement) when it ended because I knew I needed to go again. Something about this performance brought a lot of closure and as soon as it ended, I didn’t cry like I did in March. I just felt content. 

I think that’s partially because every cast member is just doing the most so there were so many small moments to savor, but I also think it’s because I got to see Jeremy’s Phantom. I met him twice back in 2013/2014 when I was deep in the Phandom and him being so involved with fans was a huge part of my formative love of Phantom in high school. And when I wasn’t following the show as much I still kept up with a lot of backstage stuff through his Instagram. So it felt very full circle to finally catch him as the Phantom.

[meilas]

please does anyone have a video compilation of Nehal Joshi screeching "THE BALLET" I need to see it

[ifyouhappentoremember]

Quick Thoughts - The Phantom of the Opera - February 4, 2023 - Matinee

The main trio was Ben Crawford, Julia Udine and John Riddle.

I think I’ve reached a point when I am so familiar with this trio’s acting choices, my brain just started focussing on very niche and random things, so this review is just going to be an incredibly haphazard collection of thoughts.

Joseph DePietro was on as M. Reyer and is it possible that I’ve found my new favorite Reyer? He was so incredibly sassy but it was clear that he was very good at his job, which is Reyer 101. I know I’m ride or die for Jim Weitzer’s Reyer, but DePietro is giving him a run for his money.

This is the third (or is it second?) time I’ve seen Ted Keegan as Piangi. I can barely wrap my brain around it because Keegan’s Phantom and his Piangi give off very different energies but are also somewhat similar? His Piangi is very earnest and a little goofy.

Keegan’s Piangi is first and foremost, Carlotta’s number 1 fan. The first time Keegan’s Piangi met Carlotta, he cried and would later write in his diary, “It was the best moment of my life.” 

RIP Keegan’s Piangi, you would have thrived as a stan account on Twitter.

I had thought that since New York City Ballet’s Winter season had started, I would stop focussing so intently on the ballet corps during the Dressing Room sequence and finally turn my attention to the action down stage. If anything, my scrutiny on the corps has increased.

The choreography during this sequence is so good. It’s structured to almost resemble the center portion of a ballet class but Gillian Lynn had deliberately put in references to Degas’s ballet paintings and sculptures. It’s so clever and it lends so much atmosphere to the scene.

I’m really nitpicking here but I wish the ballet corps was a little bit tighter and were more synchronized? The main issue is that each ballet dancer has trained at a different school so the little details like arm and head placement are different. Like I said, I’m nitpicking because this is such a minor detail.

I am always so obsessed with this detail during Notes. Raoul directs the sung line “Why did Christine fly from my arms?” to André. Why does Raoul think André would know the answer? Nehal Joshi’s André always looks and gestures at John Riddle’s Raoul like “Give me a minute to deal with Carlotta and then I can help you with your stupid question” and it always cracks me up.

Ok so on the rooftop sequence after All I Ask of You when Raoul says “Christine, I love you,” I always love that when he says it, Julia’s face is in shadow and when she turns back, she’s in the light again. It’s such a good visual representation of Christine ‘rejecting’ the Phantom’s world of shadow for Raoul’s world of sunlight.

Ted Keegan’s Piangi made a really good Don Juan?? I was actually really annoyed that the Phantom killed Piangi, because I actually kinda started to get into Don Juan Triumphant.

Ben got so raspy during some moments when he sang The Point of No Return and I’m annoyed because it’s going to be clattering around my brain until the next time I see Phantom.

I don’t know how Ted Keegan made his body so limp during the reveal of Piangi’s dead body, his feet were swinging around like he was a corpse. It was really disturbing.

Ben has a new line reading of ‘The world showed no compassion to me!’ I like it so much better!

I like it better when Ben’s Phantom says his second “I love you’ to the empty space Christine has left behind. I’ve seen him do it to Christine when she’s still standing in front of him, and it reads as more manipulative to me, like he’s still begging her to stay with him. When he’s by himself it reads more pathetic and sad to me.

When Meg {Polly Baird] ripped the cape from the throne to reveal the mask, someone in the audience (probably a kid) let out a giant gasp of surprise and it made me laugh. I know, I know, this means for spoiling the mood my punishment I will be forced to endure the never ending bathroom line during intermission at Phantom (I would like to throw the lady sitting next to me under the bus because she laughed too - it was not just me!!).

[lord-valery-mimes]

Phantom of the Opera folks, does anyone have the links to the Dallas production of Les Mis where Nehal Joshi played Jean Valjean? I stumbled across act 1 on Youtube somehow months ago, but I can't find act 2.

[rose-margaritas]

A First-Timer’s Thoughts on the January 27th Performance of Phantom of the Opera (The Day After 35th Anniversary)

The main trio I saw was Paul A. Schaefer, Emilie Kouatchou, and Bronson Norris Murphy (!!!)

I originally thought that I would be seeing Ben Crawford as the Phantom and John Riddle as Raoul, so I literally squealed when I saw the updated cast.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m finally seeing this in real life or have seen the show online way too many times, but I was focusing on the background characters more than the main ones.

During the Hannibal rehearsal, I saw Mme. Giry fixing Meg’s posture all the way to the left of the stage, and later the slave master practicing (or flirting?) with another slave girl to the right back of the stage.

Raquel Suarez Groen is such a wonderful Carlotta, as always (Carlotta my beloved 💕)

There were quite a few Reyer/Christine moments, with one being him kissing the back of Christine’s hand after her performance.

The tight, squeeze hug between Meg and Christine in the dressing room was so cute!

Meg mumbling “Rehearsals… always rehearsals…!” as she stormed out the dressing room was adorable! (Can you tell that I love Meg?)

Paul’s Phantom was actually pretty good. The unmoving arms during MotN though… he just doesn’t have the grace that people would expect of the Phantom.

Paul’s got the creep crawl during STYDI, it was fast too.

During Prima Donna, Firmin gave a rather firm tap on Carlotta’s shoulder, and she leaned father away from him and closer to André afterwards, while giving Firmin wary looks.

Sassy Piangi for the win.

I never knew that the Phantom’s voice floats around the back of the theatre when they’re reading his note! It was such a wonderful experience, and I was actually looking around the theatre, following his voice lol.

Paul’s laugh was sort of… lackluster during Il Muto

Nehal Joshi is the best. André. Ever. His shrill calls for the ballet and his prolonged presence on the stage with the ballet dancers was so entertaining.

The Shepherd and the ballerinas deserve a medal for giving such a funny performance without muttering a single word.

Bronson’s Raoul looked like he genuinely believed in Christine’s fear for the Phantom. He was quite diligent when he looked around for the voice 🤭

Bronson grinning and spinning with his arms wide open during AIAOY was so cute!!!!!

He also spun Emilie around so many times that I lost count! Truthfully, he’s the first Raoul that made me genuinely ship R/C, and that’s saying something coming from someone who’s a hardcore E/C shipper.

I never noticed that the angels lower from the top of the frame for the AIAOY reprise, and I was slightly shocked to see Paul appear from it too (I don’t know what I was expecting honestly).

During Masquerade, the mannequin with the wings and a leg up the railing kept stealing my attention >:(

Piangi and Carlotta flipping the Opera score upside down and then back, trying to understand what they were looking at during Notes II.

Piangi subtly showing Christine where they are in the score always warms my heart!

Not Reyer clapping first and then saying that Piangi was wrong.

Paul sat so still during PONR that it made me wonder if he was simply a statue.

There were so many Raoul/Mme. Giry moments! During Notes/Prima Donna, after Masquerade, and the descent to the Lair.

Poor Barb suffered two concussions. One from hitting the edge of the stage frame, another from hitting the ground.

Paul’s “You. Try. My. Patience.” was so powerful and ferocious! Good job Paul! (I felt that he may have been saving his energy for the second act)

Raoul tried to look away from the kiss? Not sure.

Still not very used to the way they’re getting the lasso off now, but the sound Bronson emitted when the lasso was loosened definitely made up for it 🫣

The audience that night was a jovial bunch. They were incredibly responsive and laughed and clapped at all the right moments. I felt that this group were mainly people who wanted to experience the show again before it closes. I also chatted with some of the audience members at the stage door, and they were all so nice! They warmed the heart of an incredibly reclusive introvert. 🤗

If any of you guys want to see clips from that night, @symphony-in-a is currently posting them here on tumblr!

[markbbrooklyn]

If you haven't seen Nehal Joshi as Jean Valjean, the full show video is on YouTube (NOT posted by me).

Nehal is outstanding (though as Valjean there is no opportunity to display his brilliant comedic talent).

The "modernized" production's 21st century attire is both strange and interesting.

[faded-florals]

John Riddle as Raoul de Chagny

Ben Crawford as The Phantom

Julia Udine as Christine Daaé

Broadway, October 21st 2022, 8pm

[opera-ghost]

me laughing at the same jokes i’ve heard 1000 times every time i listen to/watch a recording of phantom

[marleneoftheopera]

New Broadway cast member!

[cdaae]

Nehal Joshi

[withallthingslove]

The Phantom of the Opera Broadway Thoughts/Review - March 9, 2023

This marked my fifth time seeing Phantom on Broadway, and I went with my friend who was seeing it for the first time. The Phantom was Ben Crawford, Raoul was Paul A. Schaefer, and Christine was played by both Emilie Kouatchou and Kanisha Marie Feliciano. Kanisha replaced Emilie during Il Muto. 

compared to when I saw it in December, the audience was not as loud during songs and was more enthralled/not taking a breath

From the start, Paul’s Raoul seemed stronger than the last time I saw him. It was also a vocally strong performance all around for everyone. 

While going down to the lair during the title song, Ben’s Phantom caressed Christine’s arm as she passed him at the end of the travelator

During STYDI, Emilie and Ben had a lot of tension when she decided to hand his mask back. And the way Ben hovered over her before grabbing her arm made me sjdjsk

Ben and Emilie were not seen coming up the trap door after the lair and the part where the ballerinas would spot the Phantom and Christine was cut. Instead the ballerinas just screamed after Magical Lasso and exited instead of pointing toward the Phantom and Christine so something felt off there

Kanisha came on during Il Muto instead of Emilie and it was my first time ever seeing an emergency cover happen in a show. During Il Muto I thought Kanisha’s confusion played well, but in All I Ask of You she seemed a bit overwhelmed. Paul really took over All I Ask of You and increased his energy in a really reassuring way.

When Ben appeared in the angel my friend went “oh fuck oh fuck” so it’s cool how surprising the angel still is to people who haven’t seen it

Ben also timed his hand coming up over the angel to the music so well it made it feel really gothic and creepy

Nehal Joshi as Andre really brought a ton of physical comedy and had dialed it up a bunch since I saw it in December. He walked through the ballerinas performing in Hannibal and bumped into more ballerinas during Il Muto. He also was more exaggerated with Firmin. 

Ok so we have to talk about Paul in act II... the first time I have seen him have consistent stage presence all the way through. He had so many cute moments with Kanisha and was appearing so protective instead of just standing there. I can’t even begin to recount the number of little reassuring touches he did that just added so much to his relationship with Christine. My friend commented that she thought she would be bored of Raoul based on the beginning but was obsessed with him in act II so she also noticed it

Kanisha has such a beautiful voice, but I think it took until Wishing for her to settle into the character. Her Wishing was really beautiful!

When Ben appeared in the graveyard my friend went “not this fucker again.” 

It was the best Wandering Child trio I’ve seen (and I do not like the trio in the song I prefer how it used to be from years ago). But the trio actually worked here. It was really cool to see Ben’s characterization change with Kanisha compared to how he would be with Emilie. With Kanisha he was immediately more paternal with her and this made the lyrics “wandering child” and “fathering gaze” that much more impactful.

Paul was bringING it during Wandering Child and since Kanisha and Ben were too, the sequence of Christine walking in a trance to the Phantom to Raoul stopping her, to the Phantom yelling at them while Chrisitne tries to stop Raoul while Raoul tries to protect Chrisitne just all ~ came together ~ 

Ben sounded really good in PONR. The new blocking I think this time I interpreted that Christine was just trying to force the Phantom to finish the choreography and then once she unveiled it as him she was maybe going to try and find a way to help the situation without the Phantom needing to die. And then he proposed to her and she was SHOCKED

During the final lair Ben was a bit more scary and physical than when I saw him in December and this made Paul louder and more protective. Kanisha’s “tears of hate” line was very defiant.

After the kiss for a second it looked like Kanisha’s Christine maybe felt something for the Phantom but a bit unclear on what that feeling was. She definitely stopped hating him after the kiss though and was looking at him almost perplexed and even after he let Roaul go, she still seemed to be trying to figure out what he was doing and what she felt

Ben broke my heart because when Christine came back to return the ring he leapt up and seemed to be thinking she was going to stay. Then Kanisha took a huge step back and stiffly outstretched her arm and it dawned on him that she wasn’t staying. 

He sang “I love you” once, and once she left he said it again but more in a pitiful way to himself. So he wasn’t trying to convince her to stay like he did when I saw him with Emilie. 

I don’t get the 100% vibe that Ben’s Phantom goes after Kanisha’s Christine. He seems to have sadly accepted it and I see more of like a 25% he considers trying to find her but doesn’t go through with it

I cried multiple times during the show and when I got home I sobbed at the thought of that being my last time seeing Phantom, so I bought one more ticket for April. My credit card and friends and family are probably unsurprised yet exasperated, but I think need one more time to say goodbye. This show in particular was pretty much perfect vocally, and it was so cool to compare the different acting interpretations and how they changed once Kanisha came onstage. 

But it was super chaotic and a roller coaster of emotions from hoping Emilie is OK, wondering what happened, being disappointed Emilie wasn’t on anymore, loving that I got to see Kanisha, and then being disappointed I couldn’t have seen Kanisha at the beginning while still wishing I got to see Emilie all the way through. By the time Ben was singing at the end of the Final Lair, I realized my emotions had been so all over the place and I had so much adrenaline that I didn’t get to use the show the way I originally intended and hadn’t been able to just sit back and appreciate it one last time.

So I guess I’m going back again

[boygirlctommy]

dorry for being unwell about phantom. as if its even my fault.