#phantom bway

[ongakunotenshi]

The Phantom of the Opera performed its first preview at the Majestic Theatre 36 years ago today.

[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.

[opera-ghost]

Could we get a compilation of times Jeremy Stolle heard “slut” when the director called “cut”? 👀

(ask is referencing this post) yes! in my research i found myself only able to focus on this one specific show towards the end of the broadway run, amazingly captured by @angelofmusicishere. and you can see why

like. come on. the flourish when he grabs the hat? the unwavering eye contact? the cape flip????????

slutcullis sprawl. (also him lingering after,,,,,,,)

dude is getting his shit ROCKED

and then he's just annoying! (slut)

and as a bonus, i have to include that time he went feral when half the set pieces stopped working during the first lair

[devil-takethe-hindmost]

today is for THEM!!!

[rimtimtigger]

I do feel quite sad about Phantom closing

[lincolnlogger]

[littleeliza-lotte]

Emilie 💕 - Emilie’s story 16/03/23

[little-lovett]

careful the tale you tell, that is the spell… ♡

[anecdotal-acorn]

It's over now the music of the night etc etc…I'm listening to All I Ask of You right now and there's a deep sadness in my bones. An ache I don't think will ever go all the way away because even when it reopens or there's a tour it'll never be the same. Thank you Phantom for being there for me when I didn't want to get out of bed every day and not just because I was tired, thank you for all the nights spent listening to All I Ask of You (just like this but not like this at all) raving about Raoulstine. Thank you for making me laugh and my heart pound in my throat during TWO (TWO!!!!!!!!!!!) chandelier rises, thank you for giving me strength and brainrot and making me happy. I can't believe you’re gone. It feels like you faded into nothingness. But you didn't. You touched me and so many other people, and though the tagline for the closing has been help us say goodbye I’m not going to because it's not the end. With luck I'll see the London production one day, I'll watch the 25th anniversary over and over again until and after then, I’ll think of you every day because you're just a part of me now. Just. Thank you. Forever.

[imatheatergeek]

Sesame Street the Musical is opening off-Broadway later this week (Sept 8th). They have been promoting it with these fantastic spoof posters!

[reginalds]

actually even more heartbroken about phantom broadway closing than I thought I would be

[ongakunotenshi]

Why so green? Am I seeing Wicked or Phantom?

Did POTO Korean producers S&CO do something to make POTO Korea’s proscenium look so gross and green in order to discourage audiences from taking photos? (You bet this did not happen in NYC, London & China!!)

So S&CO in Korea has these extremely strict rules:

(1) Absolutely no curtain call photos/videos allowed.

(2) No designated day(s) for fans to meet & greet Phantom actors at all. Stage dooring for Phantom in Korea doesn’t exist. Actors either (a) stop to wave and bow and then get into a car or (b) walk quickly while smiling and bowing.

(3) No official curtain call photos/videos were ever released except a few seconds in promotional videos early in the production.

So one day, my phriend @jeremyonthelair and I were talking about POTO’s proscenium and how beautiful the angel statue is. But then he mentioned something that piqued my interest right away.

“Did you notice Korea proscenium in Charlotte theater has a green tint on all the golden sculptures? And the strangest thing is I didn’t see the green tint in person!! Only in photos!!”

Side note: Jeremy saw POTO China this past summer and POTO Korea in the fall, so you could say he had something to compare to in a short period of time.

We proceded to share proscenium photos – Jeremy with his China and Korea photos and me with Bway photos.

↑ Jeremy’s Korea photo

↑ My Majestic theatre photo taken on the day of the last public performance

↑ Jeremy’s Shanghai photo

Please note: I did not edit any photos in this post at all (other than a black oval to cover my phriend).

Here I have compiled some Korea proscenium photos as evidence. And for comparison, I also added some Majestic theatre photos provided by me and a fellow NY phan @flagbridge – along with some POTO China photos.

Jeremy’s Korea photos:

1) ↑ Taken with an iPhone

2) ↑ Taken with a Samsung

The weirdest thing is —

3) ↑ Film camera looks fine

4) ↑ Xiaomi phone is less affected, somewhat

Here are some Charlotte theater photos and videos I found online:

1) ↑ Click on the link below to view the video. Yikes, this does not look good!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz09hP6rh-B

2) ↑ Another one from Mezzanine level

3) ↑ The current Korean Raoul, Gunha Hwang, posted this photo of the stage in Seoul – are these lights what’s turning everything green?

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz0ZmborHIj

The same thing is happening in Daegu, Korea right now:

4) ↑ Posted Dec 23 in Daegu – click on the link to view the video

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1L4dEjBTkj

5) ↑ Another video from Daegu

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1OnYyLJ6ry/

Now here are my Majestic theatre photos:

↑ Taken in April of 2023

↑ Here is another Majestic photo from a fellow NY phan @flagbridge

https://www.tumblr.com/flagbridge/728351820760612864/shows-i-saw-in-2023-part-1-phantom-of-the-opera Let’s take a look at POTO China proscenium taken by theatre-goers:

↑ https://weibo.com/1766731021/4959005917580968

↑ https://weibo.com/3965362386/4967561219803733 My question to @lucygold95 @roadtophantom @fadinglandtragedy who have seen POTO in Korea. Did you see the gross green tint on the proscenium in person? Why do you think this is only happening in Korea?

I’d love to hear other phans’ thoughts as well!

Lastly, I want to thank my phriends Jeremy and @flagbridge for letting me use their photos.

[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

[opera-ghost]

[devil-takethe-hindmost]

The Bitchin’ Brow, 20 years apart

Jeremy Stolle as Gaston (1990s) and as The Phantom of the Opera (2010s)

[garnet-xx-rose]

Christine Daae is pretty cool actually and I’m super shocked that she’s disliked in ALW’s adaptation

I have so many thoughts but I’m not sure how to verbalize them