Copenhagen March 21. 2009 (Jorde - Karlsson - Kofod)

MARCH 21. 2009, Det Ny Teater, Copenhagen (matinée)

PHANTOM: Peter Jorde
CHRISTINE: Mia Karlsson
RAOUL: Tomas A. Kofod
CARLOTTA: Malin Landing
ANDRÉ: Morten Staugaard
FIRMIN: Steen Springborg
PIANGI: Fernando Concha
MADAME GIRY: Marie Bo
MEG GIRY: Jennifer Wagstaffe
AUCTIONÉER: Uffe Henriksen
REYER: Kim H. Henriksen
BUQUET: Jørgen Brorsen



Another double dip in the Danish Phantom pool. I arrived at Copenhagen early in the morning, wandered around in the city for some hours, before heading to Det Ny Teater.

For this performance I sat in what's called "1. etage", which is two levels above the stalls. I had a front row seat there, and the view was overall excellent. I also had some kids next to me - the boy app. 9, and the girl app. 12. It was lovely to watch their amazed reactions throughout the show!


AUCTION:
Uffe Henriksen is a good auctionéer, always solid, and spooky where needed. Sitting higher up gave me a good glance on the people standing next to the auctionéer (behind the drapes) - I love how you discover different details depending on where you sit. Some production are always best seen from the stalls, but for me you almost need to see POTO from all angels and levels to get the full idea of the design.

It looked to me like the chandelier went up a bit "twisted" - the right side turned more towards the stage than the left. It was corrected soon enough, but for a minute it looked scary.


HANNIBAL:
Malin Landing was back on as Carlotta, after having been off for some time. She was excellent in this performance, and I noticed she pronounce the lyrics veryc learly. I had at least two "Aha! THAT'S what Carlotta is singing!" experiences throughout the show.

I love whoever plays the slave master in Copenhagen. He flirts a lot with all the female cast members (including Carlotta), and mocks the managers in a very humoristic and innocent way.

Hannibal went without a glitch, nothing new there.


THINK OF ME:
I love how some cast members start to laugh by Christine's timid singing, and how others read the paper, bored to death. When Christine then shines, they're all entralled. Nice transaction. And Mia Karlsson.... I don't think I've ever loved both acting and singing so much in a Christine. Her cadenza was also the best I've heard her do, as the high C was stronger and clearer than before. Perfect. Just perfect.

Raoul (Tomas Kofod) seemed to communicate a lot with the managers and madame Firmin, it looked like he asked them for the singers name, and when she heard it, he looked like he was in disbelief, asking to borrow the binocles from mame Firmin to check for himself. Nice piece of acting going on there.


LITTLE LOTTE:
I love what Gillian Lynne has done with the choreography in POTO. She's put in a lot of stuff where you normally wouldn't expect any - "Little Lotte" is one of these places. So gorgeous to watch. I could say a lot more, but that would merely be a lot of gushing, bragging and compliments concerning Kofod and Karlsson. They're so wow!


MIRROR:
The last dancer really paused in her "walking off stage" this time, making it the perfect nod to the Degas statue.

Peter Jorde seemed to be back in top shape, with no vocal issues to spot. A lot more volume in his voice, fuller sound - which was complimented by Karlsson's lovely soprano. Again the perfect amount of smoke in front of the mirror to hide the gliding mirror, without drowning the room. I've said it before, I know, but whoever is in charge of that: cudos!!

The timing between Christine's disappearance and Raoul's entrance into the rool seemed a bit off, which made Jorde hold the last note for a considerable time. Me like!


TITLE SONG:
Unless I'm much mistaken, they use doubles in the whole song, until the boat scene. The people on the travellator looked nothing like Jorde/Karlsson, I think. The Phantom and Christine usually do half of the travellator bit, yes?

The kids next to me gasped when they saw the boat scene, it made me so happy.

Oh, and: cloak swirl alert! Major alert!


MOTN:
Oh yes! Jorde nailed the song. His "soar" was lovely, so clear and soft. I also love how he's walking towards Christine right before THE POSE - you can tell by his arm placement that he WILL put it around her, like he's finally decided upon doing it. He also looks like he's encouraging Christine to go towards the Mirror Bride, to touch it. Lots of applause, it held back STYDI more than usual.


STYDI:
Excellent "composing" acting, I love when Phantoms make a bit extra out of this. It's a rare chance to display the composer side of the Phantom. He's got a more "snaky" crawl towards Christine than Flemming Enevold, which is especially awesome to watch when done by an extremely tall man.


NOTES / PRIMA DONNA:
Blah-blah-blah... Again excellent diction by Malin Landing. She lacks a bit oomph in the high notes (she seems uncomfortable with them), but she's an excellent Carlotta. I've come to enjoy the managers by now, as they're always very solid. I like the nervous appearance of Morten Staugaard's André. And Madame Giry (Marie Bo) actually SEEMS more pronouced by now - or maybe it's just me getting used to her.


IL MUTO:
This scene is done so well. And when this scene is done well, it's so funny. Excellent "fop trio". Lots of small things which would take forever to describe, so... I won't. But excellent overall.

Sitting higher up, I noticed that conductor Per Engström actually plays along in many of the scenes, he communicates a lot with the singers. Like in "Il Muto", he tries to stop the loooooong-singing Don Attilio two times. When André asks him to start the ballet, he nods, but then appears to be buzy with other stuff, until he's "yelled" at. I noticed he does many of these things throughout the show. I like it a lot.


AIAOY:
I wrote it last time, but it must be repeated: I really approve Mia Karlsson's acting in this scene. The fear, the confusion, the trance-like state, the voice. And ditto for Tomas Kofod: also confusion, fustration, comfort. I like that he appears annoyed by allowing himself to be dragged into her "nightmares", but most of all I like the strength he's displaying, creating a safe space for her.


I GAVE YOU MY MUSIC:
Jorde starts off his singing in very low volume for this scene, it's like the audience aren't quite sure that they hear what they hear (if that makes sense). It's like a whisper in the wind. I like it. I like it a lot. I would wish for more "ooomph" in the final lines, to make the transaction from soft to booming even more efficient (he did that in the previous run), but that's minor.

Chandelier fell nicely, chandelier hit stage ina violent manner as it alwasy does in Copenhagen, and the audience applauded a lot both during the "Il Muto" curtain call and after the chandelier crash. Ho-ho!



MASQUERADE:
André's costume gets lots of laughs ever time, especially because Morten Staugaard pose like he has to pee...

Masquerade in Denmark looks very fresh, very sparkly, very energic. The dancers in particular. And Raoul's lifts always impress me, especially the last one: Christine goes flying there! Another cudos.

Red Death rocked.


NOTES II / TWISTED:
Got another glimpse of that mysterious Wishing dress backdrape, and I think I got it now. God, I wish I had a good picture of it, it's so different! There's also a metal trim of some sort on her dress, making it sparkle discretely when she moves. I like that dress a lot.


WYWSHA / WC:
I love the opening of the scene, where Christine stands alone in the spotlight, with her giant cloak swirling around her. And then the cross becomes visible. It's so wonderfully... Victorian Gothic...

God, Mia Karlsson sung so well at this performance. I mean, I've been majorly impressed with her before, but for this performance her upper notes were so clear and focused. This was particularly noticeable in TOM and WYWSHA.


DON JUAN:
Policeman in pit is funny.

I don't think I've noticed before, but the Don Juan cast appears to be in frozen positions until the music starts, like we're jumping into the middle of the performance. Very cinematic, very cool.


PONR:
My God, what was it with this performance than made everything come together so well? PONR was great too. Peter Jorde's Phantom looked like a gliding shadow because the PONR one is veeery long and drapey (unlike the "regular" cloak, which I find a bit short). That, combined with his elegant movements, makes his Phantom aesthetic, almost etheric, in this scene. He also seemed determined in his movements.

The Danish Christines really plays up the Flamenco flair of the song, especially in the movements. Very defined movements matching the rhytm of the song. I'm liking it a lot.

Great mishap happened during the first unmasking. Christine lifted the hood off, and the mask went flying. Like... flying! Jorde immediately raised his hand to cover his face, and then he turned around, as to hide even more. This made Christine try to flee the stage, which in turn made the Phantom pick up the mask and put it back on (while looking like he was trying to escape). One thing is that it was solved very well, another thing is that it made the second unmasking very surprising. The audience probably though they HAD seen him unmasked, but then the wig came off as well. I would love to see this scene repeated exactly like this!

Tomas Kofod (Raoul) always makes the audience gasp with his jump into the "lake". For some reason it highly amuse me.


FINAL LAIR:
Final Lair was awesome, bloody awesome.. Why? Hmmm... Good question. Simply because it WAS. A combination of brilliant singing and acting, and small details that made the scene better than I've seen it before. It reminds me of the feeling I had after having seen Earl Carpenter and Rachel Barrell in action. Everything just came together.

A favourite detail what when Jorde went around the throne to pick up the lasso. The Christine doll was in his way, and he just pushed it aside with his foot. Somehow it looked very in character, especially in the sarcastic mood he was in, and walking with his hands on his back.

I also liked hos Raoul even climbed on the portcullis in an attempt to get to Christine.

(I'm running out of superlatives and grand words here...)

Oh, and when Christine was pleading to the Phantom, singing "....I gave my mind blindly". The Phantom looked like he was about to caress her, but then changing it into a pointing finger in "You try my patience..." - and then yelling "Make your CHOICE!". I like the vulnerability which is visible under his madness, his anger.

Another mishap: Raoul didn't get the noose off in time. When he fell to the floor, he had to remove it, but to cover the mishap he furiously threw the lasso into the wings. Looked like it was supposed to be done like that.

I would love to describe every bit of this performance, as it's one of the best I've seen (not just in Denmark, but overall). I don't know why. Everyone seemed to be in top shape, the chemistry was great, the little details added the little extra, and the response from the audience was very enthusiastic. The applaus started only a bit after Meg kneeled with the mask in the end, before the curtains came down, that is rare. But highly deserved!

Post your review of the evening show! (Or did you not make one because I did it? Problem is I think mine disappeared with POL... )

I did write a review of the evening performance, but it wasn't half as amusing and interesting as the one you wrote. Yours was awesome! Darn that it got lost. Here's what I wrote:




COPENHAGEN - March 21. 2009 (evening performance)


PHANTOM: Flemming Enevold
CHRISTINE: Teresia Bokor
RAOUL: Tomas A. Kofod
CARLOTTA: Eva Malmgren
ANDRÉ: Morten Staugaard
FIRMIN: Steen Springborg
PIANGI: Fernando Concha
MADAME GIRY: Marie Bo
MEG GIRY: Jennifer Wagstaffe
AUCTIONÉER; Uffe Henriksen
REYER: Kim H. Henriksen
BUQUET: Jørgen Brorsen


Met up with Scorp and his parents before the show, VERY cosy! We sat in the restaurant underneath the theatre, and me and Scorp did some major Phantom nerding, it was awesome to phan nerd with someone so knowledgeable. Although I felt sorry for his parents, having to listen to us rambling on.... He-he-he. All this time they thought their son was a phan de luxe, and along comes this loco Norwegian gal.

I had a great seat in the stalls, row... 8, I think.


AUCTION:
I love the... bitterness Raoul (Tomas "Tomas!" Kofod) displays when pushing the music box away. His nurse seems very proud that she's able to win him all the stuff he wants, curious and cute acting choice.

HANNIBAL:
I love a tiny little detail Eva Malmgren (Carlotta) does - she kinda wrinkles her nose when she's particularly satisfied about something. She looks so cute! And I love her coloratura parts.

TOM:
Teresia Bokor has got such a full and nice voice, so well trained, so youthful. She appears so happy to be able to perform too, she sparkles. I like what she does with the cadenza as well,s inging it partly legato and partly staccato.

ANGEL OF MUSIC / LITTLE LOTTE:
Bokor was a bit overpowering (vocally) compared to Meg. But it's cool to see such a petite Christine next to a "normal sized" Meg. Meg (Jennifer Wagstaffe) is actually rather tall in Denmark.

It's so nice to finally hear the name "Lotte" being pronounced correctly... (correctly, as in the Scandinavian way, and not "Lottie" or "Laddie"....)

MIRROR:
I've grown more and more fond of Flemming Enevold's Phantom. His style is just wicked. Very Leroux-ish, very unique. Often he's doing stuff which makes me think "he'll never pull it off, never", and then.... and then he DOES pull it off, in a most excellent and unexpected way. He also got a wonderful voice, when he booms out certain notes it's like... it comes from within... it's so hard to explain, but it's very powerful to listen to.

His phrasing in the Mirror scene is impossible to predict, it bothered me at first, but now I love it.

The dressing room set seemed to fall apart... the door and a bit of the floor came loose from the rest of the set, making it wobble. It was particularly noticeable when Tomas "hitting-the-door-very-hard" Kofod came back and started schmacking the door... It was also noticeable when they rolled it off stage, because they had to take a bit of a U turn out on stage, behind the doubles going down the staircase.... He-he.

TITLE SONG:
"...i denne labyrint er natten blind... Jeg sanser operafantomet der, dypt i mitt sinn"

Sometimes I swear it's impossible to hear if they sing in Danish or English. Not because of bad pronounciation, but because the Danish translation sticks very close to the English original in places. The title song in particular. I like what translator Karen Hoffman has achieved with the Danish libretto.

Oh, and Bokor's cadenza is glorious.

MOTN:
I can't believe how different Flemming Enevold is from Peter Jorde. Same costumes, same sets, the same blocking... and yet their Phantoms doesn't even remind of eachother, in terms of approach, interpretation and singing style. It's what makes live theatre interesting.

Enevold is a seriously powerful Phantom in MOTN, and the "beeeee" note rings in the theatre for a long time. I also love his last lines, because he adds an extra note to "...the-e-e music of the Night...". In Norwegian it's called "påslag", I wish I knew the correct English terminology...

I still love how he pulls away from Christine after the first almost-kiss. And how he presents the Mirror Bride. And... yeah.

STYDI:
Enevold's singing was all over the place. Some weeks ago it would have bothered me, now I simply love it. I don't even know who or what to compare Enevold's Phantom to. His approach to the role is quite extraordinary, his manneristic style unique. Just... bravo!

NOTES / PRIMA DONNA:
La-la-la.....

The vocals in this number seemed a bit low for the eveing performance, actually. All the voices drowned in eachother, at least until the "Light up the stage with that age-old...."

IL MUTO:
Teresia Bokor does the best Maid/Serafimo boy! She is seriously boyish.

During the quick Carlotta change, something happened with her mic. You could hear it well WHEN she was changing, and also during most of the "il Muto". It was disturbing. Towards the end they seemed to have switched to the spare mic, I wonder why they didn't do it sooner.

Eva Malmgren did a wonderful coloratura work this time around as well, and she and Christine is truly snuggly and flirty. He-he. The wig never seems to sit properly on her head, it appears to be constantly falling off. I love how she makes a point out of it. And her croaking is excellent!

Morten Staugaard (André) usually pulls the "getting the ballet started and stumbling off stage" very far. This time around it looked like he took it even further: when running into the third ballet girl, he actually fell on his bottom... I think it was an accident. He-he. Cute. I still love his clumsy dance steps and his "hiding-his-face-in-the-program" bit.

ROOFTOP:
I personally think Teresia Bokor lacks a bit in the acting department in some scenes. She has some magnificent moments on stage, and vocally she's top notch (like.... serious top notch). But the acting is a bit emotionless at times, a bit too similar - or too off. The rooftop scene (before AIAOY) is such a place. She's walking through emotions. I want more genuine feelings from her.

But AIAOY was very, very cute. And Tomas Kofod is such a great Raoul, but since I've said that in multiple reviews already, I won't go on about it here...

I GAVE YOU MY MUSIC:
From my seat, the security device the Phantom wears on the angel was very visible. It looked like a giant belt, he-he.

I love the start of this scene, with only the Phantom's white hand being visible, overlapping the hand of the golden angel. Enevold also does some powerful singing here. Me likey.

I've forgotten to mention this previously, but I also dig how the eyes and the mouths of the golden angel figures lit up, they look so evil!






ACT 2



MASQUERADE:
....paper faces on parade, Masquerade....

I have nothing else to add....

NOTES / TWISTED:
La-la-la....

WYWSHA / WANDERING CHILD:
I love Teresia Bokor in WYWSHA. She gets to play off Christine's vulnerable side, and also display her voice to the full.

The toned-down fire-shooting-stick thing bothers me a bit. It never looks right, and the small "pffffts" isn't threatening at all. At the same time I can understand that they don't want to set all kind of headwear (hats, wigs etc) on fire.... so....

PONR:
As mentioned in my other reviews, I love the Spanish flair the Copenhagen Christines adds to the choreography. Bokor takes it even further than Mia Karlsson, and she also appears more laidback, more... drunk actually. He-he. Yet her Christine seems very determined. This is my favourite Teresia Bokor scene... She plays it very well.

Oh, and her Aminta costume is so gorgeous, especially all the red details, but also the multiple flounced layers in the skirt (I think there's two more layers than Mia Karlsson's dress).

I love Enevold's "heavy" singing voice here, but also how he "glides" into the notes. Very seductive. The vocal transaction from "...say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime....." to "...anywhere you go, let me go to...." is also SO powerful, cause he starts off so soft, and ends so strong.

FINAL LAIR:
Again strong Leroux vibes from Enevold's Phantom. I'm not sure he's read the book or TRYING to be the Leroux Phantom, I think it's by accident. But he's reaching the core of the character, being manneristic, unpredictable, not stressing the beautiful and elegant sides of the Phantom. Me and Scorp complimented him on this after the show, and although he looked more confused than happy about it, it felt good to tell him that his Phantom IS unique.

There were less "fighting" going on between Enevold and Bokor this time, maybe she is tired of being constantly bruised? She's still fiesty, not not as much as first time I saw her and Enevold.

Aaaaw, the kiss.... And the return of the ring.... Just beautiful. Enevold's Phantom appears aged here, not in a negative way. More in a... Leroux way? Does that make sense?

Rest of the scene was as usual.


CONCLUTION:
Enevold was actually less "crazy" in this performance than I've seen him before. But he is still one of the most special actors/singers I've seen in the role. I wish more people got to see him, and I hope Scorp will add some comments of what HE thought, how HE experienced the performance.

Teresia Bokor didn't do all the wierd faces from last time I saw her, but I still think her acting could be stronger. It's not BAD, it's just a bit bland. But with such a voice I'm ready to forgive her a lot... And she has some shining moments, especially TOM, WYWSHA and PONR.

The energy and chemistry of the cast was just as dazzling in the evening performance as in the matinée, that made me very happy. It was a super strong performance.

33 and counting.... :mrgreen: