The Phantom comes to Paris!

MarySkater Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:47 pm

In October, Phantom opens in Paris - the show's first time in France, and the first time performed in French. Sadly, not at the Paris Opera House - I suppose that would be too much to hope for.

http://lunerontheatre.com/2016/01/20/the-phantom-of-the-opera-will-play-paris-for-30th-anniversary-2/
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/paris/

Since I'm in Britain, Paris isn't too far away for me. I'm rather tempted to go to the show there, have a few days in Paris, see the Palais Garnier and some of the other Paris high spots. Go via London, and catch a performance at Her Majesty's, either on the way out or the way back. However, I've never been much of a traveller, never been to France and speak very little French. I'm a bit daunted at the prospect of doing all the organising. What I'd really like would be for some enterprising travel agent to set up a Phantom outing, with them arranging hotels, transport etc.

So if anyone hears about any such trips being advertised, please post a link here - it would be much appreciated.

Mary

Edited to add: I just had a look on the booking page of the theatre, for a random midweek performance. Seems to be well booked up, but there was a single seat available, stalls front row, on the left as you look at the stage, in other words right by the Phantom's throne, if the set is the same. And it was a cheap seat! Talk about temptation!

Riene Mon Apr 04, 2016 4:51 pm

Oh, please do it! That's too cool of an opportunity to pass up. Then you can let us over here in the States know how it was. Pleeeeeease!

MarySkater Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:44 pm

Well, I'm committed. I spent an hour going through the theatre booking page day by day. October is already fairly heavily booked, but there are more seats available in November. That "cheap" seat I saw earlier has gone; I think from the price it must have been restricted view, unless I was misreading the price chart. However, I'm booked on two consecutive evenings, one front row of the stalls towards the left, and the other centre front row of the circle. Both top-price seats, and I think my idea of taking in a performance in London on the same trip will have to be shelved on grounds of cost. However I thought it would be worth seeing the French show from different angles. Now all I have to do is work out travel and accommodation. (And figure out how much all this is going to cost me... confused

)

Mary

Riene Tue Apr 05, 2016 2:52 am

I'm so envious! I hope you have a wonderful time. Very Happy

Please do take lots of photos!

NightRachel Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:24 pm

OMG!!! What awesome news! Merci, MarySkater, for posting this (with the links)! I would LOVE to see a French Phantom production in Paris!!! Very Happy

And I also gotta say FINALLY -- it's about time POTO got a French language production! Cool

And it only took 30 years for it to happen. Surprised

Anyway, I'm going to try my best to make sure I'm in Paris to see this!

Blind Phan Sat Apr 09, 2016 10:00 pm

OMG! Am totally envious too! Though, I hope it's a "replica" production, not one of these new stagings a la Laurence Connor. And yeah, about blooming time for a production in POTO's original language and then some! How long is it playing till? LOL I wonder if there's a way in hell I can save up the money to get over there?

MarySkater Sat Apr 09, 2016 10:12 pm

Blind PhantomFemme wrote:I hope it's a "replica" production, not one of these new stagings a la Laurence Connor.

Me too! But I'll have to wait and see.

At the moment they are only taking bookings for October and November. However, on the theatre's auditions page, it says (Google translation):
Availability requested continuously from 19 August 2016 for a period of one year minimum.
So it looks like they're planning a long run.

This is the Google translation of the auditions page:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stage-entertainment.fr%2Fauditions-fantome-opera&edit-text=

I found it quite interesting. They haven't specifically listed Meg as someone to be cast, so maybe they hope to find their Meg from the ensemble players.

Riene, sorry, I don't take photos in a theatre. But I'm sure there will be plenty of bootlegs showing up on YouTube soon. I do hope they have a cast recording. I don't collect international recordings as a rule, but since I'm actually going to this one, then I would like it. Would like the libretto in French as well.

Mary

Riene Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:41 am

MarySkater wrote:Riene, sorry, I don't take photos in a theatre. But I'm sure there will be plenty of bootlegs showing up on YouTube soon. I do hope they have a cast recording. I don't collect international recordings as a rule, but since I'm actually going to this one, then I would like it. Would like the libretto in French as well.

Mary

Ah, I meant of Paris itself and the Opera House. I've never been to France and would dearly love to see it.

MarySkater Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:07 pm

The theatre has now extended bookings to December and January.

justin-from-barbados Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:23 pm

Apparently with Sierra Bogess Very Happy

MarySkater Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:51 pm

Thanks for the tip, Justin. More info here:
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/185234/school-of-rocks-sierra-boggess-to-headline-the-phantom-of-the-opera-in-paris/

I'm not sure how to take this news. Sierra is a good Christine, but even when I last saw her play the part nearly 5 years ago, I felt she came over as a bit too "mature" for Christine, who I think should have more girlish naïveté. And since we've waited 30 years to have Phantom performed in the city which gave birth to the story, I can't help feeling that an all-French cast would have been more appropriate.

NightRachel Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:46 pm

MarySkater wrote:I'm not sure how to take this news. Sierra is a good Christine, but even when I last saw her play the part nearly 5 years ago, I felt she came over as a bit too "mature" for Christine, who I think should have more girlish naïveté. And since we've waited 30 years to have Phantom performed in the city which gave birth to the story, I can't help feeling that an all-French cast would have been more appropriate.

^This. I agree.

MarySkater Sat Jun 25, 2016 7:08 pm

The theatre web page has not yet published a cast list. But the "auditions" page is now only looking for one more person, a lyric tenor for the chorus with the possibility of understudying Piangi.

So it looks like all the main parts have now been cast, or at least have enough applicants that they are confident of finding who they want.

IamErik771 Tue Jul 05, 2016 2:07 am

Looks like we have a (mostly) full cast list -- just missing the Phantom. 'Tis posted here: http://www.regardencoulisse.com/la-distribution-quasi-complete-du-fantome-de-lopera-devoilee/

The leads are as follows...
Christine: Sierra Boggess (Alternate: Anne-Marine Suire)
Raoul: Bastien Jacquemart
Madame Giry: Christine Tocci
Carlotta: Serenad
Piangi: Patricio Paxton
Firmin: Wim Van Den Driessche
Andre: Jacques Rebaldi
Meg: Emmanuelle Gueulin

justin-from-barbados Wed Jul 06, 2016 8:11 pm

I wonder if that is the same Jack Ribaldi that was in Cats London for a long time as Munkistrap (the one on the cover of the DVD) if so thats coo, he was very tall also, got to meet him briefly backstage

justin-from-barbados Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:41 pm

Looks like Gardar Thor Cortes might be the Paris Phantom, former Raoul (london) and Phantom (LND Germany). If true will be nice as he does have a very nice vocal, hopefully they will do a full double CD, but I am sure they will atleast do a highlights CD.

Riene Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:26 pm

justin-from-barbados wrote:Looks like Gardar Thor Cortes might be the Paris Phantom, former Raoul (london) and Phantom (LND Germany). If true will be nice as he does have a very nice vocal, hopefully they will do a full double CD, but I am sure they will at least do a highlights CD.

He just looks so very young....

IamErik771 Tue Sep 27, 2016 7:14 pm

So, there was some bad news for those who haven't heard -- this past weekend, there was a fire at Théâtre Mogador (where the production was to take place), and the stage and some set pieces were damaged. Thus, the premiere was cancelled and the show's opening delayed until further notice. I hope they'll be able to open before too long, though!

Here's the official announcement on the production's Facebook page (in French), and also BroadwayWorld's article on it.

MarySkater Tue Sep 27, 2016 7:49 pm

Thanks for the heads-up, James. I hadn't heard. I'm due to go in early November. I have to hope that they are able to put the show on by then. My flights and hotel are already paid for, so postponing my trip isn't really an option. I booked directly with the Mogador, and they haven't yet sent out any info to ticket holders.

We can now speculate whether the Phantom doesn't want his story told in Paris affraid

Or maybe, by doing this at a time that doesn't disrupt a performance or injure people, it's just a warning that he should be treated with respect!

Mary

Edited to add: Google translation from the theatre's web page -
Upon evaluation of necessary repair work, the direction of the Mogador theater will be able to decide on the maintenance of the date of the first Phantom of the Opera or its postponement.

MarySkater Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:19 pm

There has been a lot of irate discussion of this on the Mogador's Facebook page. They have said that they are "committed to Phantom of the Opera." But when people ask what the chances are of the show being available on a given date, they just repeat the protocol for getting a ticket refund. Yet, apart from saying that the opening on October 13 is cancelled, they have not definitely cancelled any other performances - and they had been taking bookings through until January.

Now Gardor Thor Cortes (Phantom) has gone home to Iceland. And a Facebook user posted this message:

I`ve contacted eventim.fr regarding tickets refund and got an answer:
Hi,

The show Fantôme of the Opera has been cancelled and there won’t be any event planned. The refund will be processed automaticly if you bought on eventim.fr or stage entertainment web site.

If you bought via a reseller ( fnac , digitick,..) you have to call them to get the refund.

If you bought your ticket at the box office please send the tickets to cts eventim 23 rue de Mogador 75009 to get the refund

Call me cynical, but I'm having doubts about that fire on Sunday, and I'm wondering what kind of deal the theatre gets from their insurance, if the show doesn't go on.

Mary

MarySkater Fri Sep 30, 2016 5:49 pm

Finally a definitive statement from the theatre. (Google translation, slightly edited)

THEATRE MOGADOR WILL REMAIN CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC IN 2016

"Without prejudging any conclusions that will later be made by the experts, we are now certain that it will not be physically possible to reschedule a show in 2016," said Laurent Bentata.

A few days after the outbreak of fire which affected, among other things, the basement of the Theatre Mogador, technical teams believe that the rehabilitation of damaged items will require several months.

"These were doubly affected by the outbreak of fire and water discharged by the sprinklers"

The CEO of Stage Entertainment International, Mr. Just Spee, made the trip to Paris to assure the French structure of its support and commitment of the group behind Stage Entertainment France.

phantom5251 Fri Sep 30, 2016 8:35 pm

MarySkater wrote:Thanks for the heads-up, James. I hadn't heard. I'm due to go in early November. I have to hope that they are able to put the show on by then. My flights and hotel are already paid for, so postponing my trip isn't really an option. I booked directly with the Mogador, and they haven't yet sent out any info to ticket holders.

We can now speculate whether the Phantom doesn't want his story told in Paris Or maybe, by doing this at a time that doesn't disrupt a performance or injure people, it's just a warning that he should be treated with respect!

Mary

Edited to add: Google translation from the theatre's web page -
Upon evaluation of necessary repair work, the direction of the Mogador theater will be able to decide on the maintenance of the date of the first Phantom of the Opera or its postponement.

As far as speculation, I wonder if it's because the cast performed Masquerade and Prima Donna within the Garnier?

NightRachel Sun Oct 09, 2016 12:12 am

Well it turns out in the end I won't be able to make the trip to Paris to see this new French language production of Phantom because I don't have anyone to travel with, and I can't go there by myself. But anyway, in a way I'm glad I didn't purchase tickets to the show or make any travel plans since hearing the news of the unfortunate damaging fire at the theater in Paris. That's such a shame! Crying or Very sad

Hopefully the production will go on sometime next year (after all repairs are made in the theater), and if it does, I'm SO hoping they film it for us to see here in the U.S.! Or, if not that, then hopefully there will be an OCR album done so I can at least have an audio recording of the show! Smile

And I do hope the fire at the theater was not any of Erik's doing... Wink

But yeah, I did see that video online of Sierra and some of the cast performing "Masquerade" outside the Palais Garnier. Don't know if Erik approved of that or not. Cool

NightRachel Sun Oct 09, 2016 12:15 am

MarySkater wrote:We can now speculate whether the Phantom doesn't want his story told in Paris Or maybe, by doing this at a time that doesn't disrupt a performance or injure people, it's just a warning that he should be treated with respect!

Funny, I was thinking this too. Neutral

MarySkater Mon Nov 07, 2016 8:58 pm

I was in Paris last week. The Mogador Theatre shows no sign of damage at the front, and you can't see the back because it's shut in with other buildings. The theatre's name is lit up in neon, the Phantom posters are up outside, and inside the foyer, the promotional videos for the show are running. There is just a small printed notice on the locked door, saying about the fire and the fact that the theatre will not reopen during 2016.

A tour guide told me that most of the Paris theatres run straight plays. Only a couple do musicals, the Mogador being one. Usually, when they mount a musical, it runs for a year and then they change it. Occasionally, if it sells well, they may run it for 2 or 3 years, which happened with The Lion King. The last show at the Mogador was Cats, and in fact a board with the Cats cast list is still visible in the foyer.

The theatre has not put out any new information for weeks, so we still don't know if Phantom will ever run there.

NightRachel Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:17 am

MarySkater wrote:The theatre has not put out any new information for weeks, so we still don't know if Phantom will ever run there.

Well first, thank you Mary for the info from your Paris trip (and I envy you that you were there). Smile

But I think Phantom *will* run in Paris at the Mogador, eventually; it's just a question of when. I'm thinking sometime next year. Keeping my fingers crossed anyway! Smile

MarySkater Thu Nov 17, 2016 11:00 am

The theatre has finally put an update on their Facebook page, but it's not encouraging:

Mogador: renovation works will take several months

It now seems for certain that the total of necessary interventions to bring the theatre back into operation will take until next summer. We will inform our audience about the date of reopening of the Mogador and will do our very best to do it as soon as possible.

MarySkater Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:42 pm

As a final nail in the Paris Phantom's coffin, the Theatre Mogador is now booking "Grease" from September 2017. Crying or Very sad

IamErik771 Thu May 11, 2017 1:22 am

Still no news as far as I've seen, sadly . . . but there have been some videos posted of a cabaret performance featuring several French singers doing musical theatre pieces, including Manon Taris and Bastien Jacquemart singing three of the songs from POTO in French! They can be viewed here. I wonder if this may be a sign of anything . . .

Also, Sierra Boggess posted a video on Facebook of a concert she did in Japan, with a tri-lingual version of "Think of Me" -- she started it in French, did the majority of the song in Japanese, and then finished it in English. She handled the Japanese surprisingly well, I thought; she didn't have the clear accent that most English-speakers seem to when learning Japanese. Smile

MarySkater Fri May 12, 2017 10:17 pm

Thank you for the links - it was nice to hear those. It would be fascinating if they issued a soundtrack, or even highlights, sung in French. But as neither the novel nor the show are really popular in France, I suppose sales would mainly be to dedicated Phantom collectors, and that's probably not a big enough market to make it worthwhile.

I suppose the best we can do is to keep checking the Mogador web site, to see if they'll give Phantom another try after the run of Grease is finished. It was, after all, booking up quickly while bookings were open, so there are some people who want to see it.

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