4/5/10 Shannon, Treharne, Bailey

Okie dokes, random rambly review ahoy. It's not complete, but at this rate, I doubt it will ever be. There are probably a bunch of unfinished sentences too.

April 5, 2010- London

One of my favorite parts of seeing it in London is the differences from Broadway, especially the little blocking ones.

Overture- I watched with my mouth hanging open. And I thought I was totally passed that.

The Auction- “Will you still play when all the rest of us are… DEAD.” He actually gets angry at the last part before ordering for the porter to take it away.

Hannibal- Melanie Gowie’s voice is a little thin, but other than that, really pretty. OMG THE ELISSA SKIRT IS GORGEOUS. AND… AND… OMG THE BACKDRAPES. I’m totally used to seeing the US versions and this is like WHOA. I don’t think the lighter green in the skirt area really works all that well.

The whole Hannibal scene in general has a different hue here. It’s more yellow/golden as opposed to the US where all the colors really stand out. Not in a bad way though, just really interesting how just the different looking costumes can change that.

The Wardrobe Mistress was a little OTT with the whole “OMG I AM FRUSTRATED” thing when Carlotta walked away in the while she was fixing her skirt.

Emma Harris has such a gorgeous wig. The curls are so light and airy and adorably curly. Which brings me to not liking Katy’s at all. It was so frizzy and the curls were pretty wirey in comparison.

Gotta love how proud of himself he is when Piangi finally gets on that elephant and raises his little sword. Rohan’s expression here was funnier than the fail climb itself.

I love it when Firmin starts clapping, thinking it’s over and then the look on his face when Carlottaq keeps singing.

Rohan Tickell does THE funniest “Amateurs” ever. It’s really girly and high pitched.

Still love the Princess, gotta feel for her though. No one pays attention to her in this scene and she’s like “Should I? Can I? I can! I should! I will— ” “Christine Daae can sing it, sir.”

I really like her interpretation of the role. She was so confident Christine could do it. There was just a little bit of pride in the way she said “She’s been taking lessons from a great teacher.” LOVED IT.

Think of Me- Katy has an extremely beautiful voice. A tiny bit belty at times, but her high notes are absolutely gorgeous. It’s crystal clear, it’s bell-like, it’s just incredible. She really shines in the cadenza.

OMG SIMON. I loved him here. I loved him. He actually got great feeling across in these few lines without hamming it up at all.

Angel of Music- Katy’s expressions during the “Brava, etc.” were great. At first she’s afraid of the voice, then she smiles to herself, and then she just gets lost in the moment and doesn’t quite notice Meg at first. Meg rolls her eyes at her friend’s tendency to get really vacant. Cute interaction.

Little Lotte- Did I mention I loved Simon? I really do. He brings so much depth to the character. Right now, he’s still the spoiled rich kid, but he’s the spoiled rich kid that remembers his childhood friend lovingly. When he leans into kiss her as he walks through the door, he’s puzzled when she turns away.

David Shannon has a lot of power in his voice, but he seems to hold back a lot during the bit after the title song and MOTN. So it’s like no power and I kinda wished I was seeing JOJ because he always has power there. However, his accent is really gorgeous, almost gorgeous enough to make everything alright.

Yay! The catch! I love seeing the catch! AND… and as an added bonus he actually let her faint a little before catching her instead of the really fast sweep her off her feet thing.

Saw the Mirror Bride moving during the black out. Speaking of whom, her one hand on the hip pose is totally attitudey and yet, perfectly eerie.

Ew, Buquet definitely way lecherous, reaching out to touch a ballerina’s cheek in a totally pervy way. Too bad, he’s actually kind of cute.

Piangi’s hair is very, very red, like wow red. I’m surprised Carlotta’s not pissed at him for having redder hair than her.

I was a little disappointed that Don Attilio didn’t hold the “her” note for a really long time.

Katy was just frozen in fear when the chandelier was shaking while the Phantom was being all threatening about Box 5. She’s already leaning as far back towards the bed as she can and she’s still trying to inch back.

Meg’s scream in Il Muto was epic. It was a full on horror movie scream.

The Sylphide costumes look so much richer here than in the US. Even with the sparkly skirts, the green is better than the pink.

AIAOY- Katy does this whole bent forward thing when she’s freaking out about the Phantom. It’s a strange acting choice, especially for this scene.

“Christine, I love you”- He’s a little shy to admit it. He’s so very endearing.

“I gave you my music”- Not as emotional as it could have been.

Finally, a chandelier crash that’s really a chandelier crash, not a chandelier lowering.

Entr’acte- Whoever this conductor is, he is in a hurry to get home. Like srsly.

Masquerade- The Manwoman costume is super cool here. The skirt side is like a panel of skirt, then nothing, then another panel of skirt.

Meg’s velvet jacket actually has a pretty swirly, flowery pattern on it. MIND BLOWN.

It was so awesome seeing the Phantom fall through the trapdoor.

Katy’s more spazzy in Notes II than any Christine I’ve seen before. It’s interesting, like she’s at her wits end and REALLY has no idea what to do. Not as effective as the more straightforward frustrated, angry it’s usually played, but it was cool to see a different interpretation. Doing the slumpy bendy thing again.

She doesn’t really get angry enough, not at Carlotta, not at the managers. I didn’t even hear the “I’m mad” in the midst of the booming music.

Andre flubbed lines. Mixed up an “m” word and an “r” word in one of the notes scenes.

Notes II- Melanie Gowie’s “She’s mad” was perfect. More stuck up diva than Patricia Phillips. She could care less about Christine who is literally having the freak out of her life. It’s all “Okay, meh, she’s crazy. Let’s all go back to paying attention to me.”

Don Juan Rehearsal- Piangi’s last attempt at the “Those who tangle with Don Juan” was pretty much a squeak with all the chorus members just glaring at him.

WYWSHA- More of the hunchbacked acting going on. It looks a little stranger with her back to the audience. Her voice is really gorgeous though. The final notes are once again her strong points, utterly fantastic vibrato. She doesn’t do much with the rest of the song.

Wandering child- OMG THE FULL TRIO! This… this is the way it has to be experienced. That’s it. It’s gotta be all three of them singing. It’s just gotta be. From now on, all other Wandering Child’s will be inadequate.

Don Juan- Passarino’s like “Damn!” when Don Juan calls him away from the Gypsy girl he was totally getting flirty with. I never really noticed him before.

WHOA with the extremely unexpected leaning against the proscenium… sexily. Now THAT, they definitely don’t do in the US. The apron in the Aminta skirt is soooooo pretty.

PONR- David Shannon is so sexy. His voice is PERFECT right here for this scene, especially his awesome accent. I don’t know if he just started giving it his all or what, but he sounded fantastic, much better than in MOTN. His voice has a slight rough edge to it and it’s extremely sensual here. Either I never noticed it before… or… or he just cuts a dashing silhouette in the cloak once the hood comes off. That specific drape of the black fabric, his hands, the mask… IT WAS THE HOTNESS.

Hehe, boob grab.

DOM- OOH, angry, aggressive, painful pulling hair by the roots. He is pissed. She cringes.

I’ll stop complaining about how illogical Raoul ripping his shirt open on-stage is if they start doing it again. Please? Pretty please?

Christine does not get thrown into the floor.

It took a long time for David to motion for the portcullis to open and I feel like that moment was SUPER tense for the audience too because it almost seemed like it was malfunctioning.

The edge of Christine’s veil got caught in the monkey’s head and it stayed there until she pulled it off. And that was the most eventful snafu of the night.

Simon is the most active Raoul I’ve seen so far in the noose. He doesn’t stop struggling. It’s great because before, there was Christine and the Phantom and they get to use the whole stage while he just stands there.

He emphasizes “He has to WIN…” among other words. I don’t remember any more details, but it just work really well. I loved his acting here.

Their Final Lair scene was really the best part of the whole show. The three of them are really fantastic here.

Even after she kisses him, David grabs the candle and holds it threateningly to Raoul’s neck. It’s the best interpretation of this moment I’ve seen yet. Because he’s still angry and violent after the kiss, it takes a moment to really realize the impact of what just happened. Certainly a lot better than both of them thinking he was going to hurt Raoul. That bit of misunderstanding always made me feel so bad for him.

Overall, Katy’s a very good Christine. She absolutely shines in her high notes, they are absolutely gorgeous. Good enough to compensate for her sometimes strange acting choices and overall bland acting in some of the more emotional scenes.

David is also great. Definitely one of my favorites now, probably ranking around John Cudia. His acting is phenomenal, but he definitely holds back because during every moment other than “I have brought you” and MOTN, he’s fantastic, but during those, it’s a little thin. His Phantom is one of the most sensual I’ve seen making PONR obvious his best scene.

Simon Bailey- I’ve already said it to pretty much everyone, but he’s amazing. He really fleshed out the character and gave him depth.

Thank you for a super fun review!

First, costume details. Yay! I agree about the UK costumes VS the US ones. There's more glitter and "eerie" colours in the UK ones, whereas the US ones have bolder colours. Both have their benefits, but as for the Elissa backdrapes the UK ones has always been my favourites. I also like the more glittering colours of the "Il Muto" ballet costumes in the UK.

I'm a bit sad you didn't get to see Gina Beck, she really is something else. But Katy Treharne sounds good too. Ditto for Carlotta - whereas Melanie Gowie is good in ever way, principal Carlotta just takes it up a notch. Glad you got to see Simon Bailey and Rohan Tickell, though.

And yeah, "Wandering Child" trio is a powerpack!

Did you stage door / take any pictures?

operafantomet wrote:Thank you for a super fun review!

First, costume details. Yay! I agree about the UK costumes VS the US ones. There's more glitter and "eerie" colours in the UK ones, whereas the US ones have bolder colours. Both have their benefits, but as for the Elissa backdrapes the UK ones has always been my favourites. I also like the more glittering colours of the "Il Muto" ballet costumes in the UK.

I love costume details! Which is why your reviews kinda rock.

I agree, the UK backdrapes seem more ornate in a way.

I'm a bit sad you didn't get to see Gina Beck, she really is something else. But Katy Treharne sounds good too. Ditto for Carlotta - whereas Melanie Gowie is good in ever way, principal Carlotta just takes it up a notch. Glad you got to see Simon Bailey and Rohan Tickell, though.

I really wish I would have seen Gina Beck, but as luck would have it, I would have ended up seeing Tabitha Webb since it was a Monday.

Did you stage door / take any pictures?

We had gotten to the stage door pretty late, I saw a bunch of people running out, like RUNNING out. And we were just waiting there before I realized I had no idea what anyone looked like. So it was just asking for the autograph of everyone that came out, which still didn't work because most of them were just crew and the ones I didn't ask, I'm pretty sure was Simon Bailey. I managed to get Melanie Gowie, who I didn't recognize (Yes, I feel like the biggest tool ever.)

And then I met Simon's psycho stalker.

Viscountess wrote:

Did you stage door / take any pictures?

We had gotten to the stage door pretty late, I saw a bunch of people running out, like RUNNING out. And we were just waiting there before I realized I had no idea what anyone looked like. So it was just asking for the autograph of everyone that came out, which still didn't work because most of them were just crew and the ones I didn't ask, I'm pretty sure was Simon Bailey. I managed to get Melanie Gowie, who I didn't recognize (Yes, I feel like the biggest tool ever.)

And then I met Simon's psycho stalker.

Oh right, I forgot about that! Scary, scary lady!

Simon's psycho stalker that you met isn't in fact the same MEGA PSYCHO STALKER I was referring to I figured out. God if you'd met her, then well... god you'd have been scarred for life. Although I am sure Simon's other psycho stalker (god he really attracts them, sad really, that these people have these deluded thoughts in their head) really scarred you too. I really hate the stalkers that London Phantom really attracts (at least it hasn't gotten to the Peter Karrie stalker level... yet.)

In response to MEGA PSYCHO STALKER karma may have bit her in the bum, will leave that there.

Anyway back to your review, I haven't read it all yet so will add to this in a bit, intriguing you enjoy Simon in TOM, I in fact don't (it is the only bit of his performance that grates me.) But glad to see you enjoyed it.

Katy sounds gorgeous from what i have read so far, I really must see her at some point if I ever get the urge to go back other than June and cast change, but I doubt I will, the experience isn't so great these days.

And I love Rohan in Hannibal, absolutely love him.

Okay off to finish reading...

dolly-ry wrote:In response to MEGA PSYCHO STALKER karma may have bit her in the bum, will leave that there.

Ahahaha, somehow I've missed this comment. *snorts*

But it scares me that two such fanatic women hang around the HMT stage door... Poor cast.

MEGA PSYCHO STALKER is going to cast change. I want to cry already.

Aaaaand this review reminds me I have my own review to write of the same cast but with much altered interpretations of the roles it seems... will post it soon I promise.

dolly-ry wrote:MEGA PSYCHO STALKER is going to cast change. I want to cry already.

Aaaaand this review reminds me I have my own review to write of the same cast but with much altered interpretations of the roles it seems... will post it soon I promise.

AHHHH. I thought MEGA PSYCHO STALKER was done being psycho and stalkery!

Well, thing is she appears to be done be mega psycho stalkery with him due to the fact he sort of might have ran away from her a few weeks ago... *whistles* unfortunately she is still mega psycho stalkery with other cast members so, sigh.