Phantom of the Opera Tour Cast - Trista, Sean and Andrew(u/s) - 5.29.10 - Lansing

Okay, I saw Phantom in Michigan. I didn't want to go to Detroit to see it (and thank god it wasn't in Detroit). I drove out to Lansing to see it instead. Some of you may be familiar with the way I write, some of you may not, but when it comes to reviews I have a very strong memory. So I remember a LOT, and I mean A LOT. If you're feeling the need to read a fun reivew, this might be good for you. I made sure I went through this and spell checked it and everything.

Have fun, my friends!


PROLOGUE/OVERTURE: I always loved how this scene was done. The lights dim down, and you hear the bustle of people entering the room. Silence, then you hear the gavel and you know the show has begun. The lights come on, and everyone is at the auction. The auction went by smoothly. Sean had a very awesome old Raoul voice. It reminded me of a very kind old man. I especially liked when he did the line "Will you still play when all the rest of us are dead". He didn't put that crazy ass empathis on the word 'dead'. He seemed REALLY sad and quiet at the word 'dead'. When the 'Overture' began, the curtain covering the right side of the chandelier got caught, so they were fumbling around with it trying to get it to shake loose. It took some time, but eventually they got it. Also the drapes that cover the gold around the flies of the theatre got stuck, too. So the overture overall wasn't that smooth.

REHEARSAL FOR HANNIBAL: Hannibal had an awesome rehearsal. Carlotta was truly milking it. When Reyer came in, he was totally in an uproar. Bitching at people left and right. Firmin was an understudy I think but, OH MY DEAR LORD. He played Firmin with a nasally voice, aand someone REALLY into theatre. Like, really, really into theatre. So, he was totally disliking Carlotta's voice. (Picture people who like Wicked and they moan and groan about Idina. Yeah.) Andre was more of 'whatever, I'll let her go about her business' attitude. When the line came "Two bars will be quite sufficent", I laughed at it because he (Firmin) made the comment as 'yeah, I don't like her voice, don't want to hear it, please god stop'. So, before Carlotta sang her aria she held her fingers to her head and gestured about with her hands if preparing herself for the aria. It was neat. Truly gave her character. When Christine started singing 'Think of Me', she was so timid and then her voice blossomed into the song.

THINK OF ME: Trista's voice is okay, but it's not all that glorious like Joke de Kruif or Maria Kesselman, but I think her acting made up for it. I was more or less interested in Sean's Raoul. I was a little warry on his little solo, I couldn't tell if he was ging to be a 'Oh, Christine, nice... I can bang that shit easy peasy' or 'CHRISTINE. DUDE. WE GREW UP TOGETHER AND OH MY GOD, SHE AND I WERE BFFS AND I HAVE TO SEE HER BECAUSE WE'RE COOL AND AWESOME LIKE THAT'. So, I had to wait until later... but Trista nailed the scales.

ANGEL OF MUSIC: So, Andrew said his line, and I sat there thinking 'Wow, I didn't hate it, but I don't know what to think of it'. I paid more attention to the ballet dancers in the background. I think that is just so beautiful on how much detail into ballet training Gillian Lynne put into this show. I couldn't tell if the dancers in the background were moving in line to some of the words, but it was neat on the carefulness Madame Giry had when instructing the girls on how to dance. Otherwise, Meg was cute, but she had a very annoying voice. It reminded me of how Meg from the Leroux would sound - bitchy and annoying. The "Rehearsals! Always rehearsals!" line was REALLY loud.

LITTLE LOTTE/THE MIRROR: So, Sean appeared and I took notice he was truly GIDDY AND EXCITED as Raoul. I was shocked. I was like, 'Would I be seeing a Raoul for the first time in a long time that cared about Christine?' When he approached her door and said the "Gentlemen, if you wouldn't mind, this is one visit I'd prefer to make unaccompained
, I was like, 'HELL YES HE CARES'. The way he delivered the line, he just sounded like an excited little boy who will be seeing his childhood friend. When Christine figured out who he was, she was piecing the line (like this) 'Because...you... ran.... into... theseatofetchmyscarf!!!!" I was like, 'SHE'S EXCITED TO SEE HIM TOO!' So I made a small little fist pump in the seat (which possibly made some people question if I was milking a giant cow or something) because they both were overly excited to see one another. When Christine said the line about the "Know what I love as Lotte said...", I took notice that Madame Giry and the ballet girls struck this pose they held for thirty seconds. It's like she was in the middle, a girl was resting her head on her back, two girls acting like they were 'sleeping', and then two girls with their toes pointed at one another on the floor propped up on their sides. And when he did the "And now we must go to supper" line, Madame Giry snapped her fingers and they quickly left. But there was that one ballet girl that was just dragging along, looking up at the flies and reaching her hand up to them. When the Phantom started singing, I didn't know what to really think about him. He had a good voice, but it didn't 'overwhelm' me. When Raoul returned, he totally seemed to go from charming Raoul to scared Raoul when he heard the Phantom's voice. I liked that portrayal, too. I forget in Leroux he was away at sea (I think he was?) and he has to be brave and all that. But I kind of like this Raoul too, where he's been primped to 'follow in society' but really, he's still a kid and scared at times because he hasn't dealt with this shit before. Well, when she was gone, his 'ANGEL?' wasn't pissy and shit. It was truly a WTF moment.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: So, I sat there with a smile and anticipation etched into my face. I finally got to hear how my 'Phantom' would sound. I usually don't base a Phantom off this song because the first part is 'pre recorded'. The acting when they left the stage was: The Phantom was pulling Christine along, but Christine turned around to go back (me thinking she heard Raoul's voice), the Phantom grabbed her hand and shook his head, and he kept dragging her off stage. Which I thought was pretty neat because I've never seen one where Christine really doesn't know if she wants to go with the Phantom or back to Raoul. So, when they were moving across the 'arches', the person playing Christne kept to Trista's way of doing the character. She was stopping at random points, acting scared, and looking over the railing. The Phantom wasn't loosing his patience with her or anything, but he kept urging her onward (but he allowed her to look around and such). When he sang his part, he did the 'STOP' and looked both ways before they crossed the street thing, then grabbed her hand and kept urging her onward. When it was time for them to walk off stage and the candles to pop up, it was as if he was 'allowing her to get into the boat' by letting her walk ahead first. She turned around and looked at him, and he gestured her in, looked around again, and cape flipped. So the rest of the song wasn't all that 'inspiring' because she was just walking back from her, and she was slowly making her way towards him. Though, what made me jump was when he did the SING MY ANGEL OF MUSIC, he really shouted it. But, I'm pretty sure he didn't slick back his hair and then run his hands down his body. He did something else. Or maybe I'm so used to it that I can't recall if he did or not. During the "I have brought you" line, Christine seemed to awake from her use of her vocal chords and clasp her hands together, jump and turn around to look at the Phantom and the 'lair' as if 'WHERE THE HELL AM I?'. When he did the "My music, my music" line, he seemed to not look at his music all that much, but her. As if he was truly seeing that she was scared and he needed a way to make her feel relaxed.

MUSIC OF THE NIGHT: This was the moment I'd judge this dude if he had Phantom potential to keep me entertained throughout the rest of the show with his voice. Also, how he acted with Christine. Christine spent most of her time listening to him by looking at him. What I liked about it is that he didn't 'make it into a lullaby', he was more or less 'explaining the song' to her. He was singing, yes, but he was pausing at certain parts. Think of Michael Crawford's later versions of the songs (I'm thinking of the one where he had the HUGE MOON OF DOOM behind him) if you want to know what I mean. During the "turn your face away", I think he shoved her face a little too roughly at that. I like it when the Phantom is graceful, but it was like he right hooked her in the jaw. I laughed at that. So, when he did the little 'I'm just going to drape myself on this gate' part, I thought of Gillian Lynne and her 'the Phantom has a boner and Christine is finding it out when she brushes against him' thing. She ran off all too fast and then started clutching the lower half of her body. I thought of the sequel, too, and the fact Phantom would eventually get Christine later. I got disgusted and refocused myself back on the musical. His "Be" was pretty good. When he was leading her over to the mirror, she seemed like she didn't really want to go with him, or she was just tired. And when the mirror bride came out of the mirror, she was a bit late on the fainting. LIke a more of, 'Let me thought process this: am I supposed to faint or should I stand looking at this creepy thing? Wait, yes, fainting would be good'. And she fell over.

I REMEMBER/STRANGER THAN YOU DREAMT IT: When the Phantom music box starts playing, I took notice that he hand went to it like it was some sort of alarm clock and felt it. And then she sat up, touched her hand to her head like she was experiencing a mini hang over, and each time she said something that was in her dream, she'd look at that exact thing. Which was pretty neat, because some Christine's get all bug-eyed and go mind numb when saying it. When she came to the 'there was a man' line, she gasped and held her hand to her mouth. She got up, and clutched her hands together and walked over to the Phantom. When she was trying to pull off the mask, she'd litterally lunge at the Phantom. I'm surprised he didn't feel the gust of wind each time she did, but when she finally succeeded, she ran. He chased her around. I think her 'fall' was god awful and fake that I just wanted to 'insert a HUGE ROCK STICKING OUT OF THE FLOOR HERE' on the stage to make it work. I think Andrew's acting was pretty shitty and funny in this scene. He just kind of moved into the lying flat on his stomach instead of the whole 'GOD MY WORLD IS CRUMBLING DOWN BECAUSE SHE REMOVED MY MASK'. My older sister and I started laughing because of his weird ass crawling across the floor. He was using his elbows, but he was totally slthering across it awkwardly like a snake. But his dictation when saying the lines was neat, it was like he was talking to himself. Example: OH YES, FEAR CAN TURN TO LOVE, BUT FORGET THAT, I'M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME. AND IF YOU DON'T, WELL I'M GONNA MAKE YOU. When he did the "loathsome gargoyle" line, he took his hand from his face and she turned her head away and then he got all angry and looked away from her. When she gave him his mask, he looked away for a moment thinking it was her hand, and then when he realised his mask was in it he seemed to go OH COOL, I NEED THIS and put it on. Sometimes I like it when the Phantom's reach out for Christine, and sometimes I don't.... it just looks really stage-y. But he did 'half reach out' and then grabbed her and dragged her off stage.

MAGICAL LASSO: My sister decided to open this scene up by going 'WHORE TIME' and follow that up with 'bow chicka wow wow' really softly. I looked to her and went, "really now?" And then I started laughing because I thought of the lecherous Joseph Buquet from the movie. But it was funny cause this guy wasn't old, he was pretty young, like the guy from the 1989 Phantom. He seemed to be more of a looking-for-a-screw kid. When the Phantom showed up, and all the girls started screaming, my sister started laughing. I don't know why she found it funny, but she did, so I started laughing at her.

NOTES/PRIMA DONNA: Andre was pretty cool and I thought his portayal of Andre was pretty smart. It was Firmin, however, who seemed like a total nutterball and was the kind of guy who'd get high on weed and start skipping into fields of singing flowers and talking animals. He was REALLY hyper. When Sean came in, he was totally making me feel the 'HEY, I CARE ABOUT CHRISTINE AND I DON'T LIKE THIS GOSSIP, SO YOU NEED TO STOP FUELING IT' attitude with the guys. Every time I hear the 'wrote... written' line, I think of the time when Scorp and I had the talk about why that's like that. And the PTO, which was followed by a 'wooden clop' to 'turn it over'. And, when Carlotta came in, Raoul seemed to look her over like, GOD I HATE THIS B***H, I WISH SHE'D SHUT UP. (Here's a random thought I had: I always wondered why Madame Giry entered through another side of the room and not through the door. But I kind of came up with a 'reason' in my head for that. The door opens, and they all start walking towards it wondering 'who left it open and why' and then she appears scaring the bejeezus out of them and then the door shuts. Because, she was sneaky and when they weren't looking she snuck in, walked around them, when they noticed it was open, the door shut because she was already behind them. OR, the Phantom could have entered the room being all sneaky. I don't know, it was a random thought I had about why that door always opens and nobody comes through it.) The note from the Phantom was pretty fun, I really liked how he sounded when dictating it. He did the Crawford 'ideal' dictation. After that was over with, Raoul seemed a bit flustered and confused. When Carlotta accused him he gave her a look that said EXCUSE ME B***H as if he would write stuff like that. Anyway, during her whole fluff off when it came to the Managers trying to provoke her, Raoul moved over to the table to examine the letters and when Christine's name was mentioned, he looked up to pay attention to the conversation. He was totally in his own little world. Which was nice, because why should Raoul care about Carlotta's b***hings. Some Raoul's do that... During Prima Donna, Meg goes over to look at the notes, and Raoul who left the table comes back and then she drops them like he caught her, then walks away. Raoul looks at the letters for a moment, then walks over to Mme. Giry. Then Meg joins them, and that was pretty much it. And when the Phantom's voice pops up they all look to the ceiling. (Which brings me back to the whole door opening thing and that the Phantom could have entered the room or he's hiding under the floorboards throwing his voice.)

IL MUTO: My sister and I turned to one another and said "SH!T'S GONNA GO DOWN" when Raoul announced where he was sitting. Il Muto was all right, I'm always reminded of the god awful film because of how much empathis they put on the scene and how they ruined it for me. Anyway, I kept looking above the theatre wondering when the Phantom was going to show up. When the husband found out what 'Passaniro' was doing, he raised his cane ready to totally beat his wife one. I was a bit bored, and I started thinking of the situations of what would happen if the husband actually followed through. Who would he beat first? He walks with a limp, he act's like he's eighty, what kind of fight would this be? Every time the Phantom said his line, he'd pop up like a mole in the wack a mole game. When he started laughing, he was on the other side of the angel. The chandelier wasn't acting crazy when he said the chandelier line, it just glowed brighter. ... When Firmin came onstage to announce the ballet, was totally clueless like he was smoking some pot, like he had no idea what he just witnessed. I'll be honest and say I don't care for the 'new shadows'. They are so 'unlike' what the Phantom would do and they're too comical. I want to slap whoemever thought him 'shaking his fists in the air' was scary. Do I remember what the older shadows look like? Not really. But did they include that? No. It just pisses me off. I want the older one's back.

THE ROOF/ALL I ASK OF YOU: The set changing must have took some time, because Christine and Raoul didn't say their lines until the music started going into the rooftop interlude. Being the Christine and Raoul supporter that I am, I made sure I paid extra close attention to this scene. Christine ran onstage first, followed by Raoul. Christine started shaking and grabbing onto Raoul during the "Raoul I've been there\" line, and he was totally thrown off course as if he had no idea she had these feelings for him. Which made me all the happier because his Raoul was totally being a gentleman. During the "but his voice" line, she walked away from him and clutched her hands like a little girl, and then when she did the 'soar' she stretched her hand up to the sky. And then after, she realised what she did and stopped and felt ashamed. But when Raoul did the "Christine, Christine" line she quickly grabbed onto him and wouldn't let him go, so he started petting her head. And when the Phantom did the "Christine" echo, and she heard it, he told her to stay while he went to scope the place out. It was cute how they were acting as if the backdrops were really three dimensional and they were peaking behind the pillars. And when All I Ask of You started, I was REALLY happy. Because the song wasn't sped up like it is usually. It was slow. She grabbed him and held him tightly when he started singing, and then when she started singing she did her little innocent hand clasp and looked up at him. Then when he did the "let me be your shelter" line, he guided her over to the edge and allowed them to look out over the city. But, when he did the "your fears are far behind you", I don't know if he was holding back a gassy burp because his voice went low. It made me go wtf for a moment, but I let it slide. BUT THE BEST PART, when he did the "Christine, that's all I ask of you" line, he knelt down on the ground. She took his hands, and then she knelt down on the floor too. The inner fan girl in me was squeeing in excitement because I had never seen this before, and I think I made an 'aw'. (But then, here goes another random thought: I think the Angel should be a pillar in the middle of the stage like in the Ken Hill version. It just makes the roof look more like a rooftop to me instead of the flying saucer over their heads. Because them kneeling down in front of the statue and then having the Phantom up there would have been AWESOME. LIke from the book, hehe.) When it came time for the kiss, they stood there and it was so AWKWARDLY CUTE. Like, they didn't know who should make the move first. Christine did, and she wrapped him up in a huge kiss. And when it came time for the second kiss, they both flew at each other. Then when they said the final line, Christine kissed him again.

ALL I ASK OF YOU REPRISE: When the song ended, Raoul grabbed her into a huge hug and did a Steve-Twirl (yes, I call it that, and why is because Steve created it, and his Raoul was totally into Christine when he did that). They were twiling and twirling until they were out of breath and they were wobbly. She kissed him again that he almost missed his "Christine I love you" line. But when he did say it, it was more of OH MAN, I KISSED MY BEST FRIEND AND I REALLY LIKE HER, OH MY GOD attitude. They ran off the stage. The Phantom popped up. You could tell he was pissed becasuse his dictation was more of a: I... GAVE YOU MY MUSIC, AND YOU GO AND DO THIS? AND WHAT IS THIS? WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SEE? OH GOD, OH GOD, OH GOD. Depending on who I've seen as the Phantom, some of them ham the 'moans of disgust' up too much. But what was good about him is that he didn't. He just started seizuring and gripping the Angel's hands as if he wanted to tear them off. And then before he said his final line, he stood up, straddling that nasty statue and SCREAMED. Yes, he didn't do a ARGGGGGGGGGGGGH, he litterally SCREAMED. Scared the sh!t out of me. And then he said his line. So, I was still recovering from that scream when he made the chandelier fall. Which fell awfully quicker than the last time I saw it live, but it was awesome because Christine was standing directly in its way. When everyone ran away and she was looking at Raoul, Raoul had to literally fly across the stage, hop over something and pick her up and dive with her like an action hero off to the side. It was awesome. The Phantom did not carry on the laughter, he just laughed and was done before the lights came on. My sister said it's because Michael Crawford is the only person who could make that 'laughing' work. I swear I've heard other Phantom's carry on the laugher...


ENTERACTE: The thing sounded pre-recorded. Or there was a few insturments missing (pee break?) that it just sounded like a simple version. I kind of liked it. Oh well, when Firmin and Andre got on the stage, they did their thing. Though, it was the first time I noticed the 'hat' on Firmin's head. It was some Harry Potter sorting hat of glittering purple. ... And when he revealed his costume to the audience, my sister and I laughed because it was very flamboyant when he struck a pose and threw back his cape. I'm like, 'FABULOUSS!!!'

MASQUERADE: I must be out of the Phantom loop because I noticed some different lyrics. Some of them were recognizable, but some I think were brought on because someone forgot their lines and caused them to screw up. They righted it out but it sounded like a garbled mess before Christine and Raoul came in to say their line. Ah, anyway, Christne and Raoul went off to the side to chat - they used the 'Please Raoul they'll see' line instead of 'please let's not fight'. I must have been hiding under a rock that I had no idea they changed it to that one. Oh well, I was MORE annoyed that Raoul wasn't dancing. Was Steve Barton the only one who made Raoul dance some kind of ballet during the 'search for Christine'? Because nobody pirouettes and twirls with their 'search' that it makes me a bit miffed. He also didn't lift her up in the air. So, I was also a bit upset about that, too. But I can't hate Sean, so I just sat there b***hing in my head. When the Phantom showed up, he was pretty creepy on the stage. Somebody started laughing every time the 'bump' noise came when he took a step and I was like, 'why is that funny?' But it was more funny when Firmin or Andre DIDN'T CATCH THE BOOK. I think they dropped it because it flipped out their hands and landed on the stage with a huge SMACK. I almost wanted the Phantom to get in their face about it, but all they did was dust it off. When Christine was called over to the Phantom, Raoul came with her. It was like, IN YOUR FACE MY PHANTOM FRIEND. I wanted to see Raoul slit the Phantom's throat, because it looked like he was going to, but he didn't obviously. But when the second Phantom showed up on the stairs, he just started chuckling like he had a 'bowl full of jelly' (Santa Claus). My sister started laughing.

MME GIRY'S DITTY: Okay, I don't like this scene. I sat there thinking of why we need this scene, and then I remembered, 'Well, Raoul needs to b***h at her in Notes 2'. But I think I'm more or less finding the whole carnival story irrelevant to the musical. Could it be that I want nothing to remind me of Love Never Dies? Yes. Probably.

NOTES 2/TWISTED EVERY WAY: Notes 2 was pretty fun. There was another screw up with lines, the lines are "Get a player with tone, and that third trambone has to go..." where as it became "Every note ever blown in that third trambone has to go". When Raoul came into the room, he totally was paying attention to Christine. I got a vibe that was all HOW ARE YOU DOING, ARE PEOPLE BEING NICE TO YOU, TALK ABOUT THIS WITH ME. That when Carlotta singled Christine out, Raoul totally started protecting her and stepping in front of her to shield her from Carlotta. (Another random thought: I think the whole sh!t with the Phantom was kind of good for Christine because for the first time, someone told Carlotta what a fat ugly nast cow she was. Not like Christine said that, of course, but, it made Christine finally stand up to fight her own battles.) When the Phantom's note was being read, Raoul started pacing around backstage. Like he was thinking about stuff and when he got the idea to bait Christine, he felt a little guilty about saying it. When everyone was going insane, and she wanted to talk to him, he gently pushed her aside and said something to her, and went to talk to the managers. Then Christine freaked out. When Raoul came over to her and started comforting her, he seemed to treat her like she was the only focus in the room. She was grabbing him around the shoulders very tightly and not wanting to let him go, even when she sat down. When she started singing "twisted every way" she got up and started thinking things over by pacing back and forth, and then when she said "oh god if I agree" she wobbled and almost fainted into Raoul's arms and he slowly brought her back over to the chair he wrapped his arms around her again. When she ran out she said, "I'm sorry, I can't" instead of some of the other lines I heard. When he approached the stage, he was furious. More or less furious that he had to bait his wife to get this dude.

REHEARSAL FOR DON JUAN: When everyone was seated, and Christine came in to sing her line she was really scared while singing it. Not at all confident. When Piangi did the first 'tan', some person in the chorus started CRACKING UP loudly. It made me laugh and I tried to find him, in hopes that he would do it again. When Mme Giry said her line 'Are you certain about that signora' Carlotta looked up to see if the Phantom was going to show up again. After Reyer did the 5, 6, 7 the entire chorus 'hummmed' the 'tan' before Piangi said the line. And then there was the chaos and the piano errupted into it's possessed state. (Another random thought: Why does the Phantom posess the piano? I don't get it, how does he do it? The piano isn't one of those 'play by itself' pianos, so why does it do that? I know it's supposed to be creepy, but that now bothers me to the point that I shouldn't let it bother me. I don't think I can be satisfied with the 'BECAUSE HE CAN' line, because it still doesn't make sense. Oh well...)

WISHING: Christine was really obsessed with her scarf throughout the whole entire thing. There isn't much to say, just a lot of looking around and moping about her dead dad. Which is obviously what the song is about, but there was a lot of moping.

WANDERING CHILD: When Christine started walking away, the Phantom came out to play. She seemed to get excited when she heard his voice, and then when she started falling for it, she shook her head and ran away. But I noticed another line change: "Far from my fatherly gaze" instead of 'far from my far reaching gaze'. Which I like a lot more because he's trying to use her dead dad to make her get in the grave with him. (Necrophiliac? Maybe, god knows what the Phantom will do with that dead body, Christine and a tomb.) When Raoul showed up, I took notice that he was wearing his top hat, scarf, and coat. Instead of a coat like he does in some productions. It made me think that he went to kick the Phantom's ass in style. When he did the 'Christine? CHRISTINE!' he really seemed to wake her up from her trance on the second one, and he litterally shook her around. When the Phantom started shooting the fireballs, Christine was really serious bout Raoul and her running away. But Raoul really wanted to climb up there and deck him one. It took Christine (and Trista's thin frame) to force him back. I didn't find the Phantom all that threatening up there, except when the fire errupted. Which was sad.

BEFORE DON JUAN: This part was sorta boring. But I liked watching Sean be comanding. When the fireman shot off the gun, the audio was jacked up REALLY loud as if it exploded in my ear. I went 'HOLY SH!T'. And I laughed when Andre, Firmin, Raoul, and the Capt of Police did that march in sync thing. It's so lame and laughable that I wanted them to just stay in their original positions when the lights dimmed. It just makes me think that, like the piano, the Phantom posessed them to march in unison and then off the stage.

DON JUAN: Ah, there isn't much to say. Just that my sister said when Meg took to the stage there was some interesting 'foreshadowing'. Gypsy girl, gettng paid for sleeping around. When the Phantom said his line, he sounded an AWFUL lot like Piangi. So it was pretty neat. And when the curtains opened, they opened slowly, and then he slammed them shut behind him. Christine sat there not doing much with the apple, but waiting for him to say his line. When he marched around the table, she hurried away and he followed her pretty fast.

POINT OF NO RETURN: This was REALLY fun to watch. Because his voice sounded an awful lot like Piangi's, probably people who weren't familiar with the musical wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But, when he was pulling her back to the curtains, she skipped away and sat down, and then scooted over to have him sit on the bench with her. He was able to feel her up before she reached for him. Though he didn't turn when he said 'reTURN' he turned after he said it. So it seemed like it was part of the show. There was silence when it came time for her part. She stood up, ran over to the her spot (like she was still learning the blocking) and started doing whatever. Now, some Phantom's like the flick the chicken, shall we say, when Christine starts singing. Some like to touch their body. My Phantom was different. He started gesturing as she sang her notes. Meaning, he was acting like a conductor making sure the notes were hit. He stopped when she looked over at him. When she came over to the bench, she put her leg up and slid her skirt up so he could see her bare leg. He LITERALLY looked down and titled his head at the leg. Then, when she got behind him, he was kind of unsure what was going on, but he went with it, allowing her to run her hands all over his body. When she found out it was him, she tried running away, but he nearly wrestled her to the middle of the stage. It was pretty kick ass. And he didn't drop the accent until his mask was revealed. When Christine tried to leave, I noticed that Raoul wasn't among the managers asking her to stay on the stage. But when the Phantom wrestled off his ring, he was pretty damn forceful that she would accept. He didn't 'give' her the ring, because that always made no sense to me. He slid it on her finger himself. It was helping himself to the pie before someone cut into it, you know? When Piangi was revealed to the audience and the scene changed to behind the stage, I took notice that there was some lighted words on the curtain in French. The only thing I caught was OFFENSIVE. (But this leads me to another thought: How did they have the technology to do that sign? They can't. So, why was it there?) Meg was really pissed that she was being left out from Madame Giry and Raoul's discussion...

DOWN ONCE MORE: The Phantom seemed to care about himself more than Christine during this scene. But, when Raoul and Madame Giry showed up, and he had to jump into the lake, I noticed that Sean said the words as if he was trembling. But he was able to leap into the lake... Allowing the scene to change, and the Phantom to drag Christine into the lair. When she said her line, he just gave her this look and then talked quite calmly to her with a lot of gesturing. It's hard to explain, but it was pretty neat. When he did the 'turn around and face your fate' he turned her around to look at the mirror when he put the veil on her head, which I thought was pretty neat instead of having her turn around and face his face. When she said her line, she snarled at the word 'soul'. When Raoul showed up, and the Phantom said his line, he was laughing like crazy. And then when he chucked the doll off the stage, he literrally threw it. It went HIGH INTO THE AIR, almost like he drop kicked it out of the park. He sat on the throne and has his hand to his chin, and every time Raoul said something he totally replied with a WHATEVER, THIS IS BULL SH!T, DON'T CARE attitude. He didn't shout the lines, he said them with a normal voice, but with that tone behind it. When Raoul asked to see her the Phantom stood up and said the 'be my guest sir' with a COME RIGHT IN, HAVE A SEAT, MY NAME IS CHRIS HANSEN attitude. When Christine and Raoul were trying to figure out how to get out, the Phantom was laughing while he was saying his lines and getting the lasso. That when got Raoul when he was least defensive, he started laughing even more wildly and started gesturing with his hands all over the place. Christine was trying to get him down. When the Phantom grabbed Christine, he was pulling her really close to the point they were kneeling on the ground together and he had her bent backwards, then he flung her to the side and empathized his point on the organ. While everyone was fighting, the Phantom kept looking in his 'music' for an answer, and Christine tore off her veil and was looking for a way to get Raoul down. She did that thing where she 'protected' Raoul, and he left her to go ponder his words (the 'why make her lie to you' line). Christine walked over to him, grabbed his shoulder to try to reason with him, but he shrugged her off and ran off to sit at his throne. She followed him, and knelt down and said her 'Angel of Music, you decieved me, I gave my mind blindly'. He then stood up, SCREAMED INTO HER FACE, LIKE BENT DOWN AND SCREAMED FOR A GOOD THREE SECONDS then said his line. Scared the living f**k out of me, because I've never seen someone do that. I've seen people grunt and then say the line, but litterally scream in her face, I was feeling the fear. When she kissed him, he actually held her to him. And when she kissed him again, he decided to move his hands all up and down her body. When he went to grab the candle, Christine was ready to dive at him, but he held up his hand and grunted for her to stop. And then he did it. Which I thought was pretty neat.

TRACK DOWN THIS MURDERER: This part was done a little differently than usual. He was really terrified of what was going on, and so were they. He was kind of breaking down while he was saying them, not crying yet, but just breaking down. When he did the 'go now, go now and leave me' he said it later after the music was doing the 'go now, go now and leave me'. When they ran off and the monkey started playing, he turned around, clasped his hands and walked over to it while tilting his head. He got on the floor and started playing with it, and then touched it. Christine came in and then she exchanged his ring with her. When he told her he loved her, he didn't cry while saying it, it was sung in a way that made it harmonize with the music. It was neat. So she ran off, he went to the veil and started playing around with it, and then he burried his head into it while he started crying. Then he did the lines, and the gang came, and I think when Meg grabbed the cape his head was still sticking out or something because I swear I saw something move into the chair. I don't know, but I was like, wtf?


Okay, that was pretty much it. I got to talk to the cast afterword, but I seemed to make more enemies than friends since the general opinion was that Love Never Dies is pretty good and that I'd see it kind of attitude. I also figured out some of the cast tried out of for it (Piangi and Meg) but didn't get the parts. Something funny was that Trista's dog was with her and her dog likes to eat grass. So I asked her what the hell was up with her dog, she said it liked to eat grass, and I kept watching it vomit all over the place. It was pretty funny. Trista went to see Love Never Dies, loved it, and is friends with Sierra. What really shocked me, however, is that when I asked her "Do you think the Phantom should end up with Christine" she says, "Oh yeah, of course, why shouldn't she?" I just gave her this look like, 'well, tonight you played Christine as if you wanted nothing to do with her'. But I didn't tell her that. I ended up getting signatures with Piangi, Meg, Raoul, Phantom, and Christine.

I spent the drive home listening to the OLC, because I had not done that in a while.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this! And sorry for my use of language (I edited all the questionable ones) and 'squee' over certain aspects of the show. The last time I 'saw' this show was back in 2005. So I can't remember everything that happened at that performance (even though I did a reivew there, too). This was cross posted in my LiveJournal, which is why I'm so detailed. I figured that if I remember this much, and I forget in the future, I can just look back at my review and then rekindle my memories. Heh. The only thing I can really say about this cast was that, if you're looking for some total Raoul/Christine lovin', you'll get it. Though, their voices weren't anything to write home about, their acting was pretty rewarding. Though, the Phantom was a bit boring. I know TMG was the Phantom, and he was Raoul when I saw him back in 05, I only wondered how his Phantom would have been. I didn't like his Raoul, thought he was just really rude to Christine.