The London production 2

operafantomet wrote:

starryeyed wrote:Not a clue, there's not even been any rumours floating around.

I'd say judging by when JOJ is leaving Katie would leave then too so the new alternate would be 12th December but there's been no announcement.

ETA: They are down to 3 people for the new alternate, final auditions this week.

NEW people? Wow. I like that they keep the West End production fresh in terms of new faces for the leads. I love some of the returning faces, but I like the dynamic new ones bring to the role. And even my favourites were new at some point...

Speaking of which, I was totally mesmerized first time I saw Earl Carpenter. I was kinda pissed JOJ was off, and I didn't expect much from this Earl guy. But he went immediately to my favourite list after that performance. Early in his principal run he got a rumour of being rude at the stage door, not chatting with people and trying to avoid pictures. But soon enough I think people realized he was only shy and uncomfortable around strangers (Mr. Darcy o'hoy....). Once he started recognizing people he was a really cool guy. And in honour of that... I bring you Earl Carpenter with evil grin of doom, on his foldable, tiny and very yellow bike:

Glad you enjoyed Earl Carpenter in the role. I saw him as my 1st phantom, so he will always be a favourite. Unfortunately, he wasn't the nicest at the stage door. He sort of said that he didn't want to talk (not to me, just in general) and just walked off. I hope he was just in a mood, but this was towards the end of his run, so I thought he would be more comfortable with the fans. Robyn North was very nice though!
OG

I've heard lots of stories about Earl's behaviour at stage door (though I heard some about Leila Benn Harris too mind you) but he's always been very pleasant with me. It may be because first time I saw him was at the Queen's in Les Mis and there was some rather eccentric people around so perhaps he was glad of someone "sane" to talk to and then I saw him again after another show and he semi recognized me.

I think with everyone it depends on what sort of mood you catch them in.

I am seeing Phantom again next week! My 7th time I was just reading about John Owen-Jones on Phantom of the Opera London - what you do make of him? I think he's good, but Ramin is my favourite!

tjacks55 wrote:I am seeing Phantom again next week! My 7th time I was just reading about John Owen-Jones on Phantom of the Opera London - what you do make of him? I think he's good, but Ramin is my favourite!

JOJ is amazing! You will not be dissapointed. I love Ramin too, but JOJ wins it for me.
Are you knew to the board? If so welcome, if not...then regular hello.
OG

I got an offer to get a seat on row A seat 19 on Her Majesty's in the Royal Circle.
I know many of you have been sitting like everywhere on this theatre so I ask you if you think this is a good spot to sit on.

hi there:) I´ve sat in A20 once, so just next to your seat. go for it, imho it´s one of the best seats in the house. The view here is spectacular as it is very central, also, you won´t be bothered by any tall people sitting in front of you. the only thing is, if you are very short person (l am) you´ll probably need to lean forward little bit

PridePhan wrote:I got an offer to get a seat on row A seat 19 on Her Majesty's in the Royal Circle.
I know many of you have been sitting like everywhere on this theatre so I ask you if you think this is a good spot to sit on.

Never sat there myself, but it is a great seat.

PridePhan wrote:I got an offer to get a seat on row A seat 19 on Her Majesty's in the Royal Circle.
I know many of you have been sitting like everywhere on this theatre so I ask you if you think this is a good spot to sit on.

I sat in A18 and it is IMHO the best view in the house. They are called the producer seats, because that is where they stick them if they come to see the show.
OG

I've sat there, as everyone has said it really is a fantastic seat.

Interview with former stand-by Phantom and Buquet, Stephen John Davis.

The Phantom never makes a ”normal” entrance. The powerful first entrance behind the mirror going into the first journey and the boat, I loved the Angel scene at the end of Act 1 (although it was a little uncomfortable!). The Masquerade entrance and exit! The reveal from the cross after “Wishing”, the invasion of Don Juan disguised in the cowl that Piangi should be wearing.
I actually never thought about this, but it's a good point. The only normal entrance he has is when he's de-masked and furious, in the Final Lair scene, the rest is "magic" entrances as SJD describes.

I watched part of the film once.
Oh Stephen.....

http://www.accesslondon.blogspot.com/

Can someone please remind me what JOJ's new final date at HM's is?

I saw the show last Thursday, it was lovely! We sat in row C of the stalls and everything was amazingly close, I could see straight up Carlotta's skirts. I enjoyed John Owen-Jones (as I expected), didn't know Sofia Escobar but she was a nice surprise, very cute, she didn't play the role very childish, never appeared scared or surprised, just really intrigued. But I didn't care much for the way Killian Donnelly played Raoul, a combination of angry and horny. Also, Andre was really hot; if I were Christine I wouldn't have bothered with the whole love triangle and just eloped with him.

Hilde wrote:Also, Andre was really hot; if I were Christine I wouldn't have bothered with the whole love triangle and just eloped with him.

HAH! Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that Gareth Snook (assuming that's who you saw, if not - oops.) was a bit of a fox. Granted, I'm only going from his performance in the RAH, but still!

~Madame~

Scorp wrote:Can someone please remind me what JOJ's new final date at HM's is?

December 10.

Oh, and put me down for Team Gareth too! I could overlook the hair and focus on his flirty smile.

Hilde wrote:Also, Andre was really hot; if I were Christine I wouldn't have bothered with the whole love triangle and just eloped with him.

This comment!! Epic.

operafantomet wrote:

Hilde wrote:Also, Andre was really hot; if I were Christine I wouldn't have bothered with the whole love triangle and just eloped with him.

This comment!! Epic.

agreed ha ha

Gareth Snook's admittedly grown on me; I wasn't keen on him first but I thought he did a really good job at the RAH event. The managers were actually one of the highlights of that evening for me. I still, however, cannot stand the camp American turn he does on the OLC recording of Sunset.

On a whim, because a cousin of mine from abroad is coming over to London and is big on theatre but has never seen a West End show, I'm going to see the show on 1 December, the matinée. A bit of an odd time, I know, but thought I should mention it in case anyone fancies tagging along. Intention is to see JOJ one last (for how long?) time at HM's before the tour, but I won't mind if I get Scott...though as a big JOJ fan, I would love to have him there. Anyone know? Also, who on earth am I getting as Christine again? Sofia? They've moved the second alternate to Friday, right? All very confusing.

Oh and is there a new brochure out or is it still the purple one? I've lost track.

Scorp wrote:Gareth Snook's admittedly grown on me; I wasn't keen on him first but I thought he did a really good job at the RAH event. The managers were actually one of the highlights of that evening for me. I still, however, cannot stand the camp American turn he does on the OLC recording of Sunset.

On a whim, because a cousin of mine from abroad is coming over to London and is big on theatre but has never seen a West End show, I'm going to see the show on 1 December, the matinée. A bit of an odd time, I know, but thought I should mention it in case anyone fancies tagging along. Intention is to see JOJ one last (for how long?) time at HM's before the tour, but I won't mind if I get Scott...though as a big JOJ fan, I would love to have him there. Anyone know? Also, who on earth am I getting as Christine again? Sofia? They've moved the second alternate to Friday, right? All very confusing.

Oh and is there a new brochure out or is it still the purple one? I've lost track.

Awesome!
On the brochure front, I talked to Dewynters and I am sure that the new brochure will be there by 1st December. I don't know how the Christine rota works either! I don't really mind though, I loved Sofia and Katie is great too.
OG

Katy Treharne will be the new Christine alternate! Massive congratulations, I for one think it is thoroughly deserved.

Fantastic news. I'm so pleased for her.

starryeyed wrote:Katy Treharne will be the new Christine alternate! Massive congratulations, I for one think it is thoroughly deserved.

I too think that is highly deserved, she has some gorgeous pipes, that woman. Ooooh, imagine her and Earl Carpenter together! Must see. Thanks for those news!

operafantomet wrote:

starryeyed wrote:Katy Treharne will be the new Christine alternate! Massive congratulations, I for one think it is thoroughly deserved.

I too think that is highly deserved, she has some gorgeous pipes, that woman. Ooooh, imagine her and Earl Carpenter together! Must see. Thanks for those news!

Great news, I love Katy's voice. Katy+Earl, definitely a must see!

Slightly O/T: Ken Russell, who directed the video for the Steve Harley/Sarah Brightman promo track, died on Sunday. Obituary here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10701521

Went to my first Thursday matinée of Phantom today. The Grand Circle, for which I'd booked tickets, was shut and I got upgraded to the very nice house seats in the stalls. I think this is the first time I've been to the show where they've had to close a whole section -- it's happened many times at Les Mis, but never when I've been to Her Majesty's. Does anyone know how the show is doing generally? Earlfan is going tonight so I'll be interested to see if it was just because the weekday matinée is notoriously difficult to sell. Presumably they were having problems selling the Tues matinée tickets, hence the change of matinée day.

As I often find with matinées, the audience didn't seem to be feeling it in the first act, but something changed in Act 2 and bizarrely there was a spontaneous standing ovation, something I rarely see at matinées. JOJ was fine as usual, although for the first time I found him a little *too* screamy in the final lair. Sofia Escobar is MUCH improved since I last saw her -- her acting has got a lot better so now the dialogue after 'Little Lotte' is not cringeworthy as I thought it was when I first saw her in the role. Her accent is less noticeable too, although I don't mind it being there as I think it helps to make Christine look like an outsider, which she is, being a Swede in Paris. We had an understudy on today in the role of Raoul who goes by the very exotic name of Nadim Naarman (I think). So I've still not seen Killian's Raoul yet. Nadim did a good job, although I was amused because with all the gear on he looked like a younger Gordon Brown...which is not usually the person who first comes into my head when I think of Raoul!

I still find Wendy Ferguson's Carlotta completely humourless and I don't think this is ever going to change. Moments that could have been funny just weren't. By far the majority of the comedy came from Barry James and Gareth Snook, who have both grown into their roles impressively and to the point where all the humorous moments were unexpected and new -- they seem to change the places where they bring out the comedy each time I see them, which I love as it means that I'm not bored and it keeps the show fresh and engaging. During 'Hannibal', the guy who plays the chief policeman who asks if the doors are secure in Act 2 was wearing a very weird costume that I've never seen before and I wonder whether it was some deliberate muck-up or whether it's always been there. He was wearing a grey 'workman's' costume but with a cloak on, as if he were also performing in 'Hannibal'. But the cloak had bizarre bright colours on it that didn't seem to go with the colour palette of Hannibal -- it looked like something an entertainer magician would wear at a children's party. I wonder if it was an in-joke or whether this has always been there! Anyone know? They've kept this new thing of Buquet leering over the ballet rats just before 'Angel of Music', which I quite like, and I noticed the ballet girls counting in French again, which I love. BTW who is the butterfly in Masquerade? I sent a message to Fiona Morley who sometimes plays the monkey girl who she was in Masquerade since someone else was the monkey girl, and she said she was the butterfly. But I can't recall the character/costume.

I talked with the guy at the sound desk after a friend told me she found out they had been using the original sound desk which operated MS DOS of all things until the digital upgrade in 2008. He said that was true, and I asked him a few questions. Remember sometimes we wonder whether the vocalisations are mimed or not at the end of the title song? For instance, with Rachel Barrell, it seemed as if it were live, yet we know they do pre-record those notes. Apparently it's often a combination of the two, so with Barrell she probably tried to do most of it live. Oh and that electric guitar? Yep, totally ALW's idea. He made a funny face when I brought the subject up. I have a feeling ALW's the only person who thinks it really fits with the song. But I do notice that at Her Majesty's it's nowhere near as loud and overpowering as it was at the RAH. The guy who operates the desk now has only worked there for 2 years, so he could be wrong, but he insisted the drums have never been live for the title song -- but it honestly sounded like they were when they used the orchestrations unique to London between 2004 and 2008.

For those wondering about the brochure situation, there IS a new one that has both JOJ and Earl listed as the Phantom and with Killian listed as Raoul. However, to me when I flicked through it, I could barely tell the difference between that brochure and the previous one (it also uses the purple cover). So I didn't buy it, didn't think it was worth it. The ushers are now selling the RAH stuff in addition to the old stuff, although hilariously when one usher who was trying to shift his stock of RAH stuff approached a lady in the audience, she said she would rather buy the OLC instead. They seem to have given up selling the filmthatshallnotbenamed and its soundtrack altogether -- it doesn't look like they stock it any more.

And how nice it is to enter Her Majesty's now without having to look at those eyesore LND banners.

Scorp wrote:We had an understudy on today in the role of Raoul who goes by the very exotic name of Nadim Naarman (I think). So I've still not seen Killian's Raoul yet. Nadim did a good job, although I was amused because with all the gear on he looked like a younger Gordon Brown...which is not usually the person who first comes into my head when I think of Raoul!

He was in the RAH concert as well, as one of the soldiers in Hannibal. Nadim Naarman, I mean, not Gordon Brown... /random info

BTW who is the butterfly in Masquerade? I sent a message to Fiona Morley who sometimes plays the monkey girl who she was in Masquerade since someone else was the monkey girl, and she said she was the butterfly. But I can't recall the character/costume.

It should be this one: http://potocostumes.webs.com/masquerade/balletinsect.html

I talked with the guy at the sound desk after a friend told me she found out they had been using the original sound desk which operated MS DOS of all things until the digital upgrade in 2008. He said that was true, and I asked him a few questions. Remember sometimes we wonder whether the vocalisations are mimed or not at the end of the title song? For instance, with Rachel Barrell, it seemed as if it were live, yet we know they do pre-record those notes. Apparently it's often a combination of the two, so with Barrell she probably tried to do most of it live.

Yeah, from what I've been told some Christines sings live ON TOP of the pre-recoded track. Hence the much louder sound when they turn towards the audience. I definitely heard this in Rachel Barrell, but I'm pretty sure Gina Beck did it as well.

But how interesting to talk to that guy! Thanks for the tidbits of info. And glad you had a nice LND free experience

Found this article on the Daily Mail this morn. Haven't read it yet, but looks like the writer had a small walk-on part. But, there's a nice, big image of JOJ in makeup and the DM writer (in costume) towards the top of the article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2068921/Phantom-Of-The-Opera-25th-anniversary-Petronella-Wyatt-spends-night-cast.html

PhantomsGhost wrote:Found this article on the Daily Mail this morn. Haven't read it yet, but looks like the writer had a small walk-on part. But, there's a nice, big image of JOJ in makeup and the DM writer (in costume) towards the top of the article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2068921/Phantom-Of-The-Opera-25th-anniversary-Petronella-Wyatt-spends-night-cast.html

Points for a brief John vs. Killian appearance!

PhantomsGhost wrote:Found this article on the Daily Mail this morn. Haven't read it yet, but looks like the writer had a small walk-on part. But, there's a nice, big image of JOJ in makeup and the DM writer (in costume) towards the top of the article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2068921/Phantom-Of-The-Opera-25th-anniversary-Petronella-Wyatt-spends-night-cast.html

That is a gorgeous costume she got to wear, and double points for getting to pose with JOJ in full costume.

Thanks for the link!

~Madame~

So I went to the show last night, overall a great performance. The "tickets available for tonight's performance"- sign stood outside the theatre when I arrived just after 7pm, I sat in Grand Circle and it looked pretty full apart from a couple of seats.

I must agree with Scorp that Sofia's acting is much improved, she's not a favourite of mine but I think she did a good job yesterday. I quite liked Nadim in the role as Raoul, he had a nice, clear voice and did some great acting in the Final Lair.

I actually bought a brochure but I didn't like that they still kept it purple (reminds me way to much of LND), they should go back to black now. At least now we don't have to look at all the horrible LND advertising that used to be at the theatre and in the programme. There is some new pictures with Killian and also Katie Hall in the brochure but not any new pictures of JOJ as far as I could tell, and the picture of Earl is an old one.

PhantomsGhost wrote:Found this article on the Daily Mail this morn. Haven't read it yet, but looks like the writer had a small walk-on part. But, there's a nice, big image of JOJ in makeup and the DM writer (in costume) towards the top of the article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2068921/Phantom-Of-The-Opera-25th-anniversary-Petronella-Wyatt-spends-night-cast.html

This was such a fun written article. Very personal, not the normal "Phantom is fantastic blah-blah-blah" we usually get. Which I DO think, by the way, and she is surely positive. But I like her playful/snarky/self conscious remarks here and there, and how she describes the various cast members.

But booh for the paper to put in a RAH Masquerade picture and pretend it's from Her Majesty's Theatre.

He adds that the net worth of the 260 costumes used in the show is £400,000 and that the wigs are made of real hair, costing up to £4,000 each.

Gaaaasp!

-When we opened with Michael Crawford as the Phantom we wanted him to stand on the chandelier and then leap onto the stage,’ says Sam. ‘But we couldn’t get the insurance.
-For Michael Crawford?
-No, for the audience.

There are rehearsals every day, even for the principals, including the Phantom, John Owen-Jones.

I had no idea. I've seen funny status updates on Facebook and Twitter and whatnot, saying "we did NOT rehearse today", so I've understood there are many rehearsals. But not daily!

The cast do six evening performances a week and two matinees. According to the theatre’s manager, Satya Ogilvy: ‘We have got through 108,000 pain killers.’
This is more pills than Judy Garland took in her entire life time.

Hahaha! I love this writer.