The London production 2

Yes. Too nasally and poppy. Not my idea of how the Phantom should sound.

SenorSwanky wrote:Yes. Too nasally and poppy. Not my idea of how the Phantom should sound.

Yeah I get what you mean, his voice isn't the usual kind of voice I like to hear for the Phantom but there is something I really like about his Phantom and he does seem like he has improved even more since I last saw him.

For the sake of close-ups, maybe this video is a bit more interesting for those of us who haven't seen Peter yet.

I just can't get into Peter's voice, either, so I gotta side with Swanky. It's all over the place. :/

ML6 wrote:I just can't get into Peter's voice, either, so I gotta side with Swanky. It's all over the place. :/

Yeah I side with Swanky too. I have a feeling he might be a Phantom you need to SEE to get something out of his performance, since his vocals alone don't sound right at all for the part. Maybe he compensates for it in his acting.

I saw Peter Jöback and Katy Treharne yesterday. His voice is different, but I like him. His acting is great. I like his portrayal. Katy is a wonderful Christine with a great voice.
I like best her Final Lair. Both were so nice at the stage door.

I had a great time in London (incl. Sweeny Todd and Ghost and my first West End Live).

I was at the show today, Peter was awesome his voice has improved loads, I think he sounded great and his acting I think was flawless, really loved how he played. His acting was great before but he's got even better. Managed to get Peter to sign my poster which was lucky because he was in a rush and I had a nice chat with Ellen Jackson, she's lovely such a nice person. Oh and Gareth Snook is staying on for another year, I would presume that Barry James will be too but I'm not sure.

I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of Peter's Phantom, neither acting-wise nor vocally I'm afraid. I find him a bit nasal & trilly and there's a thing he does at the end of Final Lair where he strides to the front of the stage and punches the air, which winds me up quite a bit for some reason & reinforces the slightly a-ha-ish 80's pop-vibe I feel from him. At least the few times I've seen him.

Though I was so very keen on JOJ that anyone who replaced him would likely have disappointed me, I think.

Mandrake wrote:I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of Peter's Phantom, neither acting-wise nor vocally I'm afraid. I find him a bit nasal & trilly and there's a thing he does at the end of Final Lair where he strides to the front of the stage and punches the air, which winds me up quite a bit for some reason & reinforces the slightly a-ha-ish 80's pop-vibe I feel from him. At least the few times I've seen him.

The bit at the end of the final lair isnt as bad as it sounds, he does raise his arm up as he is singing Niiiight in the final line and moves it and his hand forward(if that makes sense ) as he finishes singing the note kind of the same way he and others do at the end of MOTN, but I have seen others do this at the end of the final lair, I'm pretty sure I've seen Scott Davies do it also. I think the only difference is that Peter does walk to the front of the stage as he does it.
I'm not knocking what you're saying or your opinion, just in case it looked that way
As it's often said, we all like and dislike different things in a Phantom, or any role for that matter.
I'm getting really impatient about who the next Phantom will be lol.

Me, too. Argh... rehearsals for the new cast start in a month! A new Phantom, Raoul, Christine (alt), and Carlotta!

I saw yesterday's matinee, and I was very, very impressed with Peter's performance. He really is a Phantom you have to see live; he moves with an almost balletic grace, and I did enjoy his acting. I can't remember everything, but I particularly liked I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It. Peter was really getting into the Phantom's composing at the organ, and he and Sofia were almost playing a game of hide and seek as she tried to take his mask. His Final Lair was very good; dangerous but not the all out crazy man of John Owen-Jones. I love John's Phantom but he does sometimes seem as if he might have a seizure!

Though Peter's voice isn't the strongest (I saw JOJ twice last year and you really can't compare the two), on the whole I couldn't fault him and throughout most of the show there's no sign of that nasal quality which can appear. Unfortunately, when it does it's during Music of the Night, specifically on 'Turn your face away from the garish light of day' as you can hear in the West End Live video; he really can't hold the last note there, either, which is a real shame since he does so well with the rest of the song. On the reprise at the end of the show, in a key he's obviously happier with, he gives it his all. Incidentally, there was no arm raising/air punching during that line yesterday.

The rest of the cast were excellent as always. As Philip Griffiths was off Simon Shorten played the Auctioneer; I didn't get a chance to check the cast board so I don't know who was Reyer. Layla Harrison was also on for Meg; I prefer her voice, finding Anna Forbes a bit too nasal, but she tended to fade into the background quite a lot.

To end on a completely random note, they seem to have switched the Red Death masks so that the double is wearing the one with the apparently broken jaw.

I liked some things Peter Jöback do as Phantom. He smiles as Christine lies in the boat. A moment of happiness.
He is really a good actor. I liked the Final Lair with Katy and him. She was so strong.

MajesticPhantom wrote:Me, too. Argh... rehearsals for the new cast start in a month! A new Phantom, Raoul, Christine (alt), and Carlotta!

Ooh, that's exciting! Does anyone know anything about who they are? Are they totally new to the show? Any rumours or anything?

Princess wrote:

MajesticPhantom wrote:Me, too. Argh... rehearsals for the new cast start in a month! A new Phantom, Raoul, Christine (alt), and Carlotta!

Ooh, that's exciting! Does anyone know anything about who they are? Are they totally new to the show? Any rumours or anything?

I spoke to Scott Davies a few weeks ago at stage door.

He told me that they offered him the 8 shows a week, but he didn't want it and that he will continue as standby.

Also said that he hasn't heard much about who is taking over - he mentioned he had heard the Simon Bowman rumour and interestingly he also heard a rumour that Anthony Warlow could be coming in, but that he doubted it, as AW seems to be heading to Broadway.

Also like to add what a lovely chap Scott seems to be - very friendly, frank and honest.

Personally I'd like to see someone fresh in the role, without moving toward the rock-pop fad. Would love to see Stephen John-Davis in the role - think he was a fantastic understudy. Jonathan Williams (former JVJ alternate and u/s at Les Mis) could be interesting too - no rumours to found that - merely something I'd like to see!

A lot of talented performers around who have been understudies, waiting for their first big principle role - Chris Jacobsen falls into that bracket too imo.

There has still been no news or even rumours about who the new cast members are, they must know by now if the rehearsals are in a few weeks? The only rumour which is quite old was about Simon Bowman but i think it looks like that's not going to happen or we would know by now. I think we may have completely new people to the roles or for the Phantom at least. I cant think of any Principal Phantoms of recent years that are free to return, a former standby would be cool like Matt Cammelle or Nic Greenshields. I wonder if Claire Doyle will be made alternate Christine?

I had also wondered about Jonathan Williams, that would be cool.

London-Phan wrote:There has still been no news or even rumours about who the new cast members are, they must know by now if the rehearsals are in a few weeks? The only rumour which is quite old was about Simon Bowman but i think it looks like that's not going to happen or we would know by now. I think we may have completely new people to the roles or for the Phantom at least. I cant think of any Principal Phantoms of recent years that are free to return, a former standby would be cool like Matt Cammelle or Nic Greenshields. I wonder if Claire Doyle will be made alternate Christine?

I had also wondered about Jonathan Williams, that would be cool.

I think he would be great, but from what I have heard he has never expressed any interest in Phantom.

Not especially keen on the thought of Simon Bowman - didn't enjoy his JVJ at all.

Matt or Nic could be interesting - I never saw Matt but have seen bootlegs and he seems good. I saw Nic once and also thought he was good, but more solid than great. Be interesting to see him again though.

It does seem odd that nothing's been announced yet.

An obvious choice is probably Hadley Fraser. Just left a lead role in a Cam-Mac production, has a highish profile and also took part in 25th anniversary production.

I wouldn't be adverse to this. I think he has a fantastic voice and suits the 'angry' side of the role quite well. He is slightly lacking in stage prescence, but that could be overcome.

Does anyone have any preferences for who they would like to see take over the role?

For Raoul, I would like to see Oliver Eyre get a crack at principle (or even Nadim). Oliver was great when I saw him as u/s.

Slightly disappointed that it seems both managers are staying on. They have been great, but would be nice to see the roles freshened up.

I was one of the unfortunate few who saw Bowman early on as Phantom, at times it sounded like 2 different people were singing, there was such a offputting contrast between his upper and lower register.
He has improved somewhat since then, I have him singing a few songs on CD, but still I personally do not like his voice at all.

Was excellent as Raoul back in the day though, if you all thought Hadley's Raoul was snobbisn, how havent seen nothing yet until you see Bowman's Raoul.

anyways. WHen I saw Hadley in the LM concert I thought he would be an interesting phantom vocally, just not sure he is quire ready yet.

Wouldnt it be a nice treat if they did another US swap, pringing in someone from the US for a limited time like they did back with Grant Norman? I;ve always been suprised that with a show like Phantom they have not done those kinds of swaps more often.

justin-from-barbados wrote:I was one of the unfortunate few who saw Bowman early on as Phantom, at times it sounded like 2 different people were singing, there was such a offputting contrast between his upper and lower register.
He has improved somewhat since then, I have him singing a few songs on CD, but still I personally do not like his voice at all.

Was excellent as Raoul back in the day though, if you all thought Hadley's Raoul was snobbisn, how havent seen nothing yet until you see Bowman's Raoul..

I agree about Simon Bowman - a rather good Raoul, and a rather poor Phantom. I haven't really updated me on his career and current stage performances, so I have no idea how he would be nowadays. It would be cool if he came back and triumphed in the role of the Phantom, as he was generally disliked last time, but I'm not sure how much a man can "reinvent the wheel".

My beef with Hadley Fraser's Raoul wasn't that he was snobbish. I agree Simon Bowman would give him a good run for the money there. But Fraser's Raoul came off as uncaring and shouty to the point where I wondered what the heck Christine liked about him in the first place. At least Bowman's Raoul had some level of love in him.

I do agree a lot about swapping Phantoms between the US and UK! I can't believe they haven't properly done that already. As a promo stunt it would mean tons of publicity. Though not everyone's favourites, I think many people would be thrilled to see JOJ on Broadway and Hugh Panaro in West End. Do it already!

zcfthf8 wrote:For Raoul, I would like to see Oliver Eyre get a crack at principle (or even Nadim). Oliver was great when I saw him as u/s.

I've heard great things about both of them, and I assume it's not unlikely Nadim Naaman will get the chance eventually. He seem up-and-coming.

Though a bit out of her usual field, I would love to see Vivien Parry (Mamma Mia, Abigail's Party, Blood Brothers) as Madame Giry. She has such an attitude on stage, and a warm mezzo. She's never been in the Cam Mack system, though, and is too old to be "discovered" by him, so chances are slim...

In the case of bringing over a Phantom from the U.S I did wonder a while ago about Anthony Crivello as the Vegas show was ending in September but then found out that it will end after the cast change and Crivello would still need rehearsal time and would probably want a little break after his long run in Vegas. Still think it would be cool though, they could get Scott Davies to fill in for a month or so then bring Anthony over. I'm not so keen on Hugh coming over to do it, not a fan at all of his Phantom I'm afraid.

zcfthf8 wrote:
Also said that he hasn't heard much about who is taking over - he mentioned he had heard the Simon Bowman rumour and interestingly he also heard a rumour that Anthony Warlow could be coming in, but that he doubted it, as AW seems to be heading to Broadway.

Dear Anthony Warlow,

If you ever happen to Google yourself and in that way have found my post, please, please know that you are desperately wanted in the West End. You have been for years. Especially in this role. Didn't you notice how everyone cheered for you at the RAH?

Go on! Just for a short while? Pleeeeaaaase? You would be the toast of London.

Dear Anthony Warlow,

Every word Scorp wrote is true.

What about Hans Peter Janssens?! He hasn't played the part in some time, and CamMac has had him play the West End (in Les Mis, several times).

...wishful thinking... He's one of the most spook/goblin like Phantoms (particularly during his Antwerp run.... swoon)

Actually I did wonder if Hans Peter Janssens would be given the part after his run as Valjean in early '00's but it never happened. Then he came back a few years later as Javert, so I wouldn't rule it out. Although I wasn't a fan of his Valjean, his singing was great but the acting wasn't good he didn't seem to change his facial expression through pretty much the whole show. But I have heard he's a very good Javert. Whoever has been cast in the roles for the cast change must know by now, so when will we find out? I think maybe Claire Doyle will become Alternate Christine, that's if she's staying of course.

Quick question- is Sam Hiller still the Resident Director?

And Claire being promoted would not surprise. It would, however, please me. I'd get to see her play it, again!

I thought Hans Peter Janssens was brilliant as Javert. I'd love to see him play Phantom. I don't think we'll find out about new cast members for a while yet, there's still some time to go before cast change.

MajesticPhantom, I got a programme about a month ago, and Sam Hiller was listed as resident director.

Helen, thank you so much for your response.

No problem!

Helen wrote:I thought Hans Peter Janssens was brilliant as Javert. I'd love to see him play Phantom. I don't think we'll find out about new cast members for a while yet, there's still some time to go before cast change.

MajesticPhantom, I got a programme about a month ago, and Sam Hiller was listed as resident director.

I think the rehearsal time is usually about 3 or 4 weeks, which would mean they would start around the first week in august which is about 3 weeks away. So there's probably only 4 weeks tops before rehearsals. Also in the past we've known about the new cast sooner than this. I'm just impatient

I'm looking forward to finding out too, but I think we'll just have to patient! Who's leaving anyway? I know about Peter Joback, Wendy Ferguson and Katy Treharne.