25th Anniversary Restaged Tour

Probably a bit naughty but these are a few of the pics I took before the performance at the tour, the lighting makes the photos pretty bad but you can see a little bit of the overture staging at the chandelier...

I'm not sure if you can see all of the second pic, I can't on my iPad, there's a dress on a mannequin at the right hand side of the stage and they do a quick change with an actress as the opera house comes life.

operafantomet wrote:I hear ya. The whole concept of the new tour is to humanize him, to make the story more real - and more brutal, in some way. And judging from the reports, it works.

I wonder if all the attempts to humanize the Phantom is a good idea, though. I think one of the things fascinating the audience (and more importantly - makes them return to see more) is that this figure is elusive and apparently magic. And this makes his downfall in the Final Lair so big. He goes from magician, angel and ghost to a broken down man, a man without hope. It makes Christine's actions and the ending all the more heartbreaking.

The new approach to the character in the UK tour sounds intriguing. As does the set design. As I've written before, I would definitely see the tour if I had the chance. But after seeing the humanized Phantom in the 2004 movie and LND, the thought of yet another de-mystified Phantom only semi-interests me, disappearing cloak-act and splitting mask aside.

I agree with your post entirely, Anea. If the Tour comes to the US I'll probably go see it, but I think I will always prefer an interpretation where the character's illusion of omnipotence and mystery are preserved. I can understand if people 'connect' more with the Phantom in a more humanized interpretation, it's just not my cup of tea.

Oh, and thanks for those snapshots from Manchester, HM. Still disliking the fishnet on the chandelier, but do like the blazing and intricate red marquee style.

~Madame~

Thank you HerMajesty, I like it...! i hope there will come more of them...!

Thank you so much for those pics, HM! I like the costume nod in the auction. Very fitting, and a nice transaction.

I also think the new crimson logo is worth compliment, I like the "25th" smokey blue and all, but I feel the white against the crimson with gold lettering just grabs your attention much quicker. The auction set does look good, but yeah not crazy about the chandelier looking like it just came from rocky horror

StrangerThanUDreamt wrote:I also think the new crimson logo is worth compliment, I like the "25th" smokey blue and all, but I feel the white against the crimson with gold lettering just grabs your attention much quicker. The auction set does look good, but yeah not crazy about the chandelier looking like it just came from rocky horror

I like both...the new blue one and the red/gold one for the tour.

I too love that red logo. It bugs me that they use the Palais Garnier chandelier and a bit of Maria Bjørnson's proscenium in it, though. Neither is used in the actual production. I know they made the logo long before the design, but still. But Phantom looks good in red. A much better choice than purple or pink!!

Just to be petty, a red logo has been used in the West End in the past. Like this 20th anniversary one:

I like that too, I have it at home.
It seemed that I´ll be in Dublin to see the Tour. I am still working on a plan for the trip!

Oh I'm glad someone else mentioned the actress in the overture Her Majesty. I was quite confused as to who it was supposed to be, at first I thought Christine but thought if that were to be right they would have at least had Olivia Brereton in the costume and it didn't look like her. I did toy with it just being a "random" female but I thought Raoul seemed to react to her more than he had reacted to other things during the overture. It reminded me a lot of Love Never Dies actually, the outstretched arms and the way she walked.

I'm sorry I've not done my review yet, I promise I will but I am having a lot of doggy drama at the minute (I mentioned this to Scorp when he asked me to do a review) and she's requiring a lot of care and attention and I have barely any time to myself at the minute. I will do a full review ASAP but thought I would put some short points here for the minute.

Good points:

The auction/overture staging though the auctioneer seemed bored for want of a better word. I really preferred the opening to what is done in London though I know it would be pretty impossible for it to be done in London anyway (given the chandelier starts on stage etc.) I did like that it made it more clear that the show was Raoul memories however, it did make me think of Love Never Dies. It was very similar to the opening with Madame Giry in that.

I thought the DJT rehearsal was done a lot better than it is in London. I don't know how to describe it but it seemed more like an actual rehearsal than it does in London. And I liked the rather creepy "entranced crowd" at the end and Katie Hall's reaction of horror and genuine fear to it all was rather fitting. I've seen people make reference to a "flaming piano" here, I wouldn't actually describe it as such. It has two candles on it and they illuminate as the piano starts playing.

Katie Hall and Simon Bailey in general. They were both really good and acted the parts very well however, this all fell by the wayside a bit in All I Ask of You. I'm not entirely sure if there was a believable chemistry between them in this scene but they seemed to work well together elsewhere.

I did like that the ballet girls choreography felt more "balletic" than it does in the original and I liked the new Hannibal routine, it conveyed the sense of slavery moreso than in London. Lots of crossed arms in front and arms held to the back etc. A random aside but it felt really odd seeing the Christine alternate as a ballet girl but she looked very cute. I'm not entirely sure what was going on in the Il Muto ballet but I liked the choreography.

Buquet's hanging. Woah. It was good. I don't want to spoil it too much but I really did like it, far more convincing than that dummy...

Angela M. Caesar. I really liked her Carlotta and she dealt well with the extra comedic elements that have been inserted for the character. Lovely voice and hilarious facial expressions.

Prima Donna was fantastic. Everyone's voices were more clearly heard than I can remember in London.

Bad Points:

Point of No Return. It has been mentioned before I know and I know most people seem to think people are being prudish about it but it is just so...out there! I thought the dancing on the table was OTT, Katie Hall sticking her leg out every two seconds was OTT and her reclining on the table to be fed was OTT. I didn't like it.

John Owen- Jones. Okay, I'm sorry, I will give him his due he's toned down that "I am Phantom, hear me roar" stuff a lot which is great but the result was he seemed a bit, bored and uninspired. Shame as I really liked him in the beginning and thought I was going to have to come on here and grovel and say I was now a JOJ convert.

The managers. Now this isn't a slight against them as actors, they were both perfectly fine but it seems all of their "comedy moments" have been taken away and now they seem a bit, insignificant.

The mirror...is it supposed to be you can only see a white blur where the Phantom is supposed to be or was that a technical hitch? If it wasn't a hitch then, well that really isn't a good image.

Masquerade... I wanted to like it but the choreography mainly consisted of two lines of men and women and them walking by each other quite a lot. And I didn't like that Christine got lifted up by the group of 4 men on her back. It was a bit odd. Also the costumes were severely lacking here (but we all know that) however I was glad to see Christine has lost the black tights!

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - an emotional performance by Katie Hall throughout was ruined by the ripping off of the locket and practically screaming and brandishing it around from the "No more memories..." line onwards. It seemed like she was really angry with her father and she wanted him completely out of her life, not very Christine in my opinion.

Music of the Night... I don't like it at the best of times but the blindfolding, the sitting around, it all just didn't work. At all.

The set in general. While the set is impressive I thought after the first few times that drum rotated and opened it was a bit "look at what we can do with our amazing set."

Black plastic looking boat that goes across the stage for all of 5 seconds. 'Nuff said.

Most of the costumes. Well I liked Christine's (bar the Point of No Return dress) but they are largely the same. I didn't like really any of the other costumes and by the way JOJ hasn't lost the superman wig, it was out in full force last week. Another particularly odd thing was Carlotta's second notes costume having random purple tassles on it.

The weird "lean back over the beam as The Phantom passes his lantern over her body" that Christine does during the title song.

Random observations:

Katie Hall's costume was burst in Hannibal but when I looked closer it almost looked as if they had just fixed a square of material underneath while leaving the burst material on top? Very weird. I also kept getting a lovely view of a tattoo on her hip during Hannibal as well.

The auctioneer nearly tipped the platform he stands on during The Auction. Could have been sore.

I got pelted with lots of bits of rubber from the Chandelier and I'm still finding random bits in my handbag even now.

Does anyone know if the title song is still mimed? I didn't think it would be with them being on stage the whole time but then it really sounded like it was being mimed.

Sorry for the random collation of thoughts of there. Any questions just let me know and I promise I'll try get a proper review done.

The official RUG shop has been updated with new UK Tour merch....still no program though

I'm wondering if this may end up being another cost cutting measure by just not having one at all. The production photos were done so what's stopping them?

I still hate it that they never did one for Woman in White.

justin-from-barbados wrote:I'm wondering if this may end up being another cost cutting measure by just not having one at all. The production photos were done so what's stopping them?

The only thing I can think of is that the too big changes to the costumes - which apparently were not clarified with the Maria Bjørnson archive - pose a problem for the pictures taken during the first photoshoot. If they're negotiating on the costume issue, they might hold back officially released pictures until everything is settled?

Wild guessing here...

Now I booked tickets for Edinburgh - to combine JOJ and Earl. I am excited!

starryeyed wrote:Point of No Return. It has been mentioned before I know and I know most people seem to think people are being prudish about it but it is just so...out there! I thought the dancing on the table was OTT, Katie Hall sticking her leg out every two seconds was OTT and her reclining on the table to be fed was OTT. I didn't like it.

Why is "Point of No Return" always ending up getting ruined? The 2004 movie, Las Vegas, and now the UK tour. Why? WHYYYY?

But thank you for some very interesting observations, starryeyed.

operafantomet wrote:
Why is "Point of No Return" always ending up getting ruined? The 2004 movie, Las Vegas, and now the UK tour. Why? WHYYYY?

Because people can't help wanting to get their hands on a good PoNR?

R.

Does anyone know where to purchase the new UK 2012 Tour souvenir brochure? I contacted the theater in Manchester but they didn't have any yet....I haven't seen it on Dress Circle's website either.

Thanks!

Someone on Tumblr posted pics from the UK Tour brochure:

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22982492423/better-quality-the-final-scene-x

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22981711721/my-power-over-you-grows-stronger-yet-x

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22972126434/photos-from-the-phantom-of-the-opera-2012-tour

Masquerade Phantom costume o.O
http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22975404361/heres-one-from-the-masquerade-scene-who-likes-the

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22977456301/wishing-you-were-somehow-here-again-scene-x

Can't really tell from the blurry pics, but I kind of like the way the lair looks in the FL pic. But the Masquerade costume and the WC set are just awful.

I'm sure higher quality images will be coming soon since the brochure is now out, but this is all we have at the moment.

I like the Wising pic, and the set looks fine for that, but that Masquerade costume. Like how it looks, but not for Phantom. He doesn't look imposing enough, and I'm getting definite 2004 Movie vibes from it. Moreso than what I've seen other people say.

All the dramatic posturing, fancy stage lighting and post-production editing in the world can't conceal the fact that the new costumes and set designs are significantly inferior to the ones from the original.

~Madame~

What on EARTH is that pathetic attempt at a Red Death supposed to be?! It looks even worse than the movie one, and that was bad to begin with. The Phantom looks like a Les Mis barricade boy (wasn't that costume modelled after something Napoleon wore?), not anyone remotely threatening or dangerous. If someone turned up to my masked ball making all kinds of threats and wearing that, I'd just show him the door and give him a boot up the backside. This isn't anything to be remotely scared of.

I do like the Lair scenes (that kneeling post-kiss embrace--nice) and the graveyard, but that Red Death costume...pleh! (My reaction was the same as Scorp's--looks like a Les Mis cast member took a wrong turn.)

~LCD

PhantomsGhost wrote:Someone on Tumblr posted pics from the UK Tour brochure:

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22982492423/better-quality-the-final-scene-x

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22981711721/my-power-over-you-grows-stronger-yet-x

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22972126434/photos-from-the-phantom-of-the-opera-2012-tour

Masquerade Phantom costume o.O
http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22975404361/heres-one-from-the-masquerade-scene-who-likes-the

http://emptyheartandachipedcup.tumblr.com/post/22977456301/wishing-you-were-somehow-here-again-scene-x

Thank you so much, I like it...! I am now more excited...I hope september come soon

The only thing I didn't like from those photos? Bjornson's costumes being watered down, of course. But other than that, I think it looks rather dynamic and exciting... there's something quite communal about it, especially the way the space for Masquerade seems rather intimate (But, what is that costume? Very '04 movie, indeed!). The likelihood of me driving to Cardiff to see this while on business in London this winter is increasing.

It's worrying that I actually prefer the Red Death costume from the movie to that travesty.

He looks like one of the French Revolutionary government - give him a powdered wig and breeches and stockings and he could be Robespierre or one of his cronies.

Still not crazy about the floating candles, but the sets look pretty good; however what they've done to Red Death should not be able to fly, I do hope the Bjornson archive is taking action in at least at getting Maria's name removed from the credits, or the creative team decides to use her REAL work.

Saw the tour yesterday in Bristol. Will probably try and write a proper review soon but in the meanwhile, here's some photos of the stage before the show started. And also some pictures from the souvenir brochure.









Souvenir brochure pics: The quality is not the best as I haven't got a scanner

https://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll260/Maryblue89/25th/

Thanky you EarlFan. I love the brochure! Hope I have mine soon!

Finally got round to seeing this with Earlfan yesterday. I've broken my rule of not giving full reviews and offered one here.