Some Meg Giry love

Because this is an underrated character in Phantom. She's even the one ending the show. And why is it that Piangi is listed amongst the leads, while Meg is not? Not only do I think Meg plays a more significant part, it also annoys me in terms of cast lists and finding out who played Meg at any given point.

What about Megs originating the role in various productions?

WEST END: Janet Devenish
BROADWAY: Elisa Heinsohn
HAMBURG: Dunja Siehl
STOCKHOLM: Martina Langas
VIENNA: Alexandra Young-Schmidt (right?)
TORONTO: Donna Rubin
TOKYO: Yayoi Aoyama?
MELBOURNE: Sharon Millerchip
LOS ANGELES: Elizabeth Stringer
CHICAGO: Patricia Ward
SAN FRANCISCO: ?
BASEL: Natasha Knight
SCHEVENINGEN: Natasha Knight?
ANTWERP: Sophie Kiddle?
STUTTGART: Lara Glew
MEXICO CITY: Laura Morelos
COPENHAGEN, ROUND ONE: Anna Grönros
COPENHAGEN, ROUND TWO: Jennifer Wagstaffe
MADRID: Evangelina Esteves
ESSEN: Annabel Knight
LAS VEGAS: Brianne Kelly Morgan
SAO PAOLO: Carolina Puntel
BUENOS AIRES: Silvina Tordente
SEOUL: ?
SOUTH AFRICA, ROUND ONE: Tandi Meikle
SOUTH AFRICA, ROUND TWO: Cat Lane
HUNGARY: ?
POLAND: ?

I've given up on keeping track on the various tours and various stops on tours. Feel free to fill in!

Yes, Alexandra Young-Schmidt was the original Meg in Vienna, Sophie Kiddle in Antwerp and Natasha Knight in Scheveningen.

I believe Tracey Allyn was the original San Francisco Meg Giry.

Megs are a triple-threat (dancing, singing, and acting); she's definitely an important character - particularly when the actress makes the effort to make her more than just a named "extra" in scenes like Notes.

TAFKaR

Here's a couple of pictures of the various original Meg Girys. I've tried to find a slavegirl picture, a Degas picture and a Masquerade picture of each, preferably also one in the Gypsy dress. Meg actually wears many cool outfits: 7 separate ones, with a lot more costume changes. Originally the character of Meg had more costumes than Carlotta!



Janet Devenish, original Meg Giry, West End 1986.




Elisa Heinsohn, original Broadway Meg in 1988.




Brianne Kelly Morgan, original Meg in Las Vegas, 2006-




Paloma Garcia Lee, last Meg Giry in the US tour 2010.




Jennifer Gould, original San Francisco Meg. 1996?




Sharon Millerchip, original Australian Meg, 1990




Tandi Miekle, original South African Meg, 2004.




Cat Lane, Meg in the relaunched South African production 2011




Silvina Tordente, original Argentine Meg, 2009.




Carolina Puntel, original meg in Brazil, 2005.




Julie Boath, original Swiss Meg, 1995.




Martina Langas, original Swedish Meg, 1989.




Jennifer Wagstaffe, Meg in the relaunched Danish production, 2009.




Lara Glew, Meg in the original Stuttgart production, 2003.

Batch two:



Dunja Siehl, original German Meg in Hamburg 1990.




Annabel Knight, original Essen Meg, 2006.




Alexandra Young-Schmidt, original Viennese Meg, 1989.




Natasha Knight, original Meg in the Netherlands, 1993.




Sophie Kiddle, original Meg in Belgium, 1999.




Anna Grönros, original Meg in Denmark, 2000.




Donna Rubin, original Canadian Meg, 1989. VERY few pictures of her, apart from some Degas/Prima Donna ones.




Laura Morelos, original Mexican Meg, 1999.




Original Korean Meg. Name? Dunno. 2002.



Jung Dan-young, Meg from the relaunched Korean production, 2010.



And here is a bit of guesswork.... Yayoi Aoyama (?), original Japanese Meg? 1988.

operafantomet wrote:
Sharon Millerchip, original Australian Meg, 1990

I always thought this one was Christina Tan?

TAFKaR

Might be, might be. Probably several mislabeled ones above. It's long since I started collecting Phantom photos, and I didn't always save them with the correct name of the singer in the past. Either because they were mislabeled when I found them, or because I tried to guess who it was in the pictures.

I will double check that one with my Aussie brochures!

Looking through old reviews and tickets, I noticed I haven't seen that many different Megs compared to how many different Christines and Carlottas I've seen. But there are some I've seen time and time again:

Anna Grönros: 14
Jennifer Wagstaffe: 11
Heidi Ann O'Brien: 9

I've also seen Emma Harris and Hayley Driscoll (West End), Jessica Bishop (B'way), Annabel Knight (Essen) and (probably) Lucy Potter in Hamburg.

My two favourites of these are Anna Grönros, which I saw 14 times, and Hayley Driscoll, which I saw once. So apparently there is no link between the amount of times I've seen a Meg and how much I like her...! I have liked all Megs I've seen, though.

Which Megs have you seen?

IamErik771 wrote:I also saw a community theatre production that had quite a good Meg; when I talked to the actress afterward, she said she'd never seen the show live, but I think the director of that production had Brianne's portrayal in mind when directing her.

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