The Broadway production + Original US Replica tour

I'm almost certain it was the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. Probably the tour visited several cities in '92. The 2NT did longer stops than the 3NT, but at that point, it was only a few months in each city. There used to be a listing of tour stops and their dates, but I don't know if it's still online. I'm on my work computer, so can't access my bookmarks.

Operafantomet- I know for a fact that when the tour visited Boston, Massachusetts, from late August-late October (or early November) 1992, it starred Kevin Gray LouAnn Aronson (Sara Pfisterer) and Nat Chandler. I know there's no Hilsabeck there, but at least it gives you a jumping off place.

It did seem really early for Hilsabeck to have been the Phantom. I think that was not until '94ish. He might have been Andre at that point ('92).

operafantomet wrote:I recently bought these US tour brochures off eBay:

1992 - Rick Hilsabeck - Teri Bibb (Sarah Pfisterer) - Nat Chandler (?)
1994 - Rick Hilsabeck - Sarah Pfisterer (Rita Harvey) - Nat Chandler (Atlanta)

Does anyone know where that cast performed in 1992, and which theatre the other visited in Atlanta in 1994? I did a quick search without success, and before I plunge into a more thorough search I wanted to ask the almighty DP brain.

I saw the tour in 1994 in Atlanta and it was my very first performance. The cast was Rick Hilsabeck, Sarah Pfisterer and Nat Chandler. It was indeed at The Fox Theatre.

My mom saw the tour when it came in 1992 and it was also at The Fox Theatre. I still have the playbill somewhere...but I just need to find it. My very first introduction to Phantom was when she brought home that program.

Edit to add: I can't find the program/Playbill from the first performance my mom saw...but I did find the ticketstub from that performance in Atlanta. It is from October 30, 1991.

SenorSwanky wrote:It did seem really early for Hilsabeck to have been the Phantom. I think that was not until '94ish. He might have been Andre at that point ('92).

Yep! I can confirm with certainty that he was Andre during that Boston 1992 run, opposite David Huneryager's Firmin.

Has anyone heard if anything is planned for Broadway's 25th in January?

Thank you all for the feedback on the brochures. Hopefully there'll also be some clues inside them!

As for the broadway production, I haven't heard of anything planned for the 25th anniversary, but I think it's fair to say everyone (including the cast) will be mighty disappointed if it isn't celebrated in a fairly grand manner. Not RAH grand, that was a celebration of 25 years of Phantom in general. I hope the Broadway celebration is more specific. But they seem to put more emphasis on the round number performances than the anniversaries, so I don't know what to think.

As for Hugh Panaro, isn't his contract ending in a week or two? I have a feeling he won't be staying on but I'm happy if he does. No matter the case, we ought to hear something soon?

Yeah. I came up to Broadway for the 20th anniversary and was disappointed that there was no real celebration. I wonder if they get all celebrated out by the time it gets to Broadway!!

Also, you're right that they tend to celebrate the numbers there: the longest running and lately the 10.000 performance.

I wish Hugh well whether he stays or leaves. I'm glad that I've gotten to hear him 3 times during this run!!

operafantomet wrote:Thank you all for the feedback on the brochures. Hopefully there'll also be some clues inside them!

As for the broadway production, I haven't heard of anything planned for the 25th anniversary, but I think it's fair to say everyone (including the cast) will be mighty disappointed if it isn't celebrated in a fairly grand manner. Not RAH grand, that was a celebration of 25 years of Phantom in general. I hope the Broadway celebration is more specific. But they seem to put more emphasis on the round number performances than the anniversaries, so I don't know what to think.

As for Hugh Panaro, isn't his contract ending in a week or two? I have a feeling he won't be staying on but I'm happy if he does. No matter the case, we ought to hear something soon?

YEAH I have been thinking about that for quite a while, especially the biggest question of them all. Who will play the Phantom? Hugh Panaro? John Cudia? Hmmmmm. What about Christine? Trista Moldovan? Hmmmmmm. These are the questions that haunt me.

It'll be whoever is under contract to play the role at the time. They might select someone to come back for that, like they did with Howard a few months before the record-breaking performance. But it's unlikely they'll have a one-time performance by someone who isn't the regular Phantom. Though in some ways it would be cool if they did something like what they did in Toronto for the 10th, and bring back a number of previous Phantoms to do different scenes.

operafantomet wrote:I recently bought these US tour brochures off eBay:

1992 - Rick Hilsabeck - Teri Bibb (Sarah Pfisterer) - Nat Chandler (?)
1994 - Rick Hilsabeck - Sarah Pfisterer (Rita Harvey) - Nat Chandler (Atlanta)

I got these brochures today. They're both from the 2nd national tour. Luckily they had very accurate dating in the back, something later US brochures don't have (I haaaaaate the all generic ones):

One is from April 1993 and features Rick Hilsabeck, Teri Bibb (Sarah Pfisterer), Nat Chandler, Michael DeVries, David Huneryager, Patricia Hurd, Olga Talyn, Gale Oxley and Patricia Ward.

The other is from July 1994 and Rick Hilsabeck, Sarah Pfisterer (Rita Harvey), Nat Chandler, Ian Jon Bourg, David Huneryager, Patricia Hurd, Olga Talyn, Gale Oxley and Kitty Skillman Hilsabeck.

The 1993 one features a super cool full shot of Patricia Hurd in Elissa costume. I've only seen a tiny version of it. The full photo is lovely. Also, Kitty Hilsabeck has such a peculiar look for Meg. I like it.

operafantomet wrote:
The 1993 one features a super cool full shot of Patricia Hurd in Elissa costume. I've only seen a tiny version of it. The full photo is lovely. Also, Kitty Hilsabeck has such a peculiar look for Meg. I like it.

I agree that Kitty had a very interesting look in the role. I also loved Patricia Hurd's Carlotta. She is still one of my favorites!

Via the Broadway companies FB page " Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please?
As you know, for some weeks there have been rumors of new in-performance Broadway photos. We can now tell you that these were all true, and it is our pleasure to introduce them in the following 2-volume Photo Albums...
We'll be posting Vol 1 today and Vol 2 tomorrow.
And YES, they will include The Phantom unmasked!
Enjoy. "

This is awesome!

Am about to look like a fool, but oh well, so it goes. I've been seeing the Broadway show for ten years now, and my last visit was January of 2011. Disappeared from the fandom but stayed with the show, but the cast is different when I went yesterday from Jan. 2011. Did I totally miss a cast change? o_O or did I just derp last year?

Do we have a new Phantom on broadway? I knew Hugh was leaving soon, but was unsure of who was replacing him.

As of yesterday Hugh was still there. Unless he's leaving soon?

You're talking about the managers mostly, I assume. George Lee Andrews' and David Cryer's contracts weren't renewed last September-ish. So they retired, and the new Andre is GLA's son-in-law. GLA is now in the Evita ensemble. Not sure what Cryer's up to.

Yeah that must be it. I've gotten so used to GLA there that it threw me off not to see him there. Same with Cryer, and Keller before that. And I've seen Hugh before, a few times, so that wasn't new.
When did Trista join the cast?

Trista joined a few months ago. I think it was earlier this year. May be longer though. Time flies by. I know Sara Jean Ford was still principal last summer and through when GLA and DC left because I saw her in late July with Hugh.

Gotcha, thanks for the clarifications! I saw Ford as Christine in 2011, then. I seem to have lost my playbills which is unfortunate. The cast is mostly just new to me, then, from last year. Except for Panaro, who I'm still not fond of, but he was definitely better yesterday than he was when I was in high school. I didn't see him when I was in college.
Am definitely fond of new Andre, even though GLA will always have the M. Andre-shaped place in my heart.

Reverie wrote:As of yesterday Hugh was still there. Unless he's leaving soon?

Unofficially, he's there until September and (I believe) is Kyle. After that, I don't know and I don't know about Trista's contract.

Trista joined in December 2011.

Kara Klein will be taking over as Meg.

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/162407/kara-klein-to-assume-the-role-of-meg-giry-in-the-phantom-of-the-opera/

She was my first Meg back in 2005 and I liked her well enough. She wasn't OMG AMAZING, but I always preferred her to Heather. I hate to be negative, but I just never liked Heather as Meg...though she was better than usual at the 10,000th performance.

Kara was my third Meg, but first on Broadway, also in 2005. That was when Heather was on maternity leave, I believe.

Just thought this would be interesting to sorta share in here. This fall, Anthony Warlow will FINALLY be making his way over to Broadway but in the production of Annie as Daddy Warbucks. It pains me that while he's in the role, no doubt having fun, there is a role that he 'should' be playing just down the street.

/sad

ML6 wrote:Just thought this would be interesting to sorta share in here. This fall, Anthony Warlow will FINALLY be making his way over to Broadway but in the production of Annie as Daddy Warbucks. It pains me that while he's in the role, no doubt having fun, there is a role that he 'should' be playing just down the street.

Kinda agree with this. Though I thought "Annie" was very cute in my childhood, and though there are still parts I enjoy, I think Anthony Warlow is grossly overqualified for the role of Warbucks. I'd much rather see him as either Peron or Magaldi in Evita, or obviously as the Phantom in POTO.

I wasn't planning on posting about this until I touched base with his manager, but a few comments have been posted on Facebook so I'll pass along the news now.

Hugh has been out of Phantom for the past few days due to the death of his father on Thursday, July 5. He should be back in sometime next week, but the exact day might change.

I don't really want to post any other details until I've heard back from his manager (who won't be back in the office until Monday) and, since I've had about a half dozen inquiries already, I'm checking to see if there is any preferred charity or organization to which people can make a donation in his father's memory.

Thanks for letting us know, Paula, and I'm sorry to hear about the passing of Hugh's father -- my condolences to him and his family.

Do you happen to know who has taken over the role while Hugh has been out?

Thanks for letting us know, Paula. I'm very sorry to hear about the passing of Hugh's father. My condolences to him and his family.

It struck me that, in lights of this news, your forum signature graphic is apropos in a bittersweet way.

~Madame~

My sympathies go out to Hugh and his family as well. Very tragic news.

R.