Phantom at Det Ny Teater, Copenhagen, Denmark, Autumn 2018!!

Very happy. The brilliant Ny Teater is putting on Phantom this autumn!

The theatre website here: https://www.detnyteater.dk/the-phantom-of-the-opera/

The cast lists some familiar names, among them Tomas Ambt Kofoed, my very favourite Rrrraoul of all time, and Louise Fribo who sings enchantingly. Operafantomet always says that she could sing the phone directory and make it sound wonderful.... (For those of you who don't know what the phone directory is... it's a B.I. (Before Internet) phenomenon: it was a huge catalogue containing names and telephone numbers. You couldn't google people, but had to "look them up in the book".

Tomas' name is at the top of the list, I wonder if this means he will be the Phantom??? Have seen him as the Phantom in LND, which he did splendidly well, but his Rrrraoul is incomparable.

The only downside in all this, is the rotten exchange rate between Sweden and Denmark. The Danish currency is depressingly expensive at the moment.

Just posting to say that I have tickets for the opening night, Friday 21st September.
#veryhappy
:-)

Oh Wow! Awesome! Hope it rocked!

Hi Blindphan, yes it was great, but it didn't "rock" just yet. It was the première, and the actors were performing absolutely flawlessly, but it didn't feel as if they had broken in their shoes just yet. When a show has been running for a while, the people in it are more at home, and can get their teeth into it more. I hope you understand what I mean.

The overture always gets my pulse going and makes me breathless. The sound system at Det Ny Teater is really really good.

Costumes were all lovely new and shiny and sparkly and the velvets looked rich sumptuous and luscious.

There was a technical hitch just at the beginning of the mirror scene, so they had to drop the curtain while they sorted things out. So we had an extra toilet and drinks break. That interruption broke the spell of the building-up to the AoM through the mirror and the Phantom of the opera bit. But hey ho, they picked up speed again pretty quickly.

Phantom: Tomas Ambt Kofoed (my favourite Raoul of all time, and also a verrrry nasty Phantom in LND. Ie he was excellent in the role of Mr Y). A flawless Phantom, but not as insane / angry as some others I have seen. I would like to see more body language, I think. In the Lair scene, after he takes off his cape, he smooths his hair with his hands, as if bathing in Christine's voice, but then he seems to forget them... Preben Kristensen did a deliberate little strut around the throne in the final Lair scene with madly twisting hands behind his backs before taking the noose, but Tomas did not "milk" the details in the same way.

Christine: Sibylle Glosted, sang very well, but I didn't fall in love with her. I may not have been paying enough attention, and may be misremembering, but her voice and Carlotta’s voice were not dissimilar enough. Not sure. Tut tut. So I will just have to go and see it again to make sure. A few times or so.

Raoul: Christian Lund, was a blond but not fluffy Raoul. Very nice, a solid safe sturdy young man, I could quite see myself falling on HIS chest in times of trouble. Did a splendidly unhesitating drop from the bridge when he went to rescue Christine. Le sigh.

Carlotta: Louise Fribo – for the second time I have seen a Carlotta that is not made ridiculous. She sang well, and her miffs were in no way over the top. I could perfectly understand her “tantrums” and the eye-rolling and huffy reactions from the choirmaster felt out of proportion. So in a way, she and Christine felt more in balance against each other than I would usually see. Louise Fribo couldn’t sing out off-key even if the LND Phantom had her by the throat. I think. The Louise Carlotta is elegant, controlled and controlling. When the Phantom doesn’t mess her about. Does some nice eye-flashing. But she doesn’t feel very much like an overbearing diva, she sings too well, and is not melodramatic enough. It would help if she was more of a cow.

Carlotta’s earrings: they twinkled / sparkled unexpectedly from the shadows, deep red spurts of fire like small dragon’s eyes in dark corners. A very pervasive presence.

Piangi: struts nicely.

Buquet’s wig: for once, the actor’s wig looked quite OK, and not like a mangy animal that had died on his head. Have also seen bald Buquet’s but I think I prefer them with a good wig.

Don whatshisname in Il Muto: excellent voice, held the long note very well to the delight of the audience.

It was, as always, dazzling visually, I could not take everything in. I have a feeling of not being able to clearly distinguish between the voices in some of the songs. Lair scene: the Phantom and Raoul’s voices were not “different” enough somehow. Both were strong and warm, but I cannot remember anything that set them apart from each other. Same with Carlotta and Christine. Louise Fribo did not have the wobbling vibrato of some other Carlottas that I have heard.

About the fireballs in the cemetery scene. While I do perfectly understand that they can’t have things that set fire to the scenery, there must be something they can do about them. Either that or just dump them. As it is now they are more like pathetic farts than anything else, c’mon, the sparks from Carlotta’s earrings are have more personality… Gah!

Oh, and the Copenhagen Phantom does not do The Catch, I think only the London Phantoms do that. The Tomas Phantom was not handfallen at all when Christine fainted but deftly and neatly grabbed the cloak and threw it over her. A bit like “as one does” kind of thing, not particularly surprized or put out. …

Looking forward to going again, to see how everyone grows into their parts.

Not very lively here, is it. Never mind, I'll just talk to myself for a little....

Have been to see the Copenhagen production again. Twice again. So three times in all. Am going again on Saturday... well, I don't smoke or have any other particularly expensive habits, and it runs in Copenhagen only every ten years or so, so go ahead girl, Knock yourself out, I say.

Have seen three different Christines and the alternate Phantom, and the cast has warmed up nicely. It is just excellent. The Danes do it so well, with warmth and personality. The only component not up to par is/are the .... wait for it..... firefartsballs. 'nuff said. Not that I'd want them to set fire to the scenery again, or the Phantom's hat, but can't SOMEthing be done?

Latest show just before Christmas had a lovely Christine, must check who it was. She particularly distinguished herself in the Lair scene, when she was protecting strung-up Raoul. She was like a diminutive very ruffled white mother hen who made the Phantom back away and back down when she "fronted him" and shooed him away from Raoul. Very very nice interaction between the Not Tomas Phantom and Christine. Great fun.

Hello. It's me again. Talking to myself. Feeling a bit blue. "It's over now, the music of the night"... Saw the last performance in Copenhagen on Sunday. It was brilliant, of course. The Danes do it so well....  Lively and sparkly and lots of things going on everywhere all the time. The acting does not feel like acting it is so fresh and sincere. Little details and nuances come across when you have the time to focus away from the main happenings. Which you can do a little when you are familiar with the show.

Also saw the London show a week earlier, with David Thaxton as the Phantom. Very different and absolutely fabulous. So many different Phantoms, but as I have said before I couldn't choose between them, I want them all.

Some differences between the two productions that spring to mind...

The Catch!! The London Phantom catches Christine in his arms and carries her to the boat. Le sigh. Not so the Danish one. Hmm.
London Raoul did NOT drop from the bridge (can't say I blame him, but all the same, he lost Brownie points on that one)
In Copenhagen, the porters/staff at the auction bow to each other behind the chandelier before pushing it to the front of the stage. Like undertakers at the head of a coffin in church, at a funeral. Also, the Danish auctioneer goes all in to be ghoulish and funereal, and everyone moves in slow-motion. Then again, it takes about six-seven minutes to auction off three items, which means that the auction has been going on for quite a while, so no wonder everyone is looking so old. See here, if it takes two minutes to sell an item, and you're at lot 666, that means the auction has started (665 lots times 2 minutes each equals 1330 minutes divided by 60 minutes equals over 21 hours) over 21 hours ago. Yikes. And that's excluding coffee breaks and visits to the loo.
Another thing - during TOM.... when Raoul realized it's Christine singing... in London, the managers and Madame just turn their backs to the audience and stand still so as not to distract from Raoul, I guess. But in Copenhagen, they freeze in mid-action, just like in a film. A really nice touch.
London Buquet is bald, but I prefer the hairy Dane who had a good wig for once. Sometimes wigs can look as if something died on their head, but this was a good one.

The physical interaction between the Phantom and Christine was different in London and Copenhagen. Copenhagen was quite "classical", but in London the Phantom broke through the usual conventions by having more physical contact in the Lair scene, was a little more physically hands-on. In a very effective way that was not over the top, but sort of really got through to me.