The London production 1

auctioneer wrote:I was sorry for him that he didn't get the standby role when Nigel Richards left...but this seems to be in keeping with almost never promoting in-house and always bringing in someone from the outside. To move up in Phantom, it appears that you have to leave and come back!

Yes, when he landed on the Buquet role, he was doomed to not being promoted to standby Phantom. But he should have gotten it from the start, methinks.

When I think of great Phantoms of the past like Karrie, Jacoby, McGillin, Willetts, Carpenter, JOJ - I think older Phantoms, and this of course changes the on-stage chemistry

Flemming Enevold... *sigh*

You're right, operafantomnet. It's probably the fact that SJD covers Phantom and Firmin -- and he also plays Buquet. They probably figure it's easier to bring in someone else for alternate Phantom than to have to prep someone to take on three roles (Buquet principal and 1st cover Phantom/Firmin). I guess it makes sense, but it's really too bad for him.

Well nothing will be decided until it comes to the time to look at their contracts in reality Scorp, but Gina herself on her official website is currently saying until September 2010. But we have to remember last year Simon was definitely leaving then decided to stay (various factors.) So I guess we never really know.

SJD maybe has more of a chance at the next cast change or as you say would be better leaving altogether then coming back. But I often wonder how the casting department really thinks, I mean Simon turned down the role of Raoul the previous year (it then went to Alex) but they still had him back a year later? I never did quite get that, must have really wanted him. And good for us as he is a good Raoul.

I agree with you auctioneer on Ramin. I used to love his Phantom. I actually preferred his standby days and he did at times become extremely angry towards the end of his run, but I think David (and Scott and SJD) are proof that you don't need to do that to keep up with Simon. I also found Ramin became stuck in a rut and when he used to add little differences to each performance he became the same and with such an ad-libbing Raoul (and even Gina does things differently each show) it really started to show.

auctioneer wrote:
I thought I'd contribute what I can to the discussion -- which is to say that I saw Nicola Rutherford as Carlotta twice last season when Kate Radimlovic was on vacation. Of course, I had seen her many times in the ensemble before then. I believe that the first night that I saw her as Carlotta (in early December 2008) was one of her first performances. She was very nervous (who wouldn't be with that opening bit?), but she warmed up as the night went on. The second time I saw her a few months later, she did a great job - and nailed her entrance.

I saw Nicola in December 08 as well, and I completely agree with you. She seemed nervous in the enterance bit, but after that she was great. I hope that I get the chance to see her again. I was going to go to London yesterday, but decided against it. I wish I'd gone now!

SJD was quite promising when I saw him. It was one of his first performances, and some things went wrong (the candle fired early before letting Raoul out of the lasso, the boat was wonkey, and the music cut out briefly during the title song), but he got through it like a pro and didn't miss a beat. I found that his physical moves were much like Greenshields - a Wilkinson-like slower, deliberate movement with a dominating physical presence (much like Carpenter, as you suggest - his Javert is much the same) - but his voice was less rich but clear and precise. He's had quite a few runs in the role, so I imagine that by now he's quite good. I was sorry for him that he didn't get the standby role when Nigel Richards left...but this seems to be in keeping with almost never promoting in-house and always bringing in someone from the outside. To move up in Phantom, it appears that you have to leave and come back!

I hope SJD gets promoted to standby or principal Phantom at some point. I saw him as Javert once and I thought he was great. I was a bit disappointed when I found out he was playing Buquet, as I think I'll like him as Phantom.

I agree with you auctioneer on Ramin. I used to love his Phantom. I actually preferred his standby days and he did at times become extremely angry towards the end of his run, but I think David (and Scott and SJD) are proof that you don't need to do that to keep up with Simon. I also found Ramin became stuck in a rut and when he used to add little differences to each performance he became the same and with such an ad-libbing Raoul (and even Gina does things differently each show) it really started to show.

I was never a fan of Ramin's Phantom. I always thought that he did a good job and put everything he had into his performances, but there was something about his portrayal that I wasn't fond of. I think it was the fact he played quite a young Phantom.

I think these are all interesting points. What appears to be common to what everyone is saying is that there is a preference to bring in new blood - or, more specifically, old blood that has moved on to other things and then returned to Phantom. I guess it's a slippery slope for a lot of actors. If you're in POTO, you know that you're in an open-ended run that shows no signs of ending anytime soon, so an ensemble role in the company means pretty stable employment in an industry that has anything but stable employment. If you take off to do something else, you probably become more valuable in the eyes of the casting team, but you enter a market that is tough. On top of that, there's a need to balance all of this with a performer's desire to be in different productions. While Simon Bailey and Gina Beck will undoubtedly go on to other productions, being leads in POTO in their mid-twenties is quite a coup, and it will be tough to match the profile, let alone exceed it.

I didn't know where to ask this so thought I would put it in the thread I post the most in. In Masquerade has any Raoul since Steve Barton had the mask on his head? Or did Steve Barton stop wearing it early on. And trying to picture the scene is Raoul the only character not to have a mask in this scene now? (Actually scrap this I don't think Madame and Meg Giry have masks do they?)

And does anyone know of any blondes since Steve who have played Raoul in London?

ruthy wrote:I didn't know where to ask this so thought I would put it in the thread I post the most in. In Masquerade has any Raoul since Steve Barton had the mask on his head? Or did Steve Barton stop wearing it early on. And trying to picture the scene is Raoul the only character not to have a mask in this scene now? (Actually scrap this I don't think Madame and Meg Giry have masks do they?)

And does anyone know of any blondes since Steve who have played Raoul in London?

Meg has a veil thing on her hat if that counts...

I can think of Michael Xavier and possibly Alex Rathgeber (not sure about him though, it looks blonde from the one small picture I've seen of him) being blonde.

I did think of the veil thing on Meg's hat, it's close to a mask, I just find it really funny Raoul doesn't have one, it's a masquerade ball. But I'm sure I heard Steve (perhaps?) complained about the mask and the jacket when trying to dance.

Alex had light brown hair and Michael's is definitely brown. I know the understudy Raoul in LND is blonde (ish) and it just made me think I couldn't think of anyone but Steve in the original who had been blonde, must merely be coincidence but I found it amusing all the same.

While we are on the topic of Raoul I also love how like the Christine wigs there is in fact subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences in the wigs different actors wear as Old Raoul, yet they all look the same on stage.

Michael Ball was fairly blonde when he did the role, ditto for Michael Cormick, Simon Burke and (I think) Niklas Andersson. David Shannon had light hair as well.

Yeah, I'd call Cormick and Burke blond.

Thanks guys. I actually don't have any purpose in asking, merely curious.

I am moving my crazy task of figuring out Phantom's 10000th performance to this thread to avoid hi jacking the Les Mis thread.

So far at the end of 2009 (and I was informed the 9000th was the matinee but until I know for definite i am not including the evening show in my count) I have 9660 performances (9661 perhaps.)

Random fact Phantom averages between 34-36 performances a month (except for February of course.)

ETA: By the end of 2010 I have reached 10077 performances (will be calculating the exact 10 000th performance now.) Looks as though the 10 000th performance will be with a very new cast.

The 10,000th performance will either be Saturday 23rd/Monday 25th October 2010

Nice job there, Ruthy!

Looks like the birthday show and the 10000th will be close together. Can't make them all, though, I'm afraid -- though I'm booked in for 9 October. That's always a special show.

I have heard from 3 seperate people that the matinee show of the 31st May 2008 was the 9000th therefore that would mean the 10,000th would be the Saturday I like that, a Saturday evening seems a nice night for such an important show.

auctioneer wrote:Looks like the birthday show and the 10000th will be close together. Can't make them all, though, I'm afraid -- though I'm booked in for 9 October. That's always a special show.

Neither can I unfortunately, but I hope I can make it to one of them. Thanks to Ruthy for taking to the time to work out the 10,000th show date!

Wow, I wasn't expecting the 10,000th performance to happen THIS year! I thought it'd happen in 2011 since Les Mis is a year older (albeit it's missed more performances thanks to two transfers).

I think some of us should attend no. 10,000. Though we should probably wait to book nearer the time in case another show gets cancelled and we end up seeing performance no. 9,999 instead...

And I'm about to post this in another thread, but it's a pretty big deal so I'm going to post it here too:

ATTENTION:

The London production has a chance to be nominated for its THIRD ever Olivier award (London's equivalent of the Tonys -- so a pretty big deal!). It won this audience award in 2002 thanks to the fans and with your help it could win again! Place an online vote to make sure it's nominated by clicking the link below and placing your vote!

http://bit.ly/6fip91

I may repost that as my status on Facebook. So exciting, but I tell you something if Wicked gets nominated I'll personally smack my head off a wall repeatedly.

ruthy wrote:I may repost that as my status on Facebook. So exciting, but I tell you something if Wicked gets nominated I'll personally smack my head off a wall repeatedly.

You could do that, or we could go and vandalise Elphaba's lift thingy after we vandalise the LND sign and rob a bank (to fund the new Ken Hill production) so she no longer defies gravity.

I like your idea better, I'm pencilling all this in my diary now, I'll stake out a few banks too.

Right I have nominated and posted on my Facebook and Twitter

Here's a random question for any London regulars out there who might be a geek like me and pay attention to these kinds of things.

Which is cooler: staying after the show is over when the chandelier comes down again and it gets "plugged in" on the struck set OR starting the applause at the end of the show (when Meg holds the mask up and nobody seems to realize that the show is over)?

Or are these just little pleasures that I alone enjoy?

If the Phantom has been particularly good I sometimes enjoy starting applause after his final note AND starting applause when Meg is holding up the mask. I don't know how people can't realise the show is over at that point.

That's an interesting point, too, actually - I've occasionally started clapping after the Phantom's final note, but it doesn't always get going. People seem to be very much "in the moment" -- and, for a similar reason, I've seen many a performance where that VERY loud machine that brings the curtain down on the final scene is into high gear and the curtains are fully closed before the applause starts up.

On a related note - I remember when I first saw the show in the early nineties, people also clapped as the chandelier rose during the Overture. It was nice that people did that also at the last birthday show. I think it's nice to do at special performances.

I've been at a show (last July) where people clapped just as the lights went down, Phillip Griffiths actually started his lines in the auction slightly later because of it. That was the best audience I have been a part of though they were very into the show and clapped at every opportunity, even after All I Ask of You (and that is rare.) There was also a standing ovation at curtain call from Simon onwards which is also rare (he usually gets a few people up) but it helps that the show that night was the best I've seen.

Wow - that sounds like quite a hot crowd! It can be so hot and cold in the theatre -- sometimes the audience is dead and other times it is the opposite altogether. Lately I've been standing up for Christine, as Gina Beck always puts in a great performance. I remember back in the old days when people would stand up as soon as curtain call started, though!

I wonder, Ruthy, if over the years you and I have seen the same performance. Undoubtedly we have!

I hate when the audience is dead. I went to a show where a lot of the ensemble were off, so much so even though swings were on it was a small cast so numbers like Hannibal sounded spookily quiet and the applause was lacklustre; I can sort of understand that however, it wasn't an energetic show from the cast to be honest. However, I've been at packed shows, full cast and the cast have gave it their all and the audience have just sort of sat there, and that I don't understand.

Glad to see you share my appreciation of Gina she has really been putting on great performances lately. I loved her when she first joined and there was a little while she seemed to go a bit stale but lately she has really been impressing me.

I am sure we probably have seen the same show at some point, I usually always end up start talking to people on discussion boards and they'll mention a date and I'll be like oh I was there, or it is a day or two out. Lately every show I have been to someone has gone that I actually know though and that is always funny to see them then think "Is that them?" then you have the whole "Oh I didn't know you were coming tonight!" conversation.

ruthy wrote:I've been at a show (last July) where people clapped just as the lights went down, Phillip Griffiths actually started his lines in the auction slightly later because of it. That was the best audience I have been a part of though they were very into the show and clapped at every opportunity, even after All I Ask of You (and that is rare.) There was also a standing ovation at curtain call from Simon onwards which is also rare (he usually gets a few people up) but it helps that the show that night was the best I've seen.

You have such reserved audiences in London. A lot of those moments of applause are common here, and usually the entire cast gets a standing o at curtain call from at least a substantial portion of the audience.

auctioneer wrote:Wow - that sounds like quite a hot crowd! It can be so hot and cold in the theatre -- sometimes the audience is dead and other times it is the opposite altogether. Lately I've been standing up for Christine, as Gina Beck always puts in a great performance. I remember back in the old days when people would stand up as soon as curtain call started, though!

I always WANT to do that when I see it in London, but British audience... They don't seem to be a fan of standing ovation. But why save it, if the performance has been extremely good? And in particular, certain actors? When DO Brits give standing ovation, anyway?

Senor and Operafantomnet make a valid point -- the British audience is more reserved, to be sure, when compared to the American audiences. That said, if you take in a typical Phantom performance, I would say that the audience is made up of at least 40% non-Brits. Let's face it - Phantom is one of the hallmark tourist stops! This is particularly true during the summer. For this reason, I've noticed that you tend to get 'hotter' crowds during the tourist season.

It's also interesting to be at a performance when there is clearly a break, designed for applause, and there is resounding silence (for instance, at the end of "Hannibal" or, as I said before, at the end of the show) -- that's how I got into the habit of, at times, starting the applause. While I know that the company is made up of professionals who will carry on, I always feel badly for them. Along a similar line, I like to stay behind as the orchestra plays the exit music and clap at the end -- remembering that about nine of the orchestra members have been playing the same score eight times a week since October 1986. Their regular contribution almost always goes unacknowledged, but I think that us 'regulars' owe them a little 'chapeau' to say thank you for all their hours spent in that pit!

I actually on the one hand perhaps prefer the reservedness. (Is that a word?) I think people can at times be too quick to give standing ovations these days and the point of a standing ovation is lost as it just becomes something you do. I hope that made sense I am rather ill at the moment and slightly delirious i think.

On another note a friend is at Phantom today and seeing Scott Davies. Rather jealous