The London production 1

I agree about the smoking comments but I know of a few in the current cast who smoke and have perfectly good voices. In general though I am not a supporter of smoking whether you are a singer or not.

ruthy wrote:I agree about the smoking comments but I know of a few in the current cast who smoke and have perfectly good voices. In general though I am not a supporter of smoking whether you are a singer or not.

Yeah but Nicky Adams is well old, it will have told on her pipes by now

I saw Nicky Adams as Christine once as well......it wasn't a great experience.

Don't like the purple at all. Sorry to those of you who do, but I just think it looks tacky and dreadful. Bring back the classic black!
And I swear to you now that if they EVER make the cast board purple I will personally go inside the foyer with a pot of black paint and return it to its original state! Lol.

I like the purple and do agree it shows up just gourgeous at nite! I walk past it on my way home! I saw the new cast a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it..rebecca lock made a fab carlotta especially. Nigel was phantom that nite and wasnt bad! Had a lovely voice but i think he will grow in confidence as he goes on more! I do miss Nic Greenshields in the role tho

Anyone else going to the Phantom's 23rd birthday show on 9 October? Am in front row Upper Circle with Lindsay... cheap seats, good view Then it's Les Mis on the following day to say goodbye to Earl's Javert, until we see him in the upcoming tour.

Phantom Cat wrote:Anyone else going to the Phantom's 23rd birthday show on 9 October? Am in front row Upper Circle with Lindsay... cheap seats, good view Then it's Les Mis on the following day to say goodbye to Earl's Javert, until we see him in the upcoming tour.

For some reason I've got the urge to go see London Phantom again, but I want to see a Phantom I've never seen before when I go, so I'll have to wait till either David Shannon joins or Nigel Richards is definitely on.

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Made a detour past HM's today to take some photos of the new purple signage.





My current thoughts: overall, the classic black was better -- it didn't age and it fitted in better with the rest of the building. The purple seems to stand out in a way that isn't quite right. However, I do like the fact that the new hanging sign uses the shattered glass logo (the old one didn't), and I do like the main purple poster (the one in the middle in the second pic) and think it's eye-catching in a good way from the other side of the street. If they just made the hanging signs black and the ones either side of the 'Her Majesty's Theatre' sign black again and left the rest purple, it would look a lot better.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the cast board is changed to purple -- they've even changed the price list inside by the box office to match that!

Should have investigated nearby skips...would love to have the old signs...

Im looking 4ward to the bday show this year! Cant believe how long the shows been going for.

Hello again everyone! I hate the purple, the black looked so much nicer!

Anyone else going to the Phantom's 23rd birthday show on 9 October? Am in front row Upper Circle with Lindsay... cheap seats, good view Then it's Les Mis on the following day to say goodbye to Earl's Javert, until we see him in the upcoming tour.

Sadly not, maybe next year. I wanted to, but I went to the cast change performance instead as there were a few folks I wanted to see one last time. I think I made the right choice, as it was a fab show.

Welcome back Helen

Yes the black/purple debate is dividing us all it seems!

I've never seen the show in London, so I can't judge as much, but I think that they added the purple to give it more mystique. Purple is a very magical color! Perhaps they wanted to liven it up with something other than black. I personally think that black is more Phantom-like, but to each his own.

Seeing how the purple looks from afar when all the signs are seen against the building, it looks even worse than each sign looks up-close from previous pictures. Change is sometimes good, but not this one. Paula's suggestion of a velvety backdrop but still in black was a good one--gives the black background some texture and depth, but doesn't give it an ugly color.

I'm not liking the purple either ... Just... no! Can we make a petition to make them go back to the black?

Miss von Krolock wrote:I'm not liking the purple either ... Just... no! Can we make a petition to make them go back to the black?

Made a poll here, as a start... He-he. It has both its fans and its anti-fans. I'm on the anti-fan side, judging from the photos, but it may look different when seeing it for real.

Hmm I doubt it looks better for real, though I won't be seeing it any time soon in person to comment further. The pictures are pretty clear and to me, the purple just does not fit in with the theatre. I think even red would look better

Saw some purple Phantom posters at the train/tube stations today. They look quite nice actually. The one on the theatre looks really rather bright though from the photo - not sure about that one yet. Need to see it myself I think!

From the pictures in this thread I think the purple signs look really bad. They make the theatre look cheap. I like purple usually and I remember liking the purple poster Phantom used for advertising a few years ago, but the signs look horrendous.

Phantomlove wrote:From the pictures in this thread I think the purple signs look really bad. They make the theatre look cheap. I like purple usually and I remember liking the purple poster Phantom used for advertising a few years ago, but the signs look horrendous.

Aw, this depresses me! I've always been proud of the London production. Someone make it better again!

Maybe the crappy signage will go with the crappy casting! I can't see Dave Shannon being a classic!

HerMajesty wrote:Maybe the crappy signage will go with the crappy casting! I can't see Dave Shannon being a classic!

Wasn't too crazy about his Raoul (although he was good), but people seem to have loved him in Les Mis - so why not? I hope to see him in the role at least, to get an idea of what route he takes with his Phantom.

I'm with Anea. I've been very pleasantly surprised, to put it mildly, with what I've heard of Shannon's Valjean, so I'm anticipating a good performance as Phantom. I had low expectations for his Valjean, but now high expectations for his Phantom. Hopefully he doesn't disappoint.

Saw the show today! At the gift shop they r selling a plastic mask now! Its a tenner

operafantomet wrote:

HerMajesty wrote:Maybe the crappy signage will go with the crappy casting! I can't see Dave Shannon being a classic!

Wasn't too crazy about his Raoul (although he was good), but people seem to have loved him in Les Mis - so why not? I hope to see him in the role at least, to get an idea of what route he takes with his Phantom.

I wasn't fond of his Raoul either, so I was surprised at how much I liked him as Jean Valjean. He's one of my favourites in the role and a lot of people I've spoken to like him. I think he'll do well as Phantom.

HerMajesty wrote:Maybe the crappy signage will go with the crappy casting! I can't see Dave Shannon being a classic!

Thats a bit harsh dear! Ok he wasnt the best raoul but let him at least sing b4 condeming him! He was an amazing valjean tho..

I find myself becoming more and more cynical these days, standards have dropped so much over the last few years. Let's hope he's a pleasant surprise.

HerMajesty wrote:I find myself becoming more and more cynical these days, standards have dropped so much over the last few years. Let's hope he's a pleasant surprise.

I'm trying to keep an open mind about David Shannon - his Raoul was fine and he was good in Miss Saigon. But I was lucky to see Nigel Richards as the Phantom back in September and came out impressed, can't wait to see how he'll develop! To be honest I was happy to see an actor inhabit the role (though it was evident as it was a work-in-progress, it was one of his first performances) rather than Ramin who, although perfectly good and does a very good Final Lair, I feel doesn't fit the role age-wise, looks-wise or vocally. And David at least will be of a more appropriate age (late 30s, I think?) and his voice is strong.

Standards have generally dropped since the early days of the show, but there are always diamonds in the rough.

So.... Today is the day, right?

Phantom of the Opera is officially 23 years?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHANTOM! Here's to at least another 23

Congratulations! Happy Birthday Phantom!