The London production 1

Weird that we all seem to be going through it at the same time. It really makes me sad, I am hoping by the time June (or July) comes around I will at least be a bit more positive as I told my mum I'd take her to see Scott (she wouldn't go to a show on her own.)

It probably didn't help I got into a major argument about D.S last night, all I said was he had improved and I got back "no he has NOT. I heard he forgot the words last night." Oh no, shoot him, I've seen Gina Beck forget words and I don't go around saying her Christine is awful because she forgot the words.

You are right about the more traditional Phantoms making the experience something different. I had never connected with the raw emotion and how it just seemed to ooze from the Phantom until I saw Scott Davies the last time I saw the show. I just don't get this "young and sexy" thing, why must the Phantom be attractive?

dolly-ry wrote:You are right about the more traditional Phantoms making the experience something different. I had never connected with the raw emotion and how it just seemed to ooze from the Phantom until I saw Scott Davies the last time I saw the show. I just don't get this "young and sexy" thing, why must the Phantom be attractive?

I don't mind an attractive Phantom, but I don't think the attractiveness should be a pretty face - if you know what I mean...

I know what you mean. Sorry I mean just all the comments lately, actually this is stemming from Love Never Dies, are all "he's so HOTTTTT. I lurves the Phantom!!!!!!" I mean people evening going to see Tam in LNDs are "Going to see the HOTTTT understudy."

Ugh. Rant over.

dolly-ry wrote:Weird that we all seem to be going through it at the same time. It really makes me sad, I am hoping by the time June (or July) comes around I will at least be a bit more positive as I told my mum I'd take her to see Scott (she wouldn't go to a show on her own.)

It probably didn't help I got into a major argument about D.S last night, all I said was he had improved and I got back "no he has NOT. I heard he forgot the words last night." Oh no, shoot him, I've seen Gina Beck forget words and I don't go around saying her Christine is awful because she forgot the words.

You are right about the more traditional Phantoms making the experience something different. I had never connected with the raw emotion and how it just seemed to ooze from the Phantom until I saw Scott Davies the last time I saw the show. I just don't get this "young and sexy" thing, why must the Phantom be attractive?

Alas this seems to have been a phenomenon of the last few years; loads of people I know had a fandom lull (some never recovered and have since had nothing to do with anything Phantom-related) following the film-that-shall-not-be-named; LND is creating the same problem. It feels as though Phantom is just yet one more victim of our dumbed-down culture today. It's weird to think it got from Point A (a traditional horror movie favourite) to Point...Z (the source for so many badly written vanity romance and erotica novels).

I'm not into Phantom all the time (I like to compare my fandom to Erik's view on his Don Juan Triumphant, i.e. being really into it for certain periods of time before taking breaks from it completely). Even when I am into it, it's at times like these (e.g. when ALW's version is going really quite downhill...if only because of the sort of fans the 2004 film and LND is creating) that I turn to Leroux's novel and remind myself that it's not all too bad. They might be able to turn ALW's Phantom into a young stud (even then, the blueprint will forever remain Michael Crawford; his legacy is indelible), but the original Erik will always be bald, yellow and rotting, just how I like him to be.

Well, it is a sad day, I just sorted out my tickets for cast change. A lot of the good seats are sold out for the evening performance. At least by then I should be completely out my lull, there is no way I couldn't see some of this cast one last time. I am due to go with my mum in June but I don't really expect to be that psyched for it which is a shame.

I know what you mean about going back to the original novel, I read it again quite recently and at least that IS something that will never change. No matter what they do with the stage show they can't wipe the memory of the book away.

dolly-ry wrote:Well, it is a sad day, I just sorted out my tickets for cast change. A lot of the good seats are sold out for the evening performance. At least by then I should be completely out my lull, there is no way I couldn't see some of this cast one last time. I am due to go with my mum in June but I don't really expect to be that psyched for it which is a shame.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you're there. I can't believe a lot of the good seats are gone for cast change, it's ages away! Is it too early to say who is leaving?

It's interesting -- I've been trying to book from here in Canada, and it would appear that a lot of the Saturday shows in August and September are not on sale online for some reason or another. I'm not sure why that is -- either they're well sold already or they're holding back tickets for a while. This is the first time I can recall this happening other than for anniversary shows.

If the show sells well on any particular day they start cutting off sales online for some reason. And believe me it appears to be selling extremely well on Saturdays for the next few months...

I've found it more difficult than usual in the last couple of months to find good seats in the stalls. Admittedly, I usually try to book the day before or even the same day, but still I've usually been able to find front stalls seats (until the last couple of months).

I wonder if LND advertising is making people more inclined to see Phantom than LND. I noticed the last time I was there, last Saturday, that there were two large LND strip adverts in the foyer, flanking the lectern desk. Not cool.

Also saw Matthew Gent as Raoul, hadn't seen him before. Very curly-haired Raoul. Blonde too, I think. Quite unusual but perfectly good, I thought. Also, two Yorskhire terrors behind me barking at each other throughout. If I ran a theatre I would include a strictly-worded warning against unnecessary noise at the start of any show. And the stewards would be under strict instruction to eject noisemakers immediately after one unheeded warning. I don't know why some people find this such a difficult concept to grasp. They're sitting in a large room full of people being silent; you'd think they'd take the hint. A muted whisper is one thing, but talking loudly enough to be clearly heard by those around you is a bit much. Sometimes I feel like turning around and loudly joining in their conversation; I assume they must be talking loudly enough for me to hear because they want me to be part of it. And then they have the cheek to go all cross-armed & pouty when the error of their ways is pointed out to them. And then, of course, the inevitable boyfriend takes umbrage at his precious being told to shut it. Incredible.

SeeTickets are selling tickets up to & beyond the Sep 4th show if anyone is looking, they still have good seats available.

Mandrake wrote:

I wonder if LND advertising is making people more inclined to see Phantom than LND. I noticed the last time I was there, last Saturday, that there were two large LND strip adverts in the foyer, flanking the lectern desk. Not cool.

No!!

On the plus side, this reeks of The Woman in White's desperate attempts to generate some business when they started handing out promotional WIW CDs to Phantom attendees... But that was only done eight months or so into WIW's run, and LND only opened last month. Is it really doing that badly?!

Scorp wrote:On the plus side, this reeks of The Woman in White's desperate attempts to generate some business when they started handing out promotional WIW CDs to Phantom attendees... But that was only done eight months or so into WIW's run, and LND only opened last month. Is it really doing that badly?!

If I were to guess, I would think it's doing OK, but a lot more is at stake for ALW and the producers re: LND compared to WiW. LND seems to be a more prestigious production, and something I think they're quite desperate to present as a success. Especially because of the sequel formate and the less-stellar reviews.

operafantomet wrote:

Scorp wrote:On the plus side, this reeks of The Woman in White's desperate attempts to generate some business when they started handing out promotional WIW CDs to Phantom attendees... But that was only done eight months or so into WIW's run, and LND only opened last month. Is it really doing that badly?!

If I were to guess, I would think it's doing OK, but a lot more is at stake for ALW and the producers re: LND compared to WiW. LND seems to be a more prestigious production, and something I think they're quite desperate to present as a success. Especially because of the sequel formate and the less-stellar reviews.

Yeah a lot more is at stake, but it seems silly for them to keep something open for the sake of it. A certain former Christine told me the other day that the show wasn't doing very well. And there do seem to be a LOT of seats available for something that only opened last month.

My guess is that LND's London run, if business remains like this, won't exceed that of WIW's... I wonder if they'll do a Sunset and shut it down and re-open it in an attempt to save it after it goes to the US. The problem is, no amount of improvements in direction will fix Ben Elton's book which the whole show is based on.

I wonder if Ben Elton still thinks his story is "much better" than Gaston Leroux's...

Something must be up with ticket sales at the original, because I can never recall not being able to book in over four months in advance. For many years I've been able to book into July/August weekend shows within a couple weeks of the performance -- usually in a half-way decent seat. I suspect that there is something to the theory of the "sequel" reminding people of the original. I guess it's the same type of phenomenon as when the movie came out in 2004.

Does anybody know if there is any promotion of the original at the Adelphi? I'm just wondering if this promotion is working both ways or not.

Scorp wrote:I wonder if Ben Elton still thinks his story is "much better" than Gaston Leroux's...

OK, I've had about 10 different comments on this one. All snarky and bitchy. But in the end I'll just say:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I guess I'll be the first to post this. Rebecca Lock announced this morning via Twitter that she will be leaving the show in September. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, as performers want new challenges. She has been a fantastic Carlotta, and I look forward to hearing of her next project.

Simon Bailey is also leaving in September. I meant to post this weeks ago but forgot my log in information. Oops. And anyone in America reading this is in for a treat as he is going over to America!

Gina Beck looks set to leave (but is making decision in June) and SJD hasn't been given an offer. Barry/Gareth and Rohan all look set to leave...

Wow -- we are in for quite a purge. Rohan seems to have been around for so long. Barry and Gareth have both done two years. I guess this will leave us, potentially, with David Shannon (if he stays -- I've heard he gets bored quickly, though), Niki Adams, and Emma Harris.

I hope that the producers extend SJD if he wants to stay -- maybe put him on as Alternate? Would Scott Davies like to step up to Principal at this stage, I wonder?

And, once again, I hope that the producers FINALLY give Philip Griffiths the break he deserves and give him a run as Andre.

Scott Davies says he would gladly be principal if the money were right! (Sadly I don't think it will ever happen...)

I guess I'll be the first to post this. Rebecca Lock announced this morning via Twitter that she will be leaving the show in September. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, as performers want new challenges. She has been a fantastic Carlotta, and I look forward to hearing of her next project.

I was hoping she'd stay, but I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next. I'm probably only going back once before cast change. Knowing my luck, she'll be off the day I decide to go.

And, once again, I hope that the producers FINALLY give Philip Griffiths the break he deserves and give him a run as Andre.

How long has he been with the show now? If he was Andre, I'd miss him opening the show as the auctioneer. Although, he could play the auctioneer and Andre, since Andre doesn't feature in the auction scene.

Wow -- we are in for quite a purge. Rohan seems to have been around for so long. Barry and Gareth have both done two years. I guess this will leave us, potentially, with David Shannon (if he stays -- I've heard he gets bored quickly, though), Niki Adams, and Emma Harris

I'll miss Rohan if he goes. I adore his Piangi. I'd quite like Nicky Adams to stay. I wasn't sure about her the first time I saw her as Mme Giry, but I liked her a lot the second time. She seemed to have become a lot more confident. We probably won't know for a while yet about who's joining the cast, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Ah, yes. Philip has been starting the show for many years. I believe that he joined the cast in 1990. I can remember him doing the auction scene from as far back as 1993....hard to believe. While we'd miss his distinctive voice, I'm sure that the man is quite tired of doing the scene himself! I'd love to see him get his well-deserved break. I suppose that he coud do the auction and Andre, as he currently does the Auction and then, just a few moments later, re-appears as Reyer, but who knows? I've seen Philip as Andre a couple of times, and he's as good as any other that I've seen. PG for Andre!!!!

Sorry to hear Rohan Tickell and Rebecca Lock are leaving, they are both just brilliant in their roles.

Does the format of this thread seem weird to anyone else? Black strips across it...

Yes, the format of threads has been messed up for me for quite some time now Mandrake. Really annoying.

Hi folks, there's been issues with the phpbb3 version this forum used. That goes for all forumotion sites, and they still haven't figures out the error. I've temporarily switched it back to phpbb2. It looks dull, and we loose our super cool Raphael artwork, but at least it works.

About the changes in the London cast: I sorta expected it, but at the same time it's so sad. The current cast is super strong, and it seems all the good ones in the lead roles have announced their departure. Not cool. I usually love cast changes, but... I think the current cast is the strongest the London production has had in years. I hope they'll keep that high standard.

Cammie is discounting the London production as part of his 'May Musicals' offer! I don't have time to take advantage of it sadly, but maybe someone here might like to?

http://maymusicals.com/

Gina Beck is definitely leaving... very sad!

My mum was going to take advantage of that May Musicals offer but all the dates she tried were sold out. I don't have time to take advantage either, and am currently actually on holiday while I type this...

Okay I freed up some time and am seeing the show for the first time in a while tomorrow, will have Katy Treharne as Christine who I have not seen before so looking forward to it.

Have fun! Does anyone know how the Phantom cast got on at West End Eurovision last night?

Fourth place, I believe.

They were top with the judges but the text voting let them down.

Here's there ident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUtHUk-UCd8

ETA: Their not there... blame tiredness.