The London production 1

Callie Daae wrote:I agree with everyone, I'm not a fan of the London mask at all. They should go back to the original mask, the kind that MC & early Phantoms wore.

Oh, but then at least I haven't expressed myself well enough. I adore the current London masks! I just don't think the one SJD wears fits his face. It looks too big for him.

auctioneer wrote:Right - I don't think we disagree very much at all. The only disagreement I have is that I don't believe that management has someone watching every performance. There are performance reports done by the technical people that document any difficulties (in case anything goes technically wrong), but as far as I know, there isn't a designated person who watches every performance. I believe the resident director watches from time to time, the company manager may well see part of a given show, and there are always drop-ins from other members of the in-house direction and production teams, but this would probably cover maybe a quarter of total performances, I would think.

I recently saw a picture from one of the offices at HMT. There were rows and rows of ring binders on a shelf, and the picture was labeled "23 years of show reports!". Each individual ring binder was labeled "Show reports year 12", "Show reports year 13" etc. I know other London shows gets notes taken on each performance, and it seems from this photo Phantom does too... But it might be one of the technicians or stage manager taking these notes, and not a director.

There is a show report for every single show. I can guarantee that, some quite amusing things work there ways into them as well.

EarlFan wrote: That guy trying to get everyone's autographs, ah bless him, he stood there asking everyone if they had played Christine. At last Sofia Escobar came out and he finally got his autograph from Christine

That's why I eventually started saying to him "he plays Raoul... he plays the Phantom... there's Christine!" ha ha. Did amuse me when I was talking to Katy and he asked her and she said "No, well not tonight."

ETA: Oh Scorp they DO have a new sign that sits outside (the ferris wheel/ Phantom and Christine one) but I noticed it was missing yesterday evening and thought perhaps you'd tipped it over or something.

starryeyed wrote:ETA: Oh Scorp they DO have a new sign that sits outside (the ferris wheel/ Phantom and Christine one) but I noticed it was missing yesterday evening and thought perhaps you'd tipped it over or something.

Haaaaahahahahahaaahaaa!! Now I seriously had water coming out of my nose (because I was drinking water, if anyone was in doubt...).

And glad to get that show report thing for Phantom confirmed. I read some months of show reports for another London musical, and had a jolly good time. It was brutally honest, and sometimes very amusing. "XXX should NOT have performed today" (because of voice issues). "Don't ever allow XXX to improvise again". "Audience member on third fifth row had an incredibly annoying laughter". Stuff like that.

Aaaaw, and that sweet bloke getting autographs. I liked him. And he had such a cute family with him last time. Driving several hours in crappy weather? No stress, their son liked Phantom, it was worth it.

I love the London mask; it's probably my second or third favorite design after the later Toronto masks and the original Broadway masks. But, yeah, as Anea said, SJD's doesn't seem to fit him well there. Sometimes they don't look like they fit them well in post-show pics, though, because they kind of throw them back on for curtain call, and they're not fit as well as in the beginning of the show.

You could say the same for his wig...during the curtain call, it is probably slapped back on sometimes instead of specifically aligned.

This image was in the newspapers over the weekend. I love it. Bring back the black permanently please!

Blue (full) logo, mask-of-candles AND black background! It warms my battered Phantom heart SO much!

As for the wig-and-mask-slapped-on thing, you're absolutely right. Didn't think of that. But to be fair, I've seen pre-show photos of SJD, and his mask still seems too big for his face. I still can't believe it is custom made to fit him.

operafantomet wrote:Blue (full) logo, mask-of-candles AND black background! It warms my battered Phantom heart SO much!

I feel exactly the same. That ad just screamed 'Phantom' to me and gave me the same warm fuzzy feeling in a way that all recent publicity has not done...

As for the wig-and-mask-slapped-on thing, you're absolutely right. Didn't think of that. But to be fair, I've seen pre-show photos of SJD, and his mask still seems too big for his face. I still can't believe it is custom made to fit him.

Just to prove he did have this headcast taken:

You know, that new picture reminds me of the Phantom ads for the Canadian production. The one where someone lights a candle, and the camera pans up and reveals the candles in the shape of a Phantom mask. I miss those old ads.

ML6 wrote:You know, that new picture reminds me of the Phantom ads for the Canadian production. The one where someone lights a candle, and the camera pans up and reveals the candles in the shape of a Phantom mask. I miss those old ads.

Oh yeah, I knew it looked familiar.

ML6 wrote:You know, that new picture reminds me of the Phantom ads for the Canadian production. The one where someone lights a candle, and the camera pans up and reveals the candles in the shape of a Phantom mask. I miss those old ads.

I remember them playing that commercial for the San Francisco production as well.

R.

Those of you on Facebook have probably already seen this, but the official site posted video from YouTube of the post-10,000th-performance celebration with MC, ALW, et al:
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/news_reviews/news/story726.php

Ha-ha, I love all the applause. And the fact that they introduce their famous guests (and the cake!) with live Phantom music.

And they really were generous with the smoke this evening...

ETA: is it true Scott Davies is back in the saddle? I feel sorry for him for having missed the 10,000 performance. On the other hand, I feel happy for SJD who got the chance to fill in. So...

operafantomet wrote:ETA: is it true Scott Davies is back in the saddle? I feel sorry for him for having missed the 10,000 performance. On the other hand, I feel happy for SJD who got the chance to fill in. So...

These anniversary performances seem to be the luck of the draw when it comes to who's playing. One of the anniversary shows on Broadway fell on a day that the principal Christine wasn't on, so she didn't get to participate, either.

R.

ALW has now entered into a contract to sell Her Majesty's, along with the Palace (the first theatre ALW ever owned and which has hosted 3 of his musicals, in addition to Les Mis for most of its run), the Cambridge and the New London (where Cats opened), to Michael Grade. End of an era -- Really Useful has had HM's for 10 years now. Michael Grade will be the third owner of HM's during Phantom's run. The transaction will be completed by January.

I wonder if Cammie offered anything for said theatres. Not sure whether he's looking to expand his theatre empire or not.

Something I didn't know is that Michael Grade is the nephew of Lord Delfont, the same Delfont who sold his theatres to Cameron Mackintosh (hence why that company is 'Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Ltd').

Really Useful Theatres Ltd is a subsidiary of RUG Ltd. When ALW says he sold the theatres to "reduce the debt in the family company", which company is he talking about? Will the money raised be fed back to RUG? And if it's RUG, where has the debt come from?

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/lloyd-webber-sells-four-theatres-to-michael-grade-2118503.html

Yes Scott is back in the role now. He went back Monday night took Tuesday off and was back on last night. It is a real shame he missed the 10,000th but his health is what matters of course.

For anyone wishing to see the Raoul understudy he will be performing Thursday 18th November - Saturday 20th November.

ETA: for UK fans you will want to watch Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday for a Phantom surprise!

I was just uploading some completely non-related photos from my camera to my Mac when I found a photo I'd completely forgotten I had taken sneakily and very very quickly last time I saw the show on the same night as starryeyed and Earlfan (for some reason the ushers weren't screaming at people not to take pics, so I used the rare opportunity to photograph the stage of the London production very quickly before anyone noticed). The result was this, and it's just give me a whole new appreciation for Andrew Bridge's lighting design. His use of chiaroscuro in the prologue scene is fantastically atmospheric.

You know I've never seen any ushers bother about pictures before the performance of the stage but come interval they really do crack down on it. By the way, Scorp or Earlfan did you see the person in the front row nearly get taken out by the chandelier that night?

starryeyed wrote:You know I've never seen any ushers bother about pictures before the performance of the stage but come interval they really do crack down on it. By the way, Scorp or Earlfan did you see the person in the front row nearly get taken out by the chandelier that night?

Most ushers doesn't seem to care if you take pictures before the show, but I've seen some who really try to stop people from taking pictures. Really, I can't see why it is such a big deal. With the safety curtain down people can only take pictures of the angels and the theatre anyway. And before the show starts you can't take many good pictures either.

starryeyed wrote:By the way, Scorp or Earlfan did you see the person in the front row nearly get taken out by the chandelier that night?

No, must have missed that! I wonder if they should warn people who are very tall and sit in "the danger zone"

Is tonight John Owen Jones' first night back? I was tempted to go but I might be working in London later in the week so would have the hotel and meals paid by my work... Quandry.

Mandrake wrote:Is tonight John Owen Jones' first night back? I was tempted to go but I might be working in London later in the week so would have the hotel and meals paid by my work... Quandry.

Yes, I noticed the official POTO FB site welcomed him back for his first performance this evening. So I'm guessing Scott Davies is now alternate standby Phantom, and that we have JOJ as principal Phantom. I hope to catch both!

...and JOJ is off already with a bacterial throat infection. Poor sod.

It's that time of year. Bad timing though. I guess now Davies will get even more time behind the mask for a little while.

I saw Phantom again yesterday afternoon (5th Nov.) It was Scott Davies as Phantom. I didn't think I'd get the opportunity to see him in the role again, so I was very pleased that he was on. He was fantastic. He's definately become one of my favourite Phantoms. Will Barratt is fast becoming my favourite Raoul. He's a fantastic singer and actor and he gets better and better each time I see him. I like Sofia Escobar as Christine. I saw Nicola Rutherford as Carlotta. I saw her a couple of years ago, and I thought she was great. I absolutely loved her yesterday. She plays a very bitchy Carlotta, which I like. She's got a lovely voice too and worked very well with Rohan Tickell (who was as good as ever.) John Jack was on for Andre. He stood out in the ensemble last time I saw the show, so I thought he'd make a good Andre. I was very pleased when I read his name on the cast list. He was even better than I expected him to be. He had fantastic comic timing, and worked very well with Barry James. I saw Kate Batter as Mme Giry. She was very good. She has very powerful voice, so I could hear her clearly in Prima Donna. Her acting was good. I think she'll be excellent once she's been on a bit more. However, she's very young, a bit too young looking for Mme Giry. I liked Anna Forbes as Meg a lot, she was very sweet. Ensemble were excellent. Many thanks to the cast and all involved in the performance.

I put it here, as it's the London cast who'll be featured. But people from all over the world can send in their questions to the various characters. It might be used in some video interviews they'll do:
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/phantom-questions/

Helen, thanks a lot for the mini review. I STILL haven't seen Scott Davies, and I really want to. I like his ideas of what the role is all about, and I love the little I've seen and heard of him.

I saw the show on Friday, it was the first time I've seen John Owen Jones and I must say I was blown away by his performance. His "be" in MOTN was definitely the best I've heard, you could really hear how strong and mature his voice is. He made a nice little speech after the curtain call about Children In Need, asking everybody to donate. It was lovely, the audience loved him!

Went to the stage door afterwards and met up with Scorp. We waited quite a while for JOJ so we started to think he wouldn't really bother to come out before it was time for him to go to the BBC. But even if he took his time he did came out, and he spent some time signing programs and taking pictures. We talked to him for a bit before he had to rush off to get some dinner before his appearance on CIN. He was so nice to everybody. So glad I went to see the show, it was kind of a last minute decision for me but I called Seetickets and they had some nice seats left so I went for it.

Did he take off and then put on his makeup again for CIN, or did he emerge still in makeup?

SenorSwanky wrote:Did he take off and then put on his makeup again for CIN, or did he emerge still in makeup?

He came out without makeup so I guess they had to do it again, but it would have been pretty cool if he had kept it on. Imagine him walking into a restaurant/shop to get his dinner in full makeup