He’s doing the Roblox wave
i keep thinking about this and giggling
I don't CARE what genre your fictional world is, put a talking skeleton in it NOW
The feminine urge to see Phantom of the Opera 27 times and put a picture of Michael Crawford in your refrigerator. Not on it. In it.
Stanley Allyn Owen had his Raoul debut yesterday! Pictured here with Caitlin Finnie and Jonathan Roxmouth. All photos from his Instagram.
A peek at Simon Whitaker as the Phantom, who had his debut recently in Sofia, along with Georgia Wilkinson as Christine and Lara Martins as Carlotta.
An abundance of gorgeous photos from Phantom in Sofia, starring Nadim Naaman as the Phantom, Bridget Costello as Christine, and Dougie Carter as Raoul. These and many more photos can be found here (x).
A note that in the article it mentions that it’s unlikely to be an adaptation of the ALW musical.
POTO Middle East Tour Cast (Updated)
I noticed there were some new faces in the tour, so I thought I’d attach the new cast list here!
(HALF*) 2024/25 cast REVIEW 31.08.2024
Spent 2 shows yesterday at phantom which I haven’t done in a while! Planned this couple months ago to see the new cast however I had covers for Raoul, Mme Giry & Piangi and all swings on too! There was a lot of people off!
First off it felt so strange to not see some cast members who had been there since 2021!
Ensemble was made up of all 5 swings being on which is a first for me I think?
Overall lovely performances from all, new corps de ballet were gorgeous as always!
For the Principals I’ll start with Millie Lyon as Meg who was brilliant - lovely youthful voice, feisty characterisation and a BLONDE wig! I’ve missed the blonde wig! Fantastic Meg looking forward to seeing her much more.
Martin Ball as Firmin is an absolute triumph! Hilariously pompous and arrogant and such a grumbly kind of voice he was a standout last night, he seemed to play the role like he was tipsy drunk the majority of the time and he was just not interested in all the dramas going on. Great chemistry with Adam which I admittedly thought may have been difficult to achieve after Matt Harrop but I absolutely loved his take on the character!
Hywel Dowsell was on for Piangi, last time I seen him he was second cover and was on for the first time in 18 months! Lovely nuanced performance with little ad-libs and added acting pieces - really enjoyed!
Victoria Ward was on for Mme Giry I’ve seen her once before and I really enjoyed her and even yesterday she was such a standout! Beautiful voice and again such nuanced acting and more motherly to Meg!
Joanna Ampil as Carlotta was very different to what we’ve seen before, less operatic and more ever so slightly belty sometimes her voice got a little lost in the music, still some gorgeous top notes but I just was hoping for a little more oomph from her voice. acting wise was generally great but I did hope for a little more over the top like Carlotta should be, looking forward to seeing how she grows into the role over the next year!
Enjoyed Michael as Raoul - super strong voice and some great acting choices! I’ve now seen him as many times as I’ve seen Joe! (6 times) Joe is admittedly more my cup of tea acting wise but I enjoyed him nonetheless.
Lily was on fire yesterday, gorgeous voice and acting was out of this world, a top tier Christine by miles! My only slight gripe is her last note in think of me I’m not sure if the orchestra is rushing her or something else but it’s very short, her other high notes are held much longer but I just wish she got to hold it slightly longer as it felt super rushed, 8th time seeing her and always finding new things I love about her Portrayal! Her chemistry with Dean was also insane!!!
Now for Dean, I heard the opening night audio and I’ll admit I wasn’t crazy about his voice and didn’t hear too much acting albeit through audio so my expectations were mid however, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY that was how a Phantom should sound his voice literally vibrated the auditorium and was just ridiculously gorgeous!!! Acting wise he was more gentler with Christine until the final lair when he let loose. I’ll go out on a limb and say from all the Phantoms I’ve seen he may have been my favourite in line with Earl Carpenter - vocally 100% my favourite he reminded me of Colm Wilkinson, Tim Howar & Killian Donnelly in some musical points. a firm favourite!
Really great cast, will be back to catch the full principal cast so I can see Helen Hobson as Mme Giry!
Aiming to see Eve with the new cast too as I last saw her nearly a year ago and must’ve caught an off show as she wasn’t sounding great but after hearing more recent audios she sounded as beautiful as her debut! Would also love to see Zoe on as Carlotta as she has a voice that lifts the ensemble to new heights!
I do have audios from the 2 shows yesterday, please message me to trade but disclaimer that my replies are not great rn as work has been super hectic!
The original broadway set for Sweeney Todd fucks
Set by Eugene Lee
Some curtain call photos of Bridget in Sofia. Fear not, the wig is not as short as it appeared in the promotional photos.
Hey GP! May we get some PoNR skirt swish gifs? My fav is Trista Moldovan
Ah, the skirt swish! It's an interesting bit of blocking that doesn't show up everywhere. In the US, I first noticed it being done around 2009-2010 in the national tour, by Kelly Jeanne Grant and Trista Moldovan as shown below:
Trista Moldovan then took it to Broadway where she influenced some of the other Broadway Christines into doing it, like Marni Raab and Samantha Hill. Below is Marni Raab:
But after that, it fell out of vogue, and I haven't seen it as much in the flagship productions. Rather, the places I've seen it were sporadically in Germany, such as Alison Kelly in Hamburg, Sandra Danyella in Essen (she swish and she sits), Valerie Link in the Hamburg revival (the slip-and-slide version), and Elizabeth Welch in Oberhausen (who may have brought it over from Broadway):
And then in international productions from 2015 on - in fact, I think most of these are productions directed by Arthur Masella, so I think he's pretty much incorporated it into his direction. So it's popped up in the Moscow production (with Mercedesz Csampai's thigh-baring rendition), the World Tours (shown with the very energetic Sara Sarres), the Stockholm revival (with Emmi Christensson), the Copenhagen revival (with Sibylle Glosted's more understated interpretation), and the Sao Paulo revival (with Lina Mendes and her big swish). I've also seen it done in the Korean and Chinese productions but I can't gif many of those videos so just take my word for it:
Hope those show some interesting and fun versions!
Another reblog because a new clip of JRox and Grace Roberts was shared, swishes and all!
Hey GP! May we get some PoNR skirt swish gifs? My fav is Trista Moldovan
Ah, the skirt swish! It's an interesting bit of blocking that doesn't show up everywhere. In the US, I first noticed it being done around 2009-2010 in the national tour, by Kelly Jeanne Grant and Trista Moldovan as shown below:
Trista Moldovan then took it to Broadway where she influenced some of the other Broadway Christines into doing it, like Marni Raab and Samantha Hill. Below is Marni Raab:
But after that, it fell out of vogue, and I haven't seen it as much in the flagship productions. Rather, the places I've seen it were sporadically in Germany, such as Alison Kelly in Hamburg, Sandra Danyella in Essen (she swish and she sits), Valerie Link in the Hamburg revival (the slip-and-slide version), and Elizabeth Welch in Oberhausen (who may have brought it over from Broadway):
And then in international productions from 2015 on - in fact, I think most of these are productions directed by Arthur Masella, so I think he's pretty much incorporated it into his direction. So it's popped up in the Moscow production (with Mercedesz Csampai's thigh-baring rendition), the World Tours (shown with the very energetic Sara Sarres), the Stockholm revival (with Emmi Christensson), the Copenhagen revival (with Sibylle Glosted's more understated interpretation), and the Sao Paulo revival (with Lina Mendes and her big swish). I've also seen it done in the Korean and Chinese productions but I can't gif many of those videos so just take my word for it:
Hope those show some interesting and fun versions!
Happy birthday Sarah Brightman