Just finished a fascinating two-part oral history of Phantom on Broadway and in London from The Theatre Times. Lots of great stories about the Majestic in Part I.
In Part II, James Paterson, an Original London Cast member of Phantom and long-time resident director at Her Majesty's, gives a lot of great insight, including his thoughts on Love Never Dies and the desecration of Maria's designs:
"...like taking Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and deciding to make the petals purple!"
"The original show of Phantom in Production and Design is an iconic piece of Art and it should not be interfered with! Make new ones if you must, but leave the original be!"
Especially Michael, as he's still with us and it sounds like was planning to be there right up until the last minute! They should have at least read off his Twitter tribute to the show. It would have made a better speech than Cameron's.
Wishing the cast, crew, orchestra and alumni of The Phantom of the Opera an unforgettable closing night. Thank you for carrying on the legacy of this beautiful show for thirty-five years. Though I can't be there for the final performance due to ill-timed emergency dental surgery, my heart is full of love and gratitude for everyone involved in this production including all who are celebrating tonight at the Majestic Theatre, and those from the original and truly special creative team and Broadway company who are no longer with us.
What an amazing experience it was to work on such an extraordinary and magical piece of theatre.
It has given, I hope, audiences, for the last thirty-five years, an experience that will stay with them for years to come. I'm so grateful for the opportunity afforded me and I'm sad that I can't be there with you all for your last performance.
What really saddens me is that aside from not fully acknowledging the original cast and alumni present, at least in the circulated videos of the curtain call, nothing special musically was done except the truncated version of "Music of the Night" in which everyone joined in. With the number of Phantoms on stage, you think they could have done something more.
The 25th anniversary had the Phantom quintet with reprises of the title song with Sierra and "Music of the Night,&
Re: Ben Crawford, I understand that everyone in the cast is hyper-emotional right now and going through a lot of disappointment and anger with the show having just closed, but the closing night was supposed to be a celebration of everyone involved with the Broadway production for the last 35 years, not just him. And considering that the 35th anniversary curtain call wasn't much of anything, the fact that so many cast alumni showed up should be lauded, not derided.
If anyone named Crawford wants to feel slighted, it should be Michael Crawford, whose absence, at least in the videos I was able to find, wasn't mentioned aside from showing his picture on screen with the other Broadway Phantoms. Ben Crawford was called out by name and brought to stand on stage with his bouquet. If he's still recovering vocally, did he expect to make a speech or something?
I didn't mean at all to imply Ted was acting that way. He just genuinely wants to play the role whenever he can. He was really keen to go on during Jeremy's week according to a cast member at stage door (fuzzy on whom, I 85% sure it was Greg Mills) and had initially thought he might be getting one that week, which was from Ted himself after seeing Jeremy on April 5.
Those sentiments come from Paul and Greg themselves. Greg is satisfied with
I was there for the final matinee on 4/15, Ted Keegan and Julia Udine's last performance, and they were both magnificent. Together with John Riddle as Raoul, they made up what is in my opinion the best trio since the original cast. Ted is a true tenor, which I love, and he plays the role very close to Michael Crawford, going for pathos rather than terror or total intimidation as some Phantoms do. He even copies a lot of Michael's blocking, including raising his arms at the high A of "Music of the Night." Julia's voice has a lot of the qualities I enjoy in Sarah Brightman's voice, that crystalline, birdlike soprano, and her British accent is a lot more even than most American actresses who've played the role. She was crying all the way through "Wishing" (as was the audience), but she still managed to sing it beautifully. She broke down completely afterwards, but the well-deserved standing ovation gave her time to recover before "Wandering Child."
The chemistry between her and Ted was palpable in "Point of No Return." The newer staging makes Christine/Aminta a bit less demure than when Sarah Brightman played the role, and boy did Julia go for it, spreading her legs wide while seated on the bench, and when she flashed her leg at Don Juan/The Phantom, you would have thought she had given him an electric shock, Ted jolted back so far. Ted is the only actor I've seen after Michael Crawford to really show the Phantom's physical torment while he sits on the bench during Christine's part, swaying, not knowing what to do with his hands, and even sort of collapsing in on himself. When he moves away from Christine and she follows him and presses her body against his during the last few bars, the impact is so much stronger than when the Phantom basically sits there like a bump on a log.
Understandably, the finale was super emotional. Ted was putting his hand to his lip right after Julia kissed him; I almost wondered if he's had a mishap like happened to Michael Crawford, with the prosthetic coming off. And when Julia gave Ted the ring back, they stayed holding hands for longer than I've ever seen. At the curtain call, Julia was still crying, and Ted pulled her in for a little kiss before taking his bow.
As my first and last time seeing the original Hal Prince production of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, I don't think I could have asked for a better cast or a better performance. While I know when Phantom returns to Broadway it won't be the same, I hope the powers that be don't repeat one of the mistakes of the London revival of not hiring back the veteran cast. It would be a shame if the world never got to see these wonderful performers in these roles again.
In all the articles covering the recently-opened Museum of Broadway, there looks to be an area dedicated to Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," with memorabilia including a Red Death costume and a monkey music box.
For anyone who's been, do you know if any of the costumes or props are from the original 1988 opening, or are they later reproductions?
kdogg36 said: "Penna2 said: "I suspect he might have some new ideas up his sleeve."
There's some discussion of this in a recent Washington Post article, including some grousing about whether he'd be allowed to write Evita today since he's not from Argentina."
What I find far more interesting about the Washington Post interview is the quote from Andrew Lloyd Webber regarding Phantom: "The truth of the matter is that 'Phantom' does not need to close in New York at all."
Even assuming the Majestic is genuinely overdue for a refresh, it feels to me like the renovation is being used to try and justify closing the production down completely rather than simply put a pause on the show while things are fixed up.
Honestly, given the fact that practically every show since September has been SRO, Cameron Mackintosh would be smarter to boost the base price of the tickets to try and make up for whatever increased costs there might be and just let the current show keep going. I for one wouldn't be willing to part with $300+ a ticket for a revival with reduced orchestra, sets, costumes, cast, etc., but I would absolutely do the same for the show as it currently exists.
Hot Pants said: "This is just straight up disrespectful to Hal Prince. One of the advantages of Phantom running so long is that despite his passing, his work would continue to be seen and loved. Keep his staging. It’s worked for decades and it’ll continue to work now."
I absolutely agree. I was lucky enough to catch one of the final performances of the original tour in 2010, just before it closed. Nothing can compare with Hal Prince's staging, Maria Bjornson's designs, and Gillian Lynne's choreography. To even consider bringing back "Phantom" without their contributions is wrong on so many levels, especially since all three are no longer with us.
While I am praying that Andrew Lloyd Webber is successful in overrulling Cameron Mackintosh's hope for a watered-down production, the decision to close rather than suspend the show may actually have some method behind the madness.
According to this article, the plans to refurbish Phantom's sets and Her Majesty's Theatre have been in the works since last year, even before the pandemic began shutting things down.
And according to a post on this message-board, for the last 30+ years, the musicians and crew have both been on running contracts, which means that even if they're no longer needed or wanted due to changing technology, there's no way to fire them until the show ends its run.
Reading between the lines, by shutting down the show, they can start with a cleaner, cheaper slate. By pulling out of HM's, they not only can avoid the theatre refurbishment costs, but they also won't have the same constraints if they need to expand the orchestra pit, etc., to accomodate distance between people, as it is a Grade II listed building and loaned to ALW by the Crown rather than owned outright.
While this is just my own conjecture here, I think it's entirely possible that POTO may end up reopening at the ALW-owned London Palladium, likely with a smaller crew and orchestra, but hopefully the same production otherwise. I personally think it's suggestive that ALW chose to use the Palladium for his post-COVID test reopening last week, a theatre with twice the capacity of HM's and a fresher refurbishment.
I'm hoping that CM's "permanently closing" was intended to shock the British government into finally paying out the 2.5 billion pounds in money allocated to save the arts, which they incidentially didn't make public until July 5th, and only after the Royal Albert Hall announced that they might have to close after 150 years if they didn't get financial assistance. To me, his Evening Standard tell-all came at a weird time, before he got any bailout money, and just a few days before London theatres are set to open on August 1st. It also seems like a huge about-face from June, when he still was saying that extended closure and refurbishment was the goal.
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