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Member Name: MSecaur
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Most Recent Message Board Posts

Re: New Phantom 2026 Mixes - I LOVE them!

Oct 9, 2026 — 9:21:08 PM

I’ve been listening to the remastered/remixed album since practically the moment it was released. While the original master will always hold a special place in my heart, I love how vibrant all the vocals sound in the 2026 ALW version, like listening to them all singing right beside you, especially Michael Crawford. I always knew he had an amazing voice, but he’ll blow you out of your socks now! I almost wonder if the limitations of the technology back in the day made it so they had to so heav...

Re: Will Phantom Tour Land on Broadway?

Sep 23, 2026 — 1:02:05 PM

Re the Rat Catcher, I think the difference is down to the staging on the tour versus other productions I’ve seen. While I always knew of his existence from the original novel and libretto, he’s really visible now. The lighting on the bridge is much better now, and for the show I saw in Tempe, he REALLY made his presence known, with at least two really hard slaps down as he crossed right in front of Madame Giry and Raoul. In the past, he kind of slipped past them in the shadows.

Re: Will Phantom Tour Land on Broadway?

Sep 23, 2026 — 2:03:10 AM

I saw the tour in Tempe on Sunday. The original Broadway production, which I saw on its closing weekend in 2023, for Ted Keegan and Julia Udine’s final performances, is still very fresh in my mind, so here are the most noticeable differences:The chandelier. While “Gillian” is said to be larger and faster than “Ruthie II,” this was my least favorite part of the show. It is round rather than oblong, and while closer to the real chandelier at the Palais Garnier in Paris, it just doesn’t have the...

Mar 26, 2026 — 4:49:16 PM

I don’t know if this is the same book as the long-promised and never delivered Behind the Scenes at the Palais Garnier that’s been kicking around since I think 2018, but a new behind-the scenes book was just announced to be published October 27th to celebrate The Phantom of the Opera’s 40th anniversary. There’s a foreword by Andrew Lloyd Webber like the Palais Garnier book, but more pages (320 versus 192), so maybe it was worth the wait:https://www.amazon

Phantom Closing?

Apr 22, 2023 — 4:58:44 PM

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.https://thetheatretimes.com/the-house-where-phantom-lived-part-i-the-majestic-theatre-new-york/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 d

Phantom Closing?

Apr 22, 2023 — 12:59:13 AM

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 emerge...

Phantom Closing?

Apr 21, 2023 — 11:52:03 PM

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," and the 30th had the S...

Phantom Closing?

Apr 21, 2023 — 9:31:26 PM

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 want...

Phantom Closing?

Apr 21, 2023 — 5:43:11 PM

poto19882023 said: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 the final performance he gave on Ma...

Phantom Closing?

Apr 19, 2023 — 4:04:18 AM

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...

Museum of Broadway - Phantom of the Opera Display

Mar 18, 2023 — 6:33:59 PM

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?https://www.playbill.com/article/photos-get-a-1st-look-inside-the-museum-of-broadway

Phantom Closing?

Mar 18, 2023 — 5:03:22 PM

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."

Phantom to change to

Jul 29, 2020 — 4:15:41 PM

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 chor...

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