How did James Barbour Do as the New Phantom?- Page 3

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 9:18am

^Ha!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 9:19am

Oh yeah, social media's a hot mess when it comes to the Barbour.

They're all seven years late to the party if you ask me but whatever.

[sueb1863]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 3:49pm

Yeah, tumblr's basically nothing but outraged Phantom and theater fans demanding he be kicked off the show, and a few supporters. Not much to see there.



Updated On: 2/13/15 at 03:49 PM

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 4:35pm

Well if y'all look hard enough on tumblr you'll also find a page that has a handful of clips from James' first night as the Phantom.

Updated On: 2/13/15 at 04:35 PM

[goldenboy]

Posted: 2/19/15 at 6:50pm

Caught James Barbour in Phantom today. In a word... he is spectacular. Beautifully sung and acted. He was eerily thrilling. I am not a fan of this show. I find it boring but I was pleasantly surprised how fresh the production was. It didn't seem tired at all. Ammazingly fresh for a 27 year old run. Barbour got a unanamous standing ovation which was well deserved.

[sueb1863]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 3:57pm

Well if y'all look hard enough on tumblr you'll also find a page that has a handful of clips from James' first night as the Phantom. <<

I've been looking but nothing's coming up along that line. Did they take the page down?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 12:05am

It helps if you got to the filter function and select audio.

I did and was able to hear the clips....and naturally, I got goosebumps.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 12:20am

"Barbour got a unanamous standing ovation…"

That's unheard of in this day and age.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 1:45pm

"Festen" got a standing ovation.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 1:57pm

Thanks, Mattbrain for the filter tip. I was finally able to sort through the nonsense and find the clips. He sounds sensational.

[sueb1863]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 2:55pm

Yes, thanks, Mattbrain, I found them too! He sounds great.

I found it interesting that in the clip from the ending of the show, they started applauded as soon as Barbour finished singing his last line, before the show was even really over.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 3:03pm

That's actually a normal occurrence. ^ There are plenty of videos and audio clips from special performances or a Phantom's first/last night where the audience starts applauding at the last note.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 3:58pm

Just finished listening to the audio and James does really good here. Honestly the "fans" are 7 years late to hate on him now; nor will the production heed to such things.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 4:26pm

"Honestly the "fans" are 7 years late to hate on him now;"

I've been saying that from the get-go! And it's not like the man hasn't worked since A Tale of Two Cities! Hell, remember when his next Broadway show was supposed to be Rebecca?

[lady1052]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 3:20pm

Although haven't had opportunity to see it yet, I knew he would "knock it out of the ballpark". Does anyone know how long he will be in it?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 3:33pm

I found it interesting that in the clip from the ending of the show, they started applauded as soon as Barbour finished singing his last line, before the show was even really over.

That happens on occasion. (Not just with him.)

[REVA107]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 9:56am

I went to see Phantom last night and James Barbour was stunning in the role! I saw Phantom years ago and the whole show fell flat for me. The performers weren't all that great, and my Phantom didn't have the voice for the role. In fact, he came off very "small."

Seeing it last night has literally changed Phantom for me. I found myself immersed in the show. It was chilling and delightful, and James' voice filled the entire theatre. He brought the power and pain to this role that had been lacking the first time I had seen it. He did an excellent job!

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 10:00am

Great, but not surprising, he is absolutely made for this role and may well turn out to be the most acclaimed phantom ever.

[Justin D]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 3:30pm

Was told he has year long contract, I hope I might be able to catch him before he leaves, but does not seem likely I'll make it stateside before then.

[Jace2017]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 12:03am

I decided to check out some of the tumblr posts... My gosh some of those posters are nuts. I get why some people don't support James. But they are using such strange excuses. Like they are worried about the children at Matilda because its right down the street. Really? Some posters were even posting how they were worried about Kaley Vorhees (the Christine alternate) because she is only 20ish. Kaley is an adult and is perfectly capable of making decisions. Does anyone know if the cast is restricted from posting pictures with James or interacting with him on social media? Noone has posted pictures of him since his run started almost a month ago.

[sueb1863]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 12:12pm

The concern about the Matilda cast strikes me as particularly absurd. What do they think Barbour's going to do, go down the street and accost the entire child cast during the Phantom intermission?

There have been a few picture posts with Barbour on Twitter, those might be before his Broadway run started though. People might be hesitant about posting any pictures with him on tumblr because then they'll be inundated with 'How dare you support a child molester' notes.

Or he might simply be avoiding the stage door because of possible problems, I saw one girl on Twitter threatened to kill him:

Doctor Professor Cam ?@CamLogic91 Feb 28
I will find you James Barbour. And I will kill you.

If I knew stuff like that was floating around, I wouldn't do the stage door either! Although I'm sure that's not the only death threat he's gotten.
Updated On: 3/1/15 at 12:12 PM

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 12:18pm

I would be VERY shocked if Barbour tried to do anything questionable during his run in the show; he knows the consequences and certainly doesn't want to screw things up again. The Christines and girls from Matilda are fine.

Updated On: 3/1/15 at 12:18 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 1:35pm

The social media thing is very telling. I'm wondering if it's not so much that the production has advised the actors not to say anything but that the actors themselves don't want to open up the can of worms by posting photos or saying anything about Barbour.

And the official FB never posted a "happy opening night, James!" as they usually do when they have a new principal cast member. Probably because they didn't want another set of headaches. It's interesting to note, though. You wouldn't even know who the phantom was if you were looking at the current Instagrams/tweets/FB posts.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 1:38pm

No but the Twitter page did post something to the effect of "James Barbour is fastening his cape."

And of course, people lost their you-know-what at that.

"The Christines and girls from Matilda are fine."

And none of the kids from Matilda are even allowed to go out the stage door which makes that argument utterly pointless.

Updated On: 3/1/15 at 01:38 PM

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 1:39pm

Usually a new cast member will have production stills released by now. It'll be interesting to see if they decide to take any of Barbour.