How much has POTO changed since it opened?

[Phantom487]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:15am

So I saw "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway the other night... it was amazing. I did notice there were a few things I remember differently from the first time I had seen it (about 9 years ago). There were also many different lyrics than those on the Original Cast Album. So, I'm wondering, has the show changed since it opened back in the 80's???

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:16am

There aren't really that "many" changes. Most of what you hear that's different is what was rewritten for the Broadway opening and not during the course of its run here.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:18am

Well, like a number of shows (particularly long runs), Phantom has changed some lyrics from the OLCR over the years. Actually, some of those lyric changes might have been in place when the show first came to New York--I'm not positive. But other than those changes (bits of "Think of Me", "Angel of Music", the "Notes" sequences, etc.), the show to my knowledge has remained exactly the same since it opened at the Majestic in 1988, aside from personal touches different actors put on the roles of course.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:18am

Yes, the lyric changes were already in place when the show came to New York. Therefore, I believe nothing has changed about the production since it opened in 1988.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:33am

I saw the show the show several times when it opened, and then about 16 years later. Aside from the fact that it had one-tenth of the impact and energy that it had originally, the main thing I remembered as a big change with the cutting of the rehearsal scene for the opera "Don Juan Triumphant" in Act 2... where they are all complaining about the terrible music and lyrics, and then the piano starts to play by itself, and they all start singing the score perfectly like little robots, while they're hit with this eerie ghost light from below.

The whole scene was missing when I saw it 16 years later.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:37am

was "Wandering Child/Bravo, Monsieur" changed for Toronto and then recorded or was that changed by the time the show opened on Broadway and only recorded later for the Canadian cast recording?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:46am

The whole scene was missing when I saw it 16 years later.

Wait, so what scene came before Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again?

I swear this wasn't the case on the 1NT or 3NT.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:50am

I've seen the show on Broadway three times in the past two years and that scene was definitely in the show. Are you sure you didn't just forget about it? I highly doubt they would cut that scene and then restore it.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:00am

I swear it was missing.

Maybe I just zoned out during that part.

(Not a joke. The show was less-than-involving when I saw it a few years ago.) That could have been the moment when I was thinking about the laundry I still needed to do.

I even remember discussing it with a friend at the time, and we BOTH thought the scene with the piano playing itself had been cut. How odd!


EDIT: Maybe a better question would be, "How much has best12bars changed since POTO opened?"

Updated On: 8/29/06 at 02:00 AM

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 9:58am

It's definately there...the female castmembers has a tradition where they smack Raoul's @ss while they're getting into position for it. Kris Koop wrote about it in the first Playbill Yearbook.

Sometimes we imagine things, like the first time I saw the show, I could have sworn his mask has an extra growht that went under his mouth, which it didn't, of course.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 10:34am

Lizzie said it best. Lyrics and cast members are about the biggest changes this awesome show has seen over it's many years. Since it was recorded after the OLC and the Broadway opening, the Candian cast recording reflects the major changes that have endured.

Then, of course, there is the Vegas version...

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 10:39am

Did I imagine the roller skates too?

And the strip tease in Act II?

Damn.

[cathywellerstein]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 10:50am

they recently changed the phantoms exit after "Masquerade". Correct if i'm wrong, but i believe he just runs off stage now instead of going into the trap door.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 10:56am

Wow. b12 has ACTUALLY lost it.

Unless, after 18 years, someone goofed anf skipped the scene.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 11:04am

Nah... I just think I "checked out" right about then.

That's understandable considering what was up on stage... the only freaky part was when I discussed it later with a friend, and they also wondered why the scene was missing.

Perception is a powerful thing!

It REALLY wasn't very good when I saw it a few years ago. Boring as all hell.

The whole show was on auto-pilot. (And apparently not long after intermission, so was I.)

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 11:09am

I think one of the problems with this show (aside from the show itself), and one that seems to be happening to Wicked, is that they don't seem to bring in new blood. The cast is often recycled. That can cause a show to deteriorate rapidly and look old and stale. I think it's time for a Les Miz-style house cleaning. They should get some fresh actors in it (and I don't mean new ensemble members). Perhaps that could invigorate the show.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 11:09am

I think one of the problems with this show (aside from the show itself), and one that seems to be happening to Wicked, is that they don't seem to bring in new blood. The cast is often recycled. That can cause a show to deteriorate rapidly and look old and stale. I think it's time for a Les Miz-style house cleaning. They should get some fresh actors in it (and I don't mean new ensemble members). Perhaps that could invigorate the show.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 11:12am

they recently changed the phantoms exit after "Masquerade". Correct if i'm wrong, but i believe he just runs off stage now instead of going into the trap door.

I believe they only have him run offstage on tour. They still do the trapdoor exit in New York and London (maybe other places that are able to as well, I'm not sure).

best12bars, out of curiosity who did you see when you went a few years ago?

Updated On: 8/29/06 at 11:12 AM

[KQuill]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:18pm

and they definitly added a fermata to Don Attilio's "observe heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer".

They also added a specific "laughing man" into the sitz probe scene after Piangi screws up. Hal Prince liked it when John Kuether did it and makes sure it stays in there.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:34pm

I saw Howard McGillin. He was unmemorable in the part. I also saw Lisa Vroman as Christine in her first week in the role on Broadway. She had played Christine already for many years, but never in the NY production until that week. She was the "freshest" thing in the show, despite being about a decade too old for the part. She sang the crap out of the songs though!

But without a compelling Phantom, and a snoozy supporting cast, even Lisa Vroman couldn't hold me on her own past intermission.

I swear I could hear the gears turning inside all the performers---the show was SO on auto-pilot!

Originally, I saw Michael Crawford do it twice, and then Robert Guillaume who replaced him in the L.A. company.


EDIT: And it's not like I had bad seats or anything. I had house seats... and comps, at that.

Updated On: 8/29/06 at 12:34 PM

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:00pm

From what I've heard (I last time I saw it in NY was three years ago with Panaro, who was incredible) the cast has greatly improved since McGillin/Vroman times when the show was slipping in quality and ticket sales. Even before 9/11, it was on its last legs, but the show has been somewhat revitalized sicne Panaro returned back in 2003, and it has rubbed off on most of the cast. If you're willing to take a chance at it again, I'd go now.

Updated On: 8/29/06 at 01:00 PM

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:07pm

Ah, McGillin...I've never seen him, and although I have heard some good things, I can't imagine he's too terribly fresh--I was annoyed that they decided to bring him back after Hugh Panaro left instead of someone new.

I was going to say, I last saw Phantom twice a few years ago (Sept. 2003 and Sept. 2004) as well, and I would have been surprised if you saw who I saw--Hugh Panaro and Julie Hanson. They seemed almost to bring the rest of the cast up, and everything felt fresher than I imagined Phantom would be. Jason Zinoman even wrote a piece for the Times in 2005 about how the production, led by Panaro, had "grown old gracefully" (the piece is called "Old and Ghostly but Still a Hoot", link below).

I'm sorry you didn't get to see that cast. I don't know the state of the current cast (I'm hoping to be able to see for myself soon), but from what I've seen in recent years the show isn't dead yet...consider giving it another shot sometime. Maybe when McGillin leaves.

Times piece:
https://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/07/01/theater/reviews/01phan.html?ex=1156996800&en=b883fd4d0331b6fc&ei=5070

ETA: ^ What she said.

Updated On: 8/29/06 at 01:07 PM

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:15pm

From what i've heard, McGillin's performance isn't stale now, he's had a three-year break doing other things (ocassionaly revisiting during Panaro's vacations), so he has new life in his performance. But let's hope he doesn't stay too long before he falls into the auto-pilot mode again.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:18pm

Hugh Panaro really made the show for me when I saw it. As much as I love the music, I'm not sure I could see it without him, unless they brought in Drew Sarich. He really needs to play this role at some point.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:25pm

Yes, Howard McGillin is wonderful as ever in the role, although I do prefer Hugh Panaro.

best12, I'm so jealous that you saw Lisa Vroman, on auto-pilot or not. She DOES sing the crap out of those songs. I adore her.

I have heard that Jennifer Hope Wills, the alternate Christine, brings even more life to the show. She is completely new to The Phantom of the Opera, so I doubt her performance is anywhere near stale. I know she left the position of Broadway alternate to be the tour principal Christine for a short period of time, but I'm not sure when she is returning to Broadway.