PHANTOM review 1/19/08

[steven22]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:05pm

so i saw phantom on broadway for the 2nd time..my review..

CAST:
Phantom: Howard McGillin
Christine: Jennifer Hope Wills
Raoul: Paul Scaefer (understudy)
Carlotta: Wren Marie Harrington (understudy)
and the rest of the cast were the usuals (don't have time to type them up) sorry!

ok...they me start off by saying that the first time i saw phantom i had no clue what it was about.. nothing..and i loved it the first time..i saw it w/ mcGillin and julie hansen (christine)..julie was amazing..and so was howard

i liked it a lot today..but not as much as used to..i thought the cast was a little off..jennifer hope wills and mcgillin were on top of it but overall the ensemble, etc..seemed off

the raoul understudy paul scaefer was great. i was looking foward to seeing tim martin gleason b/c he has been in the show so long and i've never seen him..his understudy was great (better than michael shawn lewis who i saw last year)

Carlotta...when i saw it last year i saw Anne Runolfsen (sp?)..amazing. I believe patricia philips is the new carlotta but her understudy was very good..great voice..ok acting

overall i liked it....

btw..Howard McGillin should be in this role forever..he is amazing!

enjoy!

[MCfan2]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:30pm

Thanks for the review! I always like to hear about "Phantom."

[george95]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:32pm

Glad to hear you enjoyed PHANTOM. But I have to say.....posts like yours can really chap my hide......what do you mean when you say the rest of the cast "seemed off"? What does that mean? Can you point out anything specifically that the ensemble did to "seem off"
Unlike RENT, Phantom has been lovingly cared for for 20 years. It is rare to find an ensemble member who phones in a performance.
If you want to go again and point out exactly which ensemble member is off at precisely which part of the show, I will enthusiastically purchase a ticket for both of us and we can go.

[aliciag]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:37pm

Glad to hear you liked it too. I saw Phantom for the first time in September and Jennifer Hope Wills and Howard McGillin were great. He gave me chills anytime he started singing. Especially during "All I Ask of You (Reprise)!!!"

[george95]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:38pm

oh wow two people who like Phantom on BWW! You guys are really making my weekend.

[KQuill]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:49pm

Thanks for the review - long live Phantom!

[winston89]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:14am

I have seen this show a couple of times. I do find it amazing that this show has been in great shape for almost twenty years.


I am not a fan of Gleason. I find that he tends to be screaming his lines and not singing them.

Jennifer is an amazing singer and VERY VERY nice at the stage door. Not a bad bone in her body.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:23am

Jesus, who is still seeing this show? That is if they aren't part of a tour group...or a school...or clueless tourists.

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:38am

yay the first Phantom hater! Where have you been all night?

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:45am

Wow, do you need to jump on every poster who comes into the thread with your bizarre brand of commentary?

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 11:09am

Wow do you need to write a post that contributes nothing to this thread other than to pointlessly personally attack me? Back off!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 11:12am

Yep, that's George for you.

[zepka102]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 11:15am

I was there at the matinee too!

I was really excited to see Jennifer, and was not let down at all. This was my first time seeing Howard. He impressed me most in the final scene. You'd think after doing as many performances he has done, at this point he would be phoning in (as I have seen happen in the past with other shows), but he still has the excitement, anger, hurt... it all still feels fresh.

I thought the understudies were wonderful, especially Wren Marie Harrington.

I will agree to a point with the comment about the ensemble. I saw it mainly in the girls. A lot of their reactions just felt lifeless, like "ok, shreak and twirl... now."

Everytime I see this show, I'm up in the mezz. This time I was 10 rows back, dead center. AMAZING view. Watching how the show is run, I find they could definitely update a little. Christine's dressing room was kind of rickety as it was being rolled out. Bring out a little more pyro when the overture begins. Pump up the volume of the pit.

It was great to see the show from this point of view though. The staircase for Masquerade really does look gigantic when you are level with the people on the stage.

If there was any show I could watch from backstage, it would be this one. I'd love to watch them move everything, see where everyone enters, watch the drapes move around.

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:33pm

Zepka I agree that Christine's dressing room (as well as the masquerade staircase) sound old and rickety when they are moved on and off. But they sounded that way 10 years ago too...I'm not sure if there is much they can do to fix that. And, I think its cool that the show is so old that the sets creak when they're moved....that's why Phantom is such a classic part of New York. Even though the dressing room set creaks when it moves--it still has historical value and its kept. And in New York, even though old 19th century buildings are no longer useful, they are kept anyway, and you might see a Starbucks or a Gap in a 120 year old building....whereas in other cities they'd tear down the old building to put up a chain store. Long live NYC and Phantom!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:16pm

george,

I have to ask. What's your deal?

You the show "Unlike RENT, Phantom has been lovingly cared for for 20 years."

Then you say, "I agree that Christine's dressing room (as well as the masquerade staircase) sound old and rickety when they are moved on and off."

Is the show lovingly maintained, or old and creaky?

And why are you jumping all over people who have a different opinion of the show than you? Considering you just joined the board, don't you think you are being rude to people who don't share your opinion of the show?

It IS a message board.

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:20pm

Theaterdiva, I must not have made my posts clear. Let me address your points.

Yes PHANTOm is lovingly cared for---but like I said, no amount of TLC will stop that set from creaking.

The only time I confronted anybody was when they criticized ME personally instead of what I said in a posts...........and I find it odd that you choose to single me out instead of them. hmmmmmm

[Trap-Door Lover]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:26pm

Ugh. Be happy you didn't see Gleason.
He needs to leave the show.

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:27pm

Yeah I am ready for a new Raoul too.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:33pm

I just ask, george, because you seem to say one thing in one post, and then another is a different post. "The only time I confronted anybody was when they criticized ME personally instead of what I said in a posts"

Here's some:

“You cant let these BWW people get to you. Just like anywhere else, 10% of people on here are just jerks. So, when they insult you, you can just smile and think that you are better than that, and move on.”


“Hmmm foster the only negative bitter angry comment on here now is YOURS oh yeah I went there.”

“Wow do you need to write a post that contributes nothing to this thread other than to pointlessly personally attack me? Back off!”

“yay the first Phantom hater! Where have you been all night?”

“So now we can never again talk about our most beloved musicals? We have to do a search before we make any new posts about anything? If you dont want to deal with a post, then dont read it.”



“Hey liverpool lay off Coolkid. He likes RENT and if you want to get into a discussion about what constitues GOOD theater well that's one thing but there is nothing productive or worthwhile about just shooting down someone's opinion for no apparent reason.”

“Ok sorry neddyfrank didnt know you were the Mayor of Renttown....but hmmm that explains an awful lot about how skanky RENT has looked lately hmmmmmmmm”

“Liverpool dont get me wrong, every time I see Rent I need to be held back from jumping up on stage and kicking some butt to some of those undeserving actors up there. But to say its a shell of its former self? Not by a longshot. It is maybe two mediocre actors in the show at any given time. So I think you are exaggerating.”

“I'm telling you the RENT producers need to just pour some money into some cutting-edge advertising, do some sort of crazy casting call, and keep this show going because it is just too important to too many people to end on Broadway.”


So, is Rent 'skanky', or will 'pouring money into some cutting edge advertising' fix the skankiness?


I'm just saying that you seem to be very hostile and defensive, and you've only just joined.

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:37pm

Wow you sure did your homework! I'm hostile and defensive and I just joined? Is there a waiting period for becoming hostile and defensive?

I think the more important question here is........why do you have such a problem with me, and can you let it go?

But again, kudos to your incredible research on my posts.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:41pm

All I have to do is click on your profile and I see all of your posts.

I never said I had a problem with you, I just asked why you seem so hostile?

You jump all over people who disagree with you, you run to every Phantom thread and put down anyone who has anything negative to say about it.

This is a public message board, and opinions will differ. That's the point of having an opinon.

So, WHY are you so hostile to people who disagree with your opinion?

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:46pm

I am really sorry that you view some of my posts as hostile.
But some of them, come on you cant take seriously. I mean, Mayor of REnt town? Give me a break. And that guy neddyfrank didnt take it seriously either, he said yeah I am the mayor. You cant hear tone in these posts so you shouldnt assume that my tone is negative.
Yeah I do post alot on Phantom threads. I do not put down anyone who doesnt like Phantom, I disagree with them---which is what these boards as for as you so kindly repeatedly remind me.
The thing is, with negative Phantom posts, so many times its vague things like "Phantom is tired and bored" and I dont say "youre stupid for thinking that" I say "point out exactly what was tired about it" and there you are trying to say that I'm being hostile. I'm fostering real conversation, and you seem to be trying to stifle my contributions.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:52pm

“yay the first Phantom hater! Where have you been all night?”


You may not call them stupid, but when you say things like that, you begin to sound like a Claymate or a Fantasiac, meaning you are always right and no one elses opinions matter.

That's how it's coming across.

I just wanted to point that you to you.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:54pm

And, like this post, how is this have a discussion?

"every time I see Rent I need to be held back from jumping up on stage and kicking some butt to some of those undeserving actors up there. But to say its a shell of its former self? Not by a longshot. It is maybe two mediocre actors in the show at any given time. So I think you are exaggerating.”

[george95]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:56pm

I think you need to relax. You are only lookin at my comments and not the other person, which is totally unfair. You look kinda uninformed right now. That guy that I called a hater made a totally ignorant useless comment.
If he would have said worthwhile things about why he hated Phantom....please bring it on I'd love to hear it and respond and keep talking. But how can the message board keep going if people just post "this show sucks" and stuff like that? What are we supposed to say to posts like that?