Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

#1

Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 5:46pm

I may be wrong here, but I always thought that Christine was in her teen years/early twentys. Patti played the role when she was 36. Isn't that a little old for the role, or did she look younger?

Edit: She also played it when she was 40

Updated On: 2/11/07 at 05:46 PM

#2

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 5:49pm

Technically, I guess it is, but Jill Washington and Lisa Vroman were both older than that when they last played the role.
http://web.mac.com/patticohenour/iWeb/Patti%20Cohenour/Theater.html

---

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#3

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 5:54pm

Most of the women who have played the role on Broadway were over 40.

#4

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 5:56pm

I believe Sandra was in her late 30s/early 40s

#5

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 5:57pm

I'd love to have seen her as "Lily" in "Secret Garden" and as "Glinda" in "Wizard of Oz"

---

http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer

#6

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:02pm

Patti is short and young-looking, so I'm sure it worked just fine.

#7

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:02pm

I cannot picture a 40 year old woman being convincing as a teenage girl.

#8

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:04pm

No one is saying they were convincing...

#9

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:05pm

It can be done - Margot Fonteyn and Galina Ulanova each danced Juliet in her 50's.

#10

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:15pm

Patti Cohenour was the first Christine Daae and the best their was that I have seen.

#11

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:18pm

No one is saying they were convincing...

Well I would assume that the Really Useful Group thought that they were.

#12

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:25pm

They would never cast a teen or twenty-something in that part because she could not sustain it in a run.

---

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

---

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#13

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:28pm

Look at opera itself: Renee Fleming and Hei-Kyung Hong are both over fifty and have played Violetta recently and 46-year-old Karita Matilla is playing Jenufa right now. It's not uncommon.

---

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#14

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:28pm

Patti Cohenour was the first Christine Daae and the best their was that I have seen.

The...first?

Most of the women who have played the role on Broadway were over 40.

I don't know if it's most, but certainly many over the years around the world have been over 40. I'm guessing most have been in their 30s or very late 20s. You won't usually see someone in their early 20s, much less late teens--I believe there has only been one stage Christine that age (can't recall her name).

I personally believe the character should be about 18 as Emmy Rossum was in the film--it would make much more sense historically and plot-wise--but obviously most of the actual actresses who play the role are older for vocal reasons.

---

"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit." (Emanuel Azenberg)

#15

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:30pm

They would never cast a teen or twenty-something in that part because she could not sustain it in a run.

Google Amy Nuttal, Cristin Mortenson, and Julie Hanson.

---

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#16

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:42pm

Um, Shiloh, I hate to say this, but Sarah Brightman was the first...she did the Sydmonton workshop and Original London and Broadway companies.

---

http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer

#17

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:42pm

Amy Nuttall! That's the teen Christine I was thinking of. Only 16, wow.

Yes, Julie Hanson is in her mid-20s and has been playing the role on and off for years...and doing a great job of it.

---

"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit." (Emanuel Azenberg)

#18

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:47pm

Patti was the alternate next to Brightman, so technically, she did the show originally on bway with Sarah.

---

...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...

#19

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:49pm

If Sarah were to get a Tony nomination would Sarah and Patti split it? Or could they nominate Patti and not Sarah?

#20

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 6:50pm

Patti was initially cast as Christine, when the show was first announced for Broadway. Not long after, Sarah Brightman decided she wanted come to NY along with Michael Crawford from the original London production.

Patti was told that this might be a possibility, but she was pretty devastated. She agreed to stay on as the original "matinee Christine," with a promise that she would take over the evening performances after Sarah returned to the UK. It was not a great experience for her, and Patti opted out of renewing her contract instead... and actually quit the business for a little while at that point. She'd had enough and needed a break.

---

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

---

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#21

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 7:11pm

If Sarah were to get a Tony nomination would Sarah and Patti split it? Or could they nominate Patti and not Sarah?

They wouldn't split it because the actress is being nominated, not the role...it's Sarah's performance, so she would be the only one to win (barring the fact that Sarah Brightman will never, ever even be nominated).

The second question is a little more interesting...I've thought of that before. After all, the alternate Christine is not an understudy/standby/swing, she performs regularly. However, there might be some sort of regulation about how many performances you must do per week, or what percentage of the performances you have to be scheduled for--something like that. In any case, it's a rare situation because Phantom is one of the only shows to use a regular alternate (I believe the only one currently on Broadway).

---

"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit." (Emanuel Azenberg)

#22

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 7:13pm

In any case, it's a rare situation because Phantom is one of the only shows to use a regular alternate (I believe the only one currently on Broadway).

Jersey Boys and all shows with little kids.

#23

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 7:15pm

I'm sorry I wasn't clear I wanted to write Patti Cohenour was the first Christine Daae that I saw. I think she was the first replacement in the role.

#24

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 7:25pm

I thought Rebecca Luker was the first alternate and the first replacement Christine.

---

http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer

#25

re: Patti Cohenour as Christine Daae

Posted: 2/11/07 at 7:39pm

Oh, I wasn't aware that Jersey Boys had a regular alternate...has that always been the case or did they start that later in the run?

And yes, all the little tykes...silly me. But schedules for children's roles are usually much more evenly divided among the actors than a role like Christine in Phantom is, so it seems like a different situation in terms of who would be considered first for a nomination.

ETA: Rebecca Luker was an ensemble member in the original Broadway cast, not a Christine yet.

And you're all forgetting...Claire Moore was the first alternate/replacement! Original London Cast 4ever lolz!

---

"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit." (Emanuel Azenberg)

Updated On: 2/11/07 at 07:39 PM