Phantom Closing? — Page 22

MemorableUserName said: "I tried to keep an open mind, but Murphy didn't work for me at all. His persona was really cold; when he sang "My words will warm and calm you," I thought, "Nope." There really wasn't any warmth to him, and he and Julia Udine had no romantic chemistry, so "All I Ask of You" fell the flattest I've ever seen it. Maybe an off night, but I was very disappointed."

I'm shocked, because I saw Mr. Murphy as Raoul last Friday and I thought he was perhaps the best Raoul I've ever seen (and that's saying a lot, because I've seen a lot). I don't think I've ever seen the role acted and sung so perfectly. He was playing opposite Emilie, so maybe the problem was Julia.

Phantour said: "Pending a negative Covid test, I believe John Riddle returns tonight. Maree Johnson posted on her IG last night a photo with Bronson Norris Murphy with a caption like, "Oh will this be the last show I have with Bronson as Raoul before the show closes?" Please note though, John Riddle will be out of the show starting on February 20 and Paul A. Schaefer will take over again. I am not sure if John is returning before the show closes or February will be his final performance."

Oh no! I am planning on seeing the see show (at least) twice after February 20th. I think I am doomed to see Paul as Raoul every time I see Phantom. Crossing my fingers that John will be back in April.

Lot666 said: "MemorableUserName said: "I tried to keep an open mind, but Murphy didn't work for me at all. His persona was really cold; when he sang "My words will warm and calm you," I thought, "Nope." There really wasn't any warmth to him, and he and Julia Udine had no romantic chemistry, so "All I Ask of You" fell the flattest I've ever seen it. Maybe an off night, but I was very disappointed."

I'm shocked, because I saw Mr. Murphy as Raoul last Friday and I thought he was perhaps the best Raoul I've ever seen (and that's saying a lot, because I've seen a lot). I don't think I've ever seen the role acted and sung so perfectly. He was playing opposite Emilie, so maybe the problem was Julia."

It was weird, because I've been checking all their Instagrams lately as I tried to figure out who would be on, and Murphy's photos are mostly very smiley and happy, and there are ones of him in the Raoul costume like that. It seems clear the cast is fond of him. If even a bit of the warmth he seems to possess in real life had come across in the character, it would have been fine, but it didn't. Like I said, maybe an off night.

MemorableUserName said:

Thanks for the info. I knew Schaefer was taking over on the 20th, but I thought Riddle had posted at the beginning of January when he returned that he was going to be in the show for 6 weeks, which would make next week the last, so I thought I needed to get in soon (and when a cheap(ish) ticket opened up for last night I jumped on it). Two more weeks gives me a little more breathing room."

John was on for all of January until he got Covid so I would imagine he will be at every performance until he leaves as long as he's healthy.

I saw both shows yesterday, February 4, 2023. I worked til 1am the night before, got up at 4am for my flight to New York, and then saw the 2pm show and I sadly dozed through quite a bit of it, which I did not even realize until I saw the 8pm show. So frustrating!

I sat in BB113 for both shows, right on the end of the front row center orchestra house right. At the end of both shows, two ushers stood in front of the stage at the end of the aisle, looking very serious and whispering comments to each other. I wonder what their concern was? Do people try to climb onto the stage? When people asked to take pictures, they stepped out of the way, so it wasn't for that. They also stepped out of the way and let people hang all over the pit.

Anyway, both shows were excellent. I was worried all of the recent anti-Ben Crawford talk on this thread would affect my affection for him but it didn't. Yeah I guess he sings some vowels weirdly but I think that's common with a lot of singers. The only annoying part was when people started hooting and hollering before he got to finish his long note at the end of MOTN. I love to hear him hit that T at the end of night really hard.

One little thing I noticed was during Hannibal, when Mme Giry says he has a note from the Opera Ghost, the ensemble used to scream and cause the new manager to say "You're all obsessed!" Seth took out the screams back in October 2021. People sort of just gasped instead. But this weekend the screams were back and it made a lot more sense.

I got to see Julia Udine at the matinee and Emilie at night. Emilie definitely got a lot more audience love.

One other cool thing about sitting in BB113. In the half hour I sat there before the show started and through intermission, there is an endless line of people coming to see the orchestra and every one of them was absolutely floored to see such a huge group of musicians. Some were shocked that the music was live at all (and no I didn't lecture them bout some of the prerecorded parts) A lot of people pointed out specific instruments to their kids who played that instrument in their school bands, etc and some pointed out rarely seen instruments like the harp.

Sigh. I have three more times to see it in April. Even though that will take me to an even 90 performances, I'm considering going in for a March weekend to see it two more times.

Advice wanted: I would LOVE to get a backstage tour before the show closes. I know I'm one of many, but still. What would be the best way to make this happen? Email the house manager or the stage manager? Offer to donate to BCEFA? Tell them I saw the show 87 times? What's a good enough donation to motivate them to let me backstage?

Oh Fosse I didn't realize that ban was still in place! Oh well.

sbflyfan said: "How legit do we think this is?

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phantom-of-the-opera-closing-gala-tickets-529549064507"

A friend showed me a similar listing a couple of weeks ago for the 35th anniversary evening. The fact that it appears to have no actual connection to Mackintosh, Webber, or RUG, and specifies no "stars" from the show by name, suggests to me that these are efforts by an independent marketing company to make a few bucks off of the occasions.

re: going backstage. I know two people who came in from out of town recently and went backstage with someone (being intentionally vague here) involved with the show.

I wonder what protocols will change — if any — when the national health emergency ends in May.

Updated On: 2/6/23 at 08:38 PM

After trying for months to win the Phantom lottery, I finally won for the Tuesday show. Phantom was my first Broadway show and is one of my favorites, hadn't gotten to see it since 2018.

I can't afford the normal price tix so winning was a true blessing as it seemed that I would get my chance to see it one last time before it closed. I got second row, way on the right row BB, seat 14. But the seats were wonderful.

I was desperate to get Ted Keegan to be my last Phantom, seeing an old school legendary Phantom would be so perfect and special for my final show. Sadly no such luck but that was no big deal then.

I was excited for what was supposed to be a special and meaningful evening, and that is not what I got, thanks to the two women next to me, specifically the one two seats down.

She spent almost the entire show on her phone, and she talked to her friend the entire time. Any time a scene was loud enough she would start talking again. I had a hard time focusing and it was ruining the show for me. I spoke to an usher during the intermission, but all she did was mention the phone and not her constant talking. And she continued on her phone anyway.

I hate confrontation so I hadn't said anything the whole show as I didn't want to have to feel the awkwardness or anxiousness that would cause. But I finally hit my breaking point as I was so upset, almost without control I leant over and very frantically/desperately/somewhat aggressively asked her to "PLEASE. STOP TALKING. I'M SORRY. PLEASE". She looked at me like shocked/stunned, didn't say anything, as if it was a shock to her that she had been doing anything wrong.

I wish I had hit that boiling point earlier, because there was only 20 minutes left in the show and I'd already lost huge chunks of the show due to how upset I was feeling. She shut up mostly for the rest of the show. But the damage had been done and the evening was essentially ruined for me as 75% of my memory of the performance is of frustration of this woman talking.

I don't want that to end up being my last experience seeing this show on Broadway. It's too important to me. But how can I rely on the lottery happening again--and now knowing the dates Ted Keegan has left I need to get to one of those shows...April 3 is really my only option. But my only sure fire options are full priced tickets which again are just way outside being a financially sound decision. I even spoke to the box office during intermission but they didn't have anything better. I could try day of if they get more discounted the closer it gets to the performance but also that's no guarantee, and I really don't want to do SRO for my last time too.

Ugh. I don't know what to do. I'm so upset. If anybody has any advice or ideas, or is by some microscopic chance selling a ticket to that performance haha, I'd appreciate it.

Updated On: 2/9/23 at 10:32 AM

martinsmithfan said: "April 10 is really my only option. But my only sure fire options are full priced tickets which again are just way outside being a financially sound decision"

One thing I've learned of late through extensive personal experience is that availability and pricing change fairly frequently for this show. If you're committed to putting in the time, there's a pretty good chance that you'll find a seat at a price that works for you. You just have to keep that Telecharge window open all day, every day, and refresh the screen every chance you get. If you do this, you will observe that seats appear and disappear more often that you expected, and pricing can change along with availability. On the morning of Friday, January 27, I began watching Telecharge for a single seat for that evening's performance. Several seats appeared in front orchestra, scattered across left, right, and center. Over the course of a few hours, I watched those same seats disappear and reappear repeatedly as people "shopped" them, and finally I grabbed a seat in center orchestra row G for $248. Earlier in the day, that seat had been priced at $518. Patience and persistence can pay off.