THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Reopening Night Thread- Page 3

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 10:49am

Does anyone know who will go on for Ben Crawford if he is out? 2 years ago he was out and Ted Keegan went on who I was extremely dissapointed in, so I'm really hoping Ben goes on for the November 4th show.

Also - still no word on the Christine alternate schedule? Doesn't this seem bizarre that we don't even know when Emilie's first performance will be?

[Nolan LuPone]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 11:15am

FANtomFollies said: "Does anyone know who will go on for Ben Crawford if he is out? 2 years ago he was out and Ted Keegan went on who I was extremely dissapointed in, so I'm really hoping Ben goes on for the November 4th show."

Jeremy Stolle, Ted Keegan, Greg Mills, and Paul A. Schaefer are all listed as Phantom covers in the playbill.

[thedrybandit]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 12:25pm

FANtomFollies said: "Does anyone know who will go on for Ben Crawford if he is out? 2 years ago he was out and Ted Keegan went on who I was extremely dissapointed in, so I'm really hoping Ben goes on for the November 4th show.

Also - still no word on the Christine alternate schedule? Doesn't this seem bizarre that we don't even know when Emilie's first performance will be?"

There's no way to know in advance unless an understudy has posted their upcoming dates online. The current understudies are Ted Keegan, Jeremy Stolle, Greg Mills, and Paul Schaefer. In theory, management rotates through them somewhat equally.

[ImAProphet]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 12:48pm

I wonder if they're going to continue reprinting the schedule every week post-reopening? If so maybe Emilie's schedule will be in this week's Playbill, since she presumably starts this week.

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 3:16pm

I assume there wasn’t an indication of Emilie Kouatchou’s schedule in the playbill?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 3:19pm

Curious about the alternate schedule since they're only doing 7 shows a week.

[ImAProphet]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 3:35pm

kade.ivy said: "I assume there wasn’t an indication of Emilie Kouatchou’s schedule in the playbill? "

No, either it's TBA (since she just had her put-in today) or it just won't be published in the Playbill going forward.

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 3:58pm

ImAProphet said: "kade.ivy said: "I assume there wasn’t an indication of Emilie Kouatchou’s schedule in the playbill? "

No, either it's TBA (since she just had her put-in today) or it just won't be published in the Playbill going forward."

Ah, I didn’t realize today was her put-in! Perhaps I’ll get to see her first performance this Thursday afternoon! I would also love to see Meghan Picerno; either way, I can’t wait to return to the Majestic. 

[ImAProphet]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 5:23pm

Emilie is doing Wednesday night, Thursday night, and the Saturday matinee this week per Phantom's IG.

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 5:45pm

ImAProphet said: "Emilie is doing Wednesday night, Thursday night, and the Saturday matinee this week per Phantom's IG."

Great to have her schedule! 

[labellaragazza1]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 7:17pm

Supposedly her normal schedule will be Monday nights and Saturday matinees, but I've only seen that on instagram and would love for someone to confirm after this week. Can't wait to return to see her make history (finally)

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 7:50pm

I’ll be at Emilie’s first show! What an exciting coincidence!

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 9:32pm

NOWaWarning said: "I’ll be at Emilie’s first show! What an exciting coincidence!"

Please let us know your thoughts - I can't wait to hear about her performance!

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 1:24pm

FANtomFollies said: "Does anyone know who will go on for Ben Crawford if he is out? 2 years ago he was out and Ted Keegan went on who I was extremely dissapointed in, so I'm really hoping Ben goes on for the November 4th show."

Before his departure to join the My Fair Lady tour, Laird Mackintosh (Andre) was usually the first cover for the Phantom. If he was out as well, then the role was played by Jeremy Stolle, Paul Schaefer, Greg Mills, or Ted Keegan. The new Playbill indicates Stolle, Schaefer, Mills, and Keegan as the understudies/standbys for the Phantom, but since Greg Mills is the only swing without a regular role, I expect he would be called in first because he would be the least disruptive.

I've seen all four of these gentlemen as the Phantom. Stolle and Mills are superb and I preferred them to all of the advertised leads who came between Hugh Panaro and Ben Crawford (Crawford is a force of nature who could probably sing the part without a mic).

Like Ramin Karimloo, Paul Schaefer is so overtly handsome (such a cross to bear!) that suspension of disbelief doesn't come easily when he plays the Phantom, and while his voice is lovely, it's slightly weaker at the high end of his range and therefore tends to fall off on the final note of "Music of the Night" (which was also a problem for Norm Lewis). 

Ted Keegan is the only Phantom cover who's out of his depth. I found him entirely unconvincing and his voice is simply not up to the demands of the role. If I arrived to find his name on the cast board, I'd very likely request a reschedule or refund.

Updated On: 10/28/21 at 01:24 PM

[labellaragazza1]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 2:00pm

Lot666 said: "FANtomFollies said: "Does anyone know who will go on for Ben Crawford if he is out? 2 years ago he was out and Ted Keegan went on who I was extremely dissapointed in, so I'm really hoping Ben goes on for the November 4th show."

Before his departure to join the My Fair Lady tour, Laird Mackintosh (Andre) was usually the first cover for the Phantom. If he was out as well, then the role was played by Jeremy Stolle, Paul Schaefer, Greg Mills, or Ted Keegan. The new Playbill indicates Stolle, Schaefer, Mills, and Keegan as the understudies/standbys for the Phantom, but since Greg Mills is the only swing without a regular role, I expect he would be called in first because he would be the least disruptive.

I've seen all four of these gentlemen as the Phantom. Stolle and Mills are superb and I preferred them to all of the advertised leads who came between Hugh Panaro and Ben Crawford (Crawford is a force of nature who could probably sing the part without a mic).

Like Ramin Karimloo, Paul Schaefer is so overtly handsome that suspension of disbelief doesn't come easily when he plays the Phantom, and while his voice is lovely, it's slightly weaker at the high end of his range and therefore tends to fall off on the final note of "Music of the Night" (which was also a problem for Norm Lewis).

Ted Keegan is the only Phantom cover who's out of his depth. I found him entirely unconvincing and his voice is simply not up to the demands of the role. If I arrived to find his name on the cast board, I'd very likely request a reschedule or refund."

I've found the opposite, as Greg Mills is the only one I haven't seen. It seems his Phantom performances are few and far between or are so last minute I haven't been able to attend. I feel like I have had ample opportunities to see Keegan and Stolle in particular, although that may mean they just don't post on social media before they're on or when they're going on.  I'm hoping they have a more equal rotation because I'm dying to see a Mills Phantom performance!

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 3:23pm

I attended both the October 22 (center orchestra row F) and October 23 (center orchestra row C) performances. Overall, the show looks and sounds great.

The sound system has been upgraded and it's quite audible. This technological enhancement, coupled with apparent enunciation coaching among the principals, has made it much easier to understand key lines and follow the plot. Certain actors who used to swallow some words and get buried in the mix have been boosted and are speaking/singing more clearly.

As others have noted, a number of lyric changes have been implemented. A few of them make sense, but most accomplish little in terms of furthering the plot or character development. In the prologue, the auctioneer now says something like:

"Lot 666, then: a chandelier until recently believed lost. Some of you may recall the strange affair of the phantom of the opera, a mystery never fully explained. We are told ladies and gentlemen, that this is the very chandelier which figures in the famous disaster. Our workshops have repaired it so that we may get a hint of how magnificent it might one day look. Perhaps we may frighten away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination...gentlemen!"

Regarding humor, the actors in the "Hannibal" rehearsal, "Notes", and "Il Muto" scenes have obviously been directed to emphasize the intrinsic comedic aspects of those scenes. The humor feels less subtle and more deliberate. While I wasn't bothered by these changes, I also didn't feel that they improved the show in any real way.

The first significant direction/blocking change occurs when "Angel of Music" transitions to the title song. As in the London production, the Phantom now opens the mirror and draws Christine through it after his first, "I am your angel...", and then the dressing room door springs open and Raoul steps in. The dressing room set piece remains onstage longer, as Raoul exits down the stairs and walks across the front of the stage, where he encounters Giry with a string of ballerinas trailing behind her like ducklings following a hen. They exchange quick "WTF?" looks and then pass one another to exit at opposite sides of the stage. This nonsense is simply there to fill time because the first Phantom/Christine pair, which used to enter from stage left and descend through a trap door, have been eliminated. When the dressing room is finally rolled off stage left, the travelator quickly descends upstage and the only Phantom/Christine pair make their way from one side to the other and back again as the ramp alternately tips at one end and then the other.

The second major change occurs at the top of the second act, immediately after the managers sing "...such a pity that the phantom can't be here!" For no apparent reason, a lone Madame Giry approaches the managers and makes a strange movement with one arm in front of the drape, after which the curtain is pulled back to reveal the staircase. This new direction makes her look like Tinker Bell conjuring some pixie dust, which feels very out of character and seems to serve no purpose. Also inexplicably, ensemble member Paul Schaefer now enters the "Masquerade" scene with the group of principals, which seems odd. But the most irksome change to "Masquerade" is new lyrics from the very first "Masquerade!" through the first verse and chorus, until Giry sings "What a night!". Unlike the vocals in the rest of the show, the new lyrics here sound muddled and less poetic than the original lyrics. The choreography has also been changed, which sometimes leaves too few live performers on the staircase, making the mannequins appear more obvious.

I noted a few other small changes in the second act:

In the "Notes" scene, Christine no longer declares that she won't perform in "Don Juan Triumphant" before running offstage.

In the "Don Juan Triumphant" performance scene, the choreography has been significantly altered. It doesn't bother me here as it does in "Masquerade", perhaps because they gave Passarino (the fantastic Jeremy Stolle) more of a leading role.

At the end of "Don Juan Triumphant", after Christine unmasks him, the Phantom attempts to flee toward upstage right and Giry steps out in front of him. They stare at each other briefly before he turns and runs off upstage left. When the curtains are subsequently opened at the back of the stage to reveal Piangi's body, he's actually standing up with the Punjab lasso around his neck, which looks laughably absurd (his body used to be lying down).

In the final lair scene, the Phantom no longer says "Be my Guest, sir" before raising the portcullis to allow Raoul to enter. Also, he no longer uses a candle from the organ to release Raoul from the Punjab lasso; instead, he grabs the knot and makes a quick tugging gesture, then the rope drops and Raoul falls to the floor.

As for technical issues, I noted three: a section of white-blue lightning bolt illuminated in the upper left corner of the backing drape in the mausoleum scene and refused to turn off (this reoccurred on Saturday night as well); the mics for the Phantom and Christine produced a buzzing sound on the house left side of the theatre every time the two actors were at a certain proximity to each other; and in the final lair scene, the monkey's arms didn't move the cymbals when the music box began to play.

Obviously, nothing mentioned here is as grievous as the atrocities Cameron Mackintosh was allowed to commit in London. The Broadway production is still 95% the same show, so I will continue to save a slot in my itinerary for Phantom every time I visit New York.

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 3:28pm

labellaragazza1 said: "Greg Mills is the only one I haven't seen. It seems his Phantom performances are few and far between or are so last minute I haven't been able to attend."

This was certainly true while Laird Mackintosh was still in the cast. As I said, he was always the first cover for the Phantom, and the others only came on if both he and the lead were out. Now that he's gone and the other understudies perform multiple tracks, Greg may be called in more frequently because then they won't have to arrange to cover multiple, smaller tracks. I really enjoyed Greg as the Phantom and hope you get to see him soon.

 

[labellaragazza1]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 6:03pm

Oh, gosh… the candle… that was probably the malfunction I saw the most prior to the shutdown. But now it looks really ridiculous with him just kind of pulling the noose down?

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 10:08pm

Lot 666 thank you for listing the changes in the show. I, too, am not so annoyed by them that I'll stop attending, and I am beyond grateful that the show did not suffer the same fate as its London counterpart. 

I would say another rather significant change is in Il Muto, with the jeweler, etc having completely different blocking, and Christine's hat hitting the husband in the face. It all.........worked.......but it just seemed so unnecessary. 

The changes that I was most ok with were in Don Juan Triumphant. I really liked Mme. Giry confronting the Phantom. I love her character and it was cool to see more of her mysterious relationship with the Phantom. One other thing I noticed that is right when Christine sings "consume us" as they're sitting on the bench, she clearly felt the Phantom's mask under  his disguise, and attempted to run off and they sang "Past the point....." with him grabbing her arms tightly to keep her from running off, and then she reveals him to be the Phantom. But now the part was lost when exactly she realized that it is the Phantom under there.  Unless I missed something. 

The WORST change by far is adding the ballet dancers in the switch to the title song. One of my favorite moments was when Raoul said "angel?" and the curtain just dropped in front of him and the doubles walked out. So theatrical and exciting!  Now all that excitement is gone and the title song starts with dull-as-can-be , lazy-and-uncreative-as-can-be idea of the dancers walking across the stage. Hal Prince would have thought of something so much better if he did had to change it because the doubles skin color doesn't match the real Christine's. 

The other change I did not like was that Christine and Raoul no longer are on the stairs for the end of masquerade when they do that famous "lean to one side/extend your arm out the other way" as they sing "paper faces on parade" with the company on the stairs. That was SUCH an iconic moment; I mean it was on one of the huge pictures in front of the Majestic for years and years. And now it's different for NO reason!  

OVERALL, the reason why I can accept the changes, being a tried and true Phanatic, is that there have been other things that changed, or allegedly changed through the years, some of which has caused bitter fighting on this very board. Christine being caught by the Phantom when she sees the Mirror Bride. Raoul joining in for the end of of the graveyard scene. Carlotta sticking an apple in the pig's mouth in Don Juan. The husband holding out the note "to observe herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" at the beginning of Il Muto. How angry/not angry Christine got when Carlotta accused her and said "she's the one behind this!"  When the managers brought Christine the green chair at the end of Managers II, Carlotta used to act like it was for her and then get mad when she realizes they're bringing it for Christine. When Christine transforms for the performance of Think of Me, sometimes there are four people with her, sometimes 2, sometimes 6. Sometimes they move right away, sometimes they wait til she runs downstage. the Phantom used to drop through a trap at the end of Masquerade. 

My point is that I lived through all of those changes, and I lived through everybody arguing about when or even IF those changes ever actually happened, and when, and to which production first, and what year, etc. OTHER THAN the ridiculous ballet dancers crossing the stage and Christine and Raoul no longer on the stairs for Masquerade, all of the other changes, to me, will melt into all of the older changes I just mentioned. Some day on this board, we will argue over whether or not the Phantom stopped saying "be my guest, sir" after the pandemic, or was it first in 1993 in the 2nd national tour? or was it the Toronto production in the 80's, or no it was Vegas............let the debating begin! 

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 10:27pm

I knew I was seeing a first tonight when my Playbill had the slip saying Emilie Kouatchou was Christine. She gave an amazing performance in her Broadway debut.

First Norm Lewis, now Emilie. It was wonderful seeing the show again and even more special seeing an historic debut.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 10:30pm

Emilie Kouatchou's first curtain call:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVjg-NgNLsd/

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 10/27/21 at 11:07pm

Everybody was recording her curtain call but me! I was clapping.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 10/28/21 at 3:56am

I’m so happy I got to be there for Emilie’s first show! The audience was really pumped for her and the show as a whole, making it a very energized evening. There was lots of extra applause for her and for some of the more iconic moments, although not to the point of distraction.
 

I was really impressed with Emilie’s characterization for a first performance. She gave Christine a real arc, shy and naive at the start and strong and more womanly by the end. Her voice is very bright and bell-like, I thought, and at its best when she’s singing at full force, like in Wishing.
 

The rest of the show seemed to be in great shape. Ben Crawford and John Riddle are spectacular as the leading men and both sing the sh*t out of their roles. While I’ve seen Phantom a couple of times before, I’m not an aficionado. So I can’t really speak to the changes they’ve made like Phantom4ever so thoroughly did.
 

There was a bit of annoying audience behavior here and there. Lots of people in my section were taking pictures at the top of Act 2, some with flash. A phone went off right before All I Ask of You. It went like this:

Raoul: Christine. Christine

Phantom Voice: …Christine…

*phone rings*

Christine: …What was that?

[suzycat]

Posted: 10/28/21 at 7:56am

Thank you for sharing that curtain call video & those reports! How joyous.

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/28/21 at 8:44am

Phantom4ever said: "I would say another rather significant change is in Il Muto, with the jeweler, etc having completely different blocking, and Christine's hat hitting the husband in the face. It all.........worked.......but it just seemed so unnecessary."

Thanks for remembering that one; it was difficult to keep track of all the changes without a notepad.

Another one that I forgot to mention in my previous post: when Giry issues her warning to Buquet at the end of "Magical Lasso", the Phantom and Christine no longer ascend through the trap door and then exit stage left; they simply walk across the stage from behind the drape. The original trap door approach was like a bookend to the now-eliminated first pair of doubles which used to descend through the trap door at the beginning of the title song. These two actions made it clear that the characters were going underground and then returning to the world above. Eliminating the trap door for both Phantom/Christine pairings makes me wonder why they kept the trap door for the Raoul/Christine rooftop scene.