The Phantom of the Opera. OMG SQUEEE.

PLEASE READ

This post is OBSCENELY LONG. It's meant to be a review of the show, but the ridiculous amount of detail is as much or more for me than for you, since it's very important to me to remember every little thing I can. Please don't comment telling me it's too long or too detailed, since you have been adequately warned. Meanwhile, please don't break your brain attempting to read the whole thing in one sitting, or at all really. Seriously, I don't want the guilt of knowing that I drove anyone on my flist to madness. Thank you. ^_^


THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Sacramento, California
June 3rd, 2008, 8 PM


CAST

The Phantom of the Opera - Greg Mills (understudy)
Christine Daaé - Kelly Jeanne Grant
Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny - Stephen Trafton (understudy)
Carlotta Giudicelli - Kim Stengel
Monsieur André - D.C. Anderson
Monsieur Firmin - Bruce Winant
Madame Giry - Nancy Hess
Ubaldo Piangi - John Whitney
Meg Giry - Jessi Ehrlich
Monsieur Reyer/Jeweler (Il Muto) - Thomas Schumacher
Auctioneer/Hairdresser (Il Muto)/Marksman - We had an understudy here, and I don't remember his name! I should have taken a picture of the understudy board. Normally in this role is Sean MacLaughlin.
Monsieur Lefevre/Firechief - Michael McCoy
Joseph Buquet - Rob Lorey
Don Attilio (Il Muto) - Gregory Emanuel Rahming
Passarino (Don Juan Triumphant) - Another understudy I forget the name of. Normally this role is played by Stephen Trafton, whom I saw as Raoul.
Slave Master (Hannibal) - Understudy #3! Normally played by James Zander.
Solo Dancer (Il Muto) - Joseph Woelfel
Stagehand - Lawrence Asher
Page (Don Juan Triumphant) - Rebecca Baxter
Wardrobe Mistress/Confidante (Il Muto) - Pamela Shandrow
Princess - Juliette Audra Miller. I find it interesting that the Playbill does not specify the opera (Hannibal) this character appears in like it does for all the others.
Spanish Lady (Don Juan Triumphant) - Sarah Anne Lewis
Innkeeper's Wife (Don Juan Triumphant) - Sally Ann Swarm
Madame Firmin/Wildwoman (Hannibal) - Anne Kanengeiser
Gollywog/Fireman - Kirk Vaughn-Robinson. What the crap is a gollywog?
The Ballet Chorus of the Opera Populaire - Dara Adler, Emily Adonna, Erin Brooke Burton, Triana Cristobal, Amanda Edge, Jessy Hendrickson, Elaine Matthews, Carli Millen, Kristy Patricia, Lily Rose Peck, Melissa Wood
Dance Captain/Swing - William Patrick Dunne
Associate Dance Captain - Dara Adler
Ballet Swing - Joelle Gates
Swings - Michael Scott Harris, Laureen Vigil
Vacation Covers - David Gaschen, Justin Peck

Why yes, I did just type out the entire cast from my Playbill.


FIRST THING'S FIRST

OMG SQUEEE!!!

*ahem*


BEFORE THE SHOW (NOT ESPECIALLY PHANTOM-RELATED RAMBLING)

Sacramento's about an hour and a half from my house and we'd need to be taking detours for at least part of the way thanks to part of the highway being closed, so we left around 5 PM just to be extremely safe. I spent the hour before we left running around like a headless chicken, alternating getting dressed, listening to my OLC, and dashing to the computer to check my email. Just a few hours before I'd discovered that an LJ friend, parsephoni, was going to be there tonight too! We were hoping to arrange a meeting at the stagedoor.

Anyway, it turned out to be an extremely good thing we gave ourselves so much extra time, because there was a ridiculous amount of traffic on this one highway heading out toward Sacramento, and this was long before the part of the highway that was closed. We had no idea what was going on, but we decided to try another route none of us had ever taken before. (This idea terrified me more than I can even express, but sitting in frozen traffic would have terrified me more.) The map we'd printed out didn't make it clear exactly where this road went or where we were supposed to turn, and only one of the towns we went through on the way was labeled on the printout. We got stuck behind two slow-moving tractors. We stopped for directions at a hotel that turned out to be completely devoid of humans. I managed to stay shockingly calm throughout all this, or at least to project more calm that I would have thought myself capable of. I pretended not to be at all worried while really I was praying like crazy in the backseat.

And God heard me! We made it into Sacramento with almost an hour to spare before the show. I'd calmed down as soon as we passed the city limits and wasn't paying much attention to anything around us anymore (since we weren't almost lost anymore) until we rounded a corner and I saw it: a large black truck with the word PHANTOM in shattered type on the side parked next to a theatre. I shouted "PHANTOM!!" at the top of my lungs without thinking - honestly, it was a knee-jerk reaction, it just popped out - and made both my parents jump. They then had to keep reminding me to calm down for the next hour, because I was practically running ahead of them once we'd finally parked. Well, running as fast as my hooker Dorothy heels would allow (which is surprisingly fast when I'm excited about something as big as this).

Yeah, I'm sure that was all very interesting to you.


BEFORE THE SHOW (SLIGHTLY MORE PHANTOM-RELATED RAMBLING)

I was already almost shaking with excitement by the time we got inside the theatre, and when the ticket man vaguely said, "Enjoy the show," I responded, "Oh, I will, believe me!" I don't think he heard me, but I was saying it more for myself anyway.

Immediately I went to the cast and understudy boards in the lobby, fully expecting to find out that I was seeing Stephen Tewksbury or Richard Todd Adams as the Phantom, and was completely shocked to see the notices on the understudy board: Greg Mills, whom I'd expected to see as Raoul, would be playing the Phantom, and an actor I'd never heard of, Stephen Trafton, would be Raoul. (There were three other understudies listed, for the Auctioneer/Hairdresser/Marksman, the Slave Master, and Passarino, but I forget who the actors were. I didn't want to whip out my camera there in the lobby in case someone tried to take it from me, so I planned to take a picture of the board after the show to help me remember. I forgot to. Sorry.) My immediate thought was, "Well, this will be an interesting show!" I'd never read a review of Greg Mills as the Phantom and I had no idea who this Stephen Trafton person was, but I was very excited to get to find out! I bought a program even though I already have all the pictures from it on my computer and was vaguely disappointed to discover there wasn't really anything new for me to buy otherwise. I've got the shirt, and the poster, and the keychains and the pin and the CD and I don't need the money clip or want the movie soundtrack...meh.

The doors finally opened and it really was a great feeling to walk down the long hallway next to the orchestra section, watching people turning into the doors that would lead to their rows near the rear while I continued straight down to the very last door, closest to the stage. I knew we were in orchestra row D, which I was quite thrilled about, but I was pretty sure we were quite off to the side. No matter, it'd be fantastic anyway. Well, I was wrong. About the first, not the second. I got into row D and followed it almost all the way to the very centre before coming to my seat. I was literally murmuring "Oh my God!" under my breath, because I had no idea how great our seats were going to be! We were just slightly stage right of center, almost directly under where the chandelier was soon to be!

Speaking of the chandelier, there it was! There was that oh-so-familiar auction set, and the proscenium arch covered in drapes. I almost cried with happiness. Yes, I am a basketcase.

I made another slightly surprising discovery while reading through my Playbill. I'd expected to see Sara Jean Ford as Christine, but it turned out I was seeing Kelly Jeanne Grant, who I'd only heard of joining the tour a few weeks before. All three of the leads were something of a shock to me, but I was excited. Really excited. I spent the rest of the time up until the show started giving both parents random, Phantom-related trivia that I'm sure neither of them really cared about ("D.C. Anderson has been playing André for years." "Kim Stengel is a great Carlotta! I thought we might be seeing Kimilee Bryant, but obviously not. Kimilee Bryant is a former Christine, by the way." "These two girls have totally played Meg in other productions..."), or else asking my dad what time it was about once a minute.

Finally the lights went down and I nearly fainted.


THE SHOW - ACT ONE

PROLOGUE
I was so excited, and sitting so close, and knew all the lines so well, that this scene almost didn't seem real to me. I sat straight up with my hands clasped in front of my chest like I was praying or something, but really I was just trying to absorb every detail I could. I could hardly believe I was finally seeing this again. There wasn't anything particularly outstanding about this scene beyond the way it affected me, but that was really more than enough for me. I held my breath when the monkey music box played "Masquerade" (and I certainly wasn't the only one who did) and when old Raoul sang his few lines. I tried to get a feeling about Stephen Trafton's Raoul just from that, but there really wasn't enough to go by. When the auctioneer said, "Lot 666, then..." I about jumped out of my seat I was so thrilled. I tried to pay attention to everything: the sound of his voice, the looks on the actors' faces, and especially the instrumental bit underneath his monologue. God, I love this show so much.

OVERTURE
Remember when you thought I was a basketcase earlier? Hah. That moment had nothing on this one. We were only about five seconds into the overture when I burst into tears. I started shaking like a leaf and tried not to screw up my face completely so I could watch the chandelier rise. The drapes on the proscenium were ripped off and the golden angel was looming over me and the chandelier was rising and I literally had big, heavy tears rolling down my cheeks and I wasn't even trying to brush them off. My arms were trembling madly and I was trying not to breathe too loudly despite the fact that I couldn't really inhale through my nose anymore. This was like...as horrendously tacky as I know it sounds, it was like coming home to something I'd desperately missed even more than I realized. Ten years I've been obsessed with this show, five years since I'd last been able to see it, and I was filled with the most wonderful thrill while this music was playing. I can't even communicate this feeling properly, I really can't. Joy, maybe? Ecstasy? I don't know. But God, what a fantastic feeling. If I could bottle this feeling, I would not sell it. I would keep it all for myself and I would sit alone in my room crying all the time and loving every minute of it, because it's one of the best feelings I've ever felt. I was sitting there sobbing while there was nothing happening but curtains rising into place, but it was just the most exquisite experience.

THE DRESS REHEARSAL OF HANNIBAL
I was almost disappointed when Carlotta made her entrance with that severed head, because the overture was so fantastic. But then the whole stage was filled with singers and dancers and color and it was all so familiar to me from pictures but such a treat to see in person, up close. (I'd seen the show four times before this, but not since I became involved in the internet fandom and actually learned about all this stuff starting when I was 15.) To be honest, I was completely overwhelmed by it all. Despite the fact that I knew it all so well from photos and videos, I couldn't decide where to look and I felt like I was missing a ton of stuff every time I looked away from...well, anyone! The fact that I already knew every line by heart was quite helpful, because I spent a lot more time watching the dancing or picking out cast members or admiring costumes than I did in listening to the dialogue, and still things managed to get past me. I didn't even notice Madame Giry make her entrance because I was paying attention to Firmin or Andre or Meg or anything of the other 900 people onstage that were so awesome and watchable.

Random: I noticed right about here that my elbows were tingling like I'd just whapped both of my funny bones, so I think I may have been unconsciously slamming them back into my arm rests or something while I was shaking through the overture.

I was especially excited to see D.C. Anderson as Andre and Jessi Ehrlich as Meg, Jessi because this was the first time I'd seen the show live since creating Little Meg and I wanted to notice all the details I could about her performance, and D.C. because...well, he's D.C. freaking' Anderson! I've been hearing about him and seeing pictures of him and relying on his website for information for years, so I was really excited to get to watch him live and up close. He was one of the few in this cast that I'd seen before, but I didn't know anything about the cast members back then. Another of those was Kim Stengel as Carlotta, who was just as fabulous as I remembered. Before she started "Think of Me," she paused and turned to one side, her fingers to her temple, apparently trying to work up the proper emotion and inspiration for the song before giving the conductor the go ahead. It was hilarious and perfect. Her whole performance was filled with great little nuances like that...actually, most of the performances were that way with this cast, which was fantastic.

I tried to pay attention to the way characters interacted in the background or when a lot of things were going on at once, and I was not disappointed by that. There's so much to see! Meg and Andre seemed to take an immediate disliking to each other after Meg ran into him during her "He's here, the Phantom of the Opera!" bit, and he shouted "Good heavens! Will you show a little courtesy?" at her as she kind of cowered. I didn't remember that line was directed at her at all. When Madame Giry announced the new patronage of the Vicomte de Chagny, there was a lot of twittering from the ballet girls, and of course quite a bit of whispering between Christine and Meg.

Oh, I just realized that's the first time I've mentioned Kelly Jeanne Grant as Christine! I was watching her quite a bit too, but there wasn't a whole lot to see at this point beyond the fact that she was very beautiful and the wig looked absolutely perfect on her, like she'd just been born with long, brown curls. There was a bit more to judge by in the next few minutes, though...

THINK OF ME
When Meg handed Christine the veil, she put her hands on Christine's back and encouragingly positioned her to face outwards just a bit, which was sweet. I've always loved the moment when Reyer shows Christine the music for two seconds and then snaps it shut and walks away. I liked that Madame Giry encouraged her to step out and start using the veil to get into the song, and it was a very realistic moment when Christine did so.

Kelly Grant has a very lovely voice, although her voice wasn't quite as...full, maybe? as I would have liked in this song. (You'll have to forgive my lack of correct singing terms.) Don't get me wrong, I still thought she was wonderful. Her voice was very expressive, especially when she got to "Think of me, please say you'll think of me, whatever else you choose to do!" She sounded so warm and hopeful and almost begging, like Please, think of me sometime! I don't think I've heard those lines delivered with quite that amount of emotion, and I really loved it. And she looked so confident and beautiful that any little problem I might have had with her voice was easily forgotten.

Awww, Stephen Trafton is so young and cute! My immediate impression was of a puppy or something, in the best way. He was very young - young enough to appropriately date me, as my mom pointed out later, lol - and had the most wonderfully boyish quality about him. It was perfect, because it really emphasized the fact that he and Christine are childhood sweethearts who still have this innocent love between them. I admit, though, that my attention was torn from him for a lot of his little interlude here, because Christine making poses in the dim red light in the background was such a beautiful effect.

Christine's cadenza was not the best I've ever heard. I thought it was ok, not great, but my mom didn't like it at all. Meh, maybe it was just an off night for her.

ANGEL OF MUSIC
Gaaah, I've always loved the effect of the audience suddenly being upstage from all of the actors!

Nancy Hess as Madame Giry wasn't quite as menacing with the corps de ballet in this scene as I would have liked. When she said, "And you...you were a disgrace!" she said it lightly, seemingly more for laughs than anything else. It got a little chuckle, but not much more. I was hoping she'd let them have it, but oh well.

I was bracing myself for when Meg would start singing because, devoted as I am to the character and the actresses who play her, I'll be the first to admit that a lot of Megs are terrible singers. I'd heard good stuff about Jessi Ehrlich from a couple of commenters on my website, but I've heard good stuff about Emmy Rossum's Christine too, so I don't necessarily trust good stuff. Luckily, the good stuff I'd heard about Jessi was more than true! She's the best Meg I've ever heard, truly. She had a beautiful voice, surprisingly strong for a Meg but not so strong that she was overpowering, and she more than held her own with Christine! She was perfectly on pitch the whole time and very expressive. I'd planned ahead to watch the ballet rehearsal going on in the background, but I ended up completely distracted by Meg and Christine. I also planned to look at the unused dress hanging in Christine's dressing room, but I totally forgot.

Christine and Meg had some nice moments together, too, I really believed their relationship throughout the whole show. At the beginning of this song when Meg asked Christine who her new tutor was, Christine leaned forward quickly and looked as though she were about to explain everything, then paused and seemed to think maybe that wasn't such a good idea. She let go of Meg's hands and wandered a few feet away before beginning her part, giving the impression that she was weighing her words carefully before she said them. Very, very nice.

"Rehearsals, always rehearsals." Lulz, Meg, I love you. I think that's the first time I've ever been able to hear that line! She said it under her breath - I almost wonder if the people up in the balcony had any idea what those of us in the orchestra were laughing at - and with the perfect inflection.

LITTLE LOTTE/THE MIRROR (ANGEL OF MUSIC)
Stephen Trafton's young, boyish quality served him so well in this scene. I totally believed he was all smitten with Christine still, and the two of them worked so well together. At one point when Christine was singing, he walked behind her to put his hands on her shoulders and looked almost reverent about it, like it was a very special thing to get to touch her.

And here comes Greg Mills as the Phantom. This was obviously something I'd been waiting for with baited breath, and I was pretty nervous about it. Not only was this a Phantom I'd never seen or heard before, it was an understudy that usually played Raoul. I was worried he would seem like...well, like an understudy that usually played Raoul, you know? But I needn't have worried, because he didn't sound at all like Raoul to me. Very Phantom-y, very strong voice. He had a good level of manace in his tone and he growled "fashion," which I liked. There was nothing about him in this scene that made me go "OMG AMAZING!" but I had no complaints.

The mirror...ahhh, I love this show so freaking much. It's such a simple effect but it's so ridiculously cool. Sitting so close, I was able to see the Phantom (and the "passage," which really did look like a passage) quite clearly. The effect of the lights shining up through the floorboards of Christine's dressing room and reflecting in the mirror is so spooky and affective. I loved the way Greg used his hands while beckoning Christine through the mirror, apparently sliding the glass open without touching it and sliding it closed again the same way in one swoop as he wrapped his cape around Christine. I suspect most Phantoms do the exact same thing, but I haven't seen the show in five years so I'm allowed to be excited over things like this, ok?

The only thing about Stephen Trafton's whole performance that I really didn't like was when he burst into Christine's room and said, "Christine? Angel?" He sounded more confused and lost than urgent and worried, which is what I like Raouls to sound like in that bit. Oh well.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
I spent the first half of this song trying to remember all the little nuances that Greg and Kelly put into their performances as they wandered across the bridges so I could write them down in this entry later, before I suddenly remembered that two people I was watching were not Greg and Kelly at all, but doubles. How does one go about getting a job like that, by the way? I'm quite certain I could put on a costume and lipsynch while walking over bridges every night...

Anyway. This song was slightly underwhelming and I'm not sure why. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it and both leads sounded great (but then, is it the whole song that's prerecorded or just most of it?), but it seemed to be over with so fast and before anything particularly amazing could jump out at me. There were bridges and there were candles and then all of a sudden Christine was singing her cadenza and I went, "Wait. It's almost over. How did that happen?" The sets are fantastic and breathtaking and the song is great and the cadenza was lovely, much better than her "Think of Me" cadenza, but then it was suddenly over. I did notice a nice hat toss by the Phantom, but I couldn't tell what else he did with his hands or cape because at my angle Christine was exactly blocking my view of him for the last few moments of the song (until he went to the organ, of course).

I really liked some of the physical touches Greg put into the "I Have Brought You" segment. On the quietly repeated, "My music..." at the end, he almost seemed to forget for a moment that Christine was there, so wrapped up was he in thoughts of his music. He looked down at the music on the organ and almost stroked it lovingly before looking suddenly back up at Christine, apparently ready to get back to business as planned.

THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
*sigh* I love this song. This scene. This show. ♥

Some of Greg's notes seemed a little...short? I dunno how to word it. When he sang very short phrases like "Grasp it, sense it" and "Softly, deftly," it sounded almost as though his voice would drop out just slightly on the second syllable of the phrase. But then, it might have just been a stylistic choice, to sing the second syllable a bit lower than the first. Either way, I didn't have a problem with it, it was just something I noticed. It certainly wasn't because he didn't have enough power behind his voice, because he absolutely did. His "Be" was fantastic! Full and strong and unwavering, I completely loved it.

His physicality was wonderful as well. He didn't do anything hugely different than any other Phantom as far as blocking or hand movements go, but he did it all naturally and believably. And I do so love that portcullis sprawl.

"Touch me, trust me" was of special note, however, both because of the way he sang it and the way she reacted. He delivered "touch me" almost like he was begging, and it was the perfect balance somehow between him trying to be the strong seductor and being so desperate for her to touch him and love him. When her hand came in contact with his mask she gasped, which I don't think I've ever seen a Christine do before.

The Phantom cuts a very dashing figure across the stage, doesn't he? Sorry, I know that's random, but mmmm. Such an attractive costume.

I REMEMBER.../STRANGER THAN YOU DREAMT IT
Has it always been so easy to tell that the people onstage were moving around during the blackout?

I didn't care much for the first half of this scene. Or I guess it was the second third that I didn't love. It started out well, I quite liked the fact that Christine began singing her first lines while she was still lying down. It brought to mind those mornings when you've had a funky dream and the first thing you do when you wake up is stare at the ceiling and go "What the crap?" But after that it didn't feel right. There wasn't enough overwhelming curiosity on Christine's face (or in her movements) and so it looked a bit as though she were just vaguely interested in snatching away his mask. The Phantom's response wasn't angry enough for me either, but then I am used to Brad Little.

However, once the Phantom had had his little hissy fit, things were great again. He sang with so much emotion and desperation as he crawled toward her, and reached out toward her when he sang "dreams of beauty". She tried to look at him but couldn't quite make herself do it, and slowly turned away. He pulled back and moaned "Oh, Christine..." It was so sad.

MAGICAL LASSO
I recently came across this awesome video of a performance in which Buquet didn't come onstage and so Meg performed this number herself. I loved that so much I was almost disappointed when the lights came up and Buquet was onstage. Ah well.

NOTES/PRIMA DONNA
D.C. Anderson is so good. His timing and expressions are perfection, they really are. As are Bruce Winant's. He got a big laugh with his "...meant to have wrote? ...written?" and the two of them together were hilarious when they both raised all the notes over their heads to examine them and then slunk over away from everyone else to bemoan how many notes they had (far too many, that is). They're both wonderful, I've got nothing but praise for either of them.

You know who else I've got nothing but praise for? Jessi Ehrlich. I don't remember ever being able to clearly hear (and enjoy!) Meg in this scene before, and it was such a nice change! She more than held her own here, which is very rare. And I absolutely LOVED watching her! When no one seemed to be looking, she slid over to the managers' desk and began reading their notes until Raoul stepped over and gave her a very stern look. She put the notes back and looked down ashamedly, and then as soon as Raoul had walked past her she grabbed them and began reading again immediately! It was adorable. I actually was distracted by her though a lot of this scene because she kept doing cute little things like that. At one point she and Raoul seemed to be having a conversation in the background in which I would assume Raoul was voicing plans to try and help Christine and she was asking him to let her do something, because she looked worried and followed him to continue the conversation when he tried to walk away. Or maybe it's a hidden plot about how Meg and Raoul had a secret love affair.

Carlotta's offended reaction to the news that she would be playing the Pageboy was hilarious. Piangi was fabulous. Madame Giry was nothing special but perfectly adequate. To be honest, this was another one of those scenes where I was kind of overwhelmed. Beyond the little moments I've already pointed out, I just tried to absorb this scene as best I could, since there was no possible way I could catch everything.

Il Muto/Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh
In between the scenes here (while Raoul was informing the managers that he would be sitting in Box 5), my mom leaned over and said, "That one manager is amazing!" I said, "Oh, I know! That's D.C. Anderson, he's wonderful."

Ever since reading The Phantom of the Opera in 15 Minutes, I can't help wondering during this scene if her description of this scene, albeit a joking one, is true: Il Muto seems to be about a giant pink poodle-lady who may or may not be having an affair with a page boy who may or may not be an actual boy, played by an actual girl (Christine). People watching the movie who have never seen a real opera make a note not to start going now. I kept wondering if there were any people in the audience who'd never seen this show and what they were thinking during this. I wondered about stuff like that a lot throug the entire show, actually, but never so much as in this scene. Anyway.

There were some great comedic moments in this scene, as per usual. I totally remembered Don Attilio's very drawn-out and hilarious low note (and the applause it received) from the last time I saw the show five years ago, so I was happy to be the one who started the applause for it tonight. Er, two nights ago now. This time. Yeah.

Kim Stengel really shone in this scene, from the overdramatic "acting" that Carlotta did, to the croaking, and right down to the little physical things she did. After her first croak, when she restarted at the line "Serafimo, away with this pretense!" she turned to tear of Serafimo's skirt only to remember too late that it had already been torn off and cast aside. She and Christine sort of looked at each other awkwardly (and hilariously) before Carlotta went uneasily on, only to quickly exit the stage croaking again. I absolutely loved that we could still hear her croaking offstage while Andre was onstage attempting to introduce the ballet. Speaking of that, here was another great moment by D.C. Anderson. The hopeful way he added "Now!" and flourished to get the ballet going was so cute.

Surprisingly, one of the biggest laughs of the entire night went to Meg in this scene. The girls were alternately dancing and shrieking about the silhouette of the Phantom behind them and attempted to get it together for a pose about two-thirds through the dance. Meg was right in front and the last to get into position. She glanced back at the Phantom's ominous figure and then turned toward the audience with the most hysterical smile-bordering-on-terrified-grimace on her face. I wish I could have taken a picture or something, because there's really no way for you two understand how great it was unless you actually saw it.

It was during the ballet that I suddenly realized Act 1 was almost over. How could that be? The show was going too fast, soon it would be over!

Why Have You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There
The chemistry between Raoul and Christine was really wonderful through the whole rooftop segment. I loved that she nearly shoved him away when he told her there was no Phantom of the Opera, and sang her next few lines almost as a reprimand for him not believing her. "Raoul, I've been there!" Then, as she continued to reminisce about all she had seen, she drew close to him again, needing his comfort. When the Phantom quietly echoed her name and she panicked, Raoul studied her face for a moment before going to inspect their surroundings, as if he were trying to say, "Ok, I don't think there's anyone here, but I'll look for you because I love you and want you to feel safe." The whole exchange was very believable.

ALL I ASK OF YOU
Aaaaaand the realistic chemistry continued! This whole scene was just so freaking sweet. The last time I saw the show I was as close to being a stupid phangirl as I've ever been, so this scene always bugged me because it was Raoul and not the Phantom. But oh, how much I love this scene now!

Stephen flubbed a line but caught it very quickly so it was actually cute: "Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime...Say--Let me lead you from your solitude..."

One moment I absolutely loved was just following that, when he sang, "Christine, that's all I ask of you..." He got down on his knees and she gasped happily, then as she sang her next bit she got down on her knees opposite him. I suppose all Raoul/Christine duos probably do that, but I wasn't expecting it (when I look for POTO vids on YouTube I'm rarely searching for AIAOY) so it just seemed so. freaking. adorable.

Mmmm, the kiss was very lovely...

ALL I ASK OF YOU (REPRISE)
This whole number was fantastic, full of wonderful emotion, but the best part for me was when he got angry at the end and freaking stood up on the angel while it was rising to hold that last great note. It was AWESOME. From my vantage point I felt like I was directly beneath him, and I swear I was staring up at him with my mouth hanging open. It just looked so cool and powerful and menacing. It struck me for just a moment how horrible it would be if he fell, but then I decided he didn't look at all as though he were having any trouble standing there, even as he rose up underneath the curtain (which, by the way, I noticed was being held out extra far to make sure his hand would make it underneath rather than be left poking out and have to be pulled in quickly).

The chandelier fall was slow, but kinda retro cool in its slowness, if that makes any sense. It's such a classic moment, you know?


INTERMISSION
I left for the bathroom immediately and my feet hurt and I was sweating by the time I got back, because the nearest bathroom was apparently in Nevada. >_>


THE SHOW - ACT TWO

MASQUERADE
Here again, just like during Hannibal, I was totally overwhelmed by all there was to see. I obviously watched all the leads and I tried to identify all the costumes I've learned about from operafantomet, but I totally failed. The only ones I really recognized were the most obvious: the Monkey Girl, the Butterfly Girl, the Triangle Girl, and the dual sex costume. Oh well.

I paid special attention to Meg's costume because there were certain things about it I've never noticed before in pictures. It's more dotty than I ever realized, and the dots got paler as they got closer to the top. Rather than wearing black tights with pink dots on them and silver boots, the tights had silver dots and the boots were pink. (I knew that at least some productions, like the one in Vegas, had pink boots for this costume, but I'd never seen silver dots on the tights before.) She also was wearing black lace gloves, sort of like these. Is it usual for Meg to wear gloves with this costume now?

I never realized before quite how much I prefer the London version of Christine's Masquerade costume to the US version.

Ahhh, Red Death, how I love thee. Soooooo much cooler than the movie. Not that that's news to anyone, but this costume is so cool it warrants the repetition of an obvious sentiment.

Anyway, aside from the costumes I just tried to take in the number as a whole, since there was no way I could notice too many details with all the action onstage. I was really glad to see the Monkey Girl take away Christine's mask while she and Raoul were having their little chat off to the side, since I saw a bottleg once in which you could see a hand reach in and grab Christine's mask but you couldn't see whose it was or what they did with it; this was a little mystery solved for me. I enjoyed watching Raoul and Christine dance, they're so cute together! When the Phantom tossed the libretto for Don Juan Triumphant, Andre didn't quite catch it. He almost did, but really sort of caught it as it hit the ground at his feet, you know? I noticed while I was studying her costume that Meg took a couple of drinks and handed one to...Andre, I think. Maybe Piangi. Or I suppose it could have been Firmin. Crap. Well, it was definitely a man she handed it to.

(You should all visit Anéa's wonderful sites for more costume information, by the way.)

NOTES II/TWSITED EVERY WAY/DON JUAN REHEARSAL
Kelly Grant was alternately not so good and wonderful in this scene. When she told off Carlotta ("How dare you! You evil woman, how dare you!") there was little to no emotion in her face and she just kind of stalked forward to stare at Carlotta. It's not like I wanted her to pick up the managers' chair and beat the woman with it (although that would have been highly amusing), but I wish the emotion on her face could have matched the emotion in her voice, which was just fine. I was just beginning to think that she expressed emotion better vocally than she did physically when she got into the quieter, more fearful part she was fabulous. Especially once she started "Twisted Every Way," she was so realistically upset. She seemed both scared and just exhausted by this whole ordeal, as if thoughts of it really were haunting her day and night. At one point she almost swooned and Raoul caught her to hold her up.

By the way...Wishing gown, yay! I love this costume so much, and it's even more spectacular up close.

WISHING YOU WERE SOMEHOW HERE AGAIN
Remember how earlier (way, way, way earlier) I said there was something about Kelly's voice that I didn't quite love? That it seemed a bit thin or something? Well, I decided at this point that maybe she just took a little while to warm up, because this song was beautiful. Seriously, so gorgeous. My mom and I had kept the whispering between songs to a minimum so as not to break the flow of the performance, but after this one we both leaned over at the same time to say how wonderful she sounded here.

WANDERING CHILD/BRAVO, MONSIEUR
These scene started out fantastically. The way Greg moved up there on the mausoleum, so controlled and somehow hypnotic (aided by the score, of course), was great and it set exactly the right tone of the scene. You could immediately feel Christine being drawn back in to him, and him turning up the emotional seduction several notches as she came closer. When Raoul entered and he and the Phantom started challenging each other, the level of tension between them was amazing. At one point Stephen took off his top hat and held both arms out wide as he approached the Phantom and said something like "I fear you not!" and it was completely awesome because he truly seemed to be the physical embodiment of the phrase "Bring it!"

...and then Greg made his biggest mistake of the whole show. When Christine and Raoul ran off, he said "Don't go!" so pathetically, so whiny and confused and lame sounding, that half the audience burst out laughing and I mentally *face/palm*ed. It was an unfortunate end to what started out as a great scene.

BEFORE THE PREMIERE/DON JUAN TRIUMPHANT/THE POINT OF NO RETURN
I found it highly amusing how many people in the audience swivelled their heads to look in every direction that a voice came from during "Before the Premiere". I kept my eyes fixed on Box 5 myself, or else on the folks onstage or the marksman who was about 10 feet from me.

O hai gypsy Meg with your little purse! I love the bit where Piangi throws it to her ever since the movie came out and that was like the only thing from the entire stage show that Meg actually does in the movie too. I love this costume, too.

Ok, enough blather, I know you all just want me to get into the sexiness. I watched the Phantom for the first half of Christine's solo, so trained am I by watching Brad Little bootlegs, and I wasn't disappointed! He wasn't quite Brad, but I think with a bit of practice Greg's hands could become well-known in their own right! I do so love a Phantom with expressive hands.

Kelly was very sexy and expressive in this scene. Right before she got up from the bench to begin her solo, at the point where she turned to "Piangi!Don Juan" and he turned away quickly to avoid her noticing that he was, in fact, not Piangi!Don Juan, she had this great look on her face like she wasn't sure why the crap Piangi was acting so weird. When she made her way back over to the bench as she was singing the chorus, she put her left leg up on the bench and looked for a moment as though she were going to pull up her skirt to show him her leg! I wished she'd seemed more frightened or he seemed more angry when she realized it was the Phantom and tried to run away. She didn't seem like she was especially interested in getting away, which I'm sure a lot of phangirls would love but which didn't work for me. The unmasking was slightly underwhelming too, because there seemed to be a bit of a pause between the mask leaving his face and his shouting a grabbing her to run off.

Yay Piangi's dead body! I totally leaned up against the wall next to that prop when I went backstage five years ago. </random>

DOWN ONCE MORE/TRACK DOWN THIS MURDERER
Can you believe it's already the end? Well yeah, you probably can, this review is longer than Deathly Hallows. But I couldn't believe the show had gone by so fast.

Raoul jumping into the lake isn't as cool when you're sitting as close to the stage as I was. Just so you know. But the fog rolling into the orchestra pit made up for it. While Madame Giry was explaining that she couldn't go any further, I kept hoping she'd say "I must go—it would make too much zense for me to come with you ze hrest of ze way."

So ok, Greg Mills was so. freaking. on. in this scene. All three leads were fantastic here, actually; the energy, the tension, the way they worked off one another. Kelly had a great moment when she actually lobbed the wedding veil at the Phantom in a fit of anger, and Stephen actually looked like he was choking and straining against the Punjab Lasso. But Greg was in a whole other league. I can't even quite put into words exactly what made him so great, but you could tell he was just putting everything into the last several minutes. Every single thing he did with his voice and his body and his face was perfection! When Raoul showed up he did a couple of awesomely mocking bows, completely with a foppish little hand twirl both times. He didn't just toss the Mirror Bride out of his chair, he launched her. She must have gone about 8 feet into the air, landing just short of offstage right. When Christine started singing "Angel of Music, why this torment?" she came up behind him and he jumped slightly, apparently not expecting Christine's hands to be at his back at that moment. And when she sang, "You decieved me! I gave my mind blindly!" he jumped up out of the thrown and actually looked like he was going to backhand her across the face! I've seen Phantoms jump up and look menacing, but I've never actually seen a Phantom raise a hand to strike before, and it was freakin' awesome.

The kiss...while Christine was singing her lines leading up to the big moment, the Phantom's face actually twitched. He truly looked somewhere between livid and totally insane. After she kissed him, they both pulled away and put their hands to their own lips at the same time, as if neither of them could quite believe what she had just done. She dropped her hand eventually, but he kept his fingers pressed to his lips as he stalked across the stage to grab a candle and set Raoul free. They looked at him like they weren't quite sure what to do when he told them to leave. And the monkey...oh my goodness, this was so sad...when the monkey music box started playing he got down on his knees next to it and mimicked its open and closed movements with his hands as he sang along. It might sound strange or over-the-top in writing, but I promise you it didn't seem that way at all in person. It was so beautifully depressing, because it made you realize how far over the deep end he'd gone and how completely destroyed he was now.

After the big final line when it was time for him to get into his thrown and disappear under his cloak, I experienced a moment of blind panic and I suspect he did too. He attached the cloak over his head and moved to pull his hands under it when the top came loose and flopped back down to reveal his face again. At this point Meg was almost under the portcullis and inside the lair, and I was horrified that something was about to go very wrong. He leaned up and reattached the cloak, pulling his hands under at a moment when Meg certainly would have been able to see them (if this scene weren't, you know, scripted), and Meg approached...I held my breath...what if he was still under there? What if there wasn't time for the trick to work? What if...oh, whew! She pulled the cloak away and there was nothing but the mask on the seat. Absolutely no harm done, beyond my minor heart attack.

Oddly enough, it wasn't until this moment that I began to cry and it was far more because the show was over than because of the show itself. I truly did not want to leave.

I cried through the whole curtain call, which included an almost complete standing ovation (the people in the very front row didn't stand; what the crap??), and "woo"ed extra loud for Meg and the three leads. I went up at stood at the edge of the pit to watch the musicians play the exit music (which, it turns out, is titled "Playout" on their sheet music), crying all the time. At the end I started the applause and one of the cellists looked up and kinda smiled at me. I watched them lower the chandelier and I looked up at the angel and the proscenium once more, and then it was time to go. I told my mom I really didn't want to and she said "Oh, come on." I told her she didn't understand and she said she did, but I replied, "No, you really can't possibly understand the way I feel right now." Finally I forced myself to turn and walk out, still crying.

But then there was a stagedoor, so I wasn't upset for long!


AT THE STAGEDOOR

My beloved camera, Fred, can sometimes be more trouble than he's worth. He's so huge that I know no theatre would ever let me carry him in, so we always have to try and park as close to the theatre as possible and my dad rushes to get him out of the car and meets my mom and I at the stagedoor. (Yeah, I have an awesome dad. And mom.) Because I'm paranoid about the idea of not getting a picture with someone because Fred hasn't arrived yet, I carry my old crappy little camera in my purse to use just in case. Well, about the first half of the pictures taken here were taken with the little crappy one because my poor dad got mixed up and went the wrong direction on his way back from the parking garage. He didn't realize where the stagedoor was and he ended up running around the entire theatre after running the two blocks from the parking garage, and he totally missed most of the cast members. :(

Anyway, I'd prepared myself for a huge mob of people at the stagedoor, but I was shocked to find that Mom and I were two of about five people there for the majority of the time. The first person to come out was Stephen Trafton (Raoul). He's so young! It turned out that this was only his 6th performance EVER as Raoul. We told him he was fabulous, and I effused all over him about how wonderful the show was. Actually, I did that to everybody.

Next up was Bruce Winant (Firming), who my mom pointed at and said, "There's the manager I loved so much!" I corrected her: "No, you loved D.C. Anderson as Andre." She said, "No, it was him that I was talking about." We went back and forth a little bit and finally came to the conclusion that we just have different tastes in opera house managers. They were both perfect, but apparently we just had different favorites.

Bruce Winant was extremely personable. He asked if I'd seen the show before so I gave him my mini-history ("Tonight was my fifth time, my first time in five years, I've been a Phan for ten years, I was so overwhelmed, it was wonderful!" spoken as quickly as possible, so as not to hold them up terribly long) and he said, "Well thank you for coming back!" I said, "Well...thank you for coming back!" and he laughed. I asked if he'd be with the show in San Francisco at the end of the year and he said that'd probably be his last city, so I told him I'd definitely see him then too. My mom threw in the bit about me having my first alcoholic drink in the lobby at intermission on my 21st birthday and he seemed to think that was a great idea.

A woman walked past us and thankfully Bruce was nice enough to say "There's Carlotta right there," because I hadn't even noticed her. I thanked him for pointing her out and went to get her autograph. There wasn't a whole lot of notable conversation with her since she seemed tired and ready to get home (though not at all rude or anything). She had to flip through the program a bit to find her bio and she lamented the fact that she'd just come back after being away (as Carlotta on Broadway) for a couple of months and they hadn't changed the programs back yet.

Next I noticed an absolutely tiny blonde girl exiting the theatre and realized she was Jessi Ehrlich (Meg). Mom and I both told her how great she was and she seemed a bit overwhelmed by it, honestly. (But then, maybe that was because my average-sized mom and average-sized self seriously towered over her. Honestly, I felt like the Jolly Green Giant or something. True, I was wearing four-inch heels, but still. She was tiny.) I told her how much I loved watching her and that I was totally distracted by her in several scenes and she was like "Oh no, not too distracted, I hope!" When I asked for her autograph she, like Kim Stengel, had to flip around to find her bio. "Well, I'm not Polly," she said, pointing at the picture of Polly Baird before finding her own.

My mom pointed to me and said, "She has a Meg website!" which I can't decide if I was happy or slightly embarrassed about because it's not exactly the most normal subject for a fansite. Jessi looked at me a bit funny/confused, so I explained that Meg had been my favorite character after the Phantom since I was a little girl and so I'd started a little website several years ago. I told her how excited I was to be meeting her because it was my first time ever meeting a Meg actress, and then I apologized if I sounded weird or stalkerish. She was very gracious, but still seemed slightly overwhelmed by the whole thing. Nobody but us stopped on her way out, so I suspect she doesn't meet many obsessive Meg Giry fangirls.

I glanced up and noticed D.C. Anderson (Andre) standing over by himself, despite the fact that there were several other people milling around looking as though they were hoping for autographs or pictures. When I asked for his autograph I told him I'd been wanting to meet him for years, and he seemed completely taken aback. I said I'd been following his website and admiring his photography for a long time, and he seemed very genuinely pleased and grateful. Of course, I enthused all about the show and his performance as well.

Next was John Whitney (Piangi), who was wearing a POTO hat and jacket and holding a cupcake. Heeee. There wasn't a whole lot of conversation here, but he sure is cute! Bunny cute, you know. Really sweet face.

At some point in there Nancy Hess (Madame Giry) made a break for it and slipped past me. One imagines a scenario in which Jessi Ehrlich phoned her stage mother to warn about the mad Giry fan in the polka-dot dress and hooker heels...

While waiting for the final two cast members - the big ones, naturally - I happened to glance over at a couple standing nearby who were also waiting for autographs. I about fell over when the girl looked at me and said, "Mandy?" It took me a moment to realize who it was; I'd completely forgotten in my excitement that parsephoni had planned to meet! We hugged and took care of introductions and initial conversation and all that, and we just planning to take a picture together when a bunch of people behind us burst into applause. We turned to see that Greg Mills (the Phantom) had just come out.

I was the first to get to him with my Playbill - I'm either really good at that or extremely pushy without realizing I'm being so - and told him how absolutely fantastic he was. When we were about to pose for a picture (my dad had come back with Fred by now, by the way) my mom excitedly suggested the "Music of the Night" pose, obviously inspired by my doing it with Brad just a couple of weeks ago. Greg obliged, and while we were in position I heard a girl laughing behind us. Apparently Kelly Jeanne Grant (Christine) found us very amusing.

In one of my favorite parts of the night, as I moved over to have my picture taken with her, I jokingly said, "Should I be the Phantom in this one?" And she immediately responded, "No, I will be!" and she tossed her arm around me and made a silly face at the camera! She was a total doll, she really was. Officially in my top three nicest stagedoor actors. (Brad and Juliana Ashley Hansen are the other two.) I was telling her how wonderful she was and how much I just adored the show and effusing all over the place, and she asked my name. I gave it and she reached out to shake my hand and said, "Hi Mandy, I'm Kelly," like I didn't already know who she was.

While she was looking through the program for her bio I made some comment about how excited I was to see her since she'd just recently joined the show, and she was really surprised that I knew that. I told her I followed all the cast changes online and she pointed out that tonight was a really cool night to be seeing the show, because the principle cast was so different than usual. I asked her how many times she'd performed Christine so far and she estimated it to be only about 15. She said, "The first five times, the costumes eat you alive." She talked about the big "lobster things" they put on their butts to make the costumes poof appropriately and demonstrated wiggling her hips around as if she were trying to figure out how to sit down in an imaginary Victorian gown. She said she wished they could put a little camera on her forehead so the audience could see what she saw every night, because "if you could see what I see...there's no acting required". She described how huge and complicated all the sets and costumes were and everything, and I said she should really pitch that idea for the "Kelly Cam" or at least put it on YouTube, because I'd love to see it.

The conversation just kind of meandered from there, because she seemed so happy to just hand out and chat. Someone nearby commented that it was so funny to see her out here like this after seeing her as Christine, because she was so energetic and happy and wearing a Dave Matthews Band shirt. She did that rock hand thingy and said she loved Dave Matthews. She and parsephoni started talking about their (lack of) height and Kelly said that the POTO higher-ups always try to keep Christines pretty small. She was just so friendly and happy to talk to us, it was really nice. She didn't seem the slightest bit weirded out or tired, just perky and sweet.

Around this time Greg Mills was leaving, and I thought it was nice that he specifically waved over to the bunch of us who were crowded around Kelly. I half-shouted, "Will you be in San Francisco with the show at the end of the year?" He kinda went "Uh..." and I said, "Well, if you will I'll be seeing you then too." He smiled and said, "Oh, ok!" and waved again before he left.

Unfortunatetly, the night had to come to an end sometime, and this was about that time. parsephoni and I got sone pictures together (some with me looking massive next to her and one with us both at our natural, heel-less heights in which I still look massive next to her) and we all said good night to Kelly and told her again how wonderful she was and how thankful we were that she talked to us for so long. My parents, parsephoni, her fiance and I all walked toward the parking garage together, parsephoni and I talking about how great the show is compared to the movie and joking that we should post about our meeting and Kelly on emmy_sucks. Eventually we got to the parking garage and parsephoni and her fiance realized they weren't parked in the same garage as us and had to turn around. Whoops. LOL.


PICTURES

Stephen Trafton (Raoul), who my mom has decided I'm going to marry.


Bruce Winant (Firmin).


He dropped the pen lid and the picture took just as I was leaning around to grab it. We joked that it was an action shot.


Kim Stengel (Carlotta).






A tiny blonde girl? Must be Jessi Ehrlich (Meg)!


My mom took this pic and then told the actor, "I just got a great shot of the bill of your hat, so we'll have to take another one..."


Oh look, it's D.C. Anderson (Andre)!


John Whitney (Piangi) with his cupcake.




Greg Mills (the Phantom)! Did I mention how crazy young he was?


I think we were both about halfway into character there...






Evil Phantom is evil.






A modified MOTN pose with Kelly Jeanne Grant (Christine). By far my favorite picture of the night.














This batch of pictures is really exciting, huh?


No idea what I was doing with my face, but I love that the picture includes me, Kelly, Greg and parsephoni.




And finally, me and parsephoni.





IT'S OVER NOW.
OH SNAP. *ching*