THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (musical)
A hideously deformed musician enjoys chasing a talented young lady singer
around the stage. This is not the Andrew Lloyd Webber / Sarah Brightman Story
because occasionally the musician also bursts into song. Needless to say, in the
end an ineffably wet aristocrat gets the girl and the deformed freak vanishes.
This is a Paris set, gothic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with Cameron Mackintosh
in charge of the spectacle.
Tim Howar plays ‘The Phantom’ from 13th May 2019. David Thaxton will play
‘The Phantom’ for a limited run until 11th May 2019.
Kimberly Blake plays ‘Carlotta Giudicelli’ and
Ross Dawes ‘Monsieur Firmin’.
The cast also includes Kelly Mathieson as ‘Christine Daaé’, Jeremy
Taylor as ‘Raoul’, Amy Manford as the alternate ‘Christine Daaé’, Mark
Oxtoby as ‘Monsieur Andre’, Jacinta Mulcahy as ‘Madame Giry’, Paul Ettore
Tabone as ‘Ubaldo Piangi’, Georgia Ware as ‘Meg Giry’ and Scott Davies as
the standby ‘Phantom’.
It is completed by Matthew Barrow, Matt Bateman, James Bisp, James
Butcher, Bridget Costello, Sophie Cottrill, Hadrian Delacey, Morven Douglas,
Paul Erbs, Hannah Grace, Philip Griffiths, Katy Hanna, Hettie Hobbs, Grace
Horne, Lily Howes, Ellen Jackson, Adam Robert Lewis, Kris Manuel, Tim
Morgan, Danielle Pullum, Rebecca Ridout, Anna Shircliff, Emily Smith, Rachel
Spurrell, John Stacey, Andrei Teodor Iliescu, Claire Tilling, Victoria Ward
and Danny Whitehead.
Website:
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/london
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ThePhantomOfTheOpera
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheOperaGhosts (Please use the hashtags #Oliviers
and #VoteForPhantom)
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Theatremonkey braces itself for the backlash when it admits it found this
show utterly, utterly lame. The best of the elevator muzak score is heard
within the first twenty minutes with almost all the best scenic effects and plot
developments occurring simultaneously. Only the unexpected and deeply moving
graveyard scenes and 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' prevent act two
drowning in bathos. Oh, and theatremonkey
thinks the heroine should have got the Phantom - her bloke suffers from a total
charisma bypass. This one runs and runs. The heavy romance keeps seats filled and the thudding
mock grandeur of the score seems to reassure audiences of the quality.
Yes, it looks great and familiar tunes always make for an easier evening out,
but why does all the emotion have to be so overblown? To overcome the staging,
surmises the monkey.
2008: Just for the record, in early 2008 the monkey finally watched
the screen version of this show... and actually preferred it to the stage one...
sure, the lyric is still crass in places, but the revised script and actual
cinematography made it like the show a whole lot more than in the theatre! And
this time it can see more clearly why Raoul got the girl...
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