I am back ... with Phantom =). After a looong hiatus (two years), I haven't been in touch with the Phandom since I entered college two years ago.
The Bway Cast:
Gary Mauer --- ahhh he reminds me of Hugh Panaro, maybe because I missed Hugh so much. He is great but he doesn't do the "slick" during motn >.< I absolutely love the fact that he's married to another Christine Daaé - Elizabeth Southard.
Jennifer Hope Wills --- a new Christine. She is young and beautiful. Her vocal is not as strong as Lisa Vroman or Sandra Joseph, but that's fine.
Michael Shawn Lewis --- My first Raoul! It's nice to see him back on Broadway, but after recently found out that he is into men ... wait Howard McGillin is gay too. OMG.. a gay Phantom and gay Raoul, imagine them kissing on stage! Michael is so good looking, he is great at what he does. =)
Kris Koop --- filled in for Anne Runolfsson (Carlotta). I love her! I saw her as Christine Daaé on my 16th Birthday. My mom likes her too. She was great as Carlotta.
God.. I'm bad at this because I forgot how many times I've seen Phantom. I know it's definitely more than 10 times and I'm guessing 15 times? I saved all the tickets so I'll check later. I sat at seat A 5, Left Orchestra third row from the stage. My dream is to see the London cast and the Japan one when I go study abroad.
Prologue
I was crying with tears when "Overture" was playing the same time when the gorgeous chandelier was elevating. I became totally emotional that I kept on wiping off my tears. It's defintely because of the hiatus.
Kris Koop was Carlotta and she's totally Carlotta like. She has the Carlotta attitude and the voice. It's hard to think that she can play Christine Daaé and Carlotta anytime. I kind of missed the previous Piangi and is still not used to seeing the new one. I hate it that Jeff Keller left.. he's been performing in the Phantom musical for ... well forever. I think I read somewhere that he was the first Phantom on Broadway in 1987? Anyway.. I thought George Lee Andrews and Jeff Keller were great together on stage and it's a huge lost losing him.
Think of Me & Angel of Music
Jennifer did a good job there and it's great to see a new Christine. It's always nice to see a new person to play the role, she adds bits here and there of stuff throughout the show that I've never seen other Christines do on stage. (I've only seen Lisa Vroman [my first Christine] and Sandra Joseph and Kris Koop and Julie hanson [I think she's better than Jennifer] as Christine). When I first heard Gary Mauer (I didn't know how to pronounce the last name ... I'm bad at last name. Is it Mao-er?), he freaking reminds me of Hugh Panaro. He's the best.. er second best. Michael Crawford is my top favorite.
Phantom of the Opera & MOTN
It is really true, when Jennifer and Gary went through the mirror in "Angel of Music", and it's not them when they went down to the "lair". It was body doubles and they didn't even look alike lmao. Jennifer and Gary only showed up in the boat scene. I love that scene - the smoke and the candelabras. Sadly, Gary Mauer didn't do the slick, and I get excited when the Phantom does that. Did I mention that MOTN is my favorite song? But only if it's done beautifully. I especially love Gary's "soar".
Perros graveyard
I just want to point out that I noticed Jennifer's vocal rendition of that song was not as powerful as the past Christines that I've seen. But at least her mouth doesn't wobble like Sandra Joseph lmao.
Don Juan Triumphant
I especially liked this scene tonight. I absolutely loved the way Gary acted in the black cloak. It was intense and I like the way he fist his hands. He defintely stood out in the scene out of all the Phantoms I've seen. It's defintely worth seeing him again just for that.
Finale
I noticed that Gary Mauer was not as violent as Howard McGillin or Hugh Panaro. Gary is more like an extremely tortured soul type and he's like a boy threatening to act violently, but doesn't really have the heart to do it.
Overall, Gary Mauer was a phantastic Phantom and that I would be happy to see him or Hugh Panaro replace Howard McGillin. Why do I dislike Howard so? 1) I don't like his hoarse voice and he sings with way too much vibrato. 2) He doesn't greet his fans at the stage door. (He didn't go out the stage door to meet his fans at his last performance like years ago when he left for a new musical and there were a few fans there waiting until 1am or so... yea including me)
Jennifer was great but I would willingly pay more to see someone like Lisa Vroman. I think they cast a much younger Christine because of the Phantom movie?
I'm going to see Les Miserables on my birthday on May 29th and I am looking forward to it =Þ
Thanks for reading my review lmao.
p.s. If there is news that Hugh Panaro is going to return to Phantom, please tell me!
The Bway Cast:
Gary Mauer --- ahhh he reminds me of Hugh Panaro, maybe because I missed Hugh so much. He is great but he doesn't do the "slick" during motn >.< I absolutely love the fact that he's married to another Christine Daaé - Elizabeth Southard.
Jennifer Hope Wills --- a new Christine. She is young and beautiful. Her vocal is not as strong as Lisa Vroman or Sandra Joseph, but that's fine.
Michael Shawn Lewis --- My first Raoul! It's nice to see him back on Broadway, but after recently found out that he is into men ... wait Howard McGillin is gay too. OMG.. a gay Phantom and gay Raoul, imagine them kissing on stage! Michael is so good looking, he is great at what he does. =)
Kris Koop --- filled in for Anne Runolfsson (Carlotta). I love her! I saw her as Christine Daaé on my 16th Birthday. My mom likes her too. She was great as Carlotta.
God.. I'm bad at this because I forgot how many times I've seen Phantom. I know it's definitely more than 10 times and I'm guessing 15 times? I saved all the tickets so I'll check later. I sat at seat A 5, Left Orchestra third row from the stage. My dream is to see the London cast and the Japan one when I go study abroad.
Prologue
I was crying with tears when "Overture" was playing the same time when the gorgeous chandelier was elevating. I became totally emotional that I kept on wiping off my tears. It's defintely because of the hiatus.
Kris Koop was Carlotta and she's totally Carlotta like. She has the Carlotta attitude and the voice. It's hard to think that she can play Christine Daaé and Carlotta anytime. I kind of missed the previous Piangi and is still not used to seeing the new one. I hate it that Jeff Keller left.. he's been performing in the Phantom musical for ... well forever. I think I read somewhere that he was the first Phantom on Broadway in 1987? Anyway.. I thought George Lee Andrews and Jeff Keller were great together on stage and it's a huge lost losing him.
Think of Me & Angel of Music
Jennifer did a good job there and it's great to see a new Christine. It's always nice to see a new person to play the role, she adds bits here and there of stuff throughout the show that I've never seen other Christines do on stage. (I've only seen Lisa Vroman [my first Christine] and Sandra Joseph and Kris Koop and Julie hanson [I think she's better than Jennifer] as Christine). When I first heard Gary Mauer (I didn't know how to pronounce the last name ... I'm bad at last name. Is it Mao-er?), he freaking reminds me of Hugh Panaro. He's the best.. er second best. Michael Crawford is my top favorite.
Phantom of the Opera & MOTN
It is really true, when Jennifer and Gary went through the mirror in "Angel of Music", and it's not them when they went down to the "lair". It was body doubles and they didn't even look alike lmao. Jennifer and Gary only showed up in the boat scene. I love that scene - the smoke and the candelabras. Sadly, Gary Mauer didn't do the slick, and I get excited when the Phantom does that. Did I mention that MOTN is my favorite song? But only if it's done beautifully. I especially love Gary's "soar".
Perros graveyard
I just want to point out that I noticed Jennifer's vocal rendition of that song was not as powerful as the past Christines that I've seen. But at least her mouth doesn't wobble like Sandra Joseph lmao.
Don Juan Triumphant
I especially liked this scene tonight. I absolutely loved the way Gary acted in the black cloak. It was intense and I like the way he fist his hands. He defintely stood out in the scene out of all the Phantoms I've seen. It's defintely worth seeing him again just for that.
Finale
I noticed that Gary Mauer was not as violent as Howard McGillin or Hugh Panaro. Gary is more like an extremely tortured soul type and he's like a boy threatening to act violently, but doesn't really have the heart to do it.
Overall, Gary Mauer was a phantastic Phantom and that I would be happy to see him or Hugh Panaro replace Howard McGillin. Why do I dislike Howard so? 1) I don't like his hoarse voice and he sings with way too much vibrato. 2) He doesn't greet his fans at the stage door. (He didn't go out the stage door to meet his fans at his last performance like years ago when he left for a new musical and there were a few fans there waiting until 1am or so... yea including me)
Jennifer was great but I would willingly pay more to see someone like Lisa Vroman. I think they cast a much younger Christine because of the Phantom movie?
I'm going to see Les Miserables on my birthday on May 29th and I am looking forward to it =Þ
Thanks for reading my review lmao.
p.s. If there is news that Hugh Panaro is going to return to Phantom, please tell me!
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chasethestars
chasethestars
Comments
so nice to see you in LJ land.
enjoy Les Miz:)