Phantom of the Opera

[windbelle]

Congratulations, Mar!! Feel so happy for you. I guess none of us would feel at ease if you couldn't go and see him.

Well, wish you all good luck!!

And please remember I'll try to be with you there, in spirit......

Oh, and gorgeous pics, jazzgirl. I've been constantly striken by envy here that I might have got used to it now, BUT......Back in the swing concert......Ahhhhhhhhh~~~~~I'M GREEN AGAIN.

[neh]

Haha, i love the slogan Mar - love it!
And thos epics are lovely mum - and you're nephew!! Oh boy, the luck of some people!!!! I'm gonna join Belle in the green room there (haha) And Belle, you said it true; it wouldn't be a happy forum if our creator couldn't see her man!

[Marie-Cris]

Okay, so by now both neh and cinta will be in Melbourne as they left this afternoon; maybe they're seeing the show right now, who knows. Anyway, neh txted me earlier to let everyone know in case we all start to wonder where she's gone off to.

[darlia]

Unlike Cirque I have seen live performances by both Ana Marina & Julie, plus many other Christines around the world, and I thought Ana was absolutely outstanding. Vocally (I believe she has studied to be an opera singer), not one note out of place, she has a very beautiful, round, clear, strong and youthful sound and a completely stable. The Perfect Christine sound without the thiness or extreme vibrato that is heard sometimes with Christines.

She is also a brilliantly superb actress, she brought depth and layer's to the character that I haven't seen in other actress's portrayal of the role, her 'Wishing' was very emotional, she really gives to the role passionately and she is completely convincing throughout, and she is so incredibly beautiful. Of course it's unreasonable to judge from sound clips or u-tube, as it does not show the brilliance of her live and beautifully vibrant voice. I found Ana's performance completely mesmorising. She also had amazing chemistry with both Anthony and John Bowles.

[jazzgirl1960]

Hi and welcome darlia, that's a great review. I'm so glad you said that Ana's is voice is strong, I too hate that thin, shrill vibrato - kinda hurts my brain! I see the show in about 3 weeks (can't stand the waiting it's driving me crazy!), so I love hearing anything, and all reviews of the show. I noticed that in her interviews with Ant. that she seems completely enthralled by him... she's obviously a big fan of his too!

[aurryinne]

Okay, so by now both neh and cinta will be in Melbourne as they left this afternoon; maybe they're seeing the show right now, who knows. Anyway, neh txted me earlier to let everyone know in case we all start to wonder where she's gone off to.

*bounce bounce bounce bounce BOUNCE* *waiting impatiently for the results* Any further news from Neh, Mar?

Ana Marina/Anthony Warlow/John Bowles! You can't get a more perfect cast than that! Oh, wait, You can. Lisa Vroman/Anthony Warlow/Patrick Wilson would be *purr*fect, but that would never happen

[scuffa]

Hi there.

Anthony was on 9am this morning being interviewed about all sorts of things from being a national living treasure, the Main Event up to Phantom.

Great to see him looking well and in good form. The interview can be seen on ten.com.au/ten/9am-with-david-kim-video.html

Anthony gives insight into how he sees the Phantom role and remarks on the sexual tension but basically says Erik is a stalker. Had to laugh when he describes Erik as 'putting on a show to get the bird". *whip*

Has anyone else noticed but in the last few interviews I have seen, Anthony is no longer wearing his wedding ring. Any thoughts???

[neh]

Thanks heaps for the link Scuffa, a warm welcome to you Darlia and hi everybody (hi Dr. Nick!)
THE SHOW WAS BLOOMIN' AMAZING. Ant was... he was..... OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in love with his hands - SEXY hands!!!!!! And his "Be" in MOTN - wowwee! And Ana was utterly divine - like Darlia said, she didn't take a step wrong vocally and yes, was very strong in her acting. John was fine but Raoul never has much to do i don't think. Cinta and i waited for AN HOUR AND 15 MINS after the show and scored Ana, John and Nadia's (Meg) autographs but no Ant.... no Ant..... we were so very sad, and cold, and sad. I did however tell John he was lovely and he said "thankyou, you're lovely too" and Cinta was very jealous coz she's developed quite a crush, hehe. And i told Ana i adored her clips over at her official site!
AND WE GOT YOU-KNOW-WHAT, and plenty of pics of us outside the theatre. I'll be uploading all my stuff tomorrow, if that's ok guys. I have a TON of Uni work to catch up on tonight. LOVE YOU ALL - LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE ANT~

PHANTASITC!

[windbelle]

Hi~ Neh, wow looks you're really excited! Makes me feel happy for you two, and look forward to your stuff.

And thanks a bunch for the link, scuffa!! Yeah, he looks well and relaxed in the video. About the wedding ring issue, well my guess is that maybe it's because he couldn't wear it during the show and to avoid the trouble of wearing and taking it off every day he just takes it off during the show season.

[jazzgirl1960]

Thanks for that link scuffa... what a great interview, he had fun! OMG those hands...

I agree belle, hopefully he just leaves it off altogether if he can't be wearing a wedding ring in whatever show he's doing... don't want to think of him being unhappy in his marriage!

neh, glad you and cinta had such a wonderful time in Melb. *dance* don't forget when you have time, we NEED a full review... or Mr Whippy will be after you two! *whip*
PS So happy that you got 'you know what' what a good daughter you are!

[windbelle]

As always, 9am video has been uploaded, and the link has been posted in the VIP section.

And I've just moved all my download links of videos to the VIP board, to have things in order.

[Marie-Cris]

Welcome back neh and cinta, so glad you had a good time! Sorry I haven't been saying much lately, things have been a little odd down this end, but no matter. Thank you for the link scuffa, I'm sure Dorian will appreciate it

[neh]

Belle you're a champ and Mar, i hope everything's ok? *plans to text you to check*
And mum, thankyou so much for your approval, hehe! Sadly i got my you-know-what via someone else's mp3 player so i'm going to need them to get the music off it for me, get it on a rewritable disc and i'll get it up ASAP.
In the meantime, i owe you all a decent review!
Firstly, the Princess Theatre is very pretty but the stage is considerably smaller than Cinta or i anticipated - and the staff were very friendly, quite accomodating and seemingly amused by the phanatic insanity that was Cinta and myself and letting us giggle and whatnot without one side glance - plus we purchased the first programs of the night, score! I also bought a very lovely Phantom necklace - silver chain with a little silver mask, so cute. Of course, we both wished we could have purchased the PHANATIC t-shirts but they were pretty pricey IMO. So we checked the board to make sure that Ant was on, located the stage door and went on upstairs all bright eyed and bushy tailed.
40/50 MINS LATER (after much needed chocolate fixes)
The doors open, we seat ourselves with certain devices hidden under coats and wait anxiously, knees bouncing and chattering away. Then.... THE SHOW STARTS. Kapoooowwww! It's such a change finally seeing these sets and characters live in front of you as oppossed to on video or dvd - the sheer power of it is incredible. Oh, and i got very 'aw'ish when i saw the monkey music box for the first time. So on comes whatsherface who plays Carlotta, singing her heart out and doing very well - seriously, she's dam good; so much so that the comedy came more from her dialogue than from her singing because it was so impressive IMO that you couldn't really find reason to laugh. By this stage i have already noted that the dudes playing Firmin and Andre are a good pair, and this Madame Giry is even more ambigious than Miranda Richardson's portrayl. Now Ana comes on and i be a cow and mabye say something about her dance technique (even though she's perfectly fine) but she looks so lovely and then she begins to sing and my golly goodness - what a voice!!!! Not a note less than perfection all through TOM - and John sounded nice too - not great mind you, but nice. He certainly was a very sincere Raoul, so i did find it hard to hate him in my fierce E/Cness. AOM begins and Meg seems to be pretty strong and not at all annoying - and all the while Cinta and i are feeling the tension, we know who we want to see, we know what we're waiting for - and then it happens - his voice fills the theatre and we melt; heads fall onto each other's shoulders and we clasp hands and OH MY! Then he's in the mirror and everything's a blur coz i'm so darn thrilled to be SEEING ANT IN THIS ROLE. So, they're going through the lair and their voices are blending oh-so-beautifully and Ana is giving her all with her final notes whilst sounding and looking like it's a cakewalk and Ant's smoothing back his hair and whipping off his coat and and arching his back and ....... and .... *drools and falls down*
*picks self up off ground* And then he sang and all hope of my staying sane was lost. I'm in love with the man's hands. I want someone to caress the air around me like he was doing - i want someone to lure me in simply by curling his fingers. And don't even get me started on the voice...... *drooling ensues again*
AFTER SOME TIME SPENT RECOVERING
Wow, all this and i'm barely even into it yet. Ok, i will summarise to say that Ant was stunning and his chemistry with Ana was extraordinary; i love his being older this time round coz the age difference within the whole sexual attraction element is always fascinating for me - and plus the additional gravity in his voice now just brings the baby home! (or something like that) PONR was exceptionally thrilling to watch, coz just as he spoke of in the interview Scuffa found, his Erik was really visibily beginning to come undone in this scene - his hands were shaking like crazy as Christine sang and he arched time and time again in a way that was both a sign of pure attraction aswell as one of extraordinray pain and anger and lack of control. Final Lair was explosive - although Ana and Ant tended to drown out John, which in terms of my own character/shipping interest, is fine by me, hehe! Oh! and the kiss - i've seen many of the stage kisses but this had to be the longest time i've seen it take for Erik to understand and accept what is happening and hug Chris back - and i think that was a brilliant decision, whether it was Ant's directly or whomever, it was making me so worried and depressed and that's excellent in terms of elliciting audience response! And of course the tears came when they had the ir hands clapsed around the ring together and he sang oh so softly "Christine... i looooove you" and she shook her head crying and ran out and i was a goner! You could hear other people sniffling too, hehe, so i wasn't too embarrased. Oddly enough Ant only did one "i love you" on this night, and it was a quiet one too.... interesting coz he often shouts it no? Anyways, his final "NIGGGGGGHHHHHHT" just rocked my socks off my feet, down the aisle where some unfortunate sod passed out from the smell! Then we were screaming and whooping and clapping til our hands were red and numb and they came out all looking so happy - and Ant was just beaming and looked so very moved and it was AMAZING, people, AMAZING!
Oh and here's my folder of photos - nothing super dooper, i was too nervous to request Ana and John to pose with me sadly. Cinta got better ones of us outside the building.
www.sendspace.com/file/9ldbvg

[Marie-Cris]

Oh gawd, I'm melting just reading that review!! Why can't it be November now?! *jumps back into closet, slides note under the door:*

"Dear US crew,

It's just looking for a job, my current performances and organising the "family trip" to Melbourne that's shaking me up, nothing major, no fear.

Trying not to cry from my Warlovian / Phantom ... thoughts ...

Cpt. Mar."

[windbelle]

I'd be in broken pieces if I heard him singing music of the night live.

Well done Neh!

...Well except that I have trouble downloading from sendspace. Yet I managed to get it thanks to the help of a friend so don't worry, but I'll appreciate it if you upload to another site next time. :-)

[neh]

Oh yes - i'm sorry Belle! I always forget that sendspace is a baddie for so many people; i promise next time it shall be via another site. Silly neh!
And Mar dearest, you have my complete sympathies - my life in many areas is utterly SUCKY at present... i've had a very blue day today.

[cirque]

I'm so excited, I put my resume in to the princess a couple of weeks ago to be an usher... had an interview and got the job! I'll get to see the show over an over for free and get inside info for all you guys SO Excited.

Anyways saw the show again last wednesday matinee, Simon was on as Phantom , he was wonderful and the audience obviously didn't see the brilliance of Warlow but Simon is a fine replacement. Saw Ana as Christine, must admit to being dissapointed, maybe I got spoiled by Julie, but i just didn't find her voice to be anything remarkable, I suppose since I'm studying Opera I have just become obsessed with Julie's voice because of its operatic tone, but oh well only more viewings will confirm whether I am right about Ana or not hehe.

[neh]

Ooooh, congrats Cirque - you lucky devil!!! What a dream job, my goodness!
And how i wish i could see Julie ... i'm thinking (as does Cinta, who first suggested it) that she would make a brilliant Clara in The Light in the Piazza, and also probably a very nice Julie in Carousel. And she's a year younger than me - it's nuts! Dam talented people.....

[windbelle]

Wow!! Fantastic job! Please do come back more and tell us about the Phantom; we'll never get enough of that.

And I believe both Ana and Julie are fantastic in their own way. Julie is certainly amazing for a girl at that age to get this big role in this big splendid musical. I heard that Ana was more convincing and mature in acting and stage presence. But anyway everyone is right when speaking of personal likes and dislikes.

[cirque]

neh said:

Ooooh, congrats Cirque - you lucky devil!!! What a dream job, my goodness!
And how i wish i could see Julie ... i'm thinking (as does Cinta, who first suggested it) that she would make a brilliant Clara in The Light in the Piazza, and also probably a very nice Julie in Carousel. And she's a year younger than me - it's nuts! Dam talented people.....

Ah yes!!!!! She'd be superb as Clara... now all we need is for somebody to actually do it! I wish Opera Australia would have done it instead of My Fair Lady (which I am looking forward to!) Don't think I dislike Ana anybody, As I said I felt spoiled by Julie, if I had only seen Ana I probably would hold her just as high... what is it with all these alternates! I felt the same way about Jennifer Trijo as Kim in Miss Saigon!

[Marie-Cris]

*a thud within the closest, another note slides under the door:*

"Congratulations on getting the job cirque! That'd be my dream job for sure. If you're working on the 20th of November, hide; I'll probably be a complete mess before I even get through the door. XD

Neh, perhaps Dorian would like to hear it?

Isn't it always the case, when great talent turns up and they're always younger?!

BTW kiddies, there's chocolate and Tim Tams in the pantry."

[cirque]

Haha if any of you see a extremely tall (round 6 foot 6) 19 year old male with spikey hair which currently has a shade of blue but probably wont within the next week, don't hesistate to go "hey I'm a stalker, do you go on Unexpected Song" The person will either smile politely an look the otherway, meaning you have got the wrong person, or it will be me and I will cheer and begin to sing random showtunes.

[neh]

DID SOMEONE SAY CHOCOLATE AND TIM TAMS?! *runs to demolish pantry, whilst attempting to not injure Mar*
And Mar, indeed Dorian would like what Cinta and i collected but alas for my part at least i can't get the darn stuff on the comp and uploaded yet - me no good with tech. But give me about 2 days and it should be good.
And Cirque, i'm with ya on Piazza over MFL - although i adore the latter, truly. Perhaps we could lobby for Piazza to be on the program in 08? Golly, i'd love it to come here... i don't know how many times i'd go see it. What would you say to Marina Prior as Margaret? At first i thought too young but still... oh, and speaking of seeing a show more than once, Cinta and i hope to see Phantom again in it's Sydney run but time will tell.
And cirque, you've now got me wishing for Jennifer in MS when i go see it on the 29th..... it IS a matinee though, so that may well be the case - hurrah!

[cirque]

Marina Prior would actually be an inspired choice! Imagine Marina and Julie as mother and daughter! *dies* And chances are if you are going to a wednesday or saturday matinee of Miss Saigon you WILL see Jen....sure i'm biased as i am friends with her but by jeeves if she isn't the finest Kim since well EVER haha

[neh]

Oooooh, coolness! I can't wait - my excitement has just been hightened! And i'm glad you agree with Marina as Margaret... now i can sit around and ponder on Fabrizio... although... mabye if he died and curled his hair, Luke Kennedy from Brisbane? He's good....

AHOY ALL! GO TO V.I.P. FOR A PHANTOM PRESENT!

[jazzgirl1960]

Hi neh, thanks for the wonderful review and the Phantom gift loved the pics... 15 days to Phantom for me

cirque... congrats you lucky, lucky guy!

[cassara]

Thanks for writing the review I have to live through everyone else now that I'm not in Melbourne anymore.