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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 25, 2017 22:50:38 GMT
If you do I hope you have very short legs!
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Post by shady23 on Oct 26, 2017 7:15:05 GMT
I'm 5 7 but it's amazing the leg room I can fit in if it means saving a few quid! ☺
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2017 8:03:37 GMT
I am almost ashamed to admit it but I have never watched this. I don't really know why. It might forever be that show I will never get around to seeing. Would I be able to get to see it without paying a fortune or it that a ridiculous question? Yes. Your can normally get really decent Royal Circle seats for half price in the 'Get into London Theatre' Jan sale thing, other seats are really well priced (normally) although the discounts have got less year on year. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2017 8:04:47 GMT
What's your budget? I paid 49.50 for front row once. And of course you have the cheap seats... behind the pillars... Just to compare, with reference to the above post, I got centre row B, Royal Circle for £40 in the jan sale. |
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Post by Mark on Oct 26, 2017 8:07:08 GMT
Dayseats on Thursday matinees are rather good! £25
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Post by tysilio2 on Oct 26, 2017 9:34:10 GMT
Making my first visit to Phantom two weeks today for the matinee. Taking a friend and long time fan for her birthday treat all the way from North Wales. Stalls J7 and 8 for £44 a piece, seemed decent value to me.
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520 posts
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Post by anthony on Oct 26, 2017 11:34:07 GMT
Dayseats on Thursday matinees are rather good! £25 They do Thursday day seats for the matinee?!?! I know where I'll be Thursday  |
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4,779 posts
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Post by Mark on Oct 26, 2017 11:47:01 GMT
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Post by jampow on Oct 26, 2017 11:51:18 GMT
Picked up a day seat today in the stalls (H4) normally £75 for £25 only arrived at around 9:40am too!
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520 posts
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Post by anthony on Nov 8, 2017 10:55:21 GMT
So, I saw POTO in Budapest on Sunday evening. Wow! It was amazing -- I loved how they not only got free reign on the set design and staging, but also on the characters also. Csengeri Attila is perhaps my new favourite Phantom ever. He was completely amazing, particularly during AISOY Reprise and the final lair. Sets were all great, and I really liked how Phantom disappeared at the end (my only minor complaint is that I feel that surely nowadays technology is better to allow for the cloak to fall like a normal cloak and not a plastic one... Phantom's facial deformities were great too. Also like his long hair - I thought I'd hate it and the promo pictures always annoyed me, but thought it actually added a lot (as stupid as that sounds), especially towards the end of Act 1 when he is crying. The applause at the end though. What was that?!? the other half and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing. Everyone claps in unison, at the same frequency whilst in total silence. It's actually awkward as there is no music either, so it's literally everyone just clapping at the same time, to the same beat to the same frequency in complete and utter silence, even when the main actors came out. Really, really odd. You just clapped louder (but still in silence and in unison) if you liked the character. I did try to encourage a little bit of 'British clapping' (  ) when Raoul came out, but it didn't catch. Also considered standing up, but didn't know if that was acceptable or not... lol... Go and see it! It's dirt cheap (about £15-20 equivalent in Forint for a top price ticket). I think Phantom is gone now until May next year (the theatre has 2-3 shows running monthly and they take it in turns to perform). I believe Mary Poppins is about to start again on Friday with a musical called 1 x 3 (i think?) with Les Miserables and Anna Karanina starting in early 2017. If you're in Budapest, it's well worth a look. There are English subtitles above the stage also. The Hungarian version of Disney's Hunchback starts tomorrow at another theatre in town too. |
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Post by Oleanna on Nov 19, 2017 20:16:59 GMT
1) I will never forgive whoever made the decision to cut Carlotta's high note in the climactic chord just before 'Prima Donna'. The chord just sounds incomplete without it. Listen to the original cast recording and then the 25th anniversary and tell me it sounds anywhere near as good without that high note. I don't care if it's a bitch to sing, all ALW scores are. If it's the same person who also cut Carlotta's reaction to Piangi's death then I'm never forgiving them either. Neither of those things have been cut, they’re both still in the score. As far as the note before Prima Donna is concerned jgblunners, I assume you mean in the measure where Raoul and the Giry’s sing “What new surprises lie in store”? Carlotta sings “non vo’ cantar” and the phrase ends on a high E, which is the note Rosie Ashe sings on the OLC and the note Maggie Preece sings on the OST. Why Wendy Ferguson doesn’t sing it on the Albert Hall recording is a mystery, but it’s not because it’s been cut. I’m not sure what Lara Martins sings nightly at Her Majesty’s. On the Albert Hall recording, Wendy Ferguson sings a top C instead of the E. At a wild guess, I wonder if it’s because Wynne Evans doesn’t really have a top C in him, and it was preferable for a strong C to be at the top of the chord, even if it meant sacrificing the E above? As for Carlotta’s reaction to Piangi’s death, dawnstar, I assume you mean where she says “What is it? What has happened? Ubaldo! Oh my darling, my darling. Who has done this...? You! Why did you let this happen?” (Wonderful dialogue btw). Again, it’s still in the score, and I’m not sure what Lara Martins does nightly at Her Majesty’s, but again, I’m not sure why Wendy Ferguson didn’t do it in The RAH production. In that moment in that production, there is a lot of extra screaming/shouting/dialogue anyway (to the detriment of the scene IMO, so perhaps, Carlotta’s line wasn’t deemed to be as important as the other things that were going on at the same time. Again, wild guess. |
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Post by Oleanna on Nov 19, 2017 20:20:33 GMT
Apologies for the overuse of the word “again” in that post!
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Post by Dawnstar on Nov 19, 2017 20:28:07 GMT
Neither of those things have been cut, they’re both still in the score. As for Carlotta’s reaction to Piangi’s death, dawnstar, I assume you mean where she says “What is it? What has happened? Ubaldo! Oh my darling, my darling. Who has done this...? You! Why did you let this happen?” (Wonderful dialogue btw). Again, it’s still in the score, and I’m not sure what Lara Martins does nightly at Her Majesty’s, but again, I’m not sure why Wendy Ferguson didn’t do it in The RAH production. In that moment in that production, there is a lot of extra screaming/shouting/dialogue anyway (to the detriment of the scene IMO, so perhaps, Carlotta’s line wasn’t deemed to be as important as the other things that were going on at the same time. Again, wild guess. I've seen *checks list* 9 Carlottas at Her Majesty's from 2008-16 & none of them did that dialogue so it may still be in the score but I've never heard it done onstage in 30 viewings of Phantom London. I can't speak for any other productions as I've only seen the London one. |
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Post by paulbrownsey on Nov 19, 2017 20:50:07 GMT
Also considered standing up, but didn't know if that was acceptable or not... lol... Oh? The selfish practice of standing ovations, blocking the people behind from seeing the finale, hasn't caught on there? Hallelujah for Hungary! |
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Post by Oleanna on Nov 19, 2017 22:40:58 GMT
Neither of those things have been cut, they’re both still in the score. As for Carlotta’s reaction to Piangi’s death, dawnstar, I assume you mean where she says “What is it? What has happened? Ubaldo! Oh my darling, my darling. Who has done this...? You! Why did you let this happen?” (Wonderful dialogue btw). Again, it’s still in the score, and I’m not sure what Lara Martins does nightly at Her Majesty’s, but again, I’m not sure why Wendy Ferguson didn’t do it in The RAH production. In that moment in that production, there is a lot of extra screaming/shouting/dialogue anyway (to the detriment of the scene IMO, so perhaps, Carlotta’s line wasn’t deemed to be as important as the other things that were going on at the same time. Again, wild guess. I've seen *checks list* 9 Carlottas at Her Majesty's from 2008-16 & none of them did that dialogue so it may still be in the score but I've never heard it done onstage in 30 viewings of Phantom London. I can't speak for any other productions as I've only seen the London one. It’s very mysterious, and I’d certainly be interested to find out what’s going on (i.e whether it’s just the decision of one person, or if there’s another reason for it.) By the way, I’m not just a person with a score trying to prove a point. I am connected to the production, and these small differences in performances of the piece do interest me. It’s clear that neither of these 2 specific moments have been deleted permanently from the work, it just happens to be a recent thing within the production. |
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Post by bimse on Nov 19, 2017 23:01:36 GMT
So, I saw POTO in Budapest on Sunday evening. Wow! It was amazing -- I loved how they not only got free reign on the set design and staging, but also on the characters also. Csengeri Attila is perhaps my new favourite Phantom ever. He was completely amazing, particularly during AISOY Reprise and the final lair. Sets were all great, and I really liked how Phantom disappeared at the end (my only minor complaint is that I feel that surely nowadays technology is better to allow for the cloak to fall like a normal cloak and not a plastic one... Phantom's facial deformities were great too. Also like his long hair - I thought I'd hate it and the promo pictures always annoyed me, but thought it actually added a lot (as stupid as that sounds), especially towards the end of Act 1 when he is crying. The applause at the end though. What was that?!? the other half and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing. Everyone claps in unison, at the same frequency whilst in total silence. It's actually awkward as there is no music either, so it's literally everyone just clapping at the same time, to the same beat to the same frequency in complete and utter silence, even when the main actors came out. Really, really odd. You just clapped louder (but still in silence and in unison) if you liked the character. I did try to encourage a little bit of 'British clapping' ( ) when Raoul came out, but it didn't catch. Also considered standing up, but didn't know if that was acceptable or not... lol... Go and see it! It's dirt cheap (about £15-20 equivalent in Forint for a top price ticket). I think Phantom is gone now until May next year (the theatre has 2-3 shows running monthly and they take it in turns to perform). I believe Mary Poppins is about to start again on Friday with a musical called 1 x 3 (i think?) with Les Miserables and Anna Karanina starting in early 2017. If you're in Budapest, it's well worth a look. There are English subtitles above the stage also. The Hungarian version of Disney's Hunchback starts tomorrow at another theatre in town too. Most Europeans seem to clap in unison to show appreciation, I’ve witnessed it in several countries, even at the opera in Munich and Zurich, where the clapping in unison was accompanied by cheering and eventually by stamping of feet and clapping as we would do . |
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Post by jgblunners on Nov 19, 2017 23:02:25 GMT
As far as the note before Prima Donna is concerned jgblunners Thanks for your input and insight into the show! When I saw Phantom the other month, Lara Martins sang the C rather than the E. As far as I can remember, the previous Carlotta that I've seen also opted for the C (can't remember who it was, but it was around the end of 2015/start of 2016 when JOJ made his brief return) - that's what made me think it was a permanent change. I actually find the RAH 25th anniversary recording disappointing for many reasons, one of which being the omission of this E. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2017 13:29:45 GMT
As far as the note before Prima Donna is concerned jgblunners Thanks for your input and insight into the show! When I saw Phantom the other month, Lara Martins sang the C rather than the E. As far as I can remember, the previous Carlotta that I've seen also opted for the C (can't remember who it was, but it was around the end of 2015/start of 2016 when JOJ made his brief return) - that's what made me think it was a permanent change. I actually find the RAH 25th anniversary recording disappointing for many reasons, one of which being the omission of this E. Would that have been the time of Wendy Ferguson as Carlotta |
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Post by jgblunners on Nov 21, 2017 14:10:21 GMT
Thanks for your input and insight into the show! When I saw Phantom the other month, Lara Martins sang the C rather than the E. As far as I can remember, the previous Carlotta that I've seen also opted for the C (can't remember who it was, but it was around the end of 2015/start of 2016 when JOJ made his brief return) - that's what made me think it was a permanent change. I actually find the RAH 25th anniversary recording disappointing for many reasons, one of which being the omission of this E. Would that have been the time of Wendy Ferguson as Carlotta A quick scroll back through my photos reveals that I did in fact take a picture of the cast board when I went - it was on the 11th of January 2016 and apparently I saw Megan Llewellyn as Carlotta. Edit: but if you're talking about the 25th anniversary at the ROH, that was indeed Wendy Ferguson |
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Post by Theo on Nov 27, 2017 17:45:02 GMT
As part of my theatre trip to London last week I saw the Thursday matinee. Booked a lovely seat well in advance on row E with a large discount (thank you Theatremonkey !) I haven't seen the show in some years but remembered from my last visit in 2014 that Raoul doesn't make the jump into the lake anymore. The Raoul I saw this time didn't either. Has this been cut altogether ? I always found this to be such a wonderful dramatic moment somehow reflected in the music. I also noted that there is now a warning beforehand about gunshots being fired in the production. I cannot remember this from previous visits. The production itself is still in fine shape. I liked Ben Lewis though he is not the strongest Phantom I ever saw. Kelly Mathieson as Christine sure looks the part and she sings beautifully but her acting skills leave a lot to be desired.
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Post by Dawnstar on Nov 27, 2017 19:57:25 GMT
As part of my theatre trip to London last week I saw the Thursday matinee. Booked a lovely seat well in advance on row E with a large discount (thank you Theatremonkey !) I haven't seen the show in some years but remembered from my last visit in 2014 that Raoul doesn't make the jump into the lake anymore. The Raoul I saw this time didn't either. Has this been cut altogether? This has already been discussed a few pages back. You've just been unlucky with your Raouls. Back in 2014 Sean Palmer didn't do the jump because he'd had knee/back (sorry, can't remember which) surgery shortly before he joined the show & the curret Raoul Jeremy Taylor doesn't do it because he was injured in On The Town a few months ago. All the other recent Raouls have done the jump and I don't know about the current understudies but the understudies back in 2014, Anton Hansen & Richard Munday, did do the jump when they were on. And I agree, Raoul doing the jump is definitely better dramatically than him just running off. |
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Post by Theo on Nov 27, 2017 21:13:28 GMT
Thanks that explains a lot. Just checked and I did see Sean Palmer May 31st in 2014 en the current Raoul last week. Sorry I should have checked the previous pages.
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Post by anthony on Nov 30, 2017 15:53:19 GMT
Managed to get day tickets which I’ll post about later!
Interval now and they’re having chandelier issues. Fell a few seconds late, then they couldn’t get it back up. They got it half way and had to drop it again. Now there are tech guys with pliers!
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Post by ceebee on Nov 30, 2017 19:41:18 GMT
Fell a few seconds late, then they couldn’t get it back up. They got it half way and had to drop it again. Now there are tech guys with pliers! Any other bloke's eyes watering... at that last bit in particular? Phantom of the O fnarr fnarr |
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Post by daniel on Nov 30, 2017 20:34:27 GMT
Your taxi will be arriving imminently, @theatremonkey!
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) when Raoul came out, but it didn't catch. Also considered standing up, but didn't know if that was acceptable or not... lol...
