544 posts
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Post by amp09 on May 2, 2019 16:32:17 GMT
I found it uncomfortable at 5ft 7. it's like anything, if you are young and don't have any muscular problems, you can accept anything. If not, it's down to what you can tolerate. Basically, though, there is very little legroom there as you are against the orchestra pit wall. I get a lot of complaints about it from all heights. I guess my youth helped me through. Found it very comfortable indeed. Only problem I had was with the orchestra drowning out the singing, which I guess isn’t a problem if you’re not in the front row. Won’t be rushing back, found it all very dated. |
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on May 4, 2019 17:17:31 GMT
Saw the Matinee today. Scott Davies as the Phantom. I though he was excellent and comparable to John Owen Jones.
My gosh the worst audience I think I've ever sat in. I usually avoid a Matinee as the audiences can be annoying but it sounded like most people were chatting through the whole show. It was most annoying during the beautiful entracte. It's a real pity as the people in front of me were so disruptive and really only cared about themselves.
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3,427 posts
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Post by ceebee on May 4, 2019 17:24:29 GMT
Saw the Matinee today. Scott Davies as the Phantom. I though he was excellent and comparable to John Owen Jones. My gosh the worst audience I think I've ever sat in. I usually avoid a Matinee as the audiences can be annoying but it sounded like most people were chatting through the whole show. It was most annoying during the beautiful entracte. It's a real pity as the people in front of me were so disruptive and really only cared about themselves. I had the same issue last Saturday. Rustling wrappers. Conversations. Thst said, this afternoon at Local Hero during the stunning pre-interval northern lights scene, two folk behind started chatting. Killing would have been too kind at that point. |
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1,057 posts
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Post by David J on May 4, 2019 18:55:19 GMT
Saw David Thaxton last Wednesday
Very impressed. Agree he doesn’t bring anything new to the role, but vocal wise he gives a quality performance in comparison to Scott Davies. Thought I heard a little earl carpenter in him at times. But I loved his acting choices, particularly in the final lair where he throws himself into the scene
If he came back I’d love to see if he develops further in the role
And I liked Jeremy Taylor less this time. He didn’t seem to hold the long notes as well as when I saw him in February
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Post by miz on May 12, 2019 22:38:48 GMT
Sorry to be ignorant,but has David Thaxton left the show? And if so, who is the next Phantom?
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349 posts
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Post by kimbahorel on May 13, 2019 3:45:11 GMT
Sorry to be ignorant,but has David Thaxton left the show? And if so, who is the next Phantom? Yeah he left last Thursday and Tim Howar comes back. |
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Post by miz on May 13, 2019 7:01:53 GMT
Sorry to be ignorant,but has David Thaxton left the show? And if so, who is the next Phantom? Yeah he left last Thursday and Tim Howar comes back. Thank you, kimbahorel. That means I only managed to see David once in the role. I remember thinking he could bring a lot more of his own to the role considering how extraordinarily good his acting is. His Raoul in LND completely blew me away and I still haven't recovered. I will check if anyone has commented on Tim@Phantom in this thread in the past. |
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17 posts
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Post by ianm on May 17, 2019 11:46:11 GMT
I see from the Phantom website that Scott Davies is listed as "Standby" rather than Alternate Phantom. Does anyone know if Tim Howar is actually doing 8 shows per week or are there days when Scott Davies is scheduled to be on? If so, do you know what days/shows are the most likely for the standby/alternate. I had hoped to see Tim last year but ended up with Scott at a Saturday matinee and as I need to make train/hotel arrangements, I am keen to guarantee (as far as possible and allowing for illness) that I will be able to see Tim this time. I will be in London from 27 to 30 August.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2019 11:50:33 GMT
Scott isn't "scheduled" per-say as an understudy or alternate is. He is, as his title suggests, Phantom on standby, called in ad hoc when illness or exceptional circumstance occur.
Generally, you'd expect Saturday Night to be the safest bet, but Scott was on for Ben Forster Saturday Nights quite regularly. It is a bit of a lottery I'm afraid.
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Post by winonaforever on May 20, 2019 13:57:57 GMT
"Standby Phantom" amuses me for some reason! I'm at the matinee on Saturday, it'll be interesting to see which phantom emerges...(I've never seen either before)
I don't think I'd like Raoul whoever played him.
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Post by xanady on May 20, 2019 18:38:55 GMT
Yes,Standby Phantom sounds like he spends his time hiding behind doors and in shadowy corridors waiting to jump out, shout ‘boo’,scare a passing wardrobe-mistress totally witless and then disappear with a manic creepy laugh.A bit like Scooby-Doo The Musical...now there’s an idea!
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378 posts
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Post by ctas on May 20, 2019 23:25:45 GMT
Actually, I saw Phantom a few years ago and was sitting right by the side doors in whatever they call the upper circle. Dashed to the loo as soon as the house lights went up for the interval and did, quite literally, bump into Scott Davies in full costume. So your joke about waiting in corridors isn’t totally far off!
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Post by winonaforever on May 25, 2019 18:38:27 GMT
I saw the Notorious Standby Phantom this afternoon and I thought he was LOVELY! 😍
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349 posts
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Post by kimbahorel on Jun 1, 2019 21:07:34 GMT
Tim says he is leaving on the 7th September so assume then the cast change is the 7th. I wonder if they will bring David back as Phantom.
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520 posts
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Post by anthony on Jun 22, 2019 21:55:54 GMT
Does the Phantom have a long haired wig at the moment? It looked so odd during West End Live. I thought maybe it wasn't a wig, but Howar doesn't seem to have that long hair and he had the deformity make up on (you could slightly see it at the bottom of the mask), so I assume he was dressed for the matinee already.
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4,984 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jun 22, 2019 22:10:25 GMT
Does the Phantom have a long haired wig at the moment? It looked so odd during West End Live. I thought maybe it wasn't a wig, but Howar doesn't seem to have that long hair and he had the deformity make up on (you could slightly see it at the bottom of the mask), so I assume he was dressed for the matinee already. If you having difficulties distinguishing who the Phantom is, he is the one wearing the white mask. |
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520 posts
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Post by anthony on Jun 22, 2019 22:22:40 GMT
Does the Phantom have a long haired wig at the moment? It looked so odd during West End Live. I thought maybe it wasn't a wig, but Howar doesn't seem to have that long hair and he had the deformity make up on (you could slightly see it at the bottom of the mask), so I assume he was dressed for the matinee already. If you having difficulties distinguishing who the Phantom is, he is the one wearing the white mask. Hilarious  Performance here: |
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349 posts
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Post by kimbahorel on Jun 23, 2019 0:04:49 GMT
Does the Phantom have a long haired wig at the moment? It looked so odd during West End Live. I thought maybe it wasn't a wig, but Howar doesn't seem to have that long hair and he had the deformity make up on (you could slightly see it at the bottom of the mask), so I assume he was dressed for the matinee already. Yes he does its like it durig the shows. Its a wig atm he has shorter hair. Not sure why because when Thaxton took over for 6 months he didn't have a long wig. |
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Post by scarpia on Jun 23, 2019 0:04:54 GMT
Is it just me or is Scott doing a hell of a load of performances these days? Every time I tried to see Thaxton I got Scott, likewise with Tim Howar. Not that I'm complaining - Scott's a great Phantom of the old-school operatic type with a terrific final lair scene. Always gives a consistently good performance.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2019 8:31:41 GMT
Not sold on the over enunciation of 'Oh-per-ah'
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2,245 posts
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Post by richey on Jun 23, 2019 9:12:45 GMT
Not sold on the over enunciation of 'Oh-per-ah' ooh it is a bot wierd isn't it. The wig looks like an old Raoul castoff |
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Post by dollybm on Jun 23, 2019 10:45:18 GMT
Is it just me or is Scott doing a hell of a load of performances these days? Every time I tried to see Thaxton I got Scott, likewise with Tim Howar. Not that I'm complaining - Scott's a great Phantom of the old-school operatic type with a terrific final lair scene. Always gives a consistently good performance. A few friends have gone over the last few months and all of them have had Scott as The Phantom. He does seem to have been on a lot this contract. |
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41 posts
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Post by louonthegogo on Jun 25, 2019 22:43:55 GMT
Does anyone know if any of the cast stage door after matinee? I'm doing both Phantom and Les Mis on Thursday (Lord help me) but I'll only buy a programme for Phantom if I know I'll get some autographs.
Thanks!
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660 posts
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Post by Oleanna on Jun 26, 2019 2:31:59 GMT
Does anyone know if any of the cast stage door after matinee? I'm doing both Phantom and Les Mis on Thursday (Lord help me) but I'll only buy a programme for Phantom if I know I'll get some autographs. Thanks! Yes, you’ll get autographs after a matinee. There’s no guarantee of who will come out and sign, but most actors will. |
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41 posts
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Post by louonthegogo on Jun 30, 2019 14:30:10 GMT
Welcome to the board, louonthegogo . Hope you'll tell us what you thought of both shows. Thank you for the warm welcome. I had a great time at both shows. Although I had been awake for about 16 hours towards the end of Les Mis, so I was getting very tired once 10pm rolled around. Tim was performing our show and he was excellent, met him afterwards and he's a really sweet guy. He gave us like an impromptu 2-minute class on performing emotion through song, which was amusing and very kind. I could see his friend in the background, getting annoyed as he clearly wanted to go out, have his lunch and enjoy the sun but it was very kind of him to stay and chat to the 8 of us that were there at stage door. The balcony was closed for the Thursday matinee so my seats were upgraded from £25 poor person seats to £67 Grand Circle seats, I could not complain. Was sitting in B12 and had pretty much an unrestricted view bar the woman in front of me who was resting her head on the balcony thus slightly restricting my bottom right corner but I could just shift in my seat to see everything. I've seen bootlegs of the show before (as I don't live in the UK, I can really only go to London once maybe twice a year), so I really got into the whole spirit of things and I've had 'Masquerade' stuck in my head since Thursday. Shout-out for stage door go to Rachel Spurrell, who is a dote, absolutely lovely woman, and Kelly Mathieson who was very happy when I complemented her West End Live appearance. All of the cast who signed were lovely and they all complimented my stupid sun hat that I wore, so applause all around  . As is tradition with Phantom being almost a tourist attraction and having everyone go to it whether they are a fan of theatre or not, there was a Korean man behind me constantly clearing his throat in the first half hour, I shot him a look of steel and he promptly stopped. Sheer ignorance to what's going on around them. Some poor cast member also got semi-chased after by a woman at stage door who followed him when he didn't sign, going "wait, trumpet man!". I almost died of second-hand embarrassment. Apart from that, had a wonderful time. 8.5/10 would go again. |
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