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Enjoys musical theatre but has no wish to participate in it herself. Tends towards the snarky. Useful info on my 'About Me' page. Please read my FAQ and check my trading site before asking anything.

[glassprism]

One gifset per production of ALW’s The Phantom of the Opera

- Sydney Harbour Revival

[brillianttimbre]

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This excerpt features Georgia Mendes as Christine and Hugh Panaro as the Phantom.

“The Mirror/Phantom of the Opera/Music of the Night.”

Hugh Panaro and Georgia Mendes (u/s), with Dan Hoy.  “Masquerade," July 15, 2026, Wednesday evening.

218 West 57th Street, New York City, on a night when the temperature was 90+ degrees and Canadian wildfire smoke visibly filled the air.

[bway-ghost]

Wait new masquerade Phantom, Deven Kolluri, just casually dropped on Francesca Mehrotra’s instagram?? (and new Christine in the back if I’m not mistaken) 👀

[phantomchristinesuk]

Japanese costume update:

For their opening in Nagoya, Christine has received some new costumes.

These costumes are based on the London production.

Costumes that have been updated for Nagoya are the Hannibal Slave Girl (1), Elissa Skirt (2-3), Star Princess (7-8) & Aminta (9) & Wedding dress (10).

The Dressing gown (4) updated during the previous stop in Fukuoka.

Of the costumes featured I believe the Rooftop/Countess dress (5-6) is the only costume that has not changed - although the pictures are not the best for confirming.

There are currently no pictures of the il Muto costume or blue dress - although I believe the il Muto costume may have received minor changes in Fukuoka.

Pictures: 劇団四季, Nagoya tv News & Tokai Tv News ONE - all pictures are of Sae Yamamoto

[glassprism]

One gifset per production of ALW’s The Phantom of the Opera

- Fifth US Tour

[glassprism]

Do you prefer green lighting in the lair or blue

I'm not sure that I ever noticed it that much, or had that great a preference. I suppose green lighting gives it more of a subterranean feeling, befitting that they are under the opera house, while blue lighting is more akin to that feeling of darkness and night the Phantom is trying to evoke. The mood is slightly different, but they are both fitting for the scene.

But I do find greener lighting to be harder to color and work with when I make gifs, so you know what? Blue lol.

[glassprism]

One gifset per production of ALW’s The Phantom of the Opera

- Mexico City Revival + Mexican Tour

[glassprism]

I haven't really noticed until recently but have the japanese costumes been getting more .... west end-y? The star princess and Elisa skirt from the nagoya promo pics (from the last stop) seem especially newer, plus they've added the MC Escher-esque steps into the title song it seems?

I low-key loved how the Japanese production has basically remained mainly unchanged since the 80s and it seems the past 5 years have accelerated in bringing it in line with the rest of the world (choreo et al)

Yes, that is actually exactly what happened: in 2020 it was reported that Arthur Masella, who has directed just about all the other international replica productions, was brought in to direct the newest stop of the Japanese tour (or sit-down tour, whatever you want to call it), along with the rest of a team of people who help put on such productions. Part of this also involved updating it to how Phantom was in 2020:

"When he saw the Japanese production a few years ago, Masella noticed that while it was still recognizable as Phantom, it had strayed considerably from the original intention. “An awful lot of the emotion of the show seemed to have been stripped. It was colder,” he recalls. “Certain moments had been adjusted and were, therefore, not grabbing the audience the way they should.” The producers at Shiki agreed that the next remounting would benefit from the presence of those with close ties to the original production."

And yes I'm aware that the text is probably a little off in saying that the Japanese production was the one "adjusting" moments when the reality is probably more that all the other productions adjusted and Japan did not, but whatever, you get the idea: a team consisting of people who have worked with international productions up until the present came in and the production got a big update.

[glassprism]

One gifset per production of ALW’s The Phantom of the Opera

- Masquerade NYC

[glassprism]

Would you be interested in phantom doing a cast exchange like SIX did with their Japanese and London production? I think it would be pretty awesome for an international crossover for the 40th anniversary.

To be honest, I almost feel like the 40th anniversary casting for West End and the World Tour was sort of evoking that, as they had the two big stars of the 25th anniversary concert back, only one is in Shanghai and the other is in London (and in a different role).

That being said, a cast exchange / crossover would be fun if it included all productions, not just two. I'm talking West End, US tour, the World Tour Masquerade, Japan, the Vienna restaging, the Spanish and Mexican tours, the European tour. It would be a vast web of global actor exchange spanning over half a dozen productions, four different languages, and five different designs, in a network so complicated it must be outsourced to a computer as no human mind could possibly keep track of it. And it will be recorded in one giant and truly global 40th anniversary cast recording that requires you to be multilingual to understand what is going on. Yes, that is my dream, do it Lord Andy and CamMack.

[glassprism]

Hi GP! Do you know if there’s hope in the original production returning to the US and UK? Or are we stuck with the so called “brilliant original”

My feeling is that the flagship productions, meaning any in the UK and US, are going to be whatever we are calling these productions: "brilliant original", "reimagined", "replica-adjacent". The West End revival is already that version and it is going on quite successfully, so I do not see any reason why it should close in the near future or, once it inevitably does, why they would want to bring back an older version that probably costs more to put on.

As for Broadway, that one did close, probably because it stuck closer to the original (AKA required royalties to be paid), so why would they bring it back and basically undo all of that? And as the current US tour is also doing very well, that just means more incentive to stick with the "replica-adjacent" version and, most likely, bring that for a future Broadway revival. At the end of the day, theatre is a business and it is about making money. If a version does well financially, it will keep running as is.

Still, the Hal Prince version (for lack of a better word) does exist, even if it is internationally, and that's better than what happened to some other musicals I used to love (Les Miserables, anyone? Elisabeth?), so I will take that as consolation.

[glassprism]

Hi GP: Just out of curiosity, would you come to NYC to see Masquerade? And if so who you would like to see~

Hi! Yeah, I am interested, especially as this is a very different iteration of the show and I'm always down for something new and innovative. There's also lots of places I'd like to see in NYC that I did not get to go to on my first trip, so it's not just Masquerade drawing me there.

As for what cast, I suppose I'd like to see Clay Singer and Riley Noland, as they have gotten really good reviews, but since I know that the casts are constantly changing (except for the Christines so far, the Christines have been remarkably stable), I'd probably just like to see anyone I have not seen before!

[glassprism]

One gifset per production of ALW’s The Phantom of the Opera

- World Tour (2024-2026)

[glassprism]

Hi Celina. You mentioned the danish libretto in the stream and i just wanted to know is it the whole show or just bits and pieces? Thank you - TheEggSaysTune

Hi! It only includes the parts where people are singing, and while that is most of the show, that still means things are missing, e.g. it includes the Auction scene, but only Raoul's part ("A collector's piece, indeed..."), while Hannibal omits the manager's dialogue when they introduce themselves, Carlotta's diatribe, and so on. Hope that helps!

[glassprism]

What is the most common technical mishap that happens across replica productions? It must be the boat right?

I don't think I can say with any objectivity, because what we do know of technical mishaps are going to be reported from an audience member and that is dependent on if they saw it, noticed it was a mishap, and then felt the need to post about for others to read. That obviously places a bias on the really big, hard-to-miss mistakes, and those are the ones actors are also most likely to remember and to talk about when asked, "What mishaps have you encountered?"

In reality, I'd think that the most common mishaps would be the small things, the stuff that a regular audience member or even a hardcore one would barely notice or would deem not extraordinary enough to talk about: a flubbed line, a prop going slightly awry (how many times have I seen the the mirror bride doll get tossed in some odd direction, or the lasso get a little wonky) mics not working (there's a reason there's usually a backup), a costume getting ripped or losing some beads or ribbons or literally just not getting put on right (many Christines have had to hold up their Elissa skirt during 'Think of Me' because it was not tied on properly). Those are probably the things that happen on a regular basis, not just in Phantom but across all theatre. They're far more boring to talk about, of course - but hey, you asked for most common!

[glassprism]

I love ur posts! Could you consider making a photoset of Christine and Roul dancing during masquerade?

I think I've already made several gifsets of the dancing during 'Masquerade', even if my focus when making the gifset itself was different. Here's one I reblogged of the original Broadway cast, one I made comparing West End and Broadway choreography, another I made comparing some changes made to the dancing, and one more comparing the Japanese choreography to Broadway.

[glassprism]

Hello Glass, I hope you're doing well. After much hesitation, I've finally decided to try cosplaying costumes from The Phantom of the Opera, and I wanted to start with the Star Princess because I really like it. While doing my research, I came across some of the very first West End cosplays, especially Jan Hartley-Morris's, but the only photo I found of her wearing the costume only shows the top. I've been following your blog for quite a while, so I thought you might be the person who could help me. I wanted to ask if you happen to have a photo of her complete costume or a photo of another Christine in a very similar costume. I would be very grateful. Thank you in advance, and also sorry for the long message, but I was really starting to despair! 😅✨️

Hello!

I would definitely check out Operafantomet for this, as she is the queen of costumes! Unfortunately I don't know if there are any full-length pictures of Jan Hartley-Morris in her Star Princess, but you can check her tag for yourself.

After that, I might look in the tags for the early West End Christines in general, like Sarah Brightman, Claire Moore, Maria Kesselman, Rebecca Caine, and Jill Washington. Keep in mind, of course, that you'll get photos of these actors in all their costumes, not just the Star Princess! You should also remind yourself that the West End's first version of Christine's 'Masquerade' dress was the very different looking Saloon Girl, so you'll get some of that, though I believe many of the actresses were present during the switch to the Star Princess and so wore both. Additionally, Sarah Brightman's tag will have photos of her from Broadway, Rebecca Caine's tag will have photos of her in Toronto, while Claire Moore and Jill Washington will have photos of them from their later runs in the mid-1990s, so read the descriptions and captions!

If those aren't getting you the best results (which is what I saw in my own quick perusal), you might have to expand out to Christines in other early productions, such as Broadway (Patti Cohenour, Rebecca Luker), the national tour (Dale Kristien, Mary D'arcy), and Japan (Ryoko Nomura). As this was still the early days, the costume designs were generally not too different from the original.

And if none of that works, you might just have to browse her very long, very extensive Star Princess tag! Happy hunting!