I thought the horrendous thing in the glass was some nightmare creature sent to punish me for my disobedience, and for a long time I was afraid to remove the mask in case it came back to haunt me.
My preoccupation with illusion made my mother angry. She said it was a sick fancy and that if I did not conquer it and turn my thoughts to God, I would most certainly end as a madman.
I was always being told to turn my thoughts to God, as though I were some especially wicked creature with more than one mortal's fair share of original sin.
I do not know what I did to make Father Mansart decide I must be exorcised it must have been something bad!
Hiii, saw Masquerade today at 1:30pm! I had Sean Seamus Thompson on for Phantom and Claire Leyden on for Christine. Here are my thoughts and feelings as well as any interactions I had. It might not be super detailed as I did have a slight migraine throughout this thanks to the rainy weather in the city lol:
Opening:
-My crowd was pretty chatty during the violin solo opening which I found a bit annoying but what can you do
-Danced with Firmin (Skeleton Leotard) during masquerade, I did not anticipate this at all but it was so fun. he kissed my hand when he lead me back to my spot heheheh
Hannibal:
-Claire Leyden Christine is a masterclass of acting
-She’s so unsure of herself during the beginning of the think of me cadenza and I loved watching her confidence grow leading up to that high C
-got to throw a rose to her I love doing that
Mirror/Title Song:
-She’s so excited to see Raoul (Dan Hoy) and Raoul is so excited to see her, it’s like he’s been wishing for this to happen for awhile
-hand choreography between went crazy
-Sean Phantom had a crystal clear tone, very traditionally broadway style voice to me
-Claire’s Christine is in awe of him, she is so sure this is in fact her angel
-Sean is very interactive with the audience during MOTN
-He’s so excited to have Christine there and is equally in awe of her as she is of him, he’s scared to be around her like he’ll break her if he touches her
Bedroom scene:
-I was right next to the monkey box, Phantom showed me the mask and I nodded. He made eye contact with himself in the mirror looks genuinely looked so frightened and sad by his own appearance
-Claire Christine is playful with the veil and looked at me for approval to remove the monkeys mask I was like yes go for it
-Obsessed once again with the Automanta (gonna be honest I have no idea how to spell that so robot phantom) wedding dance scene it’s my new favorite additions from the original
-I find it so funny that when Madame girly is explaining how Christine and the phantom met and you here a recording of think of me it’s very much Sierra Boggess during the Royal Albert hall concert
stranger than you dreamt it:
-Claire’s Christine is genuinely unsure of her memory
-Sean phantom totally thought she was going in for a kiss but nope unmasking instead
-She’s not really scared more just startled until she falls over and he practically jumps at her, then she starts gasping and screaming
-he is just straight up sobbing at his piano until she gives the mask back
-Christine is crying too
-He absolutely falls fully in love with her when she gives him the mask back
Carnival:
-Did the ring toss game and got a shot of something it was so strong I was trying not to cough after it but I did 😔
-Held hands with young phantom for a second because no one else was
-Barker came up to me and told me to be careful because he is contagious I was like with what?? And he was like you don’t wanna find out
Learn to be lonely:
-Satomi is a great Madame Giry, very strict and wants to help Erik but is frightened and resents that she is but can’t help it.
-Kaley Ann Voorhee’s is a perfect Meg and Christine it’s insane
-Claire’s Christine is really shaken and obviously feels terrible about what has happened
Flys/Rooftop:
-Sean phantom is pretty cold when killing buquet, only smiles when it’s done.
-Claire Christine watches that tail end of this and clung to my shoulder before running up to see what’s happened on stage
-Indoor show! As expected it’s pouring rain in nyc
-I actually couldn’t see 90% of the rooftop scene because I was placed right behind Erik was blocking my view, I didn’t mind I actually found it funny like man can you stop yearning in despair and move over I’m trying to watch 🙄🙄🙄
-He did smack the rail in anger when Raoul sings “What you heard was a dream, and nothing more”
-After that Phantom turned around and ushered me into his spot thanks Erik!! You are so kind ♥️
-Really cute all I ask of you, a lot of the song was song with them touching foreheads. Christine really needs reassurance and someone to ground her back to reality after everything she’s been through, and she’s getting it in this song from Dan’s Raoul. Even if it’s just for a moment.
-During the kiss Christine popped her leg up I really liked that detail
-Sean phantom is hysterically sobbing in disbelief during the reprise but then it quickly turns into a temper tantrum, you hate to see it 🤷♂️
-Sean’s phantom has a childlike quality to him, he’s clearly stunted.
Graveyard/Wishing:
-Was the very last one in the room for wishing so my view wasn’t very good but Claire is a once again amazing, a very mature Christine who I think just struggles to understand herself and misses her father because that’s when things still made sense to her.
-I really love Dan’s Raoul, he’s truly trying his best
-Sean’s phantom has such a whiny tone during “Rest assured I bear no grudge..” line
-I was the first one out of the room and started walking behind Chrstine who was chatting with another woman from the balcony.
-we got outside and Claire’s Christine said something along the lines of “I will see you inside” and the woman stopped walking. I was like “I think we are supposed to keep walking?” But I honestly wasn’t sure and the woman was like “wait are we???” And Claire’s Christine came back and was like “I’m sorry please follow me! I would never leave you out in the rain my friends!” We all had a good laugh about it
-I walked behind her for a bit where she was warming up her voice
-Christine then turned to me and said “walk with me to my dressing room?” And offered me her hand. Of course I took it.
-she sat me next to the piano and asked about if I ever get stage fright and how I deal with it. I told her about how my mom used to say pick a spot in the room and focus on that, ignore all the other noise. She told me my mom is a wise woman and I agree.
-She jumped in fear when the “Christine Daae 10 min call” over the speaker like she was afraid it was the phantom
-amazing twisted, she is very overwhelmed
-She gave me the note from the phantom (I have it to another girl later as Im very lucky and got it from another man last week.)
-Carlotta walked in and literally went “Get out” to her and Piangi very funny as always
-obsessed with the managers as always, Andre cried into a ladies lap in despair
-Raoul got the “I’m here… I’m here…” scene and a detail I liked it that he like fell back into the piano and made lower notes go off it added to the tension.
Don Juan:
-Claire was so amazing in this scene and her acting truly heightened the stakes. She keeps looking at Raoul like “Yeah it’s him get me out of here” and you can watch Dan’s Raoul put that together and also start to panic a bit
-After she first unmasked him, Raoul tried to intervene and she whispered “Let me handle this” and he immediately backs off and ushered for the managers to also back off
-She seems out of body when she unmasks him like it was the only thing she could truly do
-he scrambles and panics and tries to crash the chandelier like he’s genuinely ashamed we all saw his face
-Claire pushes him out of the way and immediately tries to get away from him after they are in the clear but he clings on
-I’m like 90% sure he yelled “DIE!” When he crashed the chandelier and Christine is really horrified and screams
Final Lair:
-Sean’s phantom is sobbing again and Claire Christine is giving an a thousand yard stare
-She starts like hysterically laughing in disbelief while singing her first few lines in the scene
-She’s so defeated and exhausted upon seeing Raoul in the trap
-but she gets a second wind after the ultimatum is delivered and she’s ready to basically fist fight Erik
-One detail I hope I didn’t fantasize is that when she sings “Angel of music who deserves this?” She repeats the music of the night pose with her arms up that is also repeated during Wandering child
-Sean’s phantom hates Raoul lol
-he is kinda full out regret though his “make your choice” really sad and small
-They hold each other for awhile after the kiss before Erik breaks away first
-Christine b-lines it to Raoul but also isn’t ready to say goodbye she literally yells “What? No!” Before he drags her out of there
-Sean’s phantom really thinks Christine as come back and when she disappears in the cloak he shakes it as if he’s looking for her
-Sean’s phantom truly is just a kicked puppy
-ran into Claire in the street while walking out and we talked for a moment she is super sweet!
Overall really great time as always, and I’m so delighted I got to see this rare-pair of understudies. Also I was going to try the black tie standby line to see 7pm pulse with Kyle and Eryn but it looks like that got canceled? So there was no standby tonight sadly. Might buy tickets to them sometime this summer to make up for it 😗
I'm still not over Ron's makeup at the convention Midsummer Scream from last year. He looks just exactly like his great-grandfather and it's eerie! He needs to do professional photoshoots and they need a great Christine!
To be honest, I would probably die if I saw him in person. Then again, my Phantom-loving ass would wanna take him home. 😅
Taipei, Taiwan I International Tour (5/14/2026) Review
The main trio I saw was Harry Mills, Caitlin Finnie, and Rory McCollum
One of the things I noticed right away was that the mics for the ballet corps and ensemble are dialed up, so you can really hear them at parts of the show. In my opinion, this really added another dimension to the show and I loved it :D
I love how all the props really filled the stage, I usually find a lot of productions around the world to sometimes have really sparse stages, not this one!!
Stagehands playing cards in the elephant!!
Raquel!Carlotta going “No…” in a sarcastic tone when Lefèvre announces his retirement
Instead of saying “Good luck. If you need me, I shall be in Frankfurt!” Lefèvre says “I shall be in Hualien (another county in Taiwan)!” Funnily enough, Hualien is a popular retirement location in Taiwan
Caitlin!Christine sitting very daintily on her knees in the corner 💕
In love with Caitlin’s voice, very Disney princess coded
And similarly, Rory!Raoul is Disney prince coded, very strong Prince Phillip vibes and super soft voice <3
Marni makes for a much gentler Mme. Giry in comparison to the other actresses I’ve seen, gentler in her way of talking to the girls but definitely still has that stern teacher aura lol
Harry is such a hands Phantom, SO MUCH HANDS in title song, literal dream come true
Caitlin looks backwards multiple times and seems nervous going down to the lair, but Harry always leads her back to him. He’s also constantly checking with his lantern for her safety <3
A perfect 10/10 cape swoosh + insane hands during self caress— Harry is there anything you can’t do?!
Mutual caresses during MOTN… obsessed
Multiple pen flourishes from Harry!Phantom when he’s writing at the organ during STYDI
The unmasking sequence was kinda funny, cuz Christine reached out once, missed, then looked at the score like “oooh, whatcha writing?”, then locked back in and took the mask off
I think Harry might’ve accidentally said Delilah twice. Instead of saying “prying Pandora” he said “prying Delilah.” A lil mistake, not much to it, I just remember it lol
Harry fell down to his knees HARD, the crawling afterwards made it seem like the man genuinely broke his kneecaps 😭
Yes, Harry is more crawling than slithering, struggling to even crawl actually (I love) :)
Caitlin basically backing away the whole time
During punjab lasso scene, Harry!Phantom has Caitlin!Christine completely engulfed in his cape with his arm around her, when the ballet corps screamed upon seeing them, he basically grabs her hand and makes a run for it lol
A lot of interactions between Rory!Raoul and big+small Giry in the managers’ office. Meg with a lingering hand on Raoul’s arm, a conversation between Raoul and Mme. Giry.
Rory!Raoul is very much a realist in my interpretation. He took all the notes and began a detailed scan of the handwriting on all of them, then went to Mme. Giry to double check with her. He’s already done with this Phantom bullshit lol
Amazing croaking from Raquel!Carlotta
Caitlin is adorable in Serafimo’s outfit <3
I felt like I was watching a romance movie sequence during AIAOY, these two are so lovey dovey throughout! Caught myself smiling during it
And then immediately we get sad lil meow meow hours. Harry you can’t do this to me!! The way he lowered his head and covered his ears, he wanted OUT
Harry is now officially the king of maniacal laughter, cuz WOAH he really did sound deranged when he laughed as phantom
Rory!Raoul basically wrapping his arms around Caitlin!Christine’s waist and lifting + spinning her out of the way of the chandelier
Again, a beautiful and filled out stage for Masquerade
No laughter from the crowd for the skeleton outfit reveal 😔
More lovey-doveyness from Raoul and Christine
The partygoers whispering “Christine!” in warning/worried tones when Christine is walking towards the Phantom
Back in the Managers’ office, while everyone is freaking out, Rory!Raoul is just tired of everything lol. He’s literally looking up at the ceiling, probably wondering if he could just get out of here and simply get married with Christine or smth
Caitlin seems to give off more of a terrified and tired Christine, less fierce than the other Christines I’ve seen
I love the one chorus member in the rehearsal, he literally started laughing before Reyer even gave his corrections for Piangi, then immediately laughed again after Piangi’s failed attempt
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful Wishing from Caitlin, her range is simply incredible
His pants legitimately looked painted on during the graveyard scene, whoever did the costume fittings THANK YOU SO MUCH 🤤
No fireballs here in Taipei due to strict theatre rules, so it genuinely just looked like the phantom is throwing tear gas at them 😭
Love that Harry maintained Thabiso!Piangi’s accent for a good while before slowly going back into his own voice. His vocal control is insane
So much trembling hands from Harry, this man is so overwhelmed hearing Christine sing Don Juan I think he came multiple times under the cloak
Caitlin really makes for a seductive Aminta
The blocking for Raoul and Christine telling the police and managers to stand down looked out of place to me here, not sure why
While most phantom actors say the second “why” louder than the first, Harry whispered it instead, it kind of gave me the chills
Harry!Phantom is fully deranged in this Final Lair, and it matches well with Caitlin!Christine who just looks so tired
Harry slammed barb down to the floor hard, poor barb
Rory wasn’t wetted down or even misted down for Final Lair, I want to see him sopping wet c’mon!!
Harry is sprawled out in his throne when Caitlin just crumbles to her knees with “I gave my mind blindly”
This is immediately followed by him whispering “You. Try. My. Patience.” in an almost threatening way.
No airplane hands during the kiss, they were more bent at Caitlin’s waist and hovering, like he’s scared to touch her
During the ring return, he straightened up like he thought he still had a chance, only for him to pause when she holds the ring out to him
Omg the way his hands engulfed her hand
Pressed his lips to the ring in his lips and whispering “I love you, Christine…” before falling to his knees and grabbing the veil
Even more “I love you”s
He straight up ignored the two rowing away, so caught up in his own sorrow… someone just kill me
Overall, I think Harry’s acting choices for Phantom is very similar to James Gant’s for the majority of the show, and I loved it cuz I loved James Gant’s phantom very much 🫦
Harry really shines in Don Juan and Final Lair
This performance felt more R/C to me, Caitlin seems to see Harry’s phantom more as a protector/parental figure daddy, and there was a lot more chemistry between Caitlin and Rory. One of the few shows where I was able to easily point out which pairing they leaned toward.
I had a thought about how scared and worried Philippe was for Raoul’s safety.
It’s clear in the book that Philippe loved and cherished his little brother to ends of the earth. Even when Raoul confessed to him about the Phantom, instead of Philippe calling Raoul childish or immature, telling him he needs to be an adult and not believe such tales. He believes his brother, even setting out to find the beast that torments his sweet Raoul. I’m sure he was afraid when the Erik killed him, but I imagine he was even more terrified thinking if Raoul suffered the same fate or if he would soon.
It’s sad to think that his last thoughts must have been about how he failed to find his little brother. Philippe must have died with guilt of not being able to find out what became of his baby brother, and over all how much he would miss his Raoul, even if Raoul annoyed him from time to time.
Here’s how I feel like his last thought would have been like.
Philippe:I have failed you my beloved brother, I swore to protect you and I have failed. I can only hope that you are safe wherever you are. I hope you can forgive me for failing to save you. I wish I could have protected you more, maybe I should have done more, but alas, my efforts weren’t enough. May god have mercy on your sweet and precious soul my dear Raoul. May I find peace in heaven where I hope my soul will reside, may I be a lucky man to stand by the gates of heaven awaiting you’re arrival as I did on the docks when you returned from one of you’re voyages. Maybe you are already there, waiting for me. I love you Raoul, always have and always will, be it in death or in life, may god have mercy on us both, forgive me, forgive me.
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