#sydmonton

[witdiseased]

Sarah Brightman in the Sydmonton Festival version of All I Ask of You.

“Tonight, I could achieve it. And you suggest I leave it?”

[witdiseased]

Sarah Brightman (featuring Clive Carter) in the Sydmonton Festival version of All I Ask of You.

I’m fascinated by how this song has evolved since Sydmonton. In this, Raoul is the one who considers Christine (or Kristin) to be in danger, and Christine is the one who wants to stay. For her, finishing the show and achieving her dream of being a great singer is more important.

Here we see her saying, “You don’t understand me, my star is now in sight.” Which I think is a really interesting take and something that gets lost from book to show, how much music really means to Christine.

[witdiseased]

Sarah Brightman in the Sydmonton Preview of Think of Me, or then known as What Has Time Done To Me.

I love her expressions here. The initial nervousness transitioning to greater confidence, with still a hint of shyness and uncertainty.

(Apologies for the low quality, I no longer have the video, these were stumbled upon in an old folder and I felt they should be shared)

[thephantomssiren]

“All I ask is when the music’s ended, when the last ovation dies away.

You recall the boy you once befriended, now a man in love with you. 

Christine, that’s all I ask of you!”

[operafantomet]

Program cover for the Sydmonton festival 1989. 

The cover’s artwork have details from musicals premiering at Sydmonton. Spot the Phantom! And Evita. And Starlight Express. And Variations. I assume the glass and the calendar also is a reference, but I don’t get it. Help...? 

[lot666achandelierinpieces]

I know i’ve posted these before, But I actually love these lyrics. They speak more to me for some reason.

[themaskedlion-tlvdatsi]

After reading @glassprism answer a “ask” about Colm Wilkinson, I thought I should post this. I admit to loving this version of Music Of The Night. (Lyrics and all)

[operafantomet]

A page from the original Sydmonton performance. The Sydmonton version had a storyline much like today's version, and also featured sets and costumes - though these were not the same as seen in October 1986, when "Phantom of the Opera" had its world premiere at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.  Worth noting: *Christine was called "Kristin" at this point. This can be seen in Maria Bjørnson's costume design as well.  *The three leads all ended up playing their respective roles in the finished version later on, but not together. Colm Wilkinson played the Phantom in Toronto (1989). Sarah Brightman originated the role of Christine both in West End (1986) and on Broadway (1988). Clive Carter played Raoul in West End in 1994. Colm Wilkinson had already signed up to play Jean Valjean in the world premiere of Les Miserables, so they knew at this point he would not be their Phantom in the finished version.  *The mock opera "Man in the Iron Mask" later became "Hannibal". The song "What has time done to me" is the same melody as "Think of Me", but only a few lines of the original lyric made it into the world premiere. The same goes for most of the songs - elements of the Sydmonton lyrics survived, but the majority was reworked.  *The mock opera "Don Nero" later became "Il Muto", and instead of Don Nero there is Don Atiilio. Serafino became Serafimo - I almost suspect the Sydmonton name is a typo. "Seraphim" is one of the biblical angels. It's a playful hint to "Cherubino", another biblical angel as well as a famous pant role from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro", of which Il Muto is based.  *Meg was meant to have a solo part both in "Man in the Iron Mask" (Hannibal) and "Don Nero" (Il Muto). Only a faint echo of this was kept in the finished version, where Meg plays the lead ballerina in Hannibal, and a blonde-wigged ballerina does the solo part in Il Muto.  *Piangi and Madame Giry is not present in the Sydmonton version. (the Sydmonton page comes from the RAH brochure)