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Post by Lynda on Apr 9, 2012 20:34:21 GMT
Earl Carpenter, Simon Bailey and James Bisp in the uk tour
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Post by Eunice and Roísín on Apr 27, 2012 14:41:31 GMT
We have been to see Phantom in Manchester. We didn't have any plans to go but out of interest we went on the ticket site which said that all matinees were sold out. When we went to see Monkee Business we saw a big Phantom poster outside the station & it made Roisin ask at the theatre if there were any seats & there were some on the front row so she made a spur of the moment decision to buy one. I wasn't so brave in case I couldn't go, so I was pleased when we went, that there was one seat left, otherwise it would have been the Upper Circle which I didn't want. The people who were between us very kindly offered to move up so that we could sit together. Our row was very short so we decided that it must have been put in at the last minute when they found out how much room the orchestra needed. All the guys in the orchestra looked very smart in their black bow ties & the MD wore a white one. The show was wonderful - it was very moving & the music was haunting  John Owen-Jones was great as the Phantom - we think Earl Carpenter must be at later venues. Simon was brilliant as Raoul - it is nearly three years since we last saw him play the part, so it was great to see him again & listen to his beautiful voice. James was in the ensemble & he brought the monkey music box on that was up for auction in the first scene. He moved a lot of the set which rotated & near the end he went into the orchestra pit as a policeman & fired his gun at the Phantom. Near the beginning we had Mme Giry & the director of the ballet standing next to us as they watched the dancing & spoke from the stalls. The chandelier didn't swing like it does in London. It came down quite low from the ceiling, under wraps, which came off. When the Phantom was going down to his lair, steps came out of the semi-circular wall, so that looked a bit scary but we saw that Simon had a safety string attached when he went down. He said that Christine & the Phantom did too. In the final scene the Phantom vanished from underneath his cloak, so we'll have to keep an eye on that if we go again somewhere, if we can get tickets  |
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Post by Lynda on Jul 5, 2012 8:36:06 GMT
Saw Phantom last week as James was on Raoul. Bristol is a lovely town and so easy to get from train to theatre. James was amazing, faultless, about time he got to be in a lead role, fabulous voice and lovely young man.
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Post by Eunice and Roísín on Jul 5, 2012 21:23:26 GMT
You are lucky, Lynda. Much as we love Simon, we'd love to see James as Raoul.
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Post by Eunice and Roísín on Oct 19, 2012 14:55:15 GMT
We got our wish on Saturday when we saw James as Raoul We thought he was fantastic - he has such a beautiful voice & great acting ability & he played the role much less serious than Simon We think there should be a way for James & Simon to share the role  Three of the other leads were different than when we saw the show before. Earl Carpenter was the Phantom, Katie Hall was Christine (we saw the u/s before) & the u/s Carlotta was on & they were all great. Some of the cast said that a lot of the choreography is very different as Earl has put his own stamp on the show. |
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Post by Tanith Messenger on Oct 24, 2012 13:04:29 GMT
Earl makes a fab Phantom, he was Phantom the last time I saw it in West End (with Lynda ) |
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Three of the other leads were different than when we saw the show before. Earl Carpenter was the Phantom, Katie Hall was Christine (we saw the u/s before) & the u/s Carlotta was on & they were all great. Some of the cast said that a lot of the choreography is very different as Earl has put his own stamp on the show.
