Phantom of the Opera: the madness of the derniere
Today was the last show in Warsaw for Phantom of the Opera. While our production's not my favourite, I did attend a dozen times over the 2+ years, and I wasn't going to miss the derniere.
It opened with the theatre director onstage to announce that he's about to leave the theatre, go have a stiff drink and try not to think about the glorious Roma theatre tradition of having the last show of a play be complete and utter madness. This is the first time I've heard it actually warned for, though I've attended a bunny-filled Tanz der Vampire with vampire!Kim-from-Miss-Saigon, and a Cats with KitKats all over the place and Old Deuteronomy in diapers.
In the following, I assume you know how the show is supposed to go. (If not, the movie is actually very decent apart from a few high notes.) I won't even try to list all the jokes, just the high points.
Auction scene started with a bang - two old Raouls, the proper one stumbling in the background and the first-cast one - who wasn't supposed to be on - in the wheelchair. There were two Auctioneers (introduced as father and son due to age difference) and an extra auction presenter in a bikini. Copious references to the number of shows, and the Auctioneers ended up buying the lady in the bikini :D
Carlotta. Juggled. The heads. She's supposed to choose between two head props, and instead she started juggling them. And the spray that's supposed to go in her mouth? This time she ordered the wardrobe lady to put it under her armpits.
When Firmin and Andre came on, the dancers all formed a line at the front and turned around, letters on their backs spelling out WELCOME.
Our big elephant prop was turned the other way around, revealing the room inside and our Black Vampire playing cards and drinking and carousing with a dancer. I may have been not watching the rest very closely...
I kept blinking during the dance as Lefevre points out Meg and Christine, because Christine was all over the place. Then I realised that all three of them were there, running off and onstage to take part in the routine. It turned out that this was going to be a theme.
Firmin is supposed to be the bumbling one who doesn't know anything about opera. Instead he started speaking at Piangi in fluent Italian, to which Piangi was like O.o piacere! Piangi, on the other hand, got his chance to shine - instead of Carlotta doing the hissy fit, he did it in its entirety, word for word.
Think of Me - instead of offering Christine, Meg offered that all the dancers could sing the song. Christine came to the front anyway, but was having problems... until the other two Christines started singing with her. Firmin commented that it was just like singing carols and the two managers joined in before someone pushed them off the stage. (I was somewhere in the vicinity of the floor at this point.)
Think of Me itself was of course gorgeous, but instead of the final vocalise - Paulina!Christine sang the whole Hannibal theme and most of the Masquerade motif. Damn, she's good ♥
Madame Giry usually scolds the dancers after the gala. This time she mentioned that they had been horrible for 500+ performances, but were perfect today :) The dancers fled - except for two Megs. All further scenes except for Masquerade were done with two Megs, with a third joining them from Point of No Return onwards. During the Notes reprise, Madame Giry commented that she was seeing double and she really needs to switch dealers.
Before Paulina!Christine could sit down in her dressing room, she had to chase Edyta!Christine out of it. And after the Raoul encounter (thankfully just one Raoul... this time), her first lines weren't about the Phantom, but about how her bloody microphone keeps turning off and she can't hear the playback, and dear Arthur the sound tech, can you please turn it on? (This had everyone in stitches, because someone's microphone goes off in Every Bloody Show in this theatre. This is a problem when it happens, say, to the Phantom mid-MOTN and he has to molest Christine to share the mic.)
The first verse of Phantom of the Opera was normal. Then they switched to the Nightwish version. It gave us an excuse to make as much noise as at a metal concert?
And then on the boat... oops, wrong Phantom - First!Phantom as opposed to Third!Phantom who was supposed to be on. And Kaja!Christine. Which made it confusing when he yelled "Sing for me Paulina!", except that in that moment the Lair set rolled in, complete with two other Christines, all three of them vocalising for all they were worth.
And mysterious legs behind the organ (which swirls around). Third!Phantom was very casual about it except when First!Phantom wouldn't stop singing the high note in Music of the Night. Many frantic conductor gestures occured. First!Phantom fled after ripping out his microport while fighting with his cloak to cover Christine with.
Notes - there was a cat on the desk. And not any cat, but a very feisty and flirty Demeter who was very friendly with Firmin (also our ex-Tugger), then got drunk, molested Raoul and - after it turned out that Madame Giry was allergic to her - had to be carried offstage. By First!Raoul, who happened to be at hand.
As fyrie says, as you do.
Instead of going to England, the husband in Il Muto was going to Misery, as in Les Miserables, opening September 25. I may have missed something onstage, because the directors were getting roaringly drunk and blowing squeakers and throwing serpentines at everything that moved. This meant that their apology for Carlotta's lack of voice was - interesting. Including telling the conductor to cut his hair.
The ballet from the third act was interesting for once. Because apart from one girl, it was all very athletic guys doing very credible ballet <3 En pointe, even! I love the dancers in this theatre, I really do.
There were two dead Bouquets, in a rather compromising position. And the goose from Tanz der Vampire. Which everyone was really puzzled about.
All I Ask of You - this was the Rivalry of Raouls song, with both of them fighting over Christine and her being very confused about it. At one point to get her attention, one was singing on his knees, and the other was doing handstands. Literally. After some very Takarazuka-like dancing. (She chose the handstanding one, but not before they both tried to kiss her - and ended up in a passionate Raoul/Raoul clinch.)
The chandelier took several tries to fall, but I think that by this time everyone was too light-headed from laughter to notice it.
Second act opened as normal, but then instead of the dancer in a tutu, they let out a (girl) dancer in a tux to open the ball. Which was full of Roma theatre costumes, including Paulina as Sarah (Kaja being Christine again). And Minnie Mouse, and Bombalurina, and Meg as Jemima. And Second!Phantom, I think. Light-headed from laughter, remember?
Madame Giry's tale is usually boring, but this time the curtain didn't fall and we could see the Masquerade set being disassembled and the Notes one being built. They really do everything in this theatre by manpower, no machinery at all.
Notes reprise had the Phantom singing a children's song instead of his own. Apart from that, mostly serious, possibly because everyone was getting exhausted.
Don Juan rehearsal had two Reyers, this time brothers, both being extra-adorable. And Christine singing in over-the-top traditional opera style. And the first time I noticed one of my favourite extras was on, though he's been gone from the show for a good long while.
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again in Paulina's version always takes my breath away. Even when you've got the Phantom selling candles and Bouquet's funeral procession in the background - and then in the foreground. (And First!Phantom again, because he wanted a last chance at that sword fight.)
For some reason, the head policeman was extra-swishy. All guns went off at wrong moments.
And then Don Juan, and my favourite was on as Passarino, stealing the show utterly ♥
And this time, it was Edyta!Christine and First!Phantom, flamenco-ing whenever they weren't singing, with very impressive moves and heel-beating. Up until the point where he revealed his vampire teeth and bit her neck, only to be shot down by a cannonade of gunfire - because everyone on the balcony had a gun.
Third!Phantom and Paulina!Christine were back for Down Once More, and I think what happened next wasn't planned. His microphone went off mid-song, and he started frantically fiddling with it, singing for all he was worth - and then First!Phantom started singing with him, offstage, literally dubbing him. It went on like that for the whole scene, with First!Phantom only appearing once Christine was making her choice - only to push Third!Phantom away from his well-earned smooch and take his place :D
I only then realised that the Christine-dummy was Kaja!Christine after all. She got her veil back, and a smooch of her own, and then Edyta!Christine was back to give the Phantom back his ring, and then he declared the music of the night was over.
Three Megs came out to discover his abandoned mask. One put her hands over her ears, hear no evil. One put her hands over her mouth, speak no evil. And the one in the middle put on the mask, on which it was written: THE END.
The scary thing is - the above is maybe half the gags in this show. Theatre <3 Troupe <3 You'd better be bloody brilliant at Les Miserables, is all I'm saying.
It opened with the theatre director onstage to announce that he's about to leave the theatre, go have a stiff drink and try not to think about the glorious Roma theatre tradition of having the last show of a play be complete and utter madness. This is the first time I've heard it actually warned for, though I've attended a bunny-filled Tanz der Vampire with vampire!Kim-from-Miss-Saigon, and a Cats with KitKats all over the place and Old Deuteronomy in diapers.
In the following, I assume you know how the show is supposed to go. (If not, the movie is actually very decent apart from a few high notes.) I won't even try to list all the jokes, just the high points.
Auction scene started with a bang - two old Raouls, the proper one stumbling in the background and the first-cast one - who wasn't supposed to be on - in the wheelchair. There were two Auctioneers (introduced as father and son due to age difference) and an extra auction presenter in a bikini. Copious references to the number of shows, and the Auctioneers ended up buying the lady in the bikini :D
Carlotta. Juggled. The heads. She's supposed to choose between two head props, and instead she started juggling them. And the spray that's supposed to go in her mouth? This time she ordered the wardrobe lady to put it under her armpits.
When Firmin and Andre came on, the dancers all formed a line at the front and turned around, letters on their backs spelling out WELCOME.
Our big elephant prop was turned the other way around, revealing the room inside and our Black Vampire playing cards and drinking and carousing with a dancer. I may have been not watching the rest very closely...
I kept blinking during the dance as Lefevre points out Meg and Christine, because Christine was all over the place. Then I realised that all three of them were there, running off and onstage to take part in the routine. It turned out that this was going to be a theme.
Firmin is supposed to be the bumbling one who doesn't know anything about opera. Instead he started speaking at Piangi in fluent Italian, to which Piangi was like O.o piacere! Piangi, on the other hand, got his chance to shine - instead of Carlotta doing the hissy fit, he did it in its entirety, word for word.
Think of Me - instead of offering Christine, Meg offered that all the dancers could sing the song. Christine came to the front anyway, but was having problems... until the other two Christines started singing with her. Firmin commented that it was just like singing carols and the two managers joined in before someone pushed them off the stage. (I was somewhere in the vicinity of the floor at this point.)
Think of Me itself was of course gorgeous, but instead of the final vocalise - Paulina!Christine sang the whole Hannibal theme and most of the Masquerade motif. Damn, she's good ♥
Madame Giry usually scolds the dancers after the gala. This time she mentioned that they had been horrible for 500+ performances, but were perfect today :) The dancers fled - except for two Megs. All further scenes except for Masquerade were done with two Megs, with a third joining them from Point of No Return onwards. During the Notes reprise, Madame Giry commented that she was seeing double and she really needs to switch dealers.
Before Paulina!Christine could sit down in her dressing room, she had to chase Edyta!Christine out of it. And after the Raoul encounter (thankfully just one Raoul... this time), her first lines weren't about the Phantom, but about how her bloody microphone keeps turning off and she can't hear the playback, and dear Arthur the sound tech, can you please turn it on? (This had everyone in stitches, because someone's microphone goes off in Every Bloody Show in this theatre. This is a problem when it happens, say, to the Phantom mid-MOTN and he has to molest Christine to share the mic.)
The first verse of Phantom of the Opera was normal. Then they switched to the Nightwish version. It gave us an excuse to make as much noise as at a metal concert?
And then on the boat... oops, wrong Phantom - First!Phantom as opposed to Third!Phantom who was supposed to be on. And Kaja!Christine. Which made it confusing when he yelled "Sing for me Paulina!", except that in that moment the Lair set rolled in, complete with two other Christines, all three of them vocalising for all they were worth.
And mysterious legs behind the organ (which swirls around). Third!Phantom was very casual about it except when First!Phantom wouldn't stop singing the high note in Music of the Night. Many frantic conductor gestures occured. First!Phantom fled after ripping out his microport while fighting with his cloak to cover Christine with.
Notes - there was a cat on the desk. And not any cat, but a very feisty and flirty Demeter who was very friendly with Firmin (also our ex-Tugger), then got drunk, molested Raoul and - after it turned out that Madame Giry was allergic to her - had to be carried offstage. By First!Raoul, who happened to be at hand.
As fyrie says, as you do.
Instead of going to England, the husband in Il Muto was going to Misery, as in Les Miserables, opening September 25. I may have missed something onstage, because the directors were getting roaringly drunk and blowing squeakers and throwing serpentines at everything that moved. This meant that their apology for Carlotta's lack of voice was - interesting. Including telling the conductor to cut his hair.
The ballet from the third act was interesting for once. Because apart from one girl, it was all very athletic guys doing very credible ballet <3 En pointe, even! I love the dancers in this theatre, I really do.
There were two dead Bouquets, in a rather compromising position. And the goose from Tanz der Vampire. Which everyone was really puzzled about.
All I Ask of You - this was the Rivalry of Raouls song, with both of them fighting over Christine and her being very confused about it. At one point to get her attention, one was singing on his knees, and the other was doing handstands. Literally. After some very Takarazuka-like dancing. (She chose the handstanding one, but not before they both tried to kiss her - and ended up in a passionate Raoul/Raoul clinch.)
The chandelier took several tries to fall, but I think that by this time everyone was too light-headed from laughter to notice it.
Second act opened as normal, but then instead of the dancer in a tutu, they let out a (girl) dancer in a tux to open the ball. Which was full of Roma theatre costumes, including Paulina as Sarah (Kaja being Christine again). And Minnie Mouse, and Bombalurina, and Meg as Jemima. And Second!Phantom, I think. Light-headed from laughter, remember?
Madame Giry's tale is usually boring, but this time the curtain didn't fall and we could see the Masquerade set being disassembled and the Notes one being built. They really do everything in this theatre by manpower, no machinery at all.
Notes reprise had the Phantom singing a children's song instead of his own. Apart from that, mostly serious, possibly because everyone was getting exhausted.
Don Juan rehearsal had two Reyers, this time brothers, both being extra-adorable. And Christine singing in over-the-top traditional opera style. And the first time I noticed one of my favourite extras was on, though he's been gone from the show for a good long while.
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again in Paulina's version always takes my breath away. Even when you've got the Phantom selling candles and Bouquet's funeral procession in the background - and then in the foreground. (And First!Phantom again, because he wanted a last chance at that sword fight.)
For some reason, the head policeman was extra-swishy. All guns went off at wrong moments.
And then Don Juan, and my favourite was on as Passarino, stealing the show utterly ♥
And this time, it was Edyta!Christine and First!Phantom, flamenco-ing whenever they weren't singing, with very impressive moves and heel-beating. Up until the point where he revealed his vampire teeth and bit her neck, only to be shot down by a cannonade of gunfire - because everyone on the balcony had a gun.
Third!Phantom and Paulina!Christine were back for Down Once More, and I think what happened next wasn't planned. His microphone went off mid-song, and he started frantically fiddling with it, singing for all he was worth - and then First!Phantom started singing with him, offstage, literally dubbing him. It went on like that for the whole scene, with First!Phantom only appearing once Christine was making her choice - only to push Third!Phantom away from his well-earned smooch and take his place :D
I only then realised that the Christine-dummy was Kaja!Christine after all. She got her veil back, and a smooch of her own, and then Edyta!Christine was back to give the Phantom back his ring, and then he declared the music of the night was over.
Three Megs came out to discover his abandoned mask. One put her hands over her ears, hear no evil. One put her hands over her mouth, speak no evil. And the one in the middle put on the mask, on which it was written: THE END.
The scary thing is - the above is maybe half the gags in this show. Theatre <3 Troupe <3 You'd better be bloody brilliant at Les Miserables, is all I'm saying.