Theatre Review - Show 1 for 2011: The Phantom of the Opera
I'm trying to get better about blogging my reviews! I'm already 6 shows short...here goes.
Details (for my benefit):
Date: Tuesday 4th January, evening
Place: Her Majesty’s Theatre, London
Notable cast members: John Owen-Jones (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Number of times I’ve seen POTO: 5
Opening ramble:
Phantom is not very high on my list of shows to re-watch, however talissarocsham made me aware that John Owen-Jones was playing Phantom. Having seen him play Valjean BRILLIANTLY last year in the 25th anniversary Barbican production, I was keen to see him again.
In a nutshell:
Phantom / Erik: John Owen-Jones kicks arse. I *heart* him. A LOT.
Why?:
He had all of the elements that a good Phantom needs. He had a fabulous vocal range and excellent control: nailing the sweet, tender lyrical bits; the long sustains and the big belts; the rich, strident, soaring lines; the harsh, dark, tormented passages…
And he showed great commitment to his performance and to the character. He was so completely engaged and thus engaging, from start to end. This is something I’ve found lacking far too often in the West End that I never struggled with at home - the number of performers that need half an act to truly warm up into their role. JOJ is a professional and that could not be said about him.
Other performers:
Christine: Adequate, improved as the performance went on, but not worth remembering.
She nailed her high, sweet, head voice notes, and had a pretty enough sound. Her diction was weird - I’m not completely clued up on the range of accents in the UK, but it sounded like she was either from somewhere North, or from Eastern Europe, and had just not quite mastered all of her classic English singing vowels… She started the first act fine, but was eclipsed by her leading men. She came across like someone who had been discovered on a reality television program - talented, but a little light and needing a few more years of hard work to come into her own. She got better in the second act. One of my friends fairly pointed out that Christine is an ingénue, so its consistent the character…personally I still like my Christine's to have a little more!
Raoul: Really good. As good or better than any other Raoul that I’ve ever seen.
I’m not 17 years old any more, so I don’t get as excited by Raoul’s (or Marius’s, or Enjolras’s) as I used to, but he was excellent. I wasn’t fond of his hair though - blonde with some wave through it - it looked a bit foppish, which I found made him visually difficult to distinguish from the managers. Perhaps I’ve just gotten used to dark haired Raoul’s after seeing Jon Bowles play the role twice (8 years apart! What a bizarre casting decision.)
Carlotta: unfathomable. Sometimes good, sometimes awful.
I was utterly mystified - she handled her opening scenes perfectly, displaying all the diva and over-the-top Soprano characteristics with big wobbling vibrato that you expect from any Carlotta. And then she completely disappeared in other scenes, subdued and barely audible. She did not carry her role in Prima Donna AT ALL, and she maintained this here-and-there performance for the whole show. Maybe she was unwell?
Recommended?:
For John Owen-Jones alone, HELL YEAH!
I did have a Phantom virgin with me, who absolutely loved the show. So Phantom still speaks to new audiences, and I'm glad for that.
Details (for my benefit):
Date: Tuesday 4th January, evening
Place: Her Majesty’s Theatre, London
Notable cast members: John Owen-Jones (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Number of times I’ve seen POTO: 5
Opening ramble:
Phantom is not very high on my list of shows to re-watch, however talissarocsham made me aware that John Owen-Jones was playing Phantom. Having seen him play Valjean BRILLIANTLY last year in the 25th anniversary Barbican production, I was keen to see him again.
In a nutshell:
Phantom / Erik: John Owen-Jones kicks arse. I *heart* him. A LOT.
Why?:
He had all of the elements that a good Phantom needs. He had a fabulous vocal range and excellent control: nailing the sweet, tender lyrical bits; the long sustains and the big belts; the rich, strident, soaring lines; the harsh, dark, tormented passages…
And he showed great commitment to his performance and to the character. He was so completely engaged and thus engaging, from start to end. This is something I’ve found lacking far too often in the West End that I never struggled with at home - the number of performers that need half an act to truly warm up into their role. JOJ is a professional and that could not be said about him.
Other performers:
Christine: Adequate, improved as the performance went on, but not worth remembering.
She nailed her high, sweet, head voice notes, and had a pretty enough sound. Her diction was weird - I’m not completely clued up on the range of accents in the UK, but it sounded like she was either from somewhere North, or from Eastern Europe, and had just not quite mastered all of her classic English singing vowels… She started the first act fine, but was eclipsed by her leading men. She came across like someone who had been discovered on a reality television program - talented, but a little light and needing a few more years of hard work to come into her own. She got better in the second act. One of my friends fairly pointed out that Christine is an ingénue, so its consistent the character…personally I still like my Christine's to have a little more!
Raoul: Really good. As good or better than any other Raoul that I’ve ever seen.
I’m not 17 years old any more, so I don’t get as excited by Raoul’s (or Marius’s, or Enjolras’s) as I used to, but he was excellent. I wasn’t fond of his hair though - blonde with some wave through it - it looked a bit foppish, which I found made him visually difficult to distinguish from the managers. Perhaps I’ve just gotten used to dark haired Raoul’s after seeing Jon Bowles play the role twice (8 years apart! What a bizarre casting decision.)
Carlotta: unfathomable. Sometimes good, sometimes awful.
I was utterly mystified - she handled her opening scenes perfectly, displaying all the diva and over-the-top Soprano characteristics with big wobbling vibrato that you expect from any Carlotta. And then she completely disappeared in other scenes, subdued and barely audible. She did not carry her role in Prima Donna AT ALL, and she maintained this here-and-there performance for the whole show. Maybe she was unwell?
Recommended?:
For John Owen-Jones alone, HELL YEAH!
I did have a Phantom virgin with me, who absolutely loved the show. So Phantom still speaks to new audiences, and I'm glad for that.