Phantom recap
I'm baaaaack! (Yay.)
Melbourne was great. Shopping was great. Footy was great even though Essendon got completely thrashed by Hawthorn. I was disgusted by Essendon's performance but, to their credit, Hawthorn played extremely well, too.
Phantom.
Wow.
Had great seats, about halfway back in the stalls, a little to one side... so it never looked like the chandelier was going to fall on us, just the people a few seats away. :)
Okay, so Anthony Warlow has the flu and his understudy (Simon Byrne) played the phantom. He was very good, although his voice is extremely powerful and he doesn't have quite the control for the quieter bits. Not complaining though. Christine (Ana Marina) was good. Beautiful singing voice, although again, she's no Sarah Brightman, Marina Prior or even Emmy Rossum (from the latest movie version).
Raoul was excellent, as were Carlotta and the two theatre managers. Madame Giry was also very good, although her hair was dark (used to the lighter movie version of the character) and she looked a little too much like Angelica Houston as well... odd. Meg was also a lovely singer.
As I said to pern_dragon in a comment a few minutes ago, neither lead was Snapeish or Hermioneish enough to completely satisy me, but to be fair I did go to see Phantom of the Opera, not Phantom of Hogwarts. Alas the latter will never have a show of it's own. :)
Was also thinking how much more spectacular some of the special effects and set changes would have been with magic. I love that part at the beginning of the movie where they illuminate the old chandelier and that acts as the catalyst to go back through time and all the cobwebs are blown away from the theatre and everything becomes new again. That's an amazing transition.
Oh, and the 'firefight' in the graveyard had nothing on the one Snape and Harry rehearse in Phantom of Hogwarts. Heh.
Anyhoo, overall I was quite impressed and it was definitely worth the $$$.
By the way, did I mention how much I love Melbourne? Every time I go there I find something else to like. Football, trams, all those little alleys in the city filled with cafes, morning fog, sitting at an outdoor cafe under a gas heater in the evening chill. What an awesome place.
But just as a side note, I'm devastated that Time Out, a restaurant in Federation Square, no longer has the Ginger Ninja on their cocktail list. I was rather looking forward to another one (or more!) of them. Alas.
And Cafe Segovia, you need to start serving your French Toast with fried banana again instead of berries.
Ah well.
Melbourne was great. Shopping was great. Footy was great even though Essendon got completely thrashed by Hawthorn. I was disgusted by Essendon's performance but, to their credit, Hawthorn played extremely well, too.
Phantom.
Wow.
Had great seats, about halfway back in the stalls, a little to one side... so it never looked like the chandelier was going to fall on us, just the people a few seats away. :)
Okay, so Anthony Warlow has the flu and his understudy (Simon Byrne) played the phantom. He was very good, although his voice is extremely powerful and he doesn't have quite the control for the quieter bits. Not complaining though. Christine (Ana Marina) was good. Beautiful singing voice, although again, she's no Sarah Brightman, Marina Prior or even Emmy Rossum (from the latest movie version).
Raoul was excellent, as were Carlotta and the two theatre managers. Madame Giry was also very good, although her hair was dark (used to the lighter movie version of the character) and she looked a little too much like Angelica Houston as well... odd. Meg was also a lovely singer.
As I said to pern_dragon in a comment a few minutes ago, neither lead was Snapeish or Hermioneish enough to completely satisy me, but to be fair I did go to see Phantom of the Opera, not Phantom of Hogwarts. Alas the latter will never have a show of it's own. :)
Was also thinking how much more spectacular some of the special effects and set changes would have been with magic. I love that part at the beginning of the movie where they illuminate the old chandelier and that acts as the catalyst to go back through time and all the cobwebs are blown away from the theatre and everything becomes new again. That's an amazing transition.
Oh, and the 'firefight' in the graveyard had nothing on the one Snape and Harry rehearse in Phantom of Hogwarts. Heh.
Anyhoo, overall I was quite impressed and it was definitely worth the $$$.
By the way, did I mention how much I love Melbourne? Every time I go there I find something else to like. Football, trams, all those little alleys in the city filled with cafes, morning fog, sitting at an outdoor cafe under a gas heater in the evening chill. What an awesome place.
But just as a side note, I'm devastated that Time Out, a restaurant in Federation Square, no longer has the Ginger Ninja on their cocktail list. I was rather looking forward to another one (or more!) of them. Alas.
And Cafe Segovia, you need to start serving your French Toast with fried banana again instead of berries.
Ah well.