COPENHAGEN MARCH 07. 2009 (matinée)
PHANTOM: Flemming Enevold
CHRISTINE: Mia Karlsson
RAOUL: Tomas A. Kofod
CARLOTTA: Eva Malmgren
FIRMIN: Steen Springborg
ANDRÉ: Morten Staugaard
MADAME GIRY: Marie Bo
MEG GIRY: Jennifer Wagstaffe
PIANGI: Mats Calvén
AUCTIONÈER: Uffe Henriksen
REYER: Kim H. Henriksen
BUQUET: Jørgen Brorsen
AUCTION:
Seeing. Phantom. Live. Absorbing. All. Details. And. The. Atmosphere. Nothing. Like. It. Pure. Love.
HANNIBAL:
Smashing Eva Malmgren was on as Carlotta. That woman shines on stage, with every breath. She makes Carlotta so much more than a stereotype (or worse, a caricature). And ha-ha, it looks like she's about to kiss that severed head. Makes me giggle so much. Kim H. Henriksen (Reyer) was as annoying as last time. I think he's trying to make Reyer into a lead role... He's like an annoying cousin which CAN be funny at brief moments, but which mostly get on peoples nerves... I don't see how they're okay with him doing the role as over-the-top as he does.
We had a new Piangi (Mats Calvén) compared to last time, and he looked a lot more convincing in the role. He didn't stand out in any way, but he was overall good.
THINK OF ME:
Mia Karlsson does the intro/opening/audition part so well - starting of timid and weak, but gaining full vocal strength in the last two lines. Makes the casts reactions (and the transtition) very believeable. And God, she sung the song even better than last time. So effortless (or so it sounded), so in character, so good acting. Pretty flawless cadenza too. I adore her as Christine.
ANGEL OF MUSIC:
Christines reaction to the voice was very good, and the reaction to Meg disturbing her even better. Meg (Wagstaffe) was better this time around, better Danish pronounciation and more in character. Still not my fav. but definitely acceptable, and she has a rather cute voice.
LITTLE LOTTE:
I noticed a VERY odd thing when the managers enters. When Madame Firmin comments on the greed of her husband, he sends her an icy cold look, and she looks terrified. But André saves the situation, and it seems like André and Mame Firmin has a little thing going on... Grand drama on half a minute!! The Raoul/Christine interaction was excellent, as always with Tomas A. Kofod (Raoul). He's just so... believeable. And Mia Karlsson is just so... good. Darn, a great combo.
MIRROR SCENE:
Flemming Enevold (Phantom) was, as last time, unpredictable in his singing, and especially in a scene like the Mirror scene. We were told he's deliberately is not trying to just sing beautiful, but to add an edge to the singing. He manages that, in a way that makes it pleasant to listen to, but not conventionally pretty.
The Phantom's face is lit up very early in Denmark, around the time he sings "Look at you face...". I think I like it. The disappearance of Christine is also very well done, the perfect amount of smoke to camouflage the sliding mirror, but not so much the room is drowned - so that when Raoul enters we clearly see the mirror, with only a tad smoke at the top. To whoever works back stage achieving this: well done!
TITLE SONG.
Nothing new. Flawless execution, of course, but the title song usually is.
MOTN:
My favourite Flemming Enevold moment is when he and Christine *almost* kiss in the beginning of the song, and then he pulls way, with his hands halfway up in the air. It's hard to explain without being able to show it, but the effect of the movement is that he seems to tease Christine, to taunt her, and she appears to be really surprised that he DIDN'T kiss her.
He also had a fine moment when Christine had fainted. Two solid curls of the wig fell across Christine's face, right over her eyes. He carefully lifted them away in "You alone can make my song take flight...". Beautiful.
Flawless singing and acting in this scene!
STYDI:
Enevold's reactions to the unmasking is quick and volcano-like, ditto for the chase. Which makes the pause before he sings "Stranger than you...." very effective. He's impossible to follow for the orchestra here (I think he's deliberately trying not to sing on rythm, to make the Phantom even more unpredictable), although they usually manage to.
NOTES / PRIMADONNA:
I'm sorry, this scene always bores me... I mostly kept watching how the various characters acted and moved when not singing. It's quite intricate! Josefine pointed out the absurdness of Raoul accusing the managers of having kidnappes Christine... And I agree. It really IS absurd.
IL MUTO:
Carotta got her dress on on time this time, but her wig was as "dangling" as ever. And she made a point of it this time too, hehe. Very funny. The Reyer actor was on as the jeweller, and again: don't try to make a minor role into a lead role! He annoys the crap out of me.
However, I dig the Buquet-hanged-doll. The whole scene looks so believable. The dancers also act well here.
AIAOY:
Mia Karlsson went into a trance at "...but his voice filled my spirit...", she was all distant and bewildered, her voice slow and pacing. When Raoul said "Christine... Christine..." she looked at him, or rather through him, still far, far away, it was so spooky to see. It also made her reaction to the Phantom's "Christine..." very effectfull. TAK's Raoul looked like he was annoyed at himself for being dragged into her madness, looking for the voice. But then he realize how Christine is suffering, and he embrace her, protectively. Very well executed.
Again, the lifting TAK does is just wow. He makes it look like the Christine weights nothing. Are they that tiny, or is he that strong?
Later in the song TAK had a slip-of-the-tongue... Sort of... When he's saying "Christine... I love you!", he pronounced "Christine" in a very obvious English way (in Denmark they pronounce the name with a guttural/French R). Heading for West End, is he? Ha-ha.
Enevold had a nice touch on the angel. When the music started and you would expect him to sing, only his pale hand could be seen over the hand of the angel. And then he suddenly raised and started singing. Cool detail. The chandelier dropped as it should, really nothing much to tell there.
MASQUERADE:
Again, Raoul's lifting... How does he do it?
Great ensemble number, the orchestra was very rythmic and precise, and the dancing exceptionally good (or maybe it was just me sitting closer to the stage than usual). They were so co-ordinated and on time! Christine also seemed to push away the cloak-dressed men, partly annoyed and partly scared. Cool.
The Reyer actor played "the man who serves Carlotta and co drinks", and for some reason he felt this role had to be played like an elder stumbling man... WHYYY??? WHYYY????
Red Death pretended to throw the score two or three times. André proudly lifted it up to show he managed to catch it...
NOTES / TWISTED:
Mia Karlsson's Wishing dress has the most interesting backdrape, I don't think I've seen anything like it! The paniers are very long. They curve a bit up towards the back, but the ends are hanging down, longer, forming what looks like a simple waterfall backdrape (only folded once). On top there was a sort of "tab/spear" like the Elissa costume (but of course in blue!!), and that one was also folded once to achieve the waterfall effect. The love of my life, the Hamburg Wishing dress, has a similar pannier arrangement in the back, with the pannier folding back:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v31/o ... whole7.jpg
But it's shorter and not as pronounced. It also has a "normal" waterfall backdrape on top.
And that's what stole my focus in this scene.... hahaha! Except I noticed Eva Malmgren wasn't as sympathetic towards Christine this time around, she seemed more in doubt on the situation. And TAK hurled flames and firework in his angry "yelling-at-the-Phantom" lines!!
WYWSHA / WC:
I like Mia Karlsson's Christine so much (but I bet you've guessed that by now, haha!). Her acting is so full of nuances, and it's like every reaction and movement has a logical continuance. And her voice... She such a strong Christine.
The fire-shooting-skull-stick worked very well this time around, and the effect is so much better than the embarrasing "pfffffts".
DON JUAN:
Eva Malmgren's "Donna" costume is way too short for her... so much that it's distracting... The end....
PONR:
PORN... I mean PONR... is a very hot scene. In case you didn't know... Christine was working that apple allright, the chemistry was great. -Flemming Enevold sung with a very dark, full voice which at first didn't sound like him. I liked it a lot.
Christine is très seducing in this scene, and her movements are somehow very flamenco like. I liked that too a lot.
The Phantom forced the ring into Christine's hand this time around, I think she herself took it last time.
FINAL LAIR:
Although the whole scene was very impressive, what I really remember is the scene before the kiss plus the actual kiss. When Christine pleaded to the Phantom "...I gave my mind blindly...", trying to touch his hands, he slapped her hand away, almost looking like he was about to slap her in the face. But he said the lines "You try my patience..." with extreme coolness. Again this unpredictable quality in the portrayal.
After Raoul is released, Christine seems to just not want to go. Raoul keeps pulling her arm, but she tells him not to, waves him away, she's trying to read the Phantom's face. This really is a Christine who's town between two men.
And the return of the ring... aaaaw! When he said "Christine... I love you", Christine nodded and mouthed something, it looked like "I know" or "I love you too", and she had the hardest time leaving him.
CONCLUTION
All in all: major wow. A super strong performance, because of four very strong leads and a nice unity of the cast. I liked the Enevold/Karlsson combo better than the Enevold/Bokor combo, because I think Karlsson's fine and nuanced Christine balanced the madness of Enevold's Phantom in a most excellent way. And they're both so strong both individually and together. The Enevold/Karlsson combo might be the best combo I've seen as of yet, and followed by such a strong Raoul as Tomas A. Kofod and such a shining diva as Eva Malmgren, I don't know what else to ask for.
Yes, I would love for some of the supporting characters to be either more pronounced (Meg and Madame Giry), or waaaaay less pronounced (Reyer). But I think that's it.