Cast:The Phantom – Flemming Enevold Christine – Teresia Bokor Raoul – Tomas Ambt Kofod Carlotta – Eva Malmgren Piangi – Fernando Concha Viaux André – Morten Staugaard Firmin – Steen Springborg Meg – Jennifer Wagstaffe
As this was to be my very first time seeing the stage show, I was very excited, as one can imagine. Excited being the understatement of the year – I was euphoric! My expectations were also sky-high.
First of all I have to say that Det Ny Teater is such a perfect setting for Phantom – beautiful 19th century architecture with red velvet, marble and gold everywhere. I completely fell in love with it – you only have to step through the main entrance to get that warm, fuzzy Phantom-feeling inside.
The auditorium is beautiful but very arched which could be a disadvantage depending on what seats you are in. I had no such problems as I was seated in the middle of the 3rd row – right under the chandelier and the Phantom on the angel! The Phantom-chandelier really looked old and kind of ugly when placed beside the real, crystal chandelier of the auditorium (which looked like the one in the movie).
It was a perfect seat as one had excellent view of the stage and did not choke half to death by the stage smoke pouring out during PotO and MotN. (some people in the first two rows started coughing). If you should happen to be seated in one of these rows, I recommend bringing a fan to elegantly flap away the smoke (that’s what I did anyway).
I got seated and soon found out that I had two phans in my own age on my right – they were seeing it for the first time and they´d also been introduced to Phantom by the 2004 movie, just like myself!
Something that wasn’t positive about the seats was the size and the space between the rows – almost non-existing! I’m 1,68 m and haven’t got very long legs but still, my legs were only an inch or two from the seat in front of me and you had to kind of slide down your seat to get in.
That was a big minus since you’ll be spending 2+ hours in it.
Ok, enough about that and on to the show itself.
I´ve always preferred the movie costumes to the stage ditto but I must confess that I was completely stunned by the details, colours and the sparkling quality of Carlottas Think of Me-dress when she appeared on stage after the Overture.
Although I´ve always thought Movie!Carlotta too over-the-top and caricature-like, I instantly liked Eva Malmgrens interpretation. She had a lovely voice that soared effortlessly over every note and her portrayal of the opera diva was more realistic – you got the feeling that she really was a threat to Christine and not just some screeching clown. Kudos to Eva for making me like Carlotta!
I was surprised by how colourful and memorable the minor roles were. I hardly noticed characters like the managers, Piangi and Monsieur Reyér in the movie but on stage they were so funny and amusing that you could do nothing but like them.
Piangi was played by Fernando Concha. He had a really nice voice and I liked his interpretation of the role. The managers were also great – Steen Springborg really pulled of the care-about-the-profit-not-the-arts aspect of the character and was rather loud. He had great chemistry with Morten Staugaard´s André, who had a cute and nervous quality to him that I really liked.
Meg had a quite prominent accent of some kind that really bugged me – thankfully she only sings a bit in Angel of Music. Later, I found out that she was British and instantly forgave her.
On to the lead roles... Teresia Bokor as Christine completely blew me away! She is just how I imagine Christine – young, pretty with a lovely voice that hits every note flawlessly. From the moment she sung Think of Me, I was convinced that she was one of the loveliest Christines ever! (Ok, ok, she may be my first “live” Christine, but I´ve seen countless ones on Youtube, even if it´s not the same). If I shall remark on something, it must be that she rubbed the apple a bit too much during PoNR, it was like a rubbing-frenzy - there could really be no peel left on that poor fruit! And she acted like she´d taken a bottle of the female equivalent of Viagra, haha. But other than that, Teresia was wonderful – all I´d hoped for and more!
Tomas Ambt Kofod made me like Raoul for the first time in history! (and it was not only thanks to the lack of the foppy, floppy, long hair). Tomas made a compassionate, protective Raoul that only had Christines best interest in mind. He really made an impression on me!
I must say that I´m very picky when it comes to Phantoms and had very high standards. Sadly, Flemming Enevold didn´t live up to them. The thing that bugged me the most was that he had weird phrasing and didn´t sing in tune with the music - the orchestra really had a hard time to keep up with his whims. I also thought Enevold was too old to play the part. The whole of the first act was a big disappointment for me but he got better in the second act (or it was just me starting to get used to him). He´s probably great if you´ve seen a couple of Phantoms and want a unique touch and diversity, but as a first-timer, I would have liked something less eccentric. (to be honest, I had really hoped to see Peter Jorde).
But one the whole, it was a great evening. The rest of the cast were so great and it´s such a special feeling, seeing the show live for the first time and noticing things that you can´t see on YouTube. (like that the Phantom appears on the top of the stage during Il Muto. I liked that scene by the way. It´s so boring in the movie and on the cd but it´s really funny to watch live.)
That was all from my first, but definitely not last time. The show itself really is addictive, I feel like I could see it countless times if I had the time and money! You really never can get enough of it, but I guess that´s why it´s been running more than 23 years at Her Majesty´s… the never ending story.
