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Bloopers...
Stories of slip-ups I've seen during performances... |
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Winter 1997/98, Pantages Theatre, Toronto - |
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I had taken my (then) boyfriend to see a performance of Phantom in Toronto, in an attempt to get him to understand why I loved the show so much. Little did I know what awaited us during the performance. Kevin McGuire, the Phantom understudy (he usually played M. Andre) was on that night. Perhaps this was early in his experience playing the Phantom, or perhaps it was simply an off night - we may never know. There were a few line mix-ups during the performance, but nothing an ordinary audience member (read: non-phan) would notice. However, the final lair scene was another story entirely. Somehow, Kevin knocked into the throne causing some of the dark side panelling to fall off right into the middle of the stage, revealing the rather bright colored wood underneath. As if breaking the side off the throne were not embarassing enough, poor Kevin had further trouble still with the piece. Meg pulled the cloak off the chair to reveal that the Phantom had magically disappearred, however, our poor Phantom that evening had left a bit of himself behind - his hands were sticking out of the throne right on the seat in the middle of the spotlight beside his mask, leaving little to the imagination as far as how the trick worked. I felt so bad for him, I kept sinking farther and farther into my seat. It didn't take a phan to notice there had been a bit of a mistake. Not surprisingly, my then-boyfriend was not entirely drawn into the magic of the Phantom story as I had been....
It also ought to be noted, I did see Kevin perform after this occassion on what were obviously much better nights for him, as his performances then were very well done, enjoyable, and error free. |
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October 1999, US Tour, Green Bay, WI - |
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On this occassion, Crys and I had driven from Michigan to Green Bay (about a 5 hour drive) to see Brad Little, as the tour was moving on the next day. We were catching a matinee and then heading back to Angels dorm in Michigan - originally Angel had been going to go to the show with me, but had to change plans at the last minute.Thankfully Crys was able to go! But on with the story... We had seats in the second baclony for this performance, so high up, we were looking down on the chandelier and had to watch the show through opera glasses. It was the very end of Masquerade, and we were looking intently down at the stage watching the Phantoms' double run down the staircase, when suddenly... *plop* We both looked at each other, to make sure that we weren't seeing things, and indeed it was true - the double had fallen in the middle of the staircase, and appeared to be lounging on his bum in the middle of the crowd, laughing maniacally.... |
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September, 2001, Her Majesty's Theatre, London - |
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This is rather a minor one, actually, the sort probably only a phan would notice. Jeff and I were in London (woohoo!) for a few days, and were catching an evening performance of Phantom - front row seats! Yay! It was during the final lair scene, and the Phantom (John Owen-Jones) had been left by himself, and was waiting for the monkey music box to begin to start 'Masquerade...' However, there seemed to be a longer than usual pause that evening. Jeff and I watched and waited for the little cymbals to move, but they never did. The poor liitle monkey was broken! The sound was cued anyway, and the scene continued, probably without anyone but Jeff and I noticing that the prop had broken... poor little monkey box never does get a rest! |
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This is not the tired monkey, this little guy is from the San Francisco Music Box Company |
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April 2003, US Tour, Buffalo, NY |
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I attended performances in Buffalo on April 2nd and 3rd, accompanied by Jeff, and Georgia (Rookie). I've never seen so many tech problems in the space of two performances! It was like being in the twilight zone... I hope I can remember them all!
Firstly, the 'Angel' sculpture was broken. The center angel is missing the ribbon she's supposed to be holding, and looked rather silly without it. Secondly, the chandelier was late in moving both nights - it's supposed to start moving over the audience at a certain point during the overture, and it wasn't on time either performance. Between Jeff and I, we've seen the show 106 times, so I'm sure it wasn't just us imagining things! At least it moved eventually.
On the first night (the 2nd), there were some minor mistakes - such as Carlotta (Kim Stengel - who is otherwise wonderful) missing her cue in Il Muto, the conductor waving his arms trying to get her attention. They finally got it back together again. There were some more major mistakes during the final lair scene. Thomas Cunningham was on as the Phantom that night (he's the understudy), and managed to get his hand caught in the string for the 'magical lasso' while shooing Raoul and Christine off the stage. He also had a bit of a problem with the throne (not as bad as Kevin McGuire!). He was kicking around under there for awhile, and I really thought he wasn't going to disappear! He managed to disappear - sort of. It seemed as though he was holding the back of the throne together, as you could see his hands bunched up in the fabric, and pieces of him peaking out in places.
On the 3rd, there were some more noticeable mistakes. Joseph Buquet didn't die that night. The backdrop for the ballet got caught on something and wouldn't fly up properly, and so the ballet girls just screamed at the trees as the lights flickered. Joseph's body never dropped. Also, during the rehearsal scene for 'Don Juan', the lights in the back were brought up too early. Brad Little was on that night, and was halfway to the cross when the lights caught him by surprise, and he had to run back into the wings. On top of that, the player piano didn't work, so the cast just kept screaming at each other until the keyboard player in the orchestra played the tune to cover up the mistake. |
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PhanTales |
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