Christopher Carl as the understudy Phantom (December 20, 1997) Matinee

Epilogue

This is the first time I went to see the show knowing and willing to see an understudy Phantom. (Franc was out of time for a special engagement in Las Vegas) Since I wasn’t sure who would be Phantom before I went, I didn’t purchase the ticket until the day of the performance, so I got to the box office 10 minutes before 10:00am.

As soon as the door opened, I darted to see the board who was Phantom the night before. Well, there was no board! So I asked the box office person who would be Phantom this afternoon, and he said "it should be Franc D’Ambrosio but I’m not sure until the curtain time." And I felt like saying "Give me a break, I know Franc is in Vegas now." So I asked who was Phantom the night before and he said he didn’t know. OY! I bet all the box office customer services reps are ex-CIA undercover agents; their lips are so tight!

So having no idea who was or would be Phantom, I felt like I have no choice but to buy these cheap tickets (well my theatre budget has already gone bankrupt a long time ago, you know). But do I want to see from the nosebreed section? Then the guy uttered the word "orchestra center." WHAT?? WHERE?? It was 5th row center seats, and yes he had two tickets! Thank you, the Goddess of the tickets! I couldn’t write the check fast enough. Are these so called House Seats? I mean how in the world I could buy these primo-tickets on the day of the performance?

 And my luck kept rolling that day. When we returned to the theatre, we found out that Christopher Carl (Raoul), the reason why we went, was the understudy, yeaaaah! Thank you, the Goddess of the Cast! We were dancing in the lobby (well almost) with such overwhelming joy. We were fortunate to have these good mannered audience around us, too (no coughing, speaking during the scenes, sing-along, candy unwrapping, or no big head in front of us either). We were really excited to see him as Phantom.

 Before I actually saw Chris in Phantom costume, I had this unique expectation: it would be really interesting to see his portrayal of Erik. Since he is very handsome (and has a nice physique, too) person, I thought his Phantom must have a real complex emotion about his appearance. I mean a half of him is really gorgeous and the other half is deformed like beyond your imagination. So I was wondering if he would show this twisted feeling in his portrayal of Phantom. And I did see it when he took his hat and threw it away (unfortunately the hat was bounced back, darn it!) and slicked his hair up, it’s like he was fully aware that the half of his face is really beautiful.

The Phantom of the Opera

I think he did fairly well in this scene, but, I felt like his "Sing, my angel of music!" "Sing!" "Sing for me!" could have been a little stronger.

 Music of the Night

He was really sexy in this song. Especially, from "You have come here…." till "my music, my music…" he leaned over the organ as if he'd like to rush up to Christine and touch her and hold her tight, but he can’t. At that point, I felt like his Phantom really adores, loves, and longs for Christine. His Phantom was not a fatherly figure or mad man, but desperately in love with Christine. I could feel his heartache. His voice was really sexy and I loved it even his soar didn’t last too long (darn!). His natural range is baritone, so unless they change the key for him, it must be really challenging.

The Liar

Well, I guess this is just a timing problem. And unless people have seen POTO many times like I have would not have noticed. However, when Christine took the mask, in the millisecond, we could see his other half of the face. I don’t want to compare him with Franc, but I do anyway, that he never shows his deformed face until at the end of Point of No Return. In my opinion, it is really crucial that the audience won’t see it until very end.

In Angel

His singing was quite good and I liked the way his brought his fist to his lips when he heard "Say you love me…" and groaned. Personally, I prefer Phantom when he goes really mad after hearing the lovers’ "Say you love me…" but that’s just me. This Angel scene is very important to me because if I cannot feel any compassion, pity, or sympathy towards Phantom here, it is very difficult for me to accept Phantom for the Act 2.

Masquerade

Weeeell, I have to say I noticed that he checked the death trap with a corner of his eye when he walked down, but again, I have seen several times and extremely focused on his every move I guess. BTW, I really like him as Raoul in this entire scene. Actually I love his portrayal of Raoul very much. The very first time I saw him as Raoul, I wasn’t particularly fond of him, to tell the truth. However, Raoul is such a difficult part, an actor doesn’t want to be too weak or strong, or too young and air head either. The audience naturally tend to side with Phantom (under dog), so Raoul has to show that he genuinely loves Christine; thus, she will be torn apart between Raoul and Erik. The past couple of times I saw him as Raoul, he has successfully shown this important perspective of the role and he grew on me. I really appreciate that I finally found Raoul I really.

 Point of No Return

What can I say? Chris was soooo sexy, or should I say the entire scene after he appeared was very sexy and my heart was pumping, felt my body temperature went up. I think Karen was sexy Aminta, too, so both of them excelled in this scene. Once again, I could tell his desperate love towards Christine and when she touched him, it was like his passion exploded and he couldn’t stop caressing. EXCELLENT, BRAVISSIMO! When Christine noticed that he was Phantom and tried to run, the power his showed to pull her back was so overwhelming, it was mixed emotion of passion and anger. I LOVED IT!! After the hood was pulled away, we saw a vulnerable lonely soul that is desperately longing for Christine’s love.

 HOWEVER, I know this is definitely difference of interpretation, but after Chris pulled the ring from his finger, he put it on Christine’s finger instead of handing it to her and let her put it on by herself. I definitely prefer the latter because it totally changes the relationship between two of them. If Phantom puts the ring on her finger, then it’s like he is forcing her to accept him. But if Christine takes it and put it on by herself, then it’s more like, even she is in a state of trance, she accepts Phantom in part of her mind; hence she doesn’t totally reject Phantom subconsciously. To a person who wants to side with Phantom, the latter interpretation suits much better. However, I remember that when I saw Michael Lackely (sp?) as an understudy Phantom in September, he did the same thing he did. Does that mean every understudy Phantom put the ring on Christine where Franc hands it out? I’m very curious. Incidentally, Karen’s Christine showed a bit of disgust when Phantom put the ring on her finger, which is not good, it’s sign that she has already rejected him.

Final liar

This is such an emotional scene every time I see the show, and difficult scene, too. (At the same time an actor can push his envelop a lot here) Because I prefer to see the desperation turning to maddening anger, but not too angry at the same time. I liked his reaction when Christine said "The tears I might have shed for your dark fate grow cold, and turn to tears of hate!" It was as if Erik finally realized what happened to the relationship between him and Christine. So when Phantom said, "Make your choice!" I felt like that he already knew the choice she would make (choosing Raoul). I was moved by his reaction after the kiss, I could clearly see his state of shock and heartbreaking choice he had to make for Christine. After Christine and Raoul had gone, and he picked up the veil and murmured "Christine, I love you" over and over again, he showed one last time his genuine love towards Christine, and it was very touching.