Rob Pitcher is the brother of Rebecca Pitcher (who plays Christine Daa� on tour in the US) was the Raoul cover for 4 weeks in October/November 1999 while the principal Raoul was away performing in Les Mis�rables.

Review:

This was posted to the main Phantom mailing list on April 30, 2000, after Rob Pitcher understudied the Phantom on May 30, 2000:

"Pitcher is a bit too young for the role and looks a bit odd, but I can tell you, all this was washed away by his acting and his singing. He hasn't even done 10 performances, but he gave me shivers and made me cry a lot. He's a very sweet Phantom, very passionate and aristocratic and certainly knows what he's doing. He doesn't simply copy from the main actor, but added a lot of new things, which impressed me a lot. His Mirror was good, not spectacular but good. During the title song, the boat got stuck and he walked with Christine over the lake, all in a very graceful way. His MOTN was good. Maybe a bit too lively (quick movements) but vocally OK. When Christine faints, he took the cloak and knelt down ever so gracefully, and then delivered the last note just after having stood up. After MOTN, there was a long pause, since they had to bring the back-up boat onstage. It was a funny sight, seeing Ineke lying in that boat just like Snowwhite. Stranger was good, and he moved very nicely over the floor, *falling down* and crawling back up, very good ! His Angel scene was simply *perfect*. I sat Front Row so I could see his face and hands very well, and he was doing the simplest things but all VERY touching. He sort of started shivering when he heard Christine and Raoul and cried a bit. LOVELY !!! Wandering Child was good. He looked at Christine very intensly and sang well. His "Bravo Monsieur" was again nice, very nice. Lewis ran into the fireballs quite impressively! PONR started of a bit strangely. He mixed up some lines (as he probably doesn't understand a word of what he's singing), but after that he was fantastic. The way he sat on the bench, waiting for Christine to come, was wonderful. His hands started shaking well in advance and he was really in a trance. It's been a long time since I saw someone using his hands in that sequence, instead of just sitting still. Here in Antwerp it's very rarely done. Anyway, his "Say you'll share" was emotional and very sweet. The Final Lair was simply perfect. Very powerful, but again simple, natural movements and a lot of charisma. He said "The world showed no compassion" in a very nice way. "Either way you choose" he said downstage left, facing the audience, which was rather effective, before going upto Christine. His Kiss was ultra-nice. After that I was in a state of compete delirium. He touched his lips and stayed centre stage for at least 30 secs, really showing the mental shock he had. Wonderful! Then, slowly, he went up to Raoul with the candle. Lewis was great, really showing the fear in his eyes and he started to try to get away from Pitcher. After that, Pitcher was even more excellent. He urged them to go, rather than shouting like a lunatic. The monkey had fallen over, so when the musicbox started to play, he moved it back into position, and then carressed it. So sweet! His "I love you" was heartwrenching and when she went, he didn't start to cry immeditaly, but waited until he saw the veil, carressed it and then started to cry. He sang his last lines facing upstage right and his voice broke because he was weeping. His last note was perfect."