The Phantom of the Opera - His Majesty's Theatre

Or James Gant! He was a magnificent Javert u/s.

Or Earl Carpenter

Tam understudied Ramin in Love Never Dies...

Mike and The Mechanics start a tour in mid February so assuming he's still singing for them I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes in December. I saw on Instagram that David Thaxton was taking over in December. Not sure how true that is though.

Les Mis on the other hand... dress circle standing is normally all I can get on the day, even on a Monday night off-peak and there are no discounts/offers around at all for advance booking. It’s been like this for about 3 years. Used to stroll to TKTS even on a Saturday night and get a 50% discounted seat easily.

Hi I've been a lurker for a while but finally registered. I've booked tickets for Phantom in London in October but having watched the film on the weekend I have a concern.
Can anyone tell me if the hanging scene is depicted in the live show?
My brother in law recently committed suicide so it is a bit too raw to see it on stage.

Many thanks, Cara

Yes it’s very brief and features a mannequin from the flies.

Not a problem, sorry to read of your loss.

Perhaps it’s also worth mentioning that the Phantom’s magical lasso makes a reappearance in the final scene when he uses it on Raoul (as, indeed, he does in the movie.)

Very much this. In the final scene a character mimes being chosen slowly strangled by a noose.

I have a question about the current London cast.

I think Amy Manford is wonderfully cast, she has the look, poise and sound of a Christine. The tone of her voice has the right balance between innocence and classical strength. This role needs to radiate youth and beauty and is quite difficult to cast but they hit the nail right on its head here.

Without being disrespectful to another performer, it kind of startles me that the first cast Christine, Kelly Mathieson, does not fit the role at all in my opinion. No doubt she is a well trained singer, but the sound of her voice is too mature for the role, too trained, has a color that does not suit the role, and she does not look like a Christine in the slightest. About every chorus girl looks more like a Christine than she does. She is actually the ideal Madame Giry too me, in terms of voice, poise and look. I think this is really a pity, as they feature this lady on the promotion pictures and the commercial etc, which does not reflect well on the show. This is not at all her fault, but I kind of blame the casting directors. She does what she can and she is very talented, just not right for the role.

I have seen the show on Broadway and in London many times (as well as other places in the world) and I have seen many wonderful Christines. A strange thing I noticed that a few years back on Broadway they used to cast Christines that looked and sounded like Madame Giry's too (Rebecca Pitcher for example) and in London they used to cast more truthful to the character. They broke this habit on Broadway with the wonderful Kaley Ann Voorhees, another girl who is a real Christine in my opinion, but now it seems they break the habit in London too, but then the other way around? I really don't understand this.