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Post by FairyGodmother on Apr 28, 2021 12:06:35 GMT
Carlotta isn't a very sympathetic character. Or because under all the heavy make up you can't usually tell what ethnicity she is anyway?  |
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Post by southstreet on Apr 28, 2021 13:21:58 GMT
I don’t understand your “change is coming?” Have you seen Six? Lion King? Hamilton? Colour blind casting in Les Mis decades ago.
I find it a bit odd that there have been loads of comments on social media about a black actress playing Christine but I haven't seen any comments about an Asian actress playing Carlotta. Surely that is equally diverse? It sometimes seems as though people saying they want more diversity only care about more visibility of black people and not about any other ethnicities.
I don't think that is necessarily the case. All I personally have seen cast announcement wise is Christine, Raoul and Phantom, mainly because those are the lead roles and with me not having much of an interest in the show (I hate the sound of soprano singing LOL) I haven't looked into the full breakdown of the cast. At the end of the day Carlotta is not a lead role and I am certain that had they cast an Asian Christine, there would have been just as many comments about it. At least in my theater-ey circles, which include people from all ethnic backgrounds. That said, there has to be A LOT of work done overall, and Asian representation has to also increase for sure. I know how hard as it is for black performers I know to get leads in "no-specific ethnicity required" kinda roles, it's even harder for all the Asian performers I know. Which is why representation and (as people like to call it) positive discrimination is so important, because whilst very few black people see themselves represented on stage, there are even less Asians, hence also a lot less Asians trying to get into the industry. There is a reason why it's impossible to cast Miss Saigon in the UK with homegrown talent, it's not that the talent isn't there, it's because the talent doesn't enter the industry. Also a good point about representation of other Europeans in the UK and especially with anything that is supposedly based in London. If my road is anything to go by, Albert Square should have at least three families from different European backgrounds live in it, on top of a few from Asia, Africa and Down Under. Or at least one each. LOL |
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Post by theatrenewbie on Apr 28, 2021 13:30:47 GMT
Oh dear oh my what can of worms have I opened...
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 28, 2021 13:53:05 GMT
No good can come of this conversation!
I’m just happy that Lucy St L has got the role. She’s very talented and a lovely performer. I hope she’s not in it too long though so she can be cast in something more exciting!
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Post by ceebee on Apr 28, 2021 15:14:46 GMT
So, looking at the latest email this afternoon, it looks like those who booked tickets for POTO prior to 27 July will be invited to a priority booking bunfight on 30 April rather than have their seats reassigned.
I may be wrong, but am reading between the lines as there has been no other communication regarding prebooked tickets.
Any other first-nighters heard anything, or are you in limbo too?
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Apr 28, 2021 15:21:37 GMT
I don’t understand your “change is coming?” Have you seen Six? Lion King? Hamilton? Colour blind casting in Les Mis decades ago.
I find it a bit odd that there have been loads of comments on social media about a black actress playing Christine but I haven't seen any comments about an Asian actress playing Carlotta. Surely that is equally diverse? It sometimes seems as though people saying they want more diversity only care about more visibility of black people and not about any other ethnicities.
I believe on Broadway they had a Filipino Christine. |
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Post by scarpia on Apr 28, 2021 17:09:20 GMT
You're assuming that young actors aren't going to have a good agent. Drama schools are pretty hot on this these days. Also, Lucy St Louis has already been the lead in a big musical (she was Diana Ross in Motown), she's not a complete newbie. On another note, I'd prefer to see a younger Phantom cast. It's always made me a little uncomfortable having a much older Phantom with a young Christine. This is the totally opposite opinion to mine -- I hate having younger Phantoms, unless they can "age up" (JOJ did this very well in this first run when he was still in his mid-30s). The Phantom needs to be old enough for Christine to wonder if he's her father - that's even in the libretto. Also, he cannot have the experience given to him (Shah of Persia, having a hand in constructing the Garnier etc) without being at least in his 40s. If it creeps you out then good, it's supposed to. This is why Phantoms like Ramin never did it for me, because they acted way too young. On another note, I was thinking about the HM's refurb. I'm not sure I like the idea that they're restoring the greenish colour scheme of the ceiling in the theatre just before the proscenium arch. It was all painted black before (and I assume it was done for the production, since it's the same case at the Majestic) and that suited the whole 'black box' stuff of the production. With the restoration plans, the colour scheme seems to be incoherent with the colours of the show's set design. Not sure why they didn't just wait till this thing shutters before restoring the colour scheme? |
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Post by justafan on Apr 28, 2021 17:13:49 GMT
So, looking at the latest email this afternoon, it looks like those who booked tickets for POTO prior to 27 July will be invited to a priority booking bunfight on 30 April rather than have their seats reassigned. I may be wrong, but am reading between the lines as there has been no other communication regarding prebooked tickets. Any other first-nighters heard anything, or are you in limbo too? Yep in limbo |
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Post by fiyero on Apr 28, 2021 17:14:43 GMT
So, looking at the latest email this afternoon, it looks like those who booked tickets for POTO prior to 27 July will be invited to a priority booking bunfight on 30 April rather than have their seats reassigned. I may be wrong, but am reading between the lines as there has been no other communication regarding prebooked tickets. Any other first-nighters heard anything, or are you in limbo too? I took it that today’s email was a wider one and not linked to our booking. Hopefully we’ll hear soon! |
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Post by scarpia on Apr 28, 2021 17:17:49 GMT
From what I gather, I don't think the old guard (at least cast-wise) really want to be back given what's happened to the show. And they’re completely justified, this whole transition has just been absolute shambles. Alienating a generation of performers who have loved and contributed so much to the original. But perhaps this is exactly what Cammack & co want, a clean break and a new cohort of people who have only ever known his tyrannical “creativity” as the norm.  And part of what saddens me about that is that means there will be no one in the cast who will ever have worked with Hal Prince. Or Gillian Lynne. But I think that's what Cameron clearly wants. Mackintosh calls out ALW sometimes for dabbling in producing when it's not his thing (he was quite critical of how ALW managed Sunset), yet he can be equally criticised for posing as a creative when he's not. He wants to be a director, so much so that in recent years (esp Barnum and Witches of Eastwick, and of course ALL the Laurence Connor productions) he just hires young directors who have no clout and are overruled and just follow what he dictates (as opposed to theatrical titans like Trevor Nunn and Hal Prince who would not have accepted that). That will be the same I imagine with Sklar-Heyn. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Apr 28, 2021 20:12:33 GMT
And part of what saddens me about that is that means there will be no one in the cast who will ever have worked with Hal Prince. Or Gillian Lynne. Didn't Gillian Lynne come in & work with each new cast until near the end of her life? If I'm remembering that correctly then at least 2 members of cast, Killian Donnelly & Tim Morgan, would have worked with her during their previous stints in Phantom. (In yet another instance of slightly dodgy press release comments, the statement from ALW that "I am thrilled to announce our first entirely new cast" isn't quite accurate given at least 4 people in the new cast have been in Phantom previously.) |
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Post by matilda1 on Apr 28, 2021 20:55:57 GMT
Just wondering what happened to Holly Anne Hull?
I know she is the alternate, but it seems that she was cast as C and then didn’t really get to play the part.
Killian is still there though.
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Post by musicalmarge on Apr 28, 2021 21:23:07 GMT
What set will it be using?
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 28, 2021 21:34:48 GMT
What set will it be using? There will be no set. They can’t afford it. Some dry ice and 3 candles is all you will get. |
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Post by Theatrefan48 on Apr 29, 2021 6:00:53 GMT
Is anyone in the cast over 35? By-and-large Band A recruits I see. I suppose that's in keeping with the age of the characters back at the turn of that century. Nothing wrong with it, but CMLs obsession with graduates is a little unhealthy. There's alot to be said for seasoned professionals, but CML is intent on penny pinching so the juniors get the gig. Hopefully they don't look as awkwardly made up, aged and stuffed as they do in Les Mis. Would be interested to know the average age of the cast on Broadway vs London. You just have to look at the photos on the website cast page. There are clearly plenty of people over 35 and a lot of experience. I think the difference from the pre-covid company is there is nobody over 70! |
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Post by sleepflower on Apr 29, 2021 8:39:08 GMT
Just wondering what happened to Holly Anne Hull? I know she is the alternate, but it seems that she was cast as C and then didn’t really get to play the part. Killian is still there though. She's alternate Christine! Glad she gets a good go at it now |
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Post by ceebee on Apr 29, 2021 9:36:33 GMT
So, looking at the latest email this afternoon, it looks like those who booked tickets for POTO prior to 27 July will be invited to a priority booking bunfight on 30 April rather than have their seats reassigned. I may be wrong, but am reading between the lines as there has been no other communication regarding prebooked tickets. Any other first-nighters heard anything, or are you in limbo too? I took it that today’s email was a wider one and not linked to our booking. Hopefully we’ll hear soon! Hopefully "soon" will be today though, right? If they're going to priority booking tomorrow then surely those of us with tickets already should be told what our new dates are beforehand so we can switch if necessary ahead of those who have yet to book... |
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Post by fiyero on Apr 29, 2021 9:38:55 GMT
I took it that today’s email was a wider one and not linked to our booking. Hopefully we’ll hear soon! Hopefully "soon" will be today though, right? If they're going to priority booking tomorrow then surely those of us with tickets already should be told what our new dates are beforehand so we can switch if necessary ahead of those who have yet to book... I hope so but recall it hasn’t happened like that before. I still have June 5th officially! It’s been back on sale since we knew that wasn’t happening. I think similar happened with other LW shows too |
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Post by inthenose on Apr 29, 2021 12:03:57 GMT
Cameron's in-house PR team, RawPR have been caught hiding negative replies from the public on Twitter. It hasn't been very successful though, as there are now even more complaints about this.
"There is no West End without Phantom" - love the humility.
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Post by dazzlair on Apr 29, 2021 14:43:27 GMT
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Post by 141920grm on Apr 29, 2021 15:15:38 GMT
What set will it be using? There will be no set. They can’t afford it. Some dry ice and 3 candles is all you will get. Candles are a splurge only for the end-of-week evening shows, tough luck if you're at the matinee- use your imagination and some rapid blinking of the eyes for the flicker/strobe effect Phantom's makeup: i.ytimg.com/vi/TcjIfDX-RZQ/mqdefault.jpg (it's real- 2019 Portuguese concert) |
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Post by inthenose on Apr 29, 2021 15:21:22 GMT
There will be no set. They can’t afford it. Some dry ice and 3 candles is all you will get. Candles are a splurge only for the end-of-week evening shows, tough luck if you're at the matinee- use your imagination and some rapid blinking of the eyes for the flicker/strobe effect Phantom's makeup: i.ytimg.com/vi/TcjIfDX-RZQ/mqdefault.jpg (it's real- 2019 Portuguese concert) Where does Andy Rees's bottom fit into all this though? |
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Post by 141920grm on Apr 29, 2021 15:46:40 GMT
I believe on Broadway they had a Filipino Christine. Yes, Ali Ewoldt (mixed Filipino-Caucasian). Erica Wong (Asian-American) has been Broadway's Meg understudy for a couple years. Someone mentioned Christine Allado earlier in this thread- I would really love to see her join the cast someday! She has a very sweet, smooth tone- I'm very much a fan of that (her Think of Me youtube.com/watch?v=GZ6GE6hp_pE) |
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Post by fiyero on Apr 29, 2021 16:30:37 GMT
Hopefully "soon" will be today though, right? If they're going to priority booking tomorrow then surely those of us with tickets already should be told what our new dates are beforehand so we can switch if necessary ahead of those who have yet to book... I hope so but recall it hasn’t happened like that before. I still have June 5th officially! It’s been back on sale since we knew that wasn’t happening. I think similar happened with other LW shows too No email yet but now showing a new date (27/07) in my booking history. EDIT: just got my email |
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Apr 29, 2021 16:35:28 GMT
I believe on Broadway they had a Filipino Christine. Yes, Ali Ewoldt (mixed Filipino-Caucasian). Erica Wong (Asian-American) has been Broadway's Meg understudy for a couple years. Someone mentioned Christine Allado earlier in this thread- I would really love to see her join the cast someday! She has a very sweet, smooth tone- I'm very much a fan of that (her Think of Me youtube.com/watch?v=GZ6GE6hp_pE) Yes Ali! She has some great vlogs too. I can't remember if it was Ali whom I saw onstage in New York - but in my opinion, the Broadway production put the West End to shame. |
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