The Phantom of the Opera - His Majesty's Theatre

I saw it on Saturday evening and also wondered why he hadn't dropped through the trapdoor. I didn't notice the other thing.

I DID notice JOJ looking like he'd had a rather good Christmas though!

There was a technical hitch which delayed the start of Act 2 by what felt like ages, May have been 20-25 minutes. Not sure what it was but when the safety curtain finally went up it was so slow it looked as though someone might have been cranking it by hand.

I was there on Thursday evening. I don't know if we also had the Madame Giry understudy - either way, she didn't make much impression on me I'm afraid!

I actually thought the show was looking a wee bit ropey. The other people I went with were all first-timers (hard to believe with Phantom, I know!) and really enjoyed it. But as someone who's seen it a few times before, I wasn't terribly impressed.

There were mic issues on the scene in the office where everyone is singing over each other (so you really couldn't hear anyone except the two more operatic voices, Piangi and Carlotta). I saw Raoul look over at Meg and nod towards the end of that section, just after the sound seemed to revive, so I guess they were aware onstage too.

Meg sounded terribly 'stage school' twangy and Carlotta's comic timing felt a bit off. Mind you, so did a lot of people's timing. When Buquet first came on he seemed to spend ages waiting for the music to hit the right spot before he started singing/speaking. I wondered if there were a lot of understudies on, or if the conductor was new, or something. It was all just a bit odd.

No problems with the three central performances, I must add (though Celinde was a bit heavy on the notes for my liking at times, at other times she sounded lovely). And the managers were funny (which was good, because that shtick can get old awfully quick). JOJ sounded perfect, as ever.

I noticed he didn't pick up Christine - just assumed his back troubles had struck again. He did cover her up very tenderly with the cloak though, so that felt OK to me. 

JOJ is going to be the final Valjean on Broadway... for the second time! www.playbill.com/news/article/broadways-les-miserables-sets-closing-date-john-owen-jones-will-be-final-valjean-373842

When I saw Phantom a few weeks before xmas I was a bit disappointed to be honest. It was my second time seeing it live but I was a big fan of the 25th anniversary DVD and the olc so I was very familiar with how amazing the show could be. Unfortunately it all felt a bit dated and slow. I felt the set and costumes could have done with sprucing up a bit too.

The music sounded great and the cast was mostly fantastic (Phantom, Raoul and Christine were perfect), but overall I wasn't blown away.

Still, seeing it again on Saturday night. Hopefully it'll be particularly energetic etc as it'll be JOJ's last.

I know what you mean about the graveyard scene, I felt the same. I also felt the lighting wasn't clear enough on the Daae gravestone for anyone unfamiliar with the story to fully clock what was going on!

There'll be a French production of Phantom at the Théatre Mogador in Paris from October 2016 - in French: www.reallyuseful.com/news/the-phantom-of-the-opera-to-open-in-paris/

So you'll be temporarily relocating to Stockholm, right?

I wish i could - but i have 2 weekends planned - more is not possible - only when i win in the lottery )

I've seen JOJ a few times in this run and he has been suffering with his back. I wonder if he'll do the lift and the trapdoor on Sat with it being his last show.

Fabulous! I loved Peter Jöback as the Phantom when he was here in London's glitzy West End.

I didn't catch him in the show but he appeared at the end of the 25th Anniversary Celebration, and I instantly fell in love with his voice (and taste in incredibly tight trousers) so I bought lots of his CDs. His version of Aznavour's (and Kretzmer's) "She" is the best! I'm a fan!