The Phantom of the Opera - UK Tour

No discounts for opening night or early booking though. Bit stingy!

I’m definitely happy at the ticket prices. Booked front row stalls for £56 for a Saturday matinee. I’ve combined this with the opening night of WSS at the REX for a nice Manchester theatre weekend. Just waiting now for something decent at the Hope Mill for a Sunday matinee.

The £13 tickets only came into effect half-way into Mormon's booking period, same for Back to the Future and &Juliet. I dare say the same will happen to Phantom. By-and-large pretty much every seat in the house is cheaper than Mormon when booking opened.

I think the pricing is a savvy move. Theres a hype about this I hadn't expected, non-theatre goers in work talking about this and wanting tickets having not mentioning a word about Mormon, Les Mis, Matilda or Wicked.

Walking around Manchester CC this afternoon seeing the mask on ad screens made me very happy.

Curve is my nearest 'big' theatre (25min drive) and I feel really lucky to have such a great theatre so local to me.

Since we had the recent Mary Poppins tour it really feels like we don't miss out on any of the big shows now (we've since had Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and now Phantom).

Financially I'm not sure how Curve are managing to get the shows because although the stage is certainly more than big enough (15.3m W x 8.0m H x 15.9m D), the auditorium currently only seats 902 (depending on seat configuration), although this will increase to 969 this Autumn after more seats are added. When you compare this with a venue like the Birmingham Hippodrome that seats 1,850 the numbers speak for themselves, interestingly though their stage isn't as high but is a bit deeper (12.79m H x 7.92m W x 17.5m D).

Perhaps they're using Curve as the preview run in a live theatre getting everything set up and finalised for the tour ahead anf have come to an arrangement with Curve as this will now be the fourth (fifth if we include Barnum) Cameron Mackintosh production to originate in Leicester.

Regarding the pricing, I always knew Phantom was going to be expensive. I'm a Curve member so have been fortunate to save 15% on the top price tiers and I've also gone for the front row (D at the moment), FrontrowverPaul for your reference I've been advised that we'll get first refusal of row C if/when they put them on sale.

Really looking forward to seeing this production. I hope they keep enough of the original London production that gives it the lavish look and feel but update the magic/special effects as they're really starting to look dated in the West End production. The lightning effect in the overture and the sparks from his stick look so cheesy now - I'm sure back in 1986 they were pretty special, but we expect a bit more nowadays.

Indeed, the Curve is now very much a place for launching and fine tuning big tours. It may not seat that many, but has a very large stage, good wing space, fly facilities, rigs etc etc, is new and technically advanced - makes it an ideal place to tech a big show.

I am REALLY disappointed at their reconfiguration through. I always sit on an aisle seat, a) as I am very tall and b) as I have anxiety and really don't like the feeling of being 'stuck' in the middle of a row. As such I MUCH prefer theatres with one or two central aisles as I can have an aisle seat that also has a good view. Theatres with long rows and only side aisles, I always sit at the side. Front Stalls at Curve going from two central aisles to none is therefore a shame!

That aside is a fantastic comfortable modern theatre.

I hope it does come to the North East. Personally I’d prefer to see it at the Sunderland Empire, as feel that the show would fit in better with their lovely auditorium and the stage is bigger.

Word of this tour finally motivated me to do something I've been "getting round to" for nearly 20 years.
Framing this wonderful piece of theatrical memorabilia... Poster from the Liverpool Empire exterior, for the touring production 1999! (My first time).
Back when Liverpool Empire was under the jurisdiction of Apollo Leisure Theatres.
It's in rough shape in places having not been loved for a while and pinned and then blutak-ed to wall for a decade, abused by sunlight, but still a good keepsake.

Does that full face mask ever get used on promo nowadays?

Hmm. I wonder why they do that when the full mask isn’t in the actual show. I have it in my head somewhere that the full mask was in Bjornson’s original designs but that it was restrictive forthe Phantom to sing, so it got dropped. So why still use the image?

That’s correct. It’s become synonymous with the show though, so it stays.