Celebrating 2,500 views

I can't believe that my blog has been viewed over 2,500 times now. Still, I never know who my viewers are or how much they enjoy my blog but it's always nice to have someone passing by. Thanks to Blogger Stats, I was able to find out who my viewers were (well, kinda) and what were they viewing.

Most of the traffic sources that led my viewers to my blog is undoubtedly Google. I guess I'm on the search engine then. Also, I got quite some viewers from my own Facebook and twitter pages as well as twitter from Leeds Grand Theatre.

Since the blog started, here are top 10 posts that got viewed the most from highest to lowest:
Review: American Idiot 620 pageviews
Review: Spider-Man 218 pageviews
My Best & Worst of 2010 203 pageviews
Review: The Lion King 127 pageviews
Review: Catch Me If You Can 126 pageviews
Review: Mary Poppins 88 pageviews
Review: The Phantom of the Opera 76 pageviews
10 London Musicals for Dummies 69 pageviews
Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 56 pageviews
Review: Company in Concert 50 pageviews

It is really surprising to see that so many views are from the American Idiot review alone and that was like more than half of the second top post which was Spider-Man.
And here are where my viewers are viewing from along with their browsers and operating systems:

Over a 1,000 of my viewers are from the US, while UK accounts for just over 600 with Canada and Germany behind them.
It is also fun to look at what viewers put in their search engine that made them come across my blog. Here are some of the examples:
venetian phantom theater
wilson jermaine heredia
ashly brown
catch me if you can musical reviews
gavin lee
"lee mead"
aj shively
catch me if you can musical photos
catch me if you can musical pictures
killian donnelly
paulo szot
robin armstong sir bedevere
"andrew keenan-bolger"
"catch me if you can" "strange but true" musical
"cheryl stern"
"laird mackintosh" mary poppins review
emily osborn spiderman the musical
is ghost the musical good?
jennifer damiano spiderman understudy may 2011
jomya gub jai the musical
reviews sondheims company
theatre resolution
american idiot
kristi holden christine
lion king musical cd

Whoever you are, thanks for stopping by!

Happy 25th Birthday, Phantom! (well, almost)

Last year we saw the 25th anniversary celebration for Les Miserables and 2011 is going to be the year for The Phantom of the Opera as its original London production will turn 25. So I will dedicate this blog to my memory of the Phantom...

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera began previews at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on September 27, 1986 and opened on October 9, 1986. It was directed by Hal Prince, choreographed by Gillian Lynne, and lighting designed by Andrew Bridge.

Lloyd Webber first approached Jim Steinman to write the lyrics because of his "dark obsessive side", but he declined in order to fulfill his commitments on a Bonnie Tyler album. Alan Jay Lerner was then recruited, but he became seriously ill after joining the project and was forced to withdraw; none of his contributions (mostly involving the song "Masquerade") are credited in the show. Richard Stilgoe, the lyricist for ALW's previous show Starlight Express, wrote most of the original lyrics for the production. Charles Hart, a young and then-relatively unknown lyricist, later rewrote many of the lyrics, along with original lyrics for "Think of Me". Some of Stilgoe's original contributions are still present in the final version, however.

The composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber

The iconic "Music of the Night" pose

The late Maria Bjornson designed the extravagant and breathtaking sets for the show. She designed the sets and over 200 costumes, including the spectacular ones in the Masquerade sequence. Her set designs, including such indelible elements as the chandelier, subterranean gondola, and the sweeping staircase, set a standard for stage spectacle seldom equaled, and earned her multiple awards.

The Chandelier

The Grand Staircase during "Masquerade"

The Hannibal Scene

A preview of the first act was staged at Sydmonton (Lloyd Webber's home) in 1985, starring Colm Wilkinson (later star of the Toronto production) as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman as Kristin (eventually changed to Christine) and Clive Carter as Raoul (who later played the same role in London). This very preliminary production used Richard Stilgoe's original unaltered lyrics, and many songs sported names that were later changed, such as "What Has Time Done to Me" ("Think of Me"), and "Papers" ("Notes"). The original Phantom's mask, which covered the entire face and remained in place throughout the performance, obscured the actor's vision and muffled his voice, as can be seen from the video below. Björnson designed the trademark half-mask to replace it, and the unmasking sequence was added.

The original London production starred Michael Crawford, who replaced Steve Harley, as the title character, Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae and Steve Barton as Raoul. It won 2 Olivier Awards for Best New Musical and Best Actor (Crawford).

Her Majesty's Theatre, home of West End Phantom for the past 25 years



Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman



Steve Barton and Sarah Brightman

Richard Stilgoe, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman
at the Opening Night in London 25 years ago

The stage Phantom's makeup

The show then moved to Broadway with all three stars reprising their roles. It began previews at the Majestic Theatre on January 9, 1988 and opened on January 26, 1988. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won 7 including Best Musical, Best Actor (Crawford), Best Featured Actress (Judy Kaye as Carlotta), Best Direction, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design and Best Lighting Design. The Best Book and Best Score awards went to Sondheim's Into The Woods. Best Choreography went to the revival of Anything Goes. Crawford and Brightman performed a medley of the show including The Phantom of the Opera, Raoul, I've Been There and The Music of the Night at the award show.

The Majestic Theatre, home of Broadway's Phantom

Sarah Brightman during "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" number

Steve Barton, Richard Stilgoe, Michael Crawford, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman
at the Opening Night on Broadway

Judy Kaye in her Tony winning performance as the jealous Prima Donna La Carlotta
seen here with Nicholas Wyman and Chris Groenendaal in "Prima Donna"

Phantom London celebrated its 10,000th performance at the matinee on October 23, 2010 and is West End's second longest-running musical (behind Les Miserables). Phantom Broadway celebrated its 9,000th performance in January 1999 and surpassed Cats as Broadway's longest-running musical on January 9, 2006.

Celebrating its 25th year in London, John Owen-Jones and Sierra Boggess was chosen to perform the title song at the 2011 Olivier Award.

It was made into a movie in 2004 starring Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Cinematography (John Mathieson) and Best Art Direction (Anthony Pratt and Celia Bobak), both lost to The Aviator. It was also nominated for Best Original Song for the newly written "Learn to Be Lonely" (Lloyd Webber and Hart; sung by Minnie Driver) which was performed live by Beyonce with Andrew Lloyd Webber at the piano at the event. It lost to Jorge Drexler's song from The Motorcycle Diaries.

Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum in the movie version

On June 24, 2006, a new production of Phantom opened at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas in a theatre built specifically for the show. The production runs 95 minutes with no intermission and features updated technology and effects including advanced pyrotechnics an strobe lighting and a much-heraled, re-engineered chandelier. 45 minutes' worth of material was eliminated, including most of the spoken lines within the libretto, dance sequences, and scenes (such as the Don Juan Triumphant rehearsal) which enhance the Phantom's back story but are not crucial to the overall plot. While most of the musical numbers were left intact, "Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh" and "The Point of No Return" were significantly shortened, engendering some criticism. Other changes resembled many of the alterations made in the 2004 film such as staging the chandelier crash at the plot's climax (during performance of "The Point of No Return") rather than mid-story (reprise of "All I Ask of You"). Anthony Crivello/Brent Barrett, Sierra Boggess/Elizabeth Loyacano and Tim Martin Gleason made up the original Vegas cast in the three leading roles.

Sierra Boggess during "The Point of No Return"

Tim Martin Gleason, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe,
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gillian Lynne
at the Las Vegas opening night

I currently owned quite a few recordings of Phantom. I got the 1986 original London cast (full album and highlights), 1989 original Canadian cast with Colm Wilkinson and Rebecca Caine, 1989, original German cast, 1993 London studio cast with Graham Bickley, Claire Moore and John Barrowman, 1999 original Japanese cast and 2004 movie soundtrack (full album and highlights).

I have seen Phantom 5 times in my life and it was one of my first musical theatre experience outside of Thailand. Here are the list of my Phantom experience:

1st: April 1999, Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol
Scott Davies and Zoe Curlett
I was on an English summer course in Bath and saw the ad and just had to see it. I remember sitting right at the very back of the balcony but the musical was still very impressive for me, despite my weak English skills back then, and I really had a great time and it totally opened a new world for me.

2nd: May 2003, Her Majesty's Theatre, London
John Owen-Jones and Celia Graham
I was in London for an English Speaking Competition and my parents and I went to see this and this time we got the seats in the very first row of the stall. It gave me a good chance to appreciate a close-up look of the acting of the actors and the chandelier fall was so much fun.

3rd: May 2003, Her Majesty's Theatre, London
John Owen-Jones and Celia Graham
I had a spare day so I didn't know what to do and since I didn't know a lot of musicals back then, I decided to go back and see it again and could you believe it, I was in the exact same seat! I remember that the noose that caught around Raoul's neck in the final scene didn't work, talking about a stage mishap. :)

4th: October 2006, The Venetian, Las Vegas
Anthony Crivello and Kristi Holden
I was very excited to find out how the Vegas production will be and the production itself was just spectacular. The scenes and the effects were beautifully done and we got decent seats this time, not too far and not too close. However, the acting left me kinda disappointed, to be honest.

5th: January 2011, Her Majesty's Theatre, London
John Owen-Jones and Tabitha Webb
It was a New Year's Day and I was very looking forward to seeing Phantom again, especially with John Owen-Jones as the Phantom and the show was just as amazing as it was. It was truly the "brilliant original".

The amazing John Owen-Jones in his Phantom makeup

 I really hope that my 6th visit to the Phantom will be at its 25th anniversary concert some time in October at the Royal Albert Hall. Oh, how would it feel to be able to be in the Albert Hall? My ideal concert would be having John Owen-Jones as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Christine, Ramin Karimloo as Raoul (though I think he will be Phantom), and Wendy Ferguson as Carlotta. I hope they will have a chandelier there and it would crash beautifully at the end of Act One. As for the encore, I hope that Cameron Mackintosh would bring Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman back on stage for a duet or maybe a group of really good Phantoms to sing The Music of the Night (but that might be too similar to how they treated Les Miserables though).

Well, until then, here's an early Happy 25th Birthday to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!

The look of the stage before the show begins

At an auction

Christine during "Think of Me"

The Journey to the Phantom Lair

The Music of the Night

Christine returned the mask to the Phantom
during "Stranger than You Dreamt It"

Another important characters in the show, Meg and Madame Giry

The new managers of the Opera House, M. Andre and M. Firmin
during "Notes"

"Prima Donna"

"Pool Fool, He Makes Me Laugh!"

Raoul and Christine on the rooftop of the Opera House

Phantom aboard the angel during the reprise of "All I Ask of You"

"Wandering Child, so lost so helpless"

Raoul and Christine in the Phantom's Lair at the end of the show

Half Year Roundup

Wow, it felt like forever that I haven't updated my blog. I guess I got caught up with the exam and everything. Now that everything's done, I'm thinking of finding a topic to write about since I have reviewed all the shows I've seen this year.

Then I realized it's almost June alreay and 2011 is almost half-way already so I feel like it's a good time to look back on my musical experience this half-year so far. Since January 1st, I have watched a total of 12 musical productions (not counting the Cleopatra ballet) in London, Leeds, Manchester, (Old) York and New York. By this time last year, I think I only saw 5 shows so that was a big improvement. :)

Here are the list of the things I saw this half-year:
1st January - The Phantom of the Opera, London
23rd January - Direct from the West End concert, York
5th March - Billy Elliot: The Musical, London
23rd March - Joseph, Leeds
7th April - Catch Me If You Can, New York
8th April - Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, New York
9th April - Company in Concert, New York
9th April - La Cage aux Folles, New York
10th April - Mary Poppins, New York
10th April - American Idiot, New York
27th April - The Lion King, London
2nd May - Ghost: The Musical, Manchester

New York seemed to be the main contributor of my musical experience this first half-year and I mean this year I've seen a lot of really impressive shows. I could only single out 2 or 3 shows to be on my disappointing list at the end of the year. Last year, there were a huge loads of them. As for favorite production, I'm still having a hard time deciding. I'll wait until the end of the year to make that final decision.

This year I got to visit and revisit some of West End's long-running shows like Phantom, Billy Elliot and Lion King. It was also great to be able to see the original cast of Catch Me If You Can and see the first version of Spider-Man before it closed. But outstanding show for me so far would be American Idiot with its energetic and powerful score and winning the ticket from a lottery wasn't too bad either! Company in Concert was also awesome. It was really good to be part of the sold-out audience and be able to be inside the Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center for once. The world premiere of Ghost: The Musical at Manchester Opera House was also quite a special treat for me and the stage effects and production design were simply superb.

Solidarity from Billy Elliot: The Musical

He Lives in You from The Lion King

Live in Living Color from Catch Me If You Can

Letterbomb by American Idiot's ladies

The full cast of Company in Concert

Caissie Levy and Richard Fleeshman during Here Right Now number
in Ghost: The Musical

Acting-wise, this year I've seen some really good acting and my list of favorite actors are growing really big. It's gonna be hard picking just one favorite. I started the year with John Owen-Jones as the Phantom and the guy never disappoints. Then once I'm on Broadway, I came across some really fine acting from the likes of Christopher Sieber and Harvey Fierstein in La Cage aux Folles, Gavin Lee in Mary Poppins and Van Hughes and Billie Joe Armstong in American Idiot.

My favourite Phantom: John Owen-Jones

Harvey Fierstein & Christopher Sieber in La Cage aux Folles

Gavin Lee in Mary Poppins

Van Hughes in American Idiot

The amazing Billie Joe Armstrong in American Idiot

On the other hand, the list on the girls side this year so far seem a lot shorter than the guys. My notable favorite ones definitely include Sharon D. Clarke in an absolutely fine portrayal of Oda Mae in Ghost, Ashley Brown in Mary Poppins and T.V. Carpio in Spider-Man.

Sharon D. Clarke in Ghost: The Musical

The Practically Perfect Mary Poppins portrayed by Ashley Brown

T.V. Carpio in Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark

Then we have the bad list and for the guys, I've listed quite a few. Oliver Eyre and Waylon Jacobs were understudying the roles of Raoul (in Phantom) and Simba (in The Lion King) and both performance fell a bit short of my expectation. Antony Hansen's performance at Direct from the West End was also a huge let down as well as Wilson Jermaine Heredia take on Jacob in La Cage aux Folles.

Antony Hansen seen here in his Any Dream Will Do days
was one of the guest performer at Direct from the West End

Wilson Jermaine Heredia in La Cage aux Folles

As for the girls, I only have 1 bad name so far and that is Jessie May in Direct from the West End. I hope I could find someone to compete with her in the second half of the year. Don't want her to win too easily.

Jessie May: The only one on my list for most disappointing female performer
for her performance in Direct from the West End

Surprisingly, this year I haven't been seeing too many understudies compared to last year so my favorite understudy list is pretty short. Outstanding mentions include Ben Thompson as Favorite Son in American Idiot and Cheryl Stern as Jacqueline in La Cage aux Folles.

Notable understudy: Ben Thompson as Favorite Son in American Idiot

Another notable understudy is Cheryl Stern (second from left) as Jacqueline in La Cage aux Folles

Then we have those scene-stealers and there were quite a few that I have listed out so far. Wendy Ferguson as Carlotta in Phantom was hilarious while Jeff Nicholson (as himself) in Direct from the West End were pretty funny too.

Wendy Ferguson

Jeff Nicholson

Then, I had my regrets of the year. I've missed Love Story on the West End which was a bummer and since Ghost Stories just announced that it's closing in June, I'll probably be missing that too. Then, there was the Elaine Paige in Concert in Manchester which I've got the ticket but really couldn't make it. Hope the list will stop here for this year..

Looking back to my theatre resolution, I think I'm doing pretty well. The shows I've already had tickets for (most of them thanks to LiveCard 2-for-1 offers) include:

The Sound of Music at the Grand Theatre, Leeds (with Jason Donovan)
Sister Act at the Opera House, Manchester
Legally Blonde at the Opera House, Manchester
and South Pacific at the Palace Theatre, Manchester which boasted a cast with original Broadway cast Paulo Szot and Loretta Ables Sayre with Samantha Womack and Daniel Koek.

Paulo Szot reprising his Tony Award winning role
as Emile de Becque in South Pacific

Also reprising her role as Bloody Mary in the UK Tour of South Pacific
is Loretta Ables Sayre

And there are still loads of new stuff that I want to see in the West End:
The Wizard of Oz, Shrek: The Musical, Lend Me a Tenor, Priscilla and Matilda (I'll definitely try to make it for the first two!)

And I have become interested in seeing some of the plays there too:
the critically acclaimed War Horse, The Railway Children which uses real steamtrain and plays at the Waterloo Station, and The "World's Longest-Running Play" Mousetrap

War Horse

And then there's always something at my home theatre in Leeds:
Footloose, Evita, Blood Brothers, Jekyll & Hyde (I really wanna see these two!) and newly announced Top Hat starring Summer Strallen.



It would be interesting to see Wet Wet Wet's frontman Marti Pellow
in the dual role of Jekyll and Hyde
though the review has been somewhat negative... :(



Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen star in Top Hat

I'm also quite keen on what they are going to do for Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It would be so cool to be able to be there and especially be inside the Albert Hall! I heard Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess are going to be Phantom and Christine. (I wish it would be John Owen-Jones and Ramin can be Raoul though).

Well, I have 7 more months to go see more musicals (and some non-musicals) before I'm back to Thailand after I graduate in December. I'll make the most out of my time and check out my blog at the end of the year for My Best & Worst 2011!!