#Irina Baiant

[marleneoftheopera]

Two clips of Point of No Return from Romania.

[cdaae]

Irina Baiant and Kyrie Mendel

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[operafantomet]

BLONDE CHRISTINES (2004 EDITION)

Susan Cuthbert, Toronto (1989-1992): She started out with brown wig and it's also what her official photos shows. But soon she was fitted with a blonde wig, and it can be seen in some very few curtain call / backstage photos.

Emmi Christensson, West End (2014-2016): Whereas her 2016-2017 Stockholm wig was exceptionally dark, her West End wig was all blonde. Quite the contrast.

Renata Krassy, Budapest (2003-2023): The Hungarian Christines originally wore their own hair, with the addition of large curly extensions hidden under a braid. This meant that many different haircolours was seen. Renata Krassy was definitely the blondest.

Linda Kiraly, Budapest (2003-2004): Another of the original Hungarian Christines. She also featured her own hair over the forehead/braid, but more highlighted and with darker areas and lighter extensions.

Hanna-Liina Võsa, Tallin and Tartu (2014, 2017-2018). The original Estonian production featured one blonde and one brunette Christine, who alternated equally in the role. Hanna-Liina was the blonde one. For her run in Finland she wore a red wig.

Hanna Ulvan, Kristianstad (2023). Whereas the original Christine in this production wore a red wig, Hanna Ulvan wore a fairly classic curly blonde one. This as a contrast to her Stockholm replica wig, which was fairly dark brown.

Irina Ioana Baiant, Bucharest (2015 / 2022-2023). She is possibly the only Christine to feature two different blonde hairdos in two different non-replica productions, but in the same city. For the original Romanian production she wore her own hair, curled and draped up at one side. It looks like she's still wearing her own hair in the new production, but longer, and with the hair pulled back over the forehead.

Mira Ormala, Oslo (2018): When the Romanian production was revamped for Norway, Christine got a wig. A quite curly one, with hair asymmetrically draped over the temples. She also wore an own bead-decorated updo wig for Masquerade.

Astrid Giske, Oslo (2018-2019): When Astrid Giske took over as principal from Mira Ormala, she wore a similar wig, but a hint darker, and with bigger, thicker locks. She also donned the updo wig for Masquerade. Her understudy Charlotte Brænna was seen with the same look for her one Christine performance.

Amy Manford, Thessaloniki and Athens (2020): Whereas Amy Manford wore a regular curly brown wig in West End and the Restaged Tour, her Greek look was a big blonde wig with styling not too unlike the replica wigs.

Celinde Schoenmaker, Thessaloniki and Athens (2020): She and Amy Manford shared the role, and they also wore fairly similar wigs. Celinde had previously worn an auburn/honey-coloured wig in West End.

Harriet Jones, Athens and Thessaloniki, Middle East and European Tour (2023-2024): She has worn so many different Christine wigs it's not even funny! For this production she first wore a long, sleek blonde wig with more waves than curls, and with a middle-parted hairdo - reminding of her original light auburn West End wig, except of course the colour. After Greece she was fitted with a shorter and much curlier wig with side drape. Her co-Christine (next) as well as u/s Bridget Costello, Jessica Hackett and Grace Chapman also donned this style.

Georgia Wilkinson, Athens and Thessaloniki, Middle East and European Tour (2023-2024). Sharing the role with Harriet Jones, they have worn similar wigs too. Georgia also started out with a long, sleek blonde wig, hers being more platinum blonde. After Greece she donned the same shorter, curlier wig with side drape. This as a contrast to her Sydney look, which was darker brown and styling wise somewhere in between.

Talía del Val, Madrid (2023-2024): So why do I list Talía del Val and not Amelia Milo, who originated this look? Good question. Even if both of them have an undefined brown/blonde honey shade, Talía just appears a nudge blonder to my eyes, while Amelia's wig is more ashy blonde/brown. But only cosmetically so. They could both be listed - but here's Talía.

Judith Torbella, Madrid (2023-2024): Like the wig of Talía, this wig is a borderline case. It can look honey blonde, it can look more brown. But I include this one too as an example. Also interesting to see how much lighter it is than the understudies, for example Laura Enrech's reddish brown wig.

NOTE: This is not a complete list. There is a long row of lovely understudies I could not depict due to photoset limitations. But I hope it shows some of the main styles and productions out there.

[glassprism]

Hi! You’ve answered this question a couple of times but I wanted to see if you had any new favorites. I’ve sort of been on the hunt for actresses who have played as Christine that have darker/more deeper voices? I’ve noticed that some like Katie Hall, Sofia Escobar, Lauri Brons (to me) have lighter or more soft voices.

Any suggestions to listen to?

Hmm, for newer actresses:

Irina Baiant - especially in the recent revival

Celinde Schoenmaker - I know I keep listing her but she is one of the most powerful voices the West End has had for a while

Hanna Ulvan - maybe more operatic than dark but still

Iida Antola - fascinatingly dark and operatic

Astrid Giske - more of a "smoky" tone but still worth mentioning

Darua Goes - such a powerful voice for such a tiny girl

Mina Gligorić - not sure if her voice is dark or if her range is just a bit too low for the role because boy did she mess up on some of those high notes; no link because I couldn't find much of her

I hope those provide some interesting options!

[phantoonsoftheopera]

Alessandro Safina & Irina Baiant perform “All I Ask of You”

[cantikdaae]

And its cast, Adrian Nour and Irina Baiant are returning after their short run in 2015!

A non-replica version of Phantom is coming to the national opera of Bucharest next month, why is no one talking about this?

Also look at that proscenium

[wheel-of-fish]

Blonde Christines!

Date ranges are approximate. Special thanks to @operafantomet, whose blog filled in the gaps in my knowledge.

[partyradioromania]

Hristos a inviat ! Un proiect muzical la care au participat 100 de artisti

O suta de artisti participa pro bono la proiectul muzical “Hristos a Inviat” – o melodie a compozitorului Andrei Tudor pe versuri de Andreea Andrei – care se constituie intr-un mesaj de suflet, adresat tuturor oamenilor.

Luminita Anghel, Paula Seling, Nico, Oana Sarbu, Adrian Daminescu, Mihai Georgescu, Doru Todorut, George Miron, sopranele Felicia Filip, Irina Iordachescu, Irina Baiant, Laura…

[semnebune]

My Fair Lady

Am văzut My Fair Lady la Sala Palatului, în data de 6 iunie 2019, și prima întrebare pe care mi-am pus-o a fost cum a încăput un decor atât de amplu pe o scen�� mai mică decât aceasta. Răspunsul este că regizorul Răzvan Ioan Dincăa gândit spectacolul în mod special pentru o scenă atipică, așa cum este cea de la sala Epika din Băneasa, unde a și avut pemiera în 2016 (la aniversarea de 60 de ani de…

[marleneoftheopera]

Longer from-the-wings video of the ring return in POTO Romania with Adrian Nour and Irina Baiant.

Having a better look it seems the child also wears a mask, though I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be real or imagined by the Phantom.

[cdaae]

Think of Me

[operafantomet]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Irina Baianț | Soprano (@irinabaiant)

Great in-depth video showing lots anf lots of clips from the new Romanian production, designed by Gary McCann. The clips feature Adrian Nour (Phantom), Irina Baiant (Christine) and Kyrie Mendell (Raoul), as well as the director, designer and producer.

[glassprism]

What If Scenario. The Pandemic never happened, but the renovations at Her Majesty’s eventually did. During that time, they put together a concert-like production of Phantom like they did with Les Mis in 2019. Who would you have cast in each part? Feel free to include Ensemble & Understudies

I think I answered something very similar before where I said that I'd love to have had an international celebration, with recent, fan-favorite, or long-running members from productions all over the world given an opportunity to perform and do, like, one song each, along with the then-current cast at the time. So I guess it might be something like:

Phantom: Josh Piterman (London), Ben Crawford (Broadway), Derrick Davis (national tour), Osamu Takai (Japan), Alexander Goebel (Vienna), Colm Wilkinson (Toronto), Peter Karrie (Canadian tour), Peter Joback (Stockholm), Ian Jon Bourg (Germany), Anthony Warlow (Australia), Henk Poort (Scheveningen), Juan Navarro (Mexico City), Hans Peter Janssens (Antwerp), Tomas Ambt Kofod (Copenhagen), Hong Kwang Ho (Seoul), Juan Carlos Barona (Madrid), Sandor Sasvari (Budapest), Saulo Vasconcelos (Sao Paulo), Damian Aleksander (Poland), Carlos Vittori (Buenos Aires), Marian Vojtko (Prague), Stephen Brandt Hansen (Estonia), Ivan Ozhogin (Moscow), Ilkka Hamalainen (Helsinki), Adrian Nour (Bucharest), Nikola Bulatovic (Belgrade), Vladimir Grudkov (Sofia), Jonathan Roxmouth (World Tour), Espen Grjotheim (Oslo), Ben Forster (Greece), Killian Donnelly (UK Tour)

Christine: Kelly Mathieson (London), Meghan Picerno (Broadway), Emma Grimsley (national tour), Sae Yamamoto (Japan), Luzia Nistler (Vienna), Rebecca Caine (Toronto), Teresa DeZarn (Canadian tour), Emmi Christensson (Stockholm), Valerie Link (Germany), Ana Marina (Australia), Joke de Kruijf (Scheveningen), Irasema Terrazas (Mexico City), Inneke van Klinken (Antwerp), Sibylle Glosted (Copenhagen), Kim So Hyun (Seoul), Julia Moller (Madrid), Barbara Fonyo (Budapest), Lina Mendes (Sao Paulo), Edyta Krzemien (Poland), Claudia Cota (Buenos Aires), Monika Sommerova (Prague), Maria Listra (Estonia), Tamara Kotova (Moscow), Sofie Asplund (Helsinki), Irina Baiant (Bucharest), Mirjana Matic (Belgrade), Vesela Delcheva (Sofia), Claire Lyon (World Tour), Astrid Giske (Oslo), Amy Manford (Greece), Holly-Anne Hull (UK Tour)

Raoul: Danny Whitehead (London), John Riddle (Broadway), Michael Maliakel (national tour), Kanji Ishimaru (Japan), Thorsten Tinney (Vienna), Laird Mackintosh (Toronto), Kip Wilborne (Canadian tour), Anton Zetterholm (Stockholm), Nicky Wuchinger (Germany), Alexander Lewis (Australia), Peter de Smet (Scheveningen), someone who's not Jose Joel (Mexico City), Michael Shawn Lewis (Antwerp), Christian Lund (Copenhagen), Son Jun Ho (Seoul), Armando Pita (Madrid), Zoltan Miller (Budapest), Nando Prado (Sao Paulo), Marcin Mrozinski (Poland), Nicholas Martinelli (Buenos Aires), Tomas Vanek (Prague), Koit Toome (Estonia), Evgeny Zaycev (Moscow), John Martin Bengtsson (Helsinki), Florin Ristei (Bucharest), Slaven Doslo (Belgrade), Denko Prodanov (Sofia), Matt Leisy (World Tour), Carl Lindquist (Oslo), Nadim Naaman (Greece), Rhys Whitfield (UK Tour)

Is that way too many cast members? Probably! Are there even enough scenes for each of them to perform together? Unlikely! Did I give up doing supporting, ensemble, and understudies because it was too exhausting? Definitely! Do I even know who some of these people are or if they want to come back at all? Not really!

But you have to admit - it's a huge and very international cast!

[redazionecultura]

"La Cenerentola" di Gioacchino Rossini al Teatro Verdi di Padova

“La Cenerentola” di Gioacchino Rossini al Teatro Verdi di Padova

Lanciare uno sguardo all’infanzia, lasciarsi ispirare dai bambini, recuperare il mondo di fiaba che ognuno cela tra i propri ricordi. Nasce così la versione di “Cenerentola, ossia la bontà in trionfo” con la quale la Stagione lirica di Padova chiude il 2018.

L’appuntamento è per sabato 29 dicembre alle ore 20:45 e lunedì 31, ore 20:45, al Teatro Verdi di Padova dove andrà in scena “La…

[wiwibloggs]

DORU TODORUT AND IRINA BAIANT: “‘THE VOICE’ IS ABOUT LOVING YOURSELF AND FACING YOUR FEARS” | wiwibloggs

[romaniairc]

Doru Todorut si Irina Baiant - The Voice

Doru Todorut si Irina Baiant – The Voice

Doru Todorut si Irina Baiant – The Voice

Doru Todorut, solistul formatiei Deepcentral, si Irina Baiant s-au calificat in semifinala Eurovision. Cei doi artisti au cucerit juriul cu piesa “The Voice”, o colaborare care aduce in prim plan doua stiluri muzicale total diferite, opera si pop-dance.Irina Baiant si Doru Todorut s-au cunoscut pe platourile de filmare unde s-au inteles perfect si de…