#poto restaged tour

[marleneoftheopera]

Granted the lighting and angle are certainly helping, but this might be the best the restaged chandelier has ever looked.

[lucygold95]

POTO gif - Josh Piterman & Amy Manford

[phantomchristinesuk]

Christine in the ballet: around the world

1- Sarah Brightman - 1986

2- Jill Washington - 1989

3 & 4- Gina Beck - 2008 & 2010

5- Emmi Christensson - 2016

7- Julia Udine - 2013

Years are from the brochures they first appeared in (approximately)

Pictures from various souvenir brochures

[hermes-whistle]

Amy manford restaged tour

Principle: 2022-2023

[phantom-media]

Is it me or does the blindfold really, really bother anyone else? I find it absolutely terrifying. Not sexy, not sensual, but terrifying. 

Josh Piterman & Amy Manford, Australian restaged tour

[flea-palace]

obviously the restaged poto tour doesnt hold a candle to maria björnson's designs BUT is this a safe space to say i could write a dissertation about the restaged sets and the symbolism of tableaus/dollhouses/music boxes in some scenes (dressing room, stage, manager office, the masquerade scene ESPECIALLY, etc) vs the lair, the rooftop, and the graveyard and how it changes the tone and implications of the story is that anything or am i being extremely annoying

[icantrecallaskysoclear]

Me, every single time Raoul proposes to Christine:

💞

[nerdywriter36]

I do recall it being used in the US Tour as of January 2020 when I saw it, because I remember being front row and very confused when I saw it.

A random question, but do you have any idea if Meg still wears the pink bathrobe in the restated tour?

Ya know, I wondered about the same the other day!! I was working on a photoset showing costume quirks in the the Restaged UK Tour that didn't make it into the US or elsewhere. But I am in doubt of Meg's pink dressing gown. It was worn during Angel of Music in the UK:

But I can't recall seeing it elsewhere? On the other hand it's a moment hardly if ever photographed in the Restaged Tour, so correct me if I'm wrong. I have a vague memory of it being done early in the US Tour, but right now I am too lazy to check videos to spot it. Feel free to chime in.

Whatever the case, it always felt like a nod to the West End production of Love Never Dies, where Meg wore a coral dressing gown in the first act:

[flagbridge]

When POTO Vienna went full "THE BALLET"

What's wrong with this picture? Well, the costumes are all wrong for curtain call, even for restaged.

So there I was, in Vienna, excited to see my first POTO in a foreign language, and my first restaged tour.

Everyone is seated. The ushers are in the aisles with the sign with the "no photos" pictures. For eight minutes.

At ten minutes past, the stage manager comes out and tells us there are technical difficulties and to remain in our seats.

Another ten minutes go by and he comes back out and says there are still technical difficulties and they can't do the show and they'll give us all refunds. Instead, they're going to do a costumed concert of highlights. This is all I understood since I don't speak German. So it was an hour of, barely blocked highlights, in costume, in German. The state manager introduced the actors and narrated what was happening during the scene in the show.

The performers were often improvising in character since there were no props or sets. They were very professional in a very awkward situation. It was one of the strangest live theater experiences I've had.

"The ballet!" basically.

POTOMER DAY 30-LIVE SHOW EXPERIENCE-POTO Vienna Goes Wrong

From April 23 -June 11, I am posting 49 days of POTO content to mark the Omer, except on Shabbat.

[marleneoftheopera]

More Kayleigh photos from her Christine show yesterday!

[lucygold95]

[jennyfair7]

Oh there is a HAT. Just not the hat you’d expect 😬😅

(X)

absolutely devastated that im hearing reports that in the new italian production ramin has no hat nor does he do the STYDI wormy slide

[marybeatriceofmodena]

Trading Site Reopening and Gifting Spree!

So. After weeks of work (*insert alpaca scream here*), my trading site is open for trading! To celebrate, I decided to gift a few audios and videos from Phantom of the Opera, a few audios from Les Misérables, two cast recordings from Elisabeth das Musical, and a cast recording for Sweeney Todd. Enjoy!

(If you're the master of a listed audio/video, please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you want me to remove your stuff from the list.)

POTO audios

Michael Crawford, Rebecca Caine (alt.), Steve Barton October 10, 1987; London Michael Crawford and Steve Barton's last in London. Soundboard, very good quality, and this one is complete. And Rebecca Caine sounds amazing in it (as she always does). https://www.mediafire.com/file/pttrjfqzb84gatm/POTO_West_End_10-10-1987_-_Crawford%252C_Caine%252C_Barton.rar/file Steve Barton, Rebecca Luker, Gary Lindemenn (u/s),  Marilyn Caskey, Jeff Keller, George Lee Andrews, Leila Martin September 26, 1990; Broadway Soundboard audio. Because Steve Barton was almost as good of a Phantom as he was as Raoul, and Rebecca Luker is a legend (RIP). https://www.mediafire.com/file/xc9ywojtdesptje/POTO_Broadway_26-09-1990_-_Barton%252C_Luker%252C_Lindemenn.rar/file Davis Gaines, Tracy Shayne, Matthew R. Jones, George Lee Andrews, Jeff Keller, Lelia Martin October 5, 1996; Broadway Davis Gaines's last performance. Because Davis Gaines has one of the best voices I've heard in the role. https://www.mediafire.com/file/w1ybvl8v6e4ex6r/POTO_Broadway_05-01-1996_-_Gaines%252C_Shayne%252C_Little.rar/file Brad Little, Lisa Vroman, Tim Martin Gleason, Kim Stengel, DC Anderson, David Cryer, Patti  Davidson-Gorbea, Kate Wray, Jimmy Smagula December 5, 2003; Los Angeles Lisa Vroman’s second-to-last performance as Christine. Both she and Brad Little are glorious vocal-wise. https://www.mediafire.com/file/muavx4ocvs62eav/POTO_US_Tour_05-12-2003_-_Little%252C_Vroman%252C_Gleason.rar/file Anthony Warlow, Julie Goodwin, John Bowles, Andrea Creighton, John O'May, Derek Taylor, Jackie Rees, Nadia Komazec, David Rogers-Smith August 15, 2007; Melbourne Not the biggest fan of Anthony Warlow acting-wise, but he does not disappoint on the vocals - and neither does Julie Goodwin. https://www.mediafire.com/file/3pm0ksips30n3it/POTO_Melbourne_15-08-2007_-_Warlow%252C_Goodwin%252C_Bowles.rar/file John Owen-Jones, Katie Hall, Simon Bailey, Angela M. Caesar, Andy Hockley, Simon Green, Elizabeth Mars, Hannah Cadec, Vincent Pirillo September 29, 2012; Edinburgh Not the biggest fan of the restaged tour, but... Katie Hall's "Tears of HAAAAAATE" is pretty great. And John Owen-Jones! https://www.mediafire.com/file/00vtvziy172lpkv/POTO_UK_Tour_29-09-2012_-_Owen-Jones%252C_Hall%252C_Bailey.rar/file Hugh Panaro, Elizabeth Welch (u/s), Jeremy Hays March 3, 2014; Broadway Great trio overall, but Elizabeth Welch is a standout (to me at least). https://www.mediafire.com/file/1hc1ozi96vok5pd/POTO_Broadway_03-03-2014_-_Panaro%252C_Welch%252C_Hays.rar/file Dmitry Ermak, Tamara Kotova, Eugeny Zaytsev, Irina Samoylova, Alexei Bobrov, Yuri Mazihin, Elena Charkviani, Valeria Migalina, Rustim Bahtiyarov (u/s) July 16, 2015; Moscow A lovely production that I miss - Tamara Kotova in particular is great. https://www.mediafire.com/file/w56tx5d7fkh4kse/POTO_Moscow_16-07-2015_-_Ermak%252C_Kotova%252C_Zaytsev.rar/file John Owen-Jones, Celinde Schoenmaker, Nadim Naaman, Megan Llewellyn, Michael Matus, Christopher Dickens, Jacinta Mulcahy, Alicia Beck, John Ellis September 7, 2015; London First performance of the 2015-2016 cast. https://www.mediafire.com/file/5hswf44ldku6ngm/POTO_West_End_07-09-2015_-_Owen-Jones%252C_Schoenmaker%252C_Naaman.rar/file Peter Jöback, Emmi Christensson, Anton Zetterholm, Karolina Andresson, Glenn Kjellberg, Rolf Lydhal, Sanna Martin, Tehilla Blad, Sindre Postholm March 19, 2017; Stockholm Given Christine is from Sweden, it's only fair to include the recent Stockholm production. https://www.mediafire.com/file/zkl38t9388gcvh7/POTO_Sweden_2017-03-19_PJ_EC_AZ.wav/file Tim Howar, Amy Manford, Jeremy Taylor, Kimberly Blake, Ross Dawes, Alan Vicary, Jacinta Mulcahy, Georgia Ware, Paul Ettore Tabone September 7, 2019; London This one is different from the one listed as NFT (so don't get mad at me, haha). Last performance for Amy Manford in the West End production. https://www.mediafire.com/file/vf60ie1er18rkon/POTO_West_End_07-09-2019_-_Howar%252C_Manford%252C_Taylor.rar/file Ben Crawford, Meghan Picerno, John Riddle October 26, 2019 Because we all love a Christine with opera chops. https://www.mediafire.com/file/9gji0khgfoazjqd/POTO_Broadway_26-10-2019_-_Crawford%252C_Picerno%252C_Riddle.rar/file 

POTO videos

Earl Carpenter, Rachel Barrell, David Shannon, Wendy Ferguson, David Lawrence (u/s), Sam Hiller, Emily Harvey (u/s), Heidi Ann O'Brien, Rohan Tickell January 2006 VOB format.  If you want to see Earl in London right now but can't... this video is the best quality overall that features him, and Rachel Barrell is a fantastic Christine - one of my favorites in the role. https://mega.nz/folder/u09GQKyR#gjNHj4Letd9YInTsuLowjA Gary Mauer, Elizabeth Southard, Jim Weitzer, Kim Stengel, John Jellison, DC Anderson, Patti Davidson-Gorbea, Kate Wray, John Whitney April 6, 2006; Dallas VOB format.  For my Eristine moots (I see you!): Gary Mauer and Elizabeth Southard were (and as far as I know, still are) married while performing as the Phantom and Christine, and you thought Ramin and Sierra's chemistry was off the charts, think again. https://mega.nz/folder/PtExxS5A#D4yyf2g_lXoN-cIDPkMU2Q Anthony Crivello, Kristi Holden, Andrew Ragone, Geena Jeffries Mattox, John Leslie Wolfe, Lawson Skala, Tina Walsh, Brianne Kelly Morgan, Larry Wayne Morbitt August 8, 2008; Las Vegas VOB format. This is the Las Vegas Spectacular production, which is abriged compared to the original but totally worth seeing. If you want to understand why I love Meg Giry so much, Brianne Kelly Morgan is one of the best I've ever seen in the role. Also, if you’re meh about Raoul... with Andrew Ragone, think again. He’s one of the most Superman/Clark Kent Raouls I’ve seen. And I really like Kristi Holden’s Leroux-esque Christine too.  https://mega.nz/folder/Sh1zxSAB#twtXau8Y8pd_L9tMQLa4Mg Jeremy Stolle (u/s), Samantha Hill, Greg Mills (u/s), Michele McConnell, Tim Jerome, Richard Poole (u/s), Ellen Harvey, Kara Klein, Christian Sebek March 9, 2013 VOB format. Missing part of Act 1 (‘Stranger Than You Dreamt It’ to Il Muto), but otherwise complete. This is one of the best trios I've seen on Broadway, and Samantha Hill is just a fantastic Christine overall. https://mega.nz/folder/y1slyJRD#OP1Tp5Cj_fMk9LbAWJMqAA Tomas Ambt Kofod, Sibylle Glosted, Christian Lund, Louise Fribo, Carl Christian Rasmussen, Sebastian Harris, Elisabeth Halling, Imogen-Lilly Ash, Rasmus Jupin March 2019; Copenhagen VOB format. This one is more recent, but given it's been uploaded on YouTube, I guess it's fine to gift it (again, if you’re the master and you want me to remove this, please let me know).This one has one of the best casts ever caught on tape. Seriously. Everyone in this is a star. https://mega.nz/folder/q40hTagI#Zui14MWo-F2YSQ0gNdaL6Q



Les Mis Audios

Colm Wilkinson, Roger Allam, Patti LuPone, Alun Armstrong, Sue Jane Tanner, Michael Ball, Frances Ruffele, Rebecca Caine, David Burt 1985; London Preview at the Barbican Centre. This is interesting since it includes Cosette's song "I Saw Him Once", which has been cut later.  https://www.mediafire.com/file/jbedqiemuk9qnd1/Les_Mis_West_End_1985_-_Wilkinson%252C_Allam.rar/file Symphonic recording (1989)  Gary Morris, Philip Quast, Debra Byrne, Michael Ball, Tracy Shayne, Kaho Shimada, Anthony Warlow, Barry James, Gay Soper https://www.mediafire.com/file/n7gp30jcpnjfkf7/Les_Miserables_Symphonic_Recording.rar/file Kyle Jean-Baptiste (u/s), Earl Carpenter, Erika Henningsen, Chris McCarrell, Samantha Hill, Brennyn Lark, Max Quinlan (u/s), Gavin Lee, Rachel Izen August 13, 2015; Broadway For Kyle Jean-Baptiste, who was an amazing performer gone way too soon. RIP. https://www.mediafire.com/file/fzj2qubunkrrfhc/Les_Mis_Broadway_13-08-2015_-_Jean-Baptiste%252C_Carpenter.rar/file John Owen-Jones, Michael Ball, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Craig Mather (u/s), Lily Kerhoas, Shan Ako, Bradley Jaden, Matt Lucas, Katy Secombe, Earl Carpenter October 16, 2019; London All-star concert! https://www.mediafire.com/file/nh28zdry93vhry2/Les_Mis_London_Concert_16-10-2019_-_Owen-Jones%252C_Ball.rar/file

Elisabeth das Musical

Original Cast Recording (1992) Pia Douwes, Uwe Kroeger, Ethan Freeman, Andreas Bieber, Viktor Gernot, Else Ludwig https://www.mediafire.com/file/fagi9ctooeq2y11/Elisabeth-Original_German_Cast.rar/file Vienna revival cast recording (2006)  Maya Hakvoort, Mate Kamaras, Serkan Kaya, André Bauer, Fritz Schmid, Else Ludwig https://www.mediafire.com/file/7wpqbotp8oszzz3/Elisabeth_-_2006_Vienna_Cast.rar/file



Sweeney Todd

2000 Concert Cast Recording George Hearn, Patti LuPone, Davis Gaines, Heidi Grant Murphy, Paul Plishka, Audra McDonald, Standford Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris, John Aler Pretty sure this isn't on Spotify, which is a real shame given its cast. So enjoy! EDIT: Someone pointed out to me that the recording is incomplete - probably a result of the Great Hardware Crash of 2016, so until I get the full version, this will probably stay incomplete. Sorry about that! https://www.mediafire.com/file/ywoiqe5bnlzr7bs/Sweeney_Todd_2000_New_York_Concert_Cast.rar/file

[hermes-whistle]

Kayleigh Marven Australia

[noppan]

POTO restaged tour trailer comparison!

[glassprism]

I know Mackintosh wanted a cheap production to travel with but couldn't they keep at least the original blockings in the POTO Restaged Tour? It's just choreography, how it was going to cost more? And who directed that cringefest?? Even high school productions aren't that bad. I'm still enraged about christine slapping Raoul, because wtf??

Because Cameron Mackintosh did not just want a cheap production that travels easily, he wanted a cheap production where he would not have to pay royalties to the original creatives, Hal Prince, Maria Bjornson, Gillian Lynne, and so on. One of the big costs of putting on the original is the licensing: paying to use the original direction, costumes, choreography, and so on, because even if the creatives are not directly involved in that specific production, it is still using their ideas to make the show a success, and they deserve to be paid in part for doing that. So to answer your question, no, it's really not "just choreography", it is a large part of the cost, and if you want a cheaper production, that is a thing you have to cut (by changing it).

Of course, as people who were around back then might know, the restaged tour was not entirely popular with fans or even some critics, and so a compromise of sorts was made, where a production was created that sticks as closely to the original as it can but deviates just enough that they don't have to pay royalties to, at the very least, Hal Prince, the original director. And that's how we got the modified UK tour that ran so briefly in 2020 and the reopened London production / London revival (which, yes, is legally considered a whole new production).

As for the person who directed the restaging, it was Laurence Connor, who has directed, among other things, the Les Miserables restaging as well as the Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary concerts. And if you're curious, the person who directed the modified UK tour / London revival is Seth Sklar-Heyn, who also served as a producer and associate director in the restaged tours. So if you watch the London revival (or the reopened Broadway production) and noticed some similarities in blocking between that and the restaging, well, that's probably why.