Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
#1Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 5:32amSomeone on WOS, claiming to be in the know has said the new tour of Phantom will have a larger chandelier but it wont actually drop. I am all for a new staging but that effect is so iconic and also part of the story I am really surprised if this is true. I forsee a lot of disappointed people. I guess we should find out later after the invited dress run and the first preview tonight
MamasDoin'Fine
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/28/08
#2Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 5:51amFIRST PREVIEW CANCELLED!
#2Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 6:49amPhantom is iconic for the falling chandelier period!
#3Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 7:48amlol it always looked crap anyway. I always think it's funny that if something like a 3 second special effect is removed from a show that people begin to complain to box office etc. The rest of the show can't have had much going for it if that's what people are bothered about. I'm sure they are using something clever in it's place. Carrie the Musical does not actually drop blood on her but the effect they have created looks fantastic. I would wait and see how it looks.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
MamasDoin'Fine
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/28/08
#5Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 10:18amlol, i have you seen the new 'Carrie'? There has been a few negative observations that 'Carrie' doesn't drop blood, it is just a mere lighting effect.
iluvtheatertrash
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
#6Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 11:48am
SPOILER ALERT RE: CARRIE
Oh, it's much more than just a lighting effect. Onto the walls, waves and waves of blood are projected. It's pretty cheesey.
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
Updated On: 2/28/12 at 11:48 AM
#7Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 2:46pm
Someone has blogged from the Dress run, major spoiler alert
Soe changes sound great, some not so
http://rhaegal.dreamwidth.org/33143.html
#8Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 2:52pmThe Carrie drop works well, the light actually makes it look like blood is dropped on her (in the next scene she is however covered from head to toe in blood). And yes projections of blood run down the back wall etc
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
MamasDoin'Fine
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/28/08
#9Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 2:56pm
The whole production looks brilliant even thought it is not in the Broadway class yet, still has that regional feel about it.
The casting is spot on and the night I saw it the audience went crazy at the end.
Its just had a 4 week extension so I'll be seeing it again in 5 weeks time!
#10Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 4:31pmIf this extends again, into May I definitely will see this, on my drip to New York, fingers crossed.
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#11Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/28/12 at 9:48pm
Having seen Carrie, I can tell you that the blood at the end is in fact projected. However, the effect is hard to describe but I can tell you that after having seen it it does work rather well. And, afterwards Carrie is covered from head to toe in blood.
With regards to Phantom, it's kind of sad that people are going to get up in arms over the chandelier not crashing down. Sure, it's a semi classic moment of the show. But, at the same time, I think that it's a stupid move from the part of the creative team to not include it in the show. After all, it is a part of Phantom that people look forward to seeing.
In New York, that thing is slow. I often joke with friends that I can read the entire Sunday New York Times ( Sunday's Times is rather thick and long to get through.) And, do the crossword puzzle as well (REALLY hard to do) by the time that thing hits the stage.
A friend of mine has had the job of maintaing the sets for the Broadway production of the show. When bits of the set were coming over by boat from London for the Broadway production, she was the one that was on the docks making sure that everything came in okay. In any event, she has told me that it is known that the Chandelier in the Broadway production is rather slow. And, that there is a new one with new motors and all in a warehouse in New Jersey. However, she said, one of the stage managers is superstitious and strongly believes that if the chandelier were to change, then the show will close. So, despite the cast and crew realizing that the thing is slow, and despite the crew being willing to (on more than one occasion) take out the old one and put in the new one, they still haven't done so yet.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
Sally
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#12Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/29/12 at 2:56am
The Chandelier will drop, according to a fan who wrote a report on the first dress rehearsal. It just wasn't ready yet at that rehearsal.
More important, although some of the changes sound promising, this one doesn't:
In "Music of the Night," there really isn't any interaction between the Phantom and Christine, who spends most of the song sitting on the bed. She doesn't faint but finally just curls up on the bed and falls asleep. (???)
When she wakes up, the Phantom isn't wearing his mask. Instead of tearing off the mask, she picks it up from where it's lying on the organ and hands it to him.
Sounds like a weak change to me.
#13Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/29/12 at 3:04am
I'm just going to re-post this here, in case people don't read my thread :)
As you all know, I'm a huge fan of The Phantom of the Opera and can't wait to see the new tour in May in Bristol.
However, up until that point, I'd like to avoid (as much as possible) reading about or seeing any of the changes or aspects of the new production.
So please warn of spoilers if anyone sees it and posts about it and I'd be really grateful!
Thank-you! :)
#14Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 2/29/12 at 3:37am
Sally, if what you write is correct I find it a great pity.
The tearing off the mask and the "unveiling" of the face is a great moment.
The only reason I can think of why they did that is to suggest that night of passion which led to a pregnancy, thus having the storyline of LND make more sense.
In my opinion (and I know others may not share my views) it's just ridiculous. The virtuous Christine is made to look like a character from Eastenders.
The passion and love the Phantom has for Christine (without touching her)is what made the original so romantic
ps. updated to correct spelling mistake. Want my old AZERTY keyboard back - and my old eyes 
Updated On: 3/1/12 at 03:37 AM
Sally
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#15Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/1/12 at 3:06amIt's early days yet. I was just repeating what a POTO fan who had seen the first dress rehearsal said. MAYBE there will be changes that will make the scene make more sense.
#16Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/3/12 at 10:29am
I know I'm behind the times, but I've only just realized that Prince and Bjornsen's multi-award winning staging is apparently no longer fit to be seen.
I expect I'll be called an old fossil or worse, but if the RAH concert is meant to be an indication of a new improved production, then... I am lost for words.
Still, ALW benefitted so much from improving Prince's original staging of Evita (yes, I'm being very sarcastic).
#17Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/3/12 at 1:17pmThe original staging is more expensive to tour apparently which is why a new version is being done as the original takes advantage of the victorian theatre workings. Some aspects sound like an improvement others not so much. For me what dates the original show is Christine's dressing room, masquerade and the graveyard, they could do with a high tech makeover
#18Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/3/12 at 2:07pmIs the new sets, now heavy on the use of projections, like what was done for the 25th anniversary tour of Les Miserables?
#19Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/3/12 at 5:24pmIt doesn't seem so no. And I wouldn't say les mis was heavy on projections, they just enhanced the scenes
alterego
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
#20Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/3/12 at 8:28pmI remember seeing PHANTOM and when the audience applauded the chandelier at the beginning, wanting to stand up and yell "You realise you are applauding a light fitting?".
Sally
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#21Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/3/12 at 9:59pmIt is a very NICE light fitting.
#22Behold, she is singing to bring down....well nothing actually!
Posted: 3/4/12 at 3:23am25 years ago it was a huge technical achievement
