William R. Park(The Phantom)- I wasn't too happy when I found out Ted Keegan wasn't performing but I am very open minded to understudy phantoms. His voice is a baritone, no doubt. Something I liked about his voice was that it sounded almost like Ethan Freeman, and I thought Ethan was a great Phantom. He had some nice and different hand gestures in The Music of the Night. In Wandering Child his voice blended well with Rebecca Pitcher's voice. His "You try my patience..." was really good! All in all-a good phantom. One thing I noticed was he was shorter than other phantoms I've seen. If he would have gotten to perform in the role more, I'm sure he's make a real good phantom.
Rebecca Pitcher(Christine Daae)-One word to explain her performance would be "Amazing!" First off she had a fantastic voice throughout the show. Her acting is amazing as well. At the end of the show when the Phantom tells her to leave, she kept looking at him and Raoul still not knowing who she wanted to end up with. Excellent. One thing that stood out was her facial expressions! I think with them she could have chemistry with any Phantom. She certainly did with William, and it was their first night on stage together! In The Music of the Night she had seductive looks. It was like she was falling in love with this man, his music, his voice. It was very interesting. All in all-A great Christine, the best I've seen. I personally think she brings out the best in actors who play Phantom.
Richard Todd Adams(Raoul)-He has two qualities that every actor who plays Raoul should have: acting and singing. Some aren't really interesting in the role, and I don't like the character that much anyways. But I like them when they fight for Christine. It's like Raoul get's what he wants, but Christine is one thing he may not get, so he has take chances. He wanted Christine, he was ready, he shook to the portcullis trying to get in. All in All: Very good!
Julie Schmidt(Carlotta)-What a diva?! Her and Rebecca Pitcher stoled the show! I love her "These things do happen" speech. She yells right into Andre's ear. It was so funny. And when she walk off stage in that scene, Hannibal, she put her hand out like "Talk to the hand". She's very good in the role. At first I thought she was too thin for Carlotta, I'm use to more weight on them, but this shows-"Look I'm pretty and thin, don't you want me to be your diva?" All in all-great!
Thomas Shumacher(Andre)-Well he was an understudy Andre, what can I say? All in all-pretty good, nice acting and voice, it's just I'm not into the character that much so it's no big deal to me.
David Cryer(Firmin)-I liked his Firmin alot. He was very good in the role. Although he messed up a line, he was still fine. He was also very funny. All in all-the best I've seen in the role.
Jennie Jones(Madame Giry)-did a nice job as well. She's actually a younger-like Madame Giry. I realized that when I saw her at the stage door because she looked younger than I thought. She has a nice voice, good acting.
Frederic Henringes(Piangi)-I saw him on Broadway as well. He is still pretty good in the role. Pretty funny. Him and Julie Schmidt make a nice pair.
Betina Hershey(Meg Giry)-She has a very nice operatic voice, but it is not like a Meg. Meg is suppose to have a nice, quiet, sweet voice. In Betina's case, she sounded like she was having a singing contest with Christine in her dressing room. She is a good actress though. Meg is actually a difficult role-dancing, coutume changes, being place to place. So bravo on that!
Well those are the reviews on the leads. This is an interesting, unique review since it's not scene-by-scene. It's easier and nicer just to write reviews on separate actors. Thanks for reading!
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