Another Hallow's Eve Has Come

Greetings once again, Phans!

It's that time of year once again, and I just couldn't let it pass by without a post here. I wore my ALW!Phantom outfit once again, and it was a big hit during class. I do wish Halloween lasted longer than just one day a year, but alas, we must make do.

A bit of POTO news, since that's what this blog is for, after all... The new UK Tour now has a new Phantom; John Owen-Jones left the production around the end of September and was replaced by Earl Carpenter. The Broadway production is also having a somewhat major cast change; Trista Moldovan will soon be leaving the production and Marni Raab will be promoted to principal Christine while a completely new performer, Samantha Hill, will be the alternate. Later on, Marni will also leave the cast and Sierra Boggess will take over in time for the Broadway production's 25th anniversary celebration next January.

In other news, the Broadway production's official Facebook page has said that the show is back on tonight after a 2-day hiatus due to Hurricane Sandy. I'm glad to know the actors, crew, and theater all got through the storm safely, and hopefully, the rest of the areas affected by the hurricane will soon be back in action as well.

Oh, and I've a bit of personal news, as well. I've started up another Blogspot where I can post about stuff besides Phantom -- check it out here. Don't worry, though; I'll still be updating this blog as often as I can, as well.

In any case, Happy Halloween to all!


I remain your obedient servant,
I.A.E.

New Concert Production in Vienna

Happy 10/11/12 to you all! Assuming your dates are arranged in that format; otherwise, you may have to wait about a month.

A new concert production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s POTO has been announced in Vienna, Austria. The announcement was actually made a few months ago, but yesterday, a casting announcement was made on Facebook. Christian Alexander Müller, who had played Raoul and then the Phantom in the Essen, Germany production in 2006, returns to the role of the Phantom for the concert. Lisa Antoni, who previously starred in the Viennese production of Frank Wildhorn’s musical Rudolf, will play Christine. And Raoul will be played by Oliver Arno, who previously starred in the popular European musical Elisabeth, featuring a book and lyrics by Michael Kunze (who also did the German translations for the lyrics to POTO) and music by Sylvester Levay. The concert will run from November 29 to December 9 at Theater Ronacher, where the Viennese production ran in the early 1990s.

I’m quite interested in this production; I really liked what I heard of Christian Müller’s Phantom when he played the role in Essen, and I’m looking forward to seeing how his portrayal has evolved. I haven’t heard a whole lot of Lisa Antoni or Oliver Arno, but I look forward to seeing how they play their characters as well, so I hope there will be some sort of recording of the production.

I’m also looking forward to this concert because I’ve always enjoyed the German-language productions of the show. The productions in Vienna, Hamburg, Stuttgart, and Essen have had some of the best casts I’ve heard (though I’ve never seen the show live in German). Alexander Goebel and Ernst Dieter Suttheimer from the original Vienna cast were two of my favorite Phantoms, and I’ve also loved performers like Peter Hofmann, Thomas Schulze, Shuler Hensley, Dale Tracy, Roy Weissensteiner, Ian Jon Bourg (occasionally), and Ethan Freeman (who, in addition to the Vienna and Essen productions, was also superb in London and Toronto). Now they just need to cast Chris Murray in a production someday, and all will be complete.

In any case, I don’t know yet whether there will be an official video or audio recording of this concert. I’m hoping there will be, but as with all things, we’ll see, and I’ll post here with the relevant info when I find out. In the meantime, I encourage you to look up the performers I mentioned; most if not all of them can probably be found on YouTube.


I remain your obedient servant,
I.A.E.

Another Loss for the Phantom Community

Happy October, all!

This post is a bit late... but for anyone who was not yet aware, another classic Phantom has passed away. On September 27th, Herbert Lom died of natural causes. He was 95 years old.

Filmgoers likely know Herbert Lom best for playing gangster Louis Harvey in the 1955 film The Ladykillers, and also Chief Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther film series (beginning with 1964's A Shot in the Dark). But to Phantom Phans, he will always be Professor Petrie, the Phantom of the 1962 film by Hammer Film Productions. The film was directed by Terence Fisher and also starred Heather Sears as Christine Charles, Edward de Souza as Harry Hunter, and Michael Gough as Lord Ambrose D'Arcy.

While I wasn't personally a huge fan of that film (mainly due to the script and direction), I did like some of the cinematography in it. I also appreciated Herbert Lom's acting, particularly as Professor Van Helsing in the underappreciated 1970 film Count Dracula, directed by Jesús Franco and also starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, Klaus Kinski as Renfield, and Soledad Miranda as Lucy. Despite the film's minuscule budget (which resulted in some pretty poor-looking effects), I adore it; it's one of the most faithful to the novel of any Dracula film, and there are a lot of great acting performances in it.

In any case, rest in peace, Mr. Lom, and thank you for your many contributions to film, the arts, and the Phantom community.


I remain your obedient servant,
I.A.E.