Did POTO Korean producers S&CO do something to make POTO Korea’s proscenium look so gross and green in order to discourage audiences from taking photos? (You bet this did not happen in NYC, London & China!!)
So S&CO in Korea has these extremely strict rules:
(1) Absolutely no curtain call photos/videos allowed.
(2) No designated day(s) for fans to meet & greet Phantom actors at all. Stage dooring for Phantom in Korea doesn’t exist. Actors either (a) stop to wave and bow and then get into a car or (b) walk quickly while smiling and bowing.
(3) No official curtain call photos/videos were ever released except a few seconds in promotional videos early in the production.
So one day, my phriend @jeremyonthelair and I were talking about POTO’s proscenium and how beautiful the angel statue is. But then he mentioned something that piqued my interest right away.
“Did you notice Korea proscenium in Charlotte theater has a green tint on all the golden sculptures? And the strangest thing is I didn’t see the green tint in person!! Only in photos!!”
Side note: Jeremy saw POTO China this past summer and POTO Korea in the fall, so you could say he had something to compare to in a short period of time.
We proceded to share proscenium photos – Jeremy with his China and Korea photos and me with Bway photos.
↑ Jeremy’s Korea photo
↑ My Majestic theatre photo taken on the day of the last public performance
↑ Jeremy’s Shanghai photo
Please note: I did not edit any photos in this post at all (other than a black oval to cover my phriend).
Here I have compiled some Korea proscenium photos as evidence. And for comparison, I also added some Majestic theatre photos provided by me and a fellow NY phan @flagbridge – along with some POTO China photos.
Jeremy’s Korea photos:
1) ↑ Taken with an iPhone
2) ↑ Taken with a Samsung
The weirdest thing is —
3) ↑ Film camera looks fine
4) ↑ Xiaomi phone is less affected, somewhat
Here are some Charlotte theater photos and videos I found online:
1) ↑ Click on the link below to view the video. Yikes, this does not look good!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz09hP6rh-B
2) ↑ Another one from Mezzanine level
3) ↑ The current Korean Raoul, Gunha Hwang, posted this photo of the stage in Seoul – are these lights what’s turning everything green?
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz0ZmborHIj
The same thing is happening in Daegu, Korea right now:
4) ↑ Posted Dec 23 in Daegu – click on the link to view the video
https://www.instagram.com/p/C1L4dEjBTkj
5) ↑ Another video from Daegu
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1OnYyLJ6ry/
Now here are my Majestic theatre photos:
↑ Taken in April of 2023
↑ Here is another Majestic photo from a fellow NY phan @flagbridge
https://www.tumblr.com/flagbridge/728351820760612864/shows-i-saw-in-2023-part-1-phantom-of-the-opera
Let’s take a look at POTO China proscenium taken by theatre-goers:
↑ https://weibo.com/1766731021/4959005917580968
↑ https://weibo.com/3965362386/4967561219803733
My question to @lucygold95 @roadtophantom @fadinglandtragedy who have seen POTO in Korea. Did you see the gross green tint on the proscenium in person? Why do you think this is only happening in Korea?
I’d love to hear other phans’ thoughts as well!
Lastly, I want to thank my phriends Jeremy and @flagbridge for letting me use their photos.
I’m really not sure if I believe this, no official announcements from anywhere?? If anything I think they’ll be closing and reopening with the new production perhaps. I can’t see this being true to be honest.
I really hope this isn’t the end for phantom on Broadway 🥺
The Phantom of the Opera Broadway Thoughts/Review - April 4, 2023
The main trio was Jeremy Stolle, Julia Udine, John Riddle and it was my first time seeing all three of them in these roles! Unless I win the lottery tomorrow for the final performance this was my last time seeing Phantom on Broadway before it closes and it proved to be the performance I needed to have closure.
Nehal Joshi continues to add something every performance as Andre. During Hannibal, he linked arms with Piangi during a choreography bit and then he went to stand by the elephant to sing like he was a member of the ensemble.
Julia really comes alive during Think of Me it’s obvious that her Christine loves performing once she gets over her initial nervousness.
As the candles rose during the title song, Jeremy was feeling himself and he spun the boat pole in a circle like it was a lightsaber before starting to row again and it was ~ hot ~
When Julia got out of the boat, he grabbed her hips and kind of spun her to look at him and it was also hot. His cape twirl and the way he throws it down onto the bed boat while not breaking eye contact with Christine is also hot. His phantom definitely has some Leo somewhere in his chart he is a slutty showman
I had seen some reviews on here saying that in recent months Jeremy’s voice has sounded strained while playing the Phantom. Vocally he struggled with the “I have brought you” part of MOTN, the end of AIAOY reprise, and “deep as hell” in Down Once More but those were the only parts he had to adjust the notes.
The Phantom and Christine almost kissed while leaning up against the portcullis. Which made the phantom chasing her to that corner of the lair in STYDI feel like a cruel parallel
During I Remember... Julia starts singing while lying down which seemed more realistic.
John’s Raoul is so so so earnest. That’s the best word to describe him. Right before Primadonna when the managers said Christine would play the page boy his head jerked up like “say what?”
When they are scrambling to read the Phantoms note from Madame Giry Firmin dropped the note to the ground
Jeremy’s Phantom really shines while messing with Carlotta he soaks up taunting her and is having a ball stealing the attention away (again there is Leo somewhere in his chart)
During the ballet scene, all of the ballerinas were adding little extra things in their performance while the shadows and murder are happening like adding lines saying “Did you see that?” and playing up the humor and fear.
John’s love language as Raoul is definitely physical touch but before kissing Christine for the first time he seemed so hesitant and nervous even though it was so apparent he wanted to.
During Wishing, it comes across like Julia’s Christine has been compartmentalizing or was in denial about her dad’s death. And her “her father promised her” is very pointed like she’s angry at her dad for dying
In Wandering Child, Jeremy isn’t really paternal he’s more of a patronizing “I know you have daddy issues” and he caressed his face during “far from my fathering gaze.” Julia was actively trying to resist it like physically trying to fight against the trance which I appreciated
John was ready to FIGHT in Wandering Child he charged up to the grave and it seemed like if Julia didn’t stop him he would have climbed up the wall to the Phantom.
An overall note about John… he seems to really pay attention to what the Phantom does. He keeps glancing at the chandelier during Il Muto and he notices the Phantom almost as early as Christine does in Masquerade. And while he’s protective of Christine he seems to be analyzing the Phantom, possibly sizing him up or trying to figure out what he’s going to do next. And I think this works really well in the last half of act II where Raoul is leading the charge because of course he is. He’s like “I’ve been studying this guy I have an idea” which also plays into the earnestness of John’s portrayal.
Jeremy’s vocals I think were strongest during PONR and his character really leans into the horniness of the song. Once Julia realizes it’s him she performed the most over-the-top sexy I’ve seen Christine do but it seemed to be to taunt the phantom. Like fully flashed her entire leg when she put her foot up on the bench.
When the Phantom proposes, Julia gently shook her head with her eyes pleading “please don’t ask that of me” and god it was such a subtle acting moment but it stood out to me so much. And then she ripped off his mask to get him to stfu
Jeremy’s Phantom has a strong attachment to his mask. As soon as he gets it back in STYDI, you can see his whole demeanor change. In the Final Lair, when he sang “A mask my first unfeeling scrape of clothing” he started to cry as if he was truly remembering his first mask. And then he realizes he’s being vulnerable in front of Christine and he gets mad at her pitying him
John is the only Raoul I’ve seen act like he’s being strangled the whole time during the final lair. Some eventually stop struggling but he kept it up the whole time. His energy was just really refreshing.
At one point Julia tried to put her arms around the Phantom’s shoulders to plead with him, and Jeremy ducked out from her (I don’t know how since he’s so much taller)
Jeremy was scaryyyyyy when he leaned over Christine before “you try my patience” and even after he turned around Julia was still frozen terrified. I think that was the first time I’ve ever watched it live and actually felt really really scared for Christine. Her fear was just so palpable.
After the kiss, when the Phantom walks up to Raoul, John started breathing really hard like he thought the Phantom was going to kill him and Julia’s desperate “No!” showed that she thought the same.
Because of how much Julia’s Christine wanted to be free of the Phantom it surprised my how sad her Christine seemed during the ring return. It did seem to be the mostly out of pity though.
There was no second “I love you.” When Jeremy was standing watching Christine and Raoul ride off on the boat together, something about his body language really captured the finality of his loneliness in that moment.
When I saw Phantom in December after so many years away all it did was reawaken my love of the show, and when I saw it in March the performance was so chaotic I was distraught (an understatement) when it ended because I knew I needed to go again. Something about this performance brought a lot of closure and as soon as it ended, I didn’t cry like I did in March. I just felt content.
I think that’s partially because every cast member is just doing the most so there were so many small moments to savor, but I also think it’s because I got to see Jeremy’s Phantom. I met him twice back in 2013/2014 when I was deep in the Phandom and him being so involved with fans was a huge part of my formative love of Phantom in high school. And when I wasn’t following the show as much I still kept up with a lot of backstage stuff through his Instagram. So it felt very full circle to finally catch him as the Phantom.
Well, I went to Majestic Theater today. She’s boarded up and is being renovated for her next show. While it’s sad that I didn’t get my picture with her, I stood on the ground that ever Phantom and Christine once stood on. It’s officially over now, the music of the night.
Hey, guys! I have been on a Phantom of the Opera binge for the last couple of weeks and let me say, I AM SO ANGRY I didn't get a chance to see this play before it left the US! All I have are YouTube videos and you know what sucks? Phantom was in my city last year and at the time I didn't see it because the ticket prices were outrageous! Anyway, in honor of my new discovery, take a look at this photo I drew of Erik yesterday. I'm going to read the story "Phantom" by Susan Kay and who knows I may make my own adaptation.... don't worry it'll be a good one!
Well…. I don’t have much to say except all my love.
This is definitely not the end however it is indeed the end of the original production of Phantom on Broadway. It will be back before we actually get over this, super sad I never got to experience this on Broadway 🤍
This is a shot in the dark, but I figured, what the heck?
Back in January, I took my 72 year old little mum to NY to see Phantom on Broadway for the first time ever. Back in the 80s/90s she used to play the soundtrack all the time, but it wasn't until the news that the show was closing that I even realized IT WAS STILL PLAYING IN NY (yes I realize that I must have been living under a rock all these decades, but I literally thought the NY show had ended in the 90s, forgive me).
I short, I bought tickets, we went to NY together for a whirlwind trip to see the show, and had an AMAZING time together. However my mother was so disappointed that there was no way to get a recording of the show we saw (sorry mom, but Broadway is not like your grandkids' dance recitals). I did buy the DVD of the RAH recording, but it's just not the same as the show at the Majestic.
So I'm reaching out to the Phandom in the hopes that someone out there has made a recording of one of the recent shows, in the hopes that I could pay to download a copy of it that I could put on a DVD for my mum. Even if Phantom winds up coming back to the Majestic in some way, I don't know if she'd be up for the trip to NY again as it was a bit much for her with the traveling and the crowds. But I'd just love to be able to give her this as a memory. The show we saw featured the current main leads: Ben Crawford as the Phantom, Emilie Kouatchou as Christine, and John Riddle as Raoul.
If anyone can help, or knows where I could reach out for something like this, I'd be most grateful! Something like this would mean so much to her. 😊
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