![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeVarious relevant excerpts from the Hamburg review -- so that I don't have to slog through translating it again -- with a disclaimer that my Russian is extremely rusty, there are chunks omitted, and there may be misunderstandings.
(Incidentally, I have to say that I've always loved the way the Russians spell "Raoul" in Cyrillic with a 'soft sign' ь at the end. I'm not sure it particularly reflects the French pronunciation -- it's more akin to appending a 'y' sound to the last letter -- but there's something very endearing about the convention!)
It occurs to me (Igenlode) that the simplest 'fix' for the finale would be to kill off the Phantom instead: after all, it's against him that Meg has a grudge and it's he who prompts her over the edge with his reference to Christine, so it would be entirely natural for her to turn the gun away from herself and onto him. It would give Meg back some self-respect to take an active part in her own revenge rather than fall victim to a stupid accident (even if it does make her a murderer...) and it would provide a rationale for a deathbed confession and forgiveness for the Phantom. He could die in Christine's arms with everyone feeling very sorry for him (even Gustave, although telling him that this dying monster is his father might not be a good idea), and then the rest of the cast could try to pick themselves up, reconcile in the wake of tragedy and start to put things back together...
(Incidentally, I have to say that I've always loved the way the Russians spell "Raoul" in Cyrillic with a 'soft sign' ь at the end. I'm not sure it particularly reflects the French pronunciation -- it's more akin to appending a 'y' sound to the last letter -- but there's something very endearing about the convention!)
The first outstanding thing about the production, in this reviewer's opinion, is the quality of the visuals, specifically mentioned in the context of the "Coney Island Waltz" sequence.
In this performance, Elena suggests that Meg doesn't seem to be taking her "Only for Him" song (which is of course a parody of vaudeville style) terribly seriously...
Christine's arrival: she smiles and stays in the background, letting Raoul play the role of head of the family, defending his wife and child from journalistic intrusion. It's not surprising that he resents Christine being addressed as "Daaé" rather than "de Chagny".
The second outstanding thing about the production (again, according to Elena) is the character of Raoul de Chagny, at least as portrayed by Yngve Gåsøy Romdal :-D
If after the original musical almost everybody wanted to comfort the Phantom, then after the sequel it was Raoul whom she found herself wanting to comfort. And the first sign of that comes in the "What a Dreadful Town" scene.
This scene contains the whole tragic story of Raoul's marriage. He's not a bad man -- he just doesn't know how to function in this changing modern world. She got the impression that this Raoul hadn't been drinking for long: Gustave still hopes that his father will play with him, and Raoul hasn't yet managed to harden himself against the boy's appeals. Beneath his masculine restraint it's clear that he does genuinely love Gustave, even if he rarely shows it, and we see him stroke the boy's head (there's even a photo of it in the programme).
The de Chagny family appears to be basically on a sound footing, even if there are internal tensions, and that's the third plus-point of this production. If only it were not for the Phantom's intrusion...
In "Beneath a Moonless Sky", Christine hurls fury at the Phantom's head when she wakes from her faint. This seems to be a trait of Christines in Germany -- see the characterisation in German productions of the original musical.
The Phantom doesn't appear to have changed in ten years: still the same self-centred, immature and short-sighted character.
Now, it may be a choice made by the actress who plays Christine here, Rachel Ann Moore, but the reviewer got the impression that Christine doesn't feel love for the Phantom. With his actions -- seducing and then abandoning her -- he has not only killed her love, but killed any possibility of a future for them in "another time".
On the other hand, she doesn't appear to love Raoul nowadays either. To her he is just another boy to look after, along with Gustave. At what point the girl in need of protection became the woman taking care of others -- that remains to be discussed elsewhere.
This scene and "Once Upon Another Time" don't actually give the impression of being love-scenes, despite the content of the songs. The Phantom does eventually manage to soften Christine somewhat, of course, but he no longer gains her former unconditional trust.
"The Beauty Underneath": the Phantom's pleas to Christine that Gustave should never know of his parentage are his first honourable action ;-p
Act II:
There are lots of fanfics which depict Raoul as the antihero against whom the Phantom can appear as the romantic lead and all-round good guy. But here, Raoul, when called upon to serve as just such a foil for the Phantom, even in the guise of the bad guy comes across as a better and a stronger man than the Phantom. Who of course is no angel either...
"Why Does She Love Me" is another heartrendingly tragic scene. Raoul realises that Christine has grown and matured, and that she is now above him. (And no, Raoul, she doesn't love you; the real question is, why is she still with you? And what can be done to improve matters?) The obvious answer would seem to be for him to be a proper father to Gustave: Christine will appreciate this and feel some respect for him. And even if it isn't love, respect can be the basis of a strong marriage.
"Devil Take the Hindmost": a powerful scene where sparks fly between the Phantom and Raoul. Elena was sorry that Raoul didn't strike the Phantom, which would have been morally entirely within his rights!
One more plus of this production: the fast-moving tempo.
"Before the Performance": Raoul and Christine's dialogue here further stoked up the reviewer's conviction that the Phantom is trying to push his way into what is basically a sound relationship. A little more time together -- without Gustave -- and they would have come to an understanding; all the more so since, judging by the way Christine responds to Raoul's kiss, she clearly isn't physically averse to him.
When the Phantom appears, it seems to throw this normally collected and thoughtful Christine into a spin. She doesn't listen to what the Phantom is saying; she has forgotten about Raoul and even about Gustave. A wonderful depiction of becoming lost in one's own thoughts and self-analysis.
"Love Never Dies": Christine looks at Raoul, and at the Phantom, and finally squares her shoulders and sings. And it becomes clear that *this* is why she loves, what she wishes to do and what she cannot give up.
It seems to the reviewer that not only Raoul -- to whom everything was already clear -- but even the Phantom understood at that moment that he was completely superfluous. Perhaps he can still be at her side as a composer, but he, like Raoul, is stuck in the past, and of the three of them only Christine is able to develop further.
Elena really doesn't like the final scene -- an example of how not to do it!
Meg's pistol appears to point into the sky rather than at Christine, and there is no blood; to all intents and purposes, Christine might as well be clutching her breast as the result of a heart attack. The Phantom lays a hand on one section of railing and it conveniently drops down in order to give a better view, creating a comical hole in the middle of the bridge. And from time to time Christine appears to remember whereabouts it's supposed to hurt and starts aiming her hand in that direction...
Gustave comes back with Raoul when it's all over. And here's where the scene in general verges between good and bad. Raoul himself presses Gustave to go to the Phantom, to a man for whom he feels no favourable emotions and to whom he goes very unwillingly.
When he takes off the mask and what he reads there in the Phantom's eyes can be of no interest, for all attention is on Raoul, who takes Christine's body into his arms and rocks her tenderly. And it's this which is the most powerful moment in the whole idiotic scene.
The basic conclusion would be to strengthen the subsidiary characters and rewrite the whole final scene. Elena has no objection to killing someone off if dramatically required, but she objects to doing it in such a tawdry way.
To her, the revelation of this show was the de Chagny family. If we take no account of the premarital sex (and the related issues), then she found the treatment here of the family entirely pleasing: there are complexities and room to grow, but the important thing is the vast potential for romantic development. Gustave must be mentioned separately: despite not being very familiar with the mindset of ten-year-old boys, she felt that he was too much of a mummy's boy and not bright enough overall for his age.
It occurs to me (Igenlode) that the simplest 'fix' for the finale would be to kill off the Phantom instead: after all, it's against him that Meg has a grudge and it's he who prompts her over the edge with his reference to Christine, so it would be entirely natural for her to turn the gun away from herself and onto him. It would give Meg back some self-respect to take an active part in her own revenge rather than fall victim to a stupid accident (even if it does make her a murderer...) and it would provide a rationale for a deathbed confession and forgiveness for the Phantom. He could die in Christine's arms with everyone feeling very sorry for him (even Gustave, although telling him that this dying monster is his father might not be a good idea), and then the rest of the cast could try to pick themselves up, reconcile in the wake of tragedy and start to put things back together...
