This is mostly the review I wrote for the toronto-phantom list, focusing on the Phantoms in each scene. The anniversary show was set up as a game, with 5 of the 6 men who had previously played the role of the Phantom coming back to take turns playing each scene, and the audience members had to guess who was under the mask in each scene. It was a lot of fun, and the five men were all fantastic. The whole show was phenomenal too!

Some of the phans at a pre-show brunch

Jeff was the one in Angel of Music. The last time I saw him do the show was on the tour in '94, and I remember very little about it other than that he was the only Phantom who never made me cry. So because of that, I wasn't really expecting much. But he actually did this quite well, besides some of that over-enunciation that Beth talked about, and I really liked the flow of his actions as he drew Christine into the mirror.

Ciaran did a gorgeous Music of the Night. He didn't run his hands down his body at the end of POTO, which I missed (I don't remember if he did it the other times I saw him), but I do love the way he moves his hands as Christine is singing, as if he's trying to draw the sound out of her. "Soar" was just lovely, and "be" was wonderful as well. When he did "floating, falling", he didn't start moving right away...I'm probably being really picky to notice that though. :-) I've grown so used to seeing the Phantom catch Christine when she faints that it took me by surprise when Ciaran let her fall! But the last note was just beautiful too, and I really loved the scene overall.

Me, Stef and Heidi-Marie, with Ciaran at the reception

Stef, Ethan and I at the reception

Then Ethan in Stranger...I was just in heaven the whole time. :-) I adore the way he moves his hands as he's composing, and then all of a sudden he seems to realize just how engrossed he is, and does this little half-smile and puts up his hand, as if to stop the monkey's playing. I also LOVE how he starts Stranger still angry...most Phantoms I've seen break down right after the last "Curse you!", but Ethan still holds onto that anger, and then as he starts singing Stranger, it slowly drains out of him, so that by the end of it he's quite broken, and his "Oh, Christine!" brought tears to my eyes!

It was Ethan again in "Il Muto"...I hardly looked at the stage the whole time, as I was watching Ethan move around up top. :-) The way he says "A toad, madame?" is just priceless, and then he mouthed the croaks with Carlotta! And anyone who has ever heard him laugh during this scene knows just how great his evil laughs are. :-)

Then it was Jeff on the angel...I actually liked how he took his time coming up! It made it seem like he was just in such a state of shock that he could hardly move. And the way he kept saying "No" and then how he covered his ears...well, I was actually crying by this time. So now Jeff has made me cry too! :-) It was Peter during Masquerade...probably because they didn't want to change the click track. :-) I'm always impressed by the very subtle way he checks his mark on the stage...if you weren't looking for it, you'd never notice that he even checked!

Stef and Peter at the reception

Then the graveyard...I'm not 100% sure who that was! I guessed Cris, but I really wasn't sure. There was a slight change of lyrics "Wandering child, so lost, so frightened", which caught me off guard, but I loved the way he growled "You!" at Raoul when he arrived.

The "I'm here!" bit was just *too* cool! I was not expecting it at all! I don't know where the first two (Ethan and Peter) appeared (I noticed the spotlights were on in the audience, but I didn't turn around to look!), but Ciaran was actually on the stage, behind the backdrop, Jeff was up in the box in the audience closest to the stage, and Cris appeared in Box Five. It was just SO neat! And I loved how confused Raoul and the managers looked for the whole time that the crowd was applauding. :-)

Point of No Return was fabulous...I hadn't seen Cris in over 5 years, so it was really great to see him do this. He didn't grow as agitated as some of them do when he was sitting on the bench, but the way he sang it was wonderful. He had me in tears too when he did the "Say you'll share with me" bit. And, as Beth noted, I like how Elizabeth stares at the mask and wig when she takes them off, but I've never really understood why she starts crying there. Anybody? :-)

Me and Peter!

And then Peter for the final scene...I was pretty sure he was going to get to do this. The shaking hand does bother me a little, but I just love all his facial expressions. When Christine says, "This haunted face holds no horror for me now", he just looks so happy! And I LOVE the sarcasm when Raoul arrives, and the big exaggerated bow. :-) I think I started crying when Christine sang "the tears ... turn cold and turn to tears of hate", because that word just seems to rip through him, and he repeats it over and over again to himself, "hate?", shaking his head. The growled "You try my patience"...what you can say about that? And the reaction to the kiss was wonderful!! When he goes to free Raoul, and he sees that Christine is worried that he's going to hurt him, he motioned with the candle as if to try to show her what he's really going to do. Elizabeth actually turned away and covered her eyes when he actually set Raoul free...I don't think I've seen anyone do that before. The look of joy on his face when Christine comes back is just heartbreaking, as is the way he cradles the veil. Do Christine and Raoul always kiss in the boat as they're leaving? I'd never noticed that before either.

Anyway, as I'm sure it's obvious, I loved the show! And the performance of Music of the Night at the end was just beautiful. The way they all sang "Let your soul take you where you long to be!" was so powerful...it just gave me goosebumps.

Peter and Ciaran responding to a crowd comment

The reception was also wonderful...they had a "Phantom dating game", where each of the five actors was asked questions by Christine a la the Dating Game. She chose Peter in the end, but I would have picked Ethan. ;-) We hobnobbed with the other cast members as well, and had a terrific time over all. Terry Hodges is such a sweet man, and I thought it was so funny that Cris apologized when I told him he was responsible for turning me into a phan! :-)

The Phantom dating game!