Neue Flora Theater

The first thing was the theater itself. It was built for Phantom and even had a cantine for the workers to eat in. This wasn't the former vaudeville theaters that I was used to - this one was very modern, with metal throughout the foyer and very few embellishments in the theater itself. I don't believe there is a bad seat in the Neue Flora - I sat twice in the very back of the theater and once in the middle on the side and didn't have an obstructed view in any of the places.

The actors were forbidden to do anything 'fun' in the final performance. As a result, some interesting things happened in the matinee.

Charlie Serrano and Evelyn Werner were on as Piangi and Carlotta. We;;, when Piangi goes to take Carlotta offstage after she croaks in "Il Muto,"

'Until June 30, 2001'

Piangi didn't just take her off the stage, he carried her off. It was wonderfully funny!

My favourite part of the matinee happened during "Don Juan." We heard some...unusual sounds coming from... could it be the Gastwirtin (Inkeeper's Wife)? Catherine Forbes decided that her version of the Gastwirtin was practicing to be a tap dancer! She did tapped all around the stage.

Some problems also occurred during this performance. The backdrop in "Hannibal" didn't fall - apparently one of the male dancers was in the way and during "All I Ask of You," the lights flickered.

What I noticed with the characters that was different from the shows I had seen before was that in the rehearsal for "Don Juan," when Carlotta (Evelyn Wener) was reminded about the ghost being in the house by Mme Giry, Ms. Werner put her hand to her throat and opened her mouth as a reminder that she had croaked on stage because of the Phantom. And when Carlotta finds out that Piangi has been killed, she threw herself onto the stretcher bearing his body.

I also noticed that, unlike Toronto, the Carlotta covers have the red dress used in the 2nd Managers Scene. This was great because when a cover was on in Toronto, it looked like Carlotta only owned one dress! Also, something I noticed when the first notes were played: Hamburg used a full orchestra! Toronto had cut theirs and on the tours, there isn't a full orchestra so this was a wonderful treat for me. I never realised how much you miss not hearing the wonderful 'pyramid' (as my high school band director would say). Everything blended so well and the percussion wasn't too loud, as happens when half the orchestra is replaced by keyboards. And for those of you who didn't get the chance to see the show in Hamburg: the chandelier really crashes. As in you can actually hear it. I don't remember Toronto having such a loud crash!

At the end of the performance, Michael Nicholson (Phantom) was presented flowers by his children.

The Final Show

Final Bows

Because of my poor German, I was unable to understand what and who was talking at the start of the show. I was able to catch some mentions of how long the show had been in Hamburg and that Anna Maria Kaufmann and Peter Hofmann (original Christine and Phantom) were being introduced to the audience. Someone from Polydor presented platinum records because the cast recording of Hamburg's production had sold so many copies.

Then the curtain came up for the final time. The cast didn't seem upset that show was ending, in fact, some of them were almost giddy up on the stage!

In "Hannibal," the Wildwomen had tattooed themselves and wore nose rings. In the Hamburg production, Carlotta has a glass that she drinks from while she is 'offstage' during the ballet. Vera Borisova had used one that was Polish cut glass - I would have been too scared to break it to use it in the show! Her wig was also the reddest Carlotta wig I have ever seen! As Reyer, Charlie Serrano would say 'Rome' with Piangi in the song, after he had corrected him. I had never seen this done before, and it made Reyer seem a little 'tougher' than usual.

Colby Thomas (Christine)'s fan club was out in full force - yelling her name when she had her first line.

In "Il Muto," Vera Borisova (Carlotta) and Ronn Ealy(?) (Don Attilio) added a little 'baroque' twist to their cadenzas. I hope Ms. Borisova wrote down what notes she did in hers because it was beautiful and should be added in all the productions from time to time! The Hamburg 'croak' is more like a 'ca-ook'. Is that how toads sound in German?

I think that Vera and Marcello Ronchietto (Piangi) play their characters so that Carlotta and Piangi don't have just a professional relationship. Piangi didn't stray very far from Carlotta in the 2nd Managers scene.

The final bows were great because everyone who had taken part in the show was allowed to take a bow. As each of the principals bowed, many of the fans threw flowers, the result was that you would see one person bow and

Looking down at the band

then it looked like a flower shop would explode! Then the dressers each picked their favorite person in the cast and presented them with flowers. The orchestra came onstage (with their instruments). And during all of this, the head dresser and his assistant dressed up as the flunkies from "Masquerade" and passed out tissues to everyone in the cast.

Colby Thomas and Ian Jon Bourg sang a duet that had parts of "Think of Me" and "Music of the Night" in it. Towards the end of the duet, the rest of the cast joined them onstage for some 'oohs' and 'aahs' in the background. And then there were more bows. One burst of fireworks and about a ton of streamers later, the curtain came down for the last time. And then we partied.

After the show, the audience filed out of the theater into the foyer where we were greeted with free champagne (and other drinks) and food. Upon leaving the stage, the actors were greeted with boxes to put their costumes in as they changed into their clothes for the party.

Some of the actors taking a break from the party

The VIP guests and the actors, dancers, and musicans were all given black ribbons so they could be admitted into a smaller room where a private party was held. But within a few hours, when the band started to play, the people with the black ribbons soon left their own party and joined everyone else in the main foyer of the theater.

A band played, but it seemed to me that most everyone was either walking around looking for someone else or trying to get another drink. Although I did hear that Catherine Forbes started a conga line...

The party went on until at least 4 in the morning, when I left.

All in all, I met a lot of very interesting (and nice) people. Although I didn't have the connection to the Hamburg production that a lot of people did, I was sad to see it go because I knew that I could never have a day like June 30th again.