Written by Sarah Maykopf

June 29 Curtain Call

Mr. von der Heyde, there's no reason to be proud of that!

But let's forget the organizer of our "Phantom" and let's talk about it itself. I had the chance to see the last two evening shows, the one on June 29th, and, of course, the one the 30th. According to other fans, the matinee on the 30th was the best show of them all, so I regret not to have seen that. It's said that there were couple of gags in it. Talking about the other two shows, the sad fact is that they were kind of tense. An understandable fact, as all the singers were somehow in a melancholic mood, especially Colby Thomas. She has done the role for nine years now, so we all can imagine that the final show must have been a hard time for her. Her acting was as fabulous as always, though. Vera Borisova really surprised the audience by her way to sing "Il Muto" (she added some nice color- aturas to her "addio"), and her acting was even better than usual. Congratulations!

An excellent job also did Christopher Morandi in the show on the 29th as Monsieur André. The role is perfect for him. Couldn't he have done it more often? I would also like to mention those people who are always forgotten and were the only real entertainers of both nights (at least to me): The ensemble singers in the background, among others including Blake Clayfield, Catherine Forbes, Gerald Frantzen, Peter Graham, Jonathan Guss (your final Auktionator was great!), Jason W. Kennedy, Laurie Anne McGowan, Michael Nicholson, Olivia Safe, Evelyn Werner, and Taylor Wilson (it was wonderful to observe you all!), as well as the orchestra members, also including the conductor/conductress Bernhard Volk and Inga Hilsberg, who finally got their applause ON stage.

Right after Heyde's speech on the final evening, Anna Maria Kaufmann and Peter Hofmann appeared on stage to receive the Triple Platinum from Polydor for 1.5 millions sold "Das Phantom der Oper" recordings in Germany.

Farewell Song - Final Performance

And right after the show, Colby Thomas and Ian Jon Bourg, later accompanied by the whole ensemble and the backstage workers, sang an arrangement of "Denk an mich" and "Die Musik der Nacht". Besided the fact that it was greatly performed by Colby and Ian, it also showed us that Andrew Lloyd Webber did a smart job, when he composed "Phantom."

There's another thing I feel the need to mention. You all know that I'm a huuuuge "Phantom" fan and that are some singers among the cast that I very much adore (I won't name you guys, you know YOU're meant!). But on June 30th, I had the feeling that there were some fans who didn't intend to show any respect for the singers and dancers on stage, nor the other people among the audience and felt the irresistable need to interrupt the natural flow of the performance. You all wouldn't want to be bothered during a show either!! [editor's note - people screamed out names of the actors during the show]

So, after the fans have spent so much money on their tickets for the final show (I still wonder why), at least there was an after show party in the foyer of the theater. The sad thing: Most of the singers disappeared in their VIP-section, to seperate the SECOND CLASS PEOPLE from them (people, I paid DM 350,- for my ticket!). But as I'm known as Sarah May Head, the Stalker (as my beloved Cat Forbes always calls me), I didn't have any problems catching some singers and taking photos of them, though. I risked my life for you!! You can see the results on the my webpage, for I know that you don't want to read my stupid texts and prefer looking at colorful pics, anyway. The child is always inside our minds, isn't it? AS WELL AS THE PHANTOM!!!