The flames at last consumed us!

Mom called me up last week, wondering if I'd be interested in seeing Phantom of the Opera on Saturday. Need she have asked? So I stayed the night Friday and Lar, mom, Rosie, and I saw the afternoon matinee. We were far back, and not totally in the center, but just a scooch into house right. Lar and I wished we would have brought binoculars, but didn't think about it. We said last time we saw it that we were going to dress up to see it again, but ended up not doing so. Maybe next time... ^_^

Our Phantom was John Cudia. He almost knocked Ted Keegan down to second on my favorite Phantom's list (in regards to voice), but Ted keeps the #1 spot because I got to hear his sexy evil laugh before the chandelier fell. John's voice, even though a tenor, seemed a bit deeper than Ted's, and that's what got him up there. I have a thing for baritones, and while John's not a baritone, he got deep enough to keep me glued to his voice. I just checked the Playbill from when I saw the show four years ago, and found out that John was Raoul when I first saw the show, and an understudy for Ted Keegan! How cool is that?

Our Christine was Jennifer Hope Wills. I have no clue where she originally fit in, as she's not listed anywhere in the program, except on the little cast change slip, but she did a good job nonetheless.

Kate Wray was Meg at our performance (cast change). I'm used to thinking of Meg as a young girl, and Kate had a more mature voice, which while lovely, didn't really fit the character of Meg, at least in my opinion.

Originally an understudy for Carlotta, Kimilee Bryant filled in the roll at our performance. I think she had a very powerful voice.

John Whitney was our Piangi. He hit and held a really long, low note during "Il Muto" and got a big round of applause when he finished. Lar says he reminds her of Ken Page; I concur.

Adam Monley was our Raoul, and did a really good job.

DC Anderson reprised his role from four years ago as Monsieur André.

Patti Davidson-Gorbea also reprised her role from four years ago as Madame Giry.

After being serenaded by beautiful voices, we stopped over at Ted Drewe's for ice cream and hung out at home watching funny internet video until Rosie left. I found a couple by another one of my favorite male singers, Michael Ball. I first saw him on the 10th anniversary concert video for Les Misérables as Marius, and have been in love with his voice ever since. It helps that I also think he's adorably cute. ^_^

Saturday was a great day!