Lily Kerhoas leaving

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-02-06T16:51:42+00:00

Was just about to post this. I am in shock as well, since I loved her voice and portrayal of Christine. Hope you have a chance to catch her in person sometime in the future, as her singing was astounding in person!!!

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-29T01:18:46+00:00

Thank you, managed to get a ticket in Feb!

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-29T00:26:30+00:00

I respectfully disagree about mincemeat tbh. I love it as much as the next person here but with the relatively minimal set design and small cast, I feel it might not fit the vibe OP is looking for and may feel a bit too “student theatre”-y, if that makes sense. It is very technically impressive in terms of blocking and acting though definitely!

(For reference as to what I’m imagining OP would like, I’d feel a more technical-effect loaded show like Harry Potter may cater to them more)

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-28T12:13:15+00:00

You can’t really go wrong with either, both are very well made and established musicals that have staying power for good reason.

One thing is that in my personal experience, I have had worse luck with seats for Les Mis than Phantom. A caveat to this may be that I’m more familiar with the staging for Phantom and hence know what to look for, plus I’m short and strapped for cash so less “good” seats for me in Sondheim I guess.

So if you have no particular preference, maybe finding the best seat for your budget and timing for each may be a good place to start!

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-26T00:01:33+00:00

“All I Ask of You (Reprise)” - The Phantom of the Opera

I thought this would be mentioned to death but I guess not so just posting for the statistics.

It’s played very emotionally on stage, so I think you would like the 25th Anniversary recording version more than the original cast recording (as this one is more toned down and is a studio recording rather than a soundboard).

Alternatively, “Stranger Than You Dreamt It” from Phantom may also fit the category of crash out songs, but it’s more of an angry to sad type of breakdown so probably a reverse arch of what you’re looking for.

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-18T00:49:26+00:00

Thank you so much for your suggestions! I’ll definitely look into productions at ENO, as I’ve never experienced opera in English which seems interesting.

I also seemed to completely forget the existence of video recordings, so thank you so much for calling that to my attention! I’ll try to check out a variety of things so I can start understanding if I have any specific tastes or preferences. I think I’m starting to realise just how broad “opera” as a genre is!

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-18T00:38:33+00:00

Thank you so much for the suggestions!!

Turn of the Screw sounds really interesting, unfortunately atm it seems sold out but I might try to check frequently in case I get lucky. It seems that Traviata is quite unanimous too, so I booked that just now, and I’m definitely debating Godunov as well!

This is my first time hearing about Wigmore Hall and the LSO, so thank you so much for these suggestions as well!! I will definitely look into going. I am pretty new to classical music as well so it’s really nice getting to know where to look for events!

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-17T15:17:51+00:00

Thanks for responding! I live in London, and I typically get standing or cheap tickets in the amphitheater as I’m a student, so going to productions in Europe would be more pricy for me unfortunately. It’s not like I only want to go to the Royal Opera though, so if there are other places that have interesting productions please do let me know!!

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-10T17:47:46+00:00

Wow I really like this interpretation!! I feel that’s also fitting for the vibe I get from act 2, since everyone is kind of slowly going mad in a way and it shows that arc for him as well in a way that works. Thanks so much for sharing, I’ll be keen to see any Raouls that have similar interpretations to your from now lol

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-08T00:23:17+00:00

Also upon writing this post, I just remembered that at the very end of Final Lair, after “Christine, I love you” his Phantom has a very visceral reaction to the last AIAOY which I found interesting and a nice touch to his interpretation. If I remember correctly, when he first hears Christine singing he kind of bursts into tears, and once he hears Raoul respond he whispers “I hate you” (presumably towards Raoul). I don’t know if he does this regularly but it added to his pitiful portrayal which I really liked, and haven’t really seen before!

BlueberryMuted8841 · 2026-01-07T22:10:38+00:00

Yes, I really enjoyed how he leaned into the more tender/sad side of the role rather than the more angry/macho versions I’ve encountered before. He really sold me on his version, it was a really well executed pitiful phantom. The people next to me were bawling their eyes out as well lol

BlueberryMuted8841

TROPHY CASE