The Adventures of Liz in London: But if it's loudly sung and in a foreign tongue, it's just the sort of story audiences adore.

That is one of the lines in possibly the most difficult song to understand in a musical, "Prima Donna" in Phantom of the Opera. Why is it my post title? OH, i dunno, maybe because I went to see it last Wednesday!

Yup, after much scheduling (I wanted to go on a day when the main Christine would perform) Christina, Andrea, Sarah, and I went to see Phantom of the Opera. Long story short, it was amazing. Sofia Escobar was Christine, and she was amazing. I don't really have much to compare her to, but I was seriously impressed. Loved it. Raoul was great too. Will Barratt plays him, and was also spectacular. The best performance was definitely, however, by John Owen-Jones, who is the Phantom himself. His voice is just spectacular, and he plays the role beautifully. In the movie, I don't really like the Phantom all that much. (sorry Gerard Butler!) I mean, I feel bad that his life has really sucked, but I just don't care as much as I could. With John Owen-Jones, however, I was actually sad in the end when (spoiler alert) Christine choses Raoul over the Phantom.

One highlight of the show was during the "All I Ask of You" repise, when the Phantom appears from behind an angel statue. Which has been lowered from it's normal place at the top of the proscenium arch to about halfway between said arch and the stage. When he popped out, people gasped, and I even heard a few utterings of "ohmygosh" or "what?!?". I turned to Christina and said "How did they not see that coming?!?!" Seriously, there was NO OTHER REASON for the statue to be lowered, and I'm sure that most people are at least familiar with the show, had seen it before, or seen the movie. I don't understand how they were surprised.

Even more entertaining were the people next to me. Not only were they dumb enough to take flash photos during the performance (which I don't find cool, a cast member could get hurt!) and talk about how the usher hadn't caught them while the usher was literally two feet in front of them, they failed to realize that trapdoors actually exist. When Raoul jumps off a bridge into a lake (to find Christine and the Phantom), he disappears through a trapdoor so it appears he has gone underwater. Both girls to my left gasped and said "Oh my God! Where did he go? He just... disappeared!" Seriously, people? Ok, maybe I'm judging them a little bit, but in all honesty I don't understand how they didn't get it.

In case you don't know, Christina might possibly the world's biggest Phantom 'phan'. I say this with all sincerity and seriousness. She was super excited to see the show, and to wait at the stage door after the performance, which we did until all three main actors had come out. Will Barratt (Raoul) was first, and personalized autographs in our programs. He asked me if my name was spelled L-I-Zed, and I was so excited that I just blurted out "L-I-Z" He laughed, and in a nice but mocking voice said "l-i-Z". It was funny. Sofia Escobar was next, and she was super sweet. I was sincerely surprised that people who play the leads in one of the longest funning shows ever are so down to earth. Christina loves John Owen-Jones (he's her fave Phantom) and I wanted his autograph too, so we waited for him to come out, which he did, around 10:45 (We got to the stage door around 10:15) It was worth it though, because we got his autograph and a picture with him. He was super nice too.

That's it for my trip to see Phantom. I really hope I can go again before I leave, even if it means not skipping a show I've never seen before. Here are some pictures!