Ben Forster, London's current Phantom.
On the Thursday morning I woke up early, most probably from the excitement of seeing my favourite musical for the 4th time! I had a quick breakfast (toast to be precise!) then made my way to Gatwick Airport, where I was going to get my train to London Victoria Station. One of the benefits to living in Crawley is being right next to Gatwick Airport, which means its very handy for getting trains to London! So once at the airport, I got my all day travel card and set off to London on the train!
After a very delayed journey to London, I finally arrived at Victoria Station just after 11:30am. I knew I had a nice pre-paid meal to look forward to in the evening but I was feeling pretty hungry, so decided to grab a little lunch at my favourite cheap eat in London, The Fresh Pizza Co. at Victoria Station. It's the only place I know in London where you can enjoy a buffet and refillable drink for under £10!
Feeling full but also comfortable, I decided to get the bus to Oxford Street to begin a bit of retail therapy! I didn't buy anything in Oxford Street, so decided to walk to the finest toy shop in the world, Hamleys of course, which was where I made my first purchase of the day! Being in Regents Street, I decided to walk down the road into Piccadilly Circus. Once there, I made my way over to the Criterion Theatre, to pick up a ticket I had ordered for The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, which will be my second show of the year.
After picking up my ticket, I walked round to Shaftesbury Avenue and stopped by at the finest cafe in the world, The Theatre Cafe! This is such a wonderful place for theatre lovers. The cafe is full of theatre memorabilia as well as lots of signed show posters, which are dotted around the walls. I love this place so much that I've just recently ordered an official Theatre Cafe hoodie! I think that's going to come in handy on my many ventures to London this year!
Once I'd finished my coffee I decided to head to Kings Cross so that I could check into my hotel. That was an adventure in itself! Having stayed in Kings Cross before I expected my hotel to be closer to the train station, my god I was wrong! After over half an hour of searching, I finally found my hotel and thankfully checked in.
Having settled at the hotel, I made my way back to Piccadilly Circus on the underground. I still had a couple of hours to kill until I could have my meal at Planet Hollywood. Being a Thursday, I knew that Phantom had a matinee performance as well as the evening show I was going to. I thought I would try my luck and see if I could meet any of the cast after the afternoon performance had finished. I waited at the stage door, along with a couple of other people. One of the people waiting was a girl from Belgium, who had made the trip all the way from Belgium and was heading back the same night. We got talking about Phantom and our love for musical theatre. After talking for a while, one of my all time favourite people in the world, the utterly gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker, made her way out of the stage door to greet us! Celinde has been playing the lead role of Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera for nearly 3 years now. I've met Celinde before when I saw Phantom for the second time and much to my amazement, she remembered me! She was very thankful for the fan mail I had sent her last year. I had brought along a couple of posters for her to sign, which she very kindly signed and dedicated to me. She also happily posed for a photo for me. In my opinion, Celinde is without doubt the best Christine of all time in the West End production of Phantom. I also think she's the most beautiful Christine of all time. If you couldn't tell already, I do have a little bit of a crush on Celinde!
One of my biggest disappointments when seeing Phantom last year was that I didn't get to meet the current Phantom, Ben Forster. Much to my delight though, Ben walked out of the stage door! Now let me tell you, I have honestly never met such a lovely guy! Don't get me wrong, I've met some very friendly celebrities in my time (Warwick Davies comes to mind) but Ben was without doubt the nicest! I told him how I saw him in the show last year and loved his performance. He also said he was thankful for the fan mail I sent him last year. Like Celinde, Ben was kind enough to sign a poster for me and also posed for some photos. Ben actually stayed talking with me for a good 10 minutes or so. It was honestly the best experience I've ever had with meeting someone famous! It's definitely my favourite moment with one of the Phantom cast! Sadly the experience did end with some disappointment. Unfortunately, Ben had injured his leg during the matinee performance, therefore meaning he wouldn't be performing in the evening performance I was going to. Ben apologised (not that he needed to) and reassured me that understudy Luke McCall would put on a good show. I have to admit that I was feeling pretty gutted as I'd loved Ben's performance as the Phantom last year but I was also quite intrigued by the prospect of an understudy Phantom!
After my meeting with Ben, I decided to head to a few more shops in the area then finally sat down for my evening meal at Planet Hollywood, which is probably my favourite restaurant in all of London. Sitting in the restaurant and looking back at my signed photos of Ben and Celinde, I was getting very excited for Phantom.
Feeling very full from a very enjoyable meal, it was finally time to enter Her Majesty's Theatre, one of London's most beautiful theatres in my opinion. On previous trips to Phantom, the first thing I've done is look at the cast list when I enter the theatre. Now on this occasion, I was actually genuinely shocked when I looked at the cast list. 4 of the main cast were understudies! That's never happened when I've seen a show in London before. I wasn't disappointed but just shocked. The Phantom, Raoul, Madame Giry and Piangi were all being played by understudies. I was quite intrigued by the prospect of both two lead roles being played by understudies. If I'd not seen the show before then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been very happy. I was looking forward to it though as I'd not heard anything of the understudies before so was more than happy to give them a try!
So onto the show! Now I'm not going to go into too much detail as I don't want to ruin the show for those who haven't seen it, so what I will discuss is the cast, especially the understudies. As I've just mentioned, I was very intrigued to watch the understudies, and boy, I wasn't disappointed, I was actually enthralled! Ben Forster promised me that I would love Luke McCall's performance as The Phantom, well let me tell you, he certainly wasn't wrong! Luke was absolutely fantastic! Acting might not have been his biggest strong point but his voice, my god, what a voice! It's hard not to compare Phantoms but Luke had a voice very similar to Ramin Karimloo, and that is one hell of a compliment, as Ramin is one of the best Phantoms of all time! I was so pleasantly surprised by Luke's performance. Stand out moments for Luke were definitely the mirror sequence and title song. His 'Music Of The Night' was also very memorable.
Now the understudy Raoul I was looking forward to seeing. I've had the pleasure of seeing the regular Raoul, Nadim Naaman, on two occasions. I've also met him a couple of times before and he's always been a gentleman. One of my friends saw the understudy Raoul, Matt Blaker, the previous week and said that he was very good, so I was very happy to see that his performance was a real treat. I don't want to be disrespectful to Nadim but I could easily see Matt taking over the role of Raoul. I found his acting to be much better than Nadim's and I actually thought Matt's voice was better too!
The understudy Piangi was pretty good but his role isn't too significant in the show for me to really discuss. I have to be honest though and say that the understudy Madame Giry was disappointing. The regular Madame Giry, Jacinta Mulcahy, totally owns the role! Joanna Strand in comparison though was very disappointing. She was far too young for the role of such an old and wise character. Her voice was also quite poor.
Still, the understudies did the show justice, especially Luke McCall and Matt Blaker! It can't be easy filling in for the two main roles in the show but they did an absolutely wonderful job. Both could easily get the jobs full time when the show goes through it's next cast change. I'd be more than happy if they got the job anyway!
It wouldn't be fair to review the show without mentioning Celinde Schoenmaker's performance as Christine. Being my third time seeing Celinde as Christine, I knew I would be in for a good performance and Celinde duly delivered! It's safe to say that Miss Schoenmaker has one hell of a fantastic voice! She is also one very amazing actress! Her standout moments for me were without doubt 'Think Of Me' and 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again', the latter of which brought tears to my eyes. I really do love Celinde. I think she'll definitely go down in history as one of the finest Christine's of all time.
After standing up to applaud the actors at the end, it was time to leave the theatre and head back to the stage door. First out was the legendary Philip Griffiths. Philip is a legend when it comes to Phantom because he has been performing in the show for well over 25 years! He was very kind and gracious, also more than happy to pose for a photo!
Next out was my favourite woman in the world! I'm talking about the beautiful Celinde Schoenmaker if you hadn't already guessed! She was more than happy to pose for another photo with me and also spoke with me about her love for the show and music in general.
After meeting Celinde again, Daisy Hulbert then came out to greet fans. Daisy plays the role of Meg Giry in the show. To be honest, one of my least favourite characters in the show but Daisy puts a rather fun and ditzy spin on the role. Perfect casting actually! Just like everyone else, Daisy was happy to pose for a selfie with me.
Understudy Raoul, Matt Blaker, was the next actor out to greet fans. I met Matt very briefly after the matinee performance and said I'd be looking forward to meeting him after the evening performance. True to our word, we met each other again and had a little joke about it. If there's anything to say about meeting the cast of Phantom, it's that they are all very down to earth and so very humble.
Last out was Lara Martins, who plays diva Carlotta. This was my third time seeing Lara in the show but actually the first time I had ever met her. She was really funny and talkative.
I can honestly say that this was without doubt the most fun I'd ever had when watching The Phantom Of The Opera. Okay, it wasn't the best performance I'd ever been to, that would probably be when I saw John Owen Jones in the lead role in 2014, it was however the most enjoyable time I've had. Meeting the cast twice in the day was a memory I will forever treasure. They were all just so lovely and down to earth. I also think that they are the best photos I've ever had with the cast. Like I said, definitely great memories to treasure!
After meeting and socialising with the cast for a good hour or so after the show had finished, it was time to head back to my hotel for a very well deserved sleep. I definitely needed it after such a tiring day but it was all so worth it!
The next day I enjoyed a breakfast at my hotel, checked out of my hotel, then went to explore some of the theatres for a spot of photography. I also thought it would be helpful to find all the theatres so that I knew where to go on future visits! At about mid-day, I decided it was time to get the train back to Gatwick Airport.
All in all, my first theatre trip of the year was fantastic and one I'll treasure for a very long time!
Trip Rating: 9/10
I've given my first theatre trip of the year a very high 9 out of 10 for various reasons. My biggest reason for such a high marking was because of my time meeting the cast. I absolutely love to meet casts of shows. I've done it every time I've seen Phantom but I had never met the whole cast like I had done on this occasion. Meeting Ben Forster was a real highlight for me. I still can't get over how lovely he was. Meeting the gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker once again was obviously a highlight for me too. All of my photos with the cast came out so well too, which was great! Staying overnight was also another big factor for such a high mark. I'd never stayed overnight in London alone but I absolutely loved the experience. I definitely think I'll be doing more overnight solo theatre trips this year!
It wouldn't be fair to talk about the day without mentioning all of the wonderful people I met. As I already mentioned, I met a friendly girl from Belgium who was visiting just for the day to see the show. In Her Majesty's Theatre, I was sat next to a really lovely couple from Ireland, who spoke to me the whole time before the show and during the interval. When I met the cast after the performance, I was waiting with a lovely young couple, as well as their little daughter who loved the show. This is what I loved about the trip. Despite going all alone, I didn't quite feel like I was on my own as I spoke to so many lovely people. It really was a great day!
So what's next on the agenda? The Comedy About A Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre on Thursday 16th February. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my first ever comedy play in London for my second theatre trip of the year!
I hope you enjoyed reading my first theatre trip report of the year! I look forward to posting many more this year!
Lots of love,
Michael x
Train journey selfie. It had to be done!
After a very delayed journey to London, I finally arrived at Victoria Station just after 11:30am. I knew I had a nice pre-paid meal to look forward to in the evening but I was feeling pretty hungry, so decided to grab a little lunch at my favourite cheap eat in London, The Fresh Pizza Co. at Victoria Station. It's the only place I know in London where you can enjoy a buffet and refillable drink for under £10!
Pizza anyone?
Feeling full but also comfortable, I decided to get the bus to Oxford Street to begin a bit of retail therapy! I didn't buy anything in Oxford Street, so decided to walk to the finest toy shop in the world, Hamleys of course, which was where I made my first purchase of the day! Being in Regents Street, I decided to walk down the road into Piccadilly Circus. Once there, I made my way over to the Criterion Theatre, to pick up a ticket I had ordered for The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, which will be my second show of the year.
Stormtroopers everywhere!
I found Princess Leia!
Can't wait to laugh at this show!
After picking up my ticket, I walked round to Shaftesbury Avenue and stopped by at the finest cafe in the world, The Theatre Cafe! This is such a wonderful place for theatre lovers. The cafe is full of theatre memorabilia as well as lots of signed show posters, which are dotted around the walls. I love this place so much that I've just recently ordered an official Theatre Cafe hoodie! I think that's going to come in handy on my many ventures to London this year!
A haven for theatre lovers!
What's not to love about this place!
Once I'd finished my coffee I decided to head to Kings Cross so that I could check into my hotel. That was an adventure in itself! Having stayed in Kings Cross before I expected my hotel to be closer to the train station, my god I was wrong! After over half an hour of searching, I finally found my hotel and thankfully checked in.
You can't go wrong with Travelodge!
First hotel room selfie of the year!
Having settled at the hotel, I made my way back to Piccadilly Circus on the underground. I still had a couple of hours to kill until I could have my meal at Planet Hollywood. Being a Thursday, I knew that Phantom had a matinee performance as well as the evening show I was going to. I thought I would try my luck and see if I could meet any of the cast after the afternoon performance had finished. I waited at the stage door, along with a couple of other people. One of the people waiting was a girl from Belgium, who had made the trip all the way from Belgium and was heading back the same night. We got talking about Phantom and our love for musical theatre. After talking for a while, one of my all time favourite people in the world, the utterly gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker, made her way out of the stage door to greet us! Celinde has been playing the lead role of Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera for nearly 3 years now. I've met Celinde before when I saw Phantom for the second time and much to my amazement, she remembered me! She was very thankful for the fan mail I had sent her last year. I had brought along a couple of posters for her to sign, which she very kindly signed and dedicated to me. She also happily posed for a photo for me. In my opinion, Celinde is without doubt the best Christine of all time in the West End production of Phantom. I also think she's the most beautiful Christine of all time. If you couldn't tell already, I do have a little bit of a crush on Celinde!
Me and the simply gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker!
One of my biggest disappointments when seeing Phantom last year was that I didn't get to meet the current Phantom, Ben Forster. Much to my delight though, Ben walked out of the stage door! Now let me tell you, I have honestly never met such a lovely guy! Don't get me wrong, I've met some very friendly celebrities in my time (Warwick Davies comes to mind) but Ben was without doubt the nicest! I told him how I saw him in the show last year and loved his performance. He also said he was thankful for the fan mail I sent him last year. Like Celinde, Ben was kind enough to sign a poster for me and also posed for some photos. Ben actually stayed talking with me for a good 10 minutes or so. It was honestly the best experience I've ever had with meeting someone famous! It's definitely my favourite moment with one of the Phantom cast! Sadly the experience did end with some disappointment. Unfortunately, Ben had injured his leg during the matinee performance, therefore meaning he wouldn't be performing in the evening performance I was going to. Ben apologised (not that he needed to) and reassured me that understudy Luke McCall would put on a good show. I have to admit that I was feeling pretty gutted as I'd loved Ben's performance as the Phantom last year but I was also quite intrigued by the prospect of an understudy Phantom!
Couldn't resist a selfie with The Phantom himself!
Me and the very lovely Ben Forster, proudly showing off my signed poster!
After my meeting with Ben, I decided to head to a few more shops in the area then finally sat down for my evening meal at Planet Hollywood, which is probably my favourite restaurant in all of London. Sitting in the restaurant and looking back at my signed photos of Ben and Celinde, I was getting very excited for Phantom.
My favourite restaurant in all of London!
White chocolate milkshake? Don't mind if I do!
Feeling very full from a very enjoyable meal, it was finally time to enter Her Majesty's Theatre, one of London's most beautiful theatres in my opinion. On previous trips to Phantom, the first thing I've done is look at the cast list when I enter the theatre. Now on this occasion, I was actually genuinely shocked when I looked at the cast list. 4 of the main cast were understudies! That's never happened when I've seen a show in London before. I wasn't disappointed but just shocked. The Phantom, Raoul, Madame Giry and Piangi were all being played by understudies. I was quite intrigued by the prospect of both two lead roles being played by understudies. If I'd not seen the show before then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been very happy. I was looking forward to it though as I'd not heard anything of the understudies before so was more than happy to give them a try!
Understudies everywhere!
So onto the show! Now I'm not going to go into too much detail as I don't want to ruin the show for those who haven't seen it, so what I will discuss is the cast, especially the understudies. As I've just mentioned, I was very intrigued to watch the understudies, and boy, I wasn't disappointed, I was actually enthralled! Ben Forster promised me that I would love Luke McCall's performance as The Phantom, well let me tell you, he certainly wasn't wrong! Luke was absolutely fantastic! Acting might not have been his biggest strong point but his voice, my god, what a voice! It's hard not to compare Phantoms but Luke had a voice very similar to Ramin Karimloo, and that is one hell of a compliment, as Ramin is one of the best Phantoms of all time! I was so pleasantly surprised by Luke's performance. Stand out moments for Luke were definitely the mirror sequence and title song. His 'Music Of The Night' was also very memorable.
Now the understudy Raoul I was looking forward to seeing. I've had the pleasure of seeing the regular Raoul, Nadim Naaman, on two occasions. I've also met him a couple of times before and he's always been a gentleman. One of my friends saw the understudy Raoul, Matt Blaker, the previous week and said that he was very good, so I was very happy to see that his performance was a real treat. I don't want to be disrespectful to Nadim but I could easily see Matt taking over the role of Raoul. I found his acting to be much better than Nadim's and I actually thought Matt's voice was better too!
The understudy Piangi was pretty good but his role isn't too significant in the show for me to really discuss. I have to be honest though and say that the understudy Madame Giry was disappointing. The regular Madame Giry, Jacinta Mulcahy, totally owns the role! Joanna Strand in comparison though was very disappointing. She was far too young for the role of such an old and wise character. Her voice was also quite poor.
Still, the understudies did the show justice, especially Luke McCall and Matt Blaker! It can't be easy filling in for the two main roles in the show but they did an absolutely wonderful job. Both could easily get the jobs full time when the show goes through it's next cast change. I'd be more than happy if they got the job anyway!
It wouldn't be fair to review the show without mentioning Celinde Schoenmaker's performance as Christine. Being my third time seeing Celinde as Christine, I knew I would be in for a good performance and Celinde duly delivered! It's safe to say that Miss Schoenmaker has one hell of a fantastic voice! She is also one very amazing actress! Her standout moments for me were without doubt 'Think Of Me' and 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again', the latter of which brought tears to my eyes. I really do love Celinde. I think she'll definitely go down in history as one of the finest Christine's of all time.
After standing up to applaud the actors at the end, it was time to leave the theatre and head back to the stage door. First out was the legendary Philip Griffiths. Philip is a legend when it comes to Phantom because he has been performing in the show for well over 25 years! He was very kind and gracious, also more than happy to pose for a photo!
Philip Griffiths, what a legend!
Next out was my favourite woman in the world! I'm talking about the beautiful Celinde Schoenmaker if you hadn't already guessed! She was more than happy to pose for another photo with me and also spoke with me about her love for the show and music in general.
Celinde, what a beautiful woman!
After meeting Celinde again, Daisy Hulbert then came out to greet fans. Daisy plays the role of Meg Giry in the show. To be honest, one of my least favourite characters in the show but Daisy puts a rather fun and ditzy spin on the role. Perfect casting actually! Just like everyone else, Daisy was happy to pose for a selfie with me.
Me and the lovely Daisy Hulbert.
Understudy Raoul, Matt Blaker, was the next actor out to greet fans. I met Matt very briefly after the matinee performance and said I'd be looking forward to meeting him after the evening performance. True to our word, we met each other again and had a little joke about it. If there's anything to say about meeting the cast of Phantom, it's that they are all very down to earth and so very humble.
Me and Matt Blaker, possibly the next Raoul?
Last out was Lara Martins, who plays diva Carlotta. This was my third time seeing Lara in the show but actually the first time I had ever met her. She was really funny and talkative.
Trying not to laugh with Lara Martins.
I can honestly say that this was without doubt the most fun I'd ever had when watching The Phantom Of The Opera. Okay, it wasn't the best performance I'd ever been to, that would probably be when I saw John Owen Jones in the lead role in 2014, it was however the most enjoyable time I've had. Meeting the cast twice in the day was a memory I will forever treasure. They were all just so lovely and down to earth. I also think that they are the best photos I've ever had with the cast. Like I said, definitely great memories to treasure!
Her Majesty's Theatre. My favourite theatre in all of London!
After meeting and socialising with the cast for a good hour or so after the show had finished, it was time to head back to my hotel for a very well deserved sleep. I definitely needed it after such a tiring day but it was all so worth it!
Time for a well deserved sleep!
The next day I enjoyed a breakfast at my hotel, checked out of my hotel, then went to explore some of the theatres for a spot of photography. I also thought it would be helpful to find all the theatres so that I knew where to go on future visits! At about mid-day, I decided it was time to get the train back to Gatwick Airport.
Kinky! Looking forward to seeing this for the first time sometime this year!
Hoping to see 42nd Street this year! Can't beat the old school musicals!
All in all, my first theatre trip of the year was fantastic and one I'll treasure for a very long time!
Trip Rating: 9/10
I've given my first theatre trip of the year a very high 9 out of 10 for various reasons. My biggest reason for such a high marking was because of my time meeting the cast. I absolutely love to meet casts of shows. I've done it every time I've seen Phantom but I had never met the whole cast like I had done on this occasion. Meeting Ben Forster was a real highlight for me. I still can't get over how lovely he was. Meeting the gorgeous Celinde Schoenmaker once again was obviously a highlight for me too. All of my photos with the cast came out so well too, which was great! Staying overnight was also another big factor for such a high mark. I'd never stayed overnight in London alone but I absolutely loved the experience. I definitely think I'll be doing more overnight solo theatre trips this year!
It wouldn't be fair to talk about the day without mentioning all of the wonderful people I met. As I already mentioned, I met a friendly girl from Belgium who was visiting just for the day to see the show. In Her Majesty's Theatre, I was sat next to a really lovely couple from Ireland, who spoke to me the whole time before the show and during the interval. When I met the cast after the performance, I was waiting with a lovely young couple, as well as their little daughter who loved the show. This is what I loved about the trip. Despite going all alone, I didn't quite feel like I was on my own as I spoke to so many lovely people. It really was a great day!
Meeting Ben Forster. One of the highlights of my life so far!
So what's next on the agenda? The Comedy About A Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre on Thursday 16th February. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my first ever comedy play in London for my second theatre trip of the year!
I hope you enjoyed reading my first theatre trip report of the year! I look forward to posting many more this year!
Lots of love,
Michael x
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