It was great to see Griffiths in a leading role, and both men work together well, although they are not the most hilarious pairing of managers I’ve seen in my various visits to this show. Long-time Phantom cast member Philip Griffiths portrayed Monsieur Andre at this performance (despite being the second cover), opposite Michael Matus as Firmin. Nadim Naaman plays Raoul, and he may have become my favourite actor to play the part ever! He makes Raoul a more likable figure, showing realistic interactions and reactions, and his and Wood’s performance of All I Ask of You is beautiful. She seems to bring something new to the character, giving it a bit more life and energy than usual, and her voice is simply divine, as displayed early on in Think of Me. Having only recently taken on the role of alternate Christine having understudied the part for a while, she performs it immaculately. However, Forster does encapsulate the character well, and his character’s evident love for Lisa Anne Wood as Christine is believable and heart breaking in the Final Lair scene.Īlternate Christine, Lisa Anne Wood, is absolutely brilliant. His vocals in the title song and Music of the Night are brilliant, although his accent does strangely seem to switch between British and American at times, and occasionally some sustained vowel sounds become distorted, which can be a problem in some of the most climactic moments of these famous pieces. There have been some notable cast changes in the leading roles since my last visit over a year ago, which I have mixed opinions about, but overall the experience succeeded in reminding me why I love this show so much.īen Forster currently portrays the Phantom, and he generally gives a good performance.

I can’t even begin to explain how excited I was to visit my current favourite musical, The Phantom of the Opera, for the fourth time during my weekend London trip for West End Live (see my last two Phantom reviews here and here).

2016 phantom of the opera cast