PHANTOM “PHAN” THEORY
These thoughts have been on my mind for a long time now and now I’d like to share a Theory I have had with all of you
Just to be clear this is merely a Theory I came up with a while back. There is no 100% Confirmation that any of this is true, but there is nothing that is denying it either
So Please take what you are about to read with a grain of salt and remember that you are more than welcome to agree or disagree with what you are about to read
With that out of the way, Let’s talk about the Cast for the 2021 Phantom of the Opera West End Revival
Specifically The Role of “The Phantom”
When the 2020 UK & Ireland Tour of Phantom of the Opera was announced, I was very excited for this cast. However, myself and many others couldn’t help but notice an interesting bit included in the announcement:
[Please note: Killian Donnelly will play the role of ‘The Phantom’ in Leicester, Manchester, Dublin and Birmingham. Casting for the role of ‘The Phantom’ from Edinburgh onwards will be announced in due course]
This means that after these stops Killian was going to leave the Phantom Tour and we would be getting a new Principle Phantom
But, who would that be?
I think it was going to be someone already within the Touring Cast
Specifically, one of the Understudies
The Phantom UK Tour had Two Understudies for ‘The Phantom’
James Gant (Auctioneer) who was 1st Cover Phantom
Brad Barnley (Hairdresser) who was 2nd Cover Phantom
However, it should be noted that in addition to understudying ‘The Phantom,’ Brad Barnley was also 2nd Cover ‘Raoul’ so he covers not just one but two roles
James Gant on the other hand only covered ‘The Phantom’
Which means, If they needed a Temporary Principle OR a New Principle Phantom, they could promote James Gant to that position
However, I’m sure many of you are asking, “What about James’ original track as ‘The Auctioneer?’
Something that I’ve noticed about the “Auctioneer” track, mostly recently in the Current London Production is how the “Auctioneer” track seems to be interchangeable among the other performers in the company
Whenever James Gant is unable to perform the “Auctioneer” track, one of the swings will cover Gant’s part in the ensemble while the actual “Auctioneer” part of Gant’s track will usually be covered by James Hume before assuming his normal track as Monsieur Reyer
If Gant and/or Hume are unable to perform, either one of the Swings will cover the full track or the role will be split between “Auctioneer” and Ensemble
In some extreme cases, they’ll have someone who doesn’t even cover the “Auctioneer” track like Michael Robert-Lowe who one day randomly played the Auctioneer before assuming his normal track as ‘Joseph Buquet’
Therefore, promoting James Gant to Principle Phantom would not hinder the Production that much
However, I’m sure you have noticed that means The Phantom Tour would now only have ONE understudy for ‘The Phantom
…….or would they?
When the understudies were revealed for the UK & Ireland Tour, I was shown that James Hume (Monsieur Reyer) would be an Understudy for Monsieur Andre but, not an Understudy for The Phantom
I was a little disappointed in this cause I thought James Hume would be a great Phantom
However, when the Tour Company replaced the London Company at Her Majesty’s (which I’m still a bit upset about, but whatever) James Hume in addition to being an Understudy for Monsieur Andre was revealed to also be an Understudy for The Phantom
Something interesting to note however, is that James Hume is actually 3rd Cover for The Phantom. James Gant & Ashley Stillburn are 1st and 2nd Cover respectively
I mention this because Hume is the ONLY person in the Cast to be a 3rd Cover for a role. Everyone else is either 1st or 2nd Cover
Credit to @phantomtrader19 for the Cast Program Picture
Why would they have a 3rd Cover for one of the roles, but not for any other role in the London Production?
I think it’s because of what they had planned for the 2020 UK & Ireland Tour
When Killian Donnelly was planned to leave the Tour, James Gant would have been promoted from 1st Cover Phantom to the Principle Phantom. James Hume, in addition to being 1st Cover Andre, would have been the New 1st Cover Phantom for the Tour since he tends to be the one that fills in for Gant as the Auctioneer. Brad Barnley most likely would have stayed as 2nd Cover for The Phantom/Raoul
That is what I think was the plan for the Tour since the beginning, However due to Covid-19, Things DRASTICALLY changed so, when The Phantom Tour Cast replaced the London Cast (which again, I’m still a bit upset about), they decided to just make James Hume a Phantom Understudy along with James Gant & Ashley Stillburn
As for what Killian Donnelly was planning on doing when he left the Tour
I have a Theory
22 notes
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