"Tonight, I Gave You My Soul, And I Am Dead."

"Tonight, I gave you my soul, and I am dead."

10 of my favorite Hadley Fraser as Raoul moments (gif edition).

No doubt Hadley is, and will probably remain, one of the most popular Raoul’s. Personally, I think his Raoul could sometimes be a bit emotionless or on the more aggressive side, though I don’t entirely blame him. Besides the fact that he was going off of what he was being directed to do, he had also never been in the show before and had only a short time to get acquainted with the part. But I think he also had some wonderful moments that make up for it. So here are some of my favorites!

Being so proud of Christine and excited to see her again,

I have always interpreted this as him not just being happy to see her, but also happy that she remembers him too!

Visibly being more serious/concerned/sympathetic when Christine mentions that her father has passed and coming down to her level to comfort her.

Him being adorably confused as to why Christine is asking him to love her when he already is!

Just cause I love Hadley’s smile.

Bringing her hands to his chest and closing his eyes because that’s just how much he loves Christine and needs her to love him in return.

I love how he holds Christine’s head. And of course the kiss. Cuteness overload.

More of his smile. And also how happy and relieved he is to find Christine after looking all over for her.

Christine is his number one priority.

This part has always stuck with me all these years. He looks so defeated and disappointed thinking Christine chose the Phantom.

Didn't know that the plague has infected the wedding dress too...I get that it's to keep the dress silhouette the same after all the sitting on the stage but goddamn that's ugly as hell.

What are your thoughts on the ugly taffeta worm on the train of the current west end wedding dresses? 🙃

This made me laught out loud. HAHAHA, but tell me what you really think of it, don't hold back... :D

But I'm with you. I like the addition in Lucy St Louis' Wishing dress, where it manage to look quite period and reflect on Victorian fashion plates with a puffed-up bustle. Here's her dress next to an 1874 day dress from La Mode Illustrée:

The wedding dress backdrape, on the other hand, looks like an afterthought. Or a way to drape the backdrape up so it won't get in the way? In my personal opinion it's not particluarly elegant, it's just massive:

I'd rather see them funk up the bow which (again in my personal opinion) is just big and limpy. A more defined bow with long decorative ends would make more of an impact and more of a bustle without drowning the waterfall backdrape. Something in the vein of the Aussie/World Tour and Canadian dresses:

Yeah, not a fan of the "worm" overall. But I do like the same idea (albeit different execution) for the Wishing dress.

Maybe it's the Gauloise?

Smurf?😂

The 1973 film is the most enjoyable film just for Aramis and Milady alone. The world would be healing faster if we care about this adaptation more

And also, the costuming served cvnt so bad WTF? Yvonne Blake you were so amazing thanks for all the gorgeous works

IF THEY WOULD, THEY COULD!

To the left, recent UK made Star Princess bodices worn in the UK and in Asia. To the right, new UK made bodices, also worn in the UK and Asia.

ROW 1: Claire Lyon in the World Tour revival, and Lucy St Louis in the West End revival

ROW 2: Pan Hangwei in Beijing, and Lucy St Louis in the West End revival

ROW 3: Lucy St Louis in the filmed West End fitting, and Son Eun Hye in the Seoul revival

ROW 4: Holly-Anne Hull in the UK Tour revival and early West End revival, and Lily Kerhoas, West End revival

ROW 5: Claire Lyon in the World Tour revival, and Kown Ga Min in the Seoul revival

I am not shaming the individual wearers. They are beautiful and talented and put on the assigned costume. I am also not shaming the individual costume makers. They make what they are asked to make. Chances are some of these bodices were even made by the same costume makers. I am shaming the decision of going from what reflects on Maria Bjørnson's rich design, to stripped-down, half-assed bodices which sometimes doesn't even seem to be properly fitted to the actress.

OK, so the general audience may not notice. But for example in photos it is quite visible. You can do better. The column to the left is a proof you both CAN and HAVE done better. As it is now some fan replicas looks a lot better than the stage equivalent. I'm not sure that's what you want. Just... up the game goddamnit!