| Welcome to my little gallery of horrors. This page is a place for goofs, flubs, and technical disasters that have occured onstage during a live performance of Phantom. Have you seen a flub and want to report it? Mail me! Beware, though ... some of these are a little painful. ;) |
 |  Colm Wilkinson had a bit of trouble on the Angel sculpture once. It got caught up somehow while it was rising after the All I Ask Of You Reprise, and tilted forward at a dangerous angle. It was all Colm could do to keep from falling out. As an added bonus, Colm's wife happened to be in the audience that night, and when that occured, she jumped up and starting pointing and screaming for someone to help her husband. On another occasion ... Colm (we think) and an undisclosed Christine apparently took part in what some phans dub "Grab Night". Need I say Point of No Return? I didn't think so. Anyhow. Rumor has it Colm got a little feisty while Christine was on the bench and, erm, grabbed a handful. Later, when it was Colm's turn on the bench, Christine retaliated by grabbing a chunk of his posterior end. Apparently Colm was so surprised and shocked he fell right off the bench. Peter de Smet, while performing Raoul, broke his leg once while jumping into the lake at the end of Act II and was laid up for weeks. |
| Thomas James O'Learyblack jack casinos's hair caught on fire once during the Final lair scene. While he was freeing Raoul from the noose, a spark from his candle ignited his hair. He stated in InTheater Magazine that he "was singing my heart out and suddenly I saw the cast--gasping in horror. I put my hand to my head and I felt flames. So I just started beating my skull madly, which went with the scene anyway, since I was having an emotional fit at Christine and Raoul. I don't think the audience noticed, but eveyone was poised backstage with fire extinguishers." It's an experience he says he would rather forget. :) Michael Crawford's cloak caught on fire during the title song. The boat had failed to operate, so he and Christine (Sarah Brightman) had to walk across the stage. He happened to be standing over a candle trapdoor when it opened ... He also suffered from a hernia as a result of performing Phantom. He left the hospital (against doctor's orders) only two weeks after an operation so he could perform while an understudy was prepared for him (This is a rather long story). Among other things, he was so heavily drugged to ward off the pain that, while waiting up in the Angel sculpture, he fell alseep and missed his cue. He left the stage after the performance coughing up blood. Peter Karrie is no stranger to goofs, injuries, and the like. He likes to lean forward on the Angel sculpture during the "All I Ask Of You (Reprise)" for an added effect. Once, he somehow messed up his knee doing so and was in agony for the rest of the performance. Another time, he somehow managed to fall down an actual trapdoor in the stage and was missing for quite a while. Another time, he also sang "Hate to cut the prisoner short" instead of "Hate to cut the fun short." There was also another slip-up that had to do with "an invasion of warring ducks." He was presented with a plaque and recording of his goof the next day. Finally, in between shows on a double performance day he sits in his dressing room and relaxes. Keep in mind that he still has on his face makeup, but he is so used to wearing it that he forgets that he's wearing it. One day he decided to stick his head out the window for some fresh air. People in the street saw him, screamed, and scattered. He apparently has also ripped his trousers during the Angel scene (and swore to never again wear white underclothes) and had some trouble with a trapdoor. Also, I think he once actually fell through a trapdoor and no one could find him for quite some time ... |
| floorboards. Try as she might, it was going to budge. She performed the scene with the stick there, and left it. A while later it fell out, and she came and retrieved it. As an added note: Most Madame Girys suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because the stick is much too heavy. If they don't switch what hand they carry it in often, they develop CTS and can't perform. Mechelen accommodationMost Madame Girys suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because the stick is much too heavy. If they don't switch what hand they carry it in often, they develop CTS and can't perform. Ethan FreemanSinaia urlaub buchen took a tumble down the staircase during Why So Silent? . . . His lines were taped, so as he fell, he kept on "singing" ... but he got up and continued on. Poor devil. I would have cried. Rick Hilsabeck had to skip out at intermission at one performance to have an emergency root canal performed. Ian Jon Bourg finished out the rest of the show for him. Ouch. This ranks as the Number One Owie for a Phantom to Suffer. Brad Little has also fallen flat on his face. And when he was touring with Kimilee Bryant, he accidentally stepped on the end of her dress when she was getting out of the boat and they both fell down. Once, during Ljubljana hôtelsMusic of the Night, Kimilee sneezed on Brad's hand during the "floating, falling" verse. Kimilee had to use all of her reserve to keep from laughing while Brad tried to surreptitiously wipe his hand. Steve Barton, whilst understudying the Phantom, busted his knees open on the trapdoor during Masquerade. This is what began Michael Crawford's long story of leaving the hospital before it was time. Somehow, Maaike Widdershoven managed to seriously injure herself on the gate to Christine's father's grave during Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. I don't think she was able to perform for a few weeks. |