#anne gorner

Jerky/laggy video here but can't resist Ethan Freeman's hands in this MOTN.

Christine, certified girl boss.

A direction I wish was used more. After everything that happens, seeing Christine almost intimidate the Phantom is so satisfying.

Felicidad Farag, Madrid

Julia Moller, Madrid

Anne Gorner, Essen

Ana Marina, World Tour

Valerie Link, Hamburg

Lauri Brons, Hamburg

Harriet Jones, London

Meghan Picerno, World Tour

Lina Mendes, Brazil

It is once again Final Lair time with Nancy! For this one I caught Thomas Borchert, Anne Gorner, and Nikolaj A. Brucker from the Essen production. Watched from here. It’s all in German but since I know the English lyrics so well I’m just going to be substituting those in for each part.

this is such a frantic phantom right off the bat 

he tosses her down and lifts his hand starts towards her and stops himself. it's like he's reminding himself to stay away from her

he's shaking his head and his hands are moving like he doesn't know what to do with them. then he's still and just staring at her. he's processing everything and visibly restraining himself

"this face" is normal, "the INFECTION" is shouted with all his rage finally cracking through. and she FLINCHES and the rest of it is said so sadly and softly as she turns away

oh this man is almost crying as he talks about his mother. i LOVE the bitter smile he does at "a mask"

his frantic veil arranging already had my entire heart but he also tries to fluff out the skirt of the dress too?!?! and his movements are so choppy and quick this is Ideal

He's looking her up and down obviously not listening and just admiring her in her wedding gown. Then we hit "it's in your SOUL" and she says it so harshly it makes him stop and just stare at her

at the "wait!" he grabs her arm!!! and holds her next to her!!! what a lovely wedding portrait

you can tell he's thinking this too, he smiles at "we have a guest" and sounds so calm and collected as he greets raoul! which makes it even more jarring when he then tosses the mannequin off the throne and continues in the same tone. this phantom is in control and he knows it

i'm used to hearing these lines yelled but "your lover makes a passionate plea" is said quietly, almost dreamlike. he's observing this and is scarily collected. and he gradually gets louder but you still get the sense nothing's really touching him. 

his voice is just so chilling on the "monsieur i bid you welcome" and it just BUILDS. the DREAD i feel for these two

RUN RAOUL RUN

the sheer POWER this phantom exudes my heart rate is UP

he's full on yelling now. all his movements are so harsh. christine is clearly trying to pull back from him as he pleads with her by yelling in her face. when he lets go she more collapses than is thrown down.

oh christine honey :( she is crying this is awful for her

she is angry but she is mostly heartbroken that she's been betrayed in this way

i just realized this raoul has long floppy hair i LOVE it when raouls have long floppy hair this is AMAZING

he also really looks like he's choking and his shirt is open all the way down to his waist. and one sleeve is torn off. i really like this raoul guys

back to our drama couple! our phantom is very forbidding even as he goes to threaten raoul and christine blocks him. but then raoul sings the "why make her lie to you to save me" and he pulls back and retreats from both that and christine's death glare. it's amazing he has to try and recover from a distance

he is in control! he is a terrifying and powerful phantom! and even if he didn't consider the fact that she'd be lying what of it? that's not enough to sway him certainly!

he has this little pout as he sits back on his throne and he's REALLY not looking at christine when she kneels down in front of him

ooooh long moment of silence after her "i gave my mind blindly" he is visibly fighting to restrain himself again. then he turns to her and stares her down. little sneer as he quietly whispers the "you try my patience"

he seems so tired when he gets up and turns his back to her. he just wants this charade to be done. he just wants his wife. "make your choice" is said without mercy he will not be moved even if he sees how horrible it is

oh this christine is very lovely you can see her compassion. her prayer "god give me courage to show you" is very much not for herself but for him. she doesn't know if this will work to get through to him but she has to try

he very much turns around and expects her to say something NOT pull him into a kiss

his hands come up and are shaky at first. he is gasping for breath during that embrace. his lips are moving but he can't say anything. and then she goes in for the kill with the second kiss

he just bends lower as she kisses him again. her hand caresses his deformity. his arms come up as if to embrace her but they're shaking. he can only grab her shoulders before he pulls away

he looks so LOST. so shaken. he almost does a lip touch several times so it's just as good as one

OH NOISES raoul is DYING over there he's been completely FORGOTTEN

oh my gosh you can see the realization. he was trying to make sense of it and now he remembers where he is. remembers what he's doing. and of course she kissed him to save her boy. he picks up the candle slowly

it looks like it takes him all his strength to make that final reach to get raoul down. his shoulders are slumped as he walks back to the organ. he knows he's lost

his voice is still commanding and calm but the way he's walking is very not in control. he's struggling to appear so he makes it back to his chair in time to collapse into it.

his expression looks so SAD for a moment before it turns into resignation. he's done what he had to do, what he'd been certain he could never bear to do

angry yell and swipe to get them to run but he just looks so tired once they're gone

oh he smiles at the music box starting to play!

covers the mask side of the monkey's face but he looks like he's really leaning on that monkey. man needs some support and has nowhere else to get it

oh NO he has this excited little "christine!" and a smile when she comes back! he runs to her and then she holds out the ring and you can just see his heart break all over again

he grabs her hand oh my gosh i can't take this

he tries to hold on for as long as possible and she starts to cry and runs off

he LEAVES his HAND there reaching out for her for SO LONG SIR

he just crumples in on himself when he finally puts the ring on and reaches for the veil

ladies and gentlemen we have a veil sniff!!!

hard to see but I'm fairly certain that's an r/c hand kiss on the boat lovely

his voice is so powerful on the last notes there's such a good sense of finality. the play is done the dream is over and yet he'll always remember her kindness

This haunted face holds no horror for me now...