OK, but what in the juicy apple of Aminta is the deal with the excessive table dancing / crawling / standing thingie in the Don Juan scene in non-replica productions? Curious mind needs to know!
It started with the Hungarian production in 2004, where the ensemble is first seen table dancing / crawling / standing:
...then enters Christine for a table moment of her own:
With the 2012 Restaged Tour appearing to be quite inspired by the Hungarian production in many aspects, the table dancing / crawling / standing was suddenly back on, both by the ensemble:
...and OH YES, the Phantom too if the mood is right...
I'll give the 2014 Czech production props for not directly doing table dancing... But... There are certainly people on that table...
Then the 2015 Romanian / 2018 Norwegian production entered the chat... The original and revamped staging of this production - currently touring the Middle East and Europe - also thought it was too bad to just have that big, awesome table standing there... So Meg does a little table dance sequence...
...the ensemble joins the fun:
Piangi wonder what all the fun is about and crawls up too...
...which very much prepares for a table crawl by Christine., similar to that seen in the Czech production..
Ar'right. Would people please get down from the table? NO. Apparently not. Because the new 2023 Romanian production also felt this was a mandatory move:
...and the Mediterranean version premiering in Italy in 2023 just nodded and said... TABLE TABLE TABLE!!!! Everyone up on the table! We love the table!
...so... WHAT'S THE DEAL?