By Mike Hughes

Lansing State Journal

...For Julie Hanson, who stars as Christine, it was a different situation. She had zero time to fret.

There she was, singing in the chorus and being the third person in line to play Christine.

"They had almost called everyone to their places for the show," Hanson recalled.

"Then the girl playing Christine found she wasn't feeling well."

There wasn't time to call in the No. 2 Christine. Hanson - already in her ballerina costume - had to change quickly and take over.

"It was very sudden," she recalls, "very nerve-racking."

It also happened to be in Florida, where her aunt and uncle lived. "One of the ballerinas took my cell phone and tried to call them, so they could get to the show."

That didn't work. Her debut as a "Phantom" star went well; like Little's, it went unseen by friends and family.