Where: Boston and
Connecticut
When: February 2001,
and January 2002
I saw Julie twice, the first time was in February of 2001, in Boston.
At this performance, Julie was still the understudy for the role. (Actually all the major roles that night were understudies,
but thats's another story all together).
I was really not expecting her to be that good, since most understudies
I had seen before weren't too stellar, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well she portrayed the character of Christine.
She has the perfect amount of innocence and nervousness at the beginning of "Think of Me", and then gains the confidence needed
to do the Final Lair scene.
Her
voice is also very pure, and not harsh at all. The second time I saw Julie was more recently in January of 2002, in Hartford,
Connecticut. By this time she had become the Christine alternate instead of just the understudy. I went to the evening performance
that day, so since Rebecca Pitcher had done the matinee that day, Julie was doing the evening show. Once again, I was very
impressed. Her consistency was great, seeing her in Hartford was almost the same as when I saw her in Boston.
There were slight differences, of course, but overall, it was a
very consistent and very well acted performance. What I like best about her, is her ability to keep the innocence of the character,
even at the end, when she has the confidence to stand up to the Phantom.
There's always the sense that she is a younger girl and doesn't
know everything, but knows what's right and wrong. She was also very good acting with Ted Keegan. When they had their duets
together, like in the title song and in Wandering Child, neither one overpowered the other and you could hear what they were
both saying. I was very impressed with Julie, both times I saw her, and I hope I get to see her again someday.
