How Would You Do It?

[Angel]

If a female phan's dream came true and you got cast as Christine in a stage production of Phantom, how would you interpret the role? I thought it would be interesting to see how different phans think of Christine and whether there are any quirks you'd add, things you'd emphasise, whether you'd be influenced by others, etc. All we have to do is assume a director would okay everything!

[Hi-chan]

I don't really know!

No, but honestly, I've never thought about it. I've never had the desire to even THINK about playing Christine's role, possibly because I don't like her much...-_- (with some exceptions. She's just one of those characters for me, sometimes I like her and sometimes, UGH)

But...since you mention it, I may have to think on this one for a while...

[The Black Domino]

Well I wouldn't really like to be Christine on a stage production or movie, *but* if I were Christine on any type of production, the first thing I'd do is go blonde as well as getting blue lens. Then I'd work on the singing and acting. And the acting would be completely á la LerouxChristine.

[Angel]

Hehe, Black Domino ... love the total Leroux-ness

Anyway, I guess I'll be the first to answer my own question. I would like to try portraying a more, well, disturbed Christine, I guess. Basically, she would be very confused, conflicted and terrified of making a wrong decision. Although she's totally in love with Raoul, whenever she comes into the presence of the Phantom, she can't help letting him control her and becomes a totally different person. She is aware of this and dreads it, but feels guilty for wanting it, as it's her escape from the 'real world' where she's always stressed out. She also falls under this sort of 'trance' when sings 'for' or about the Phantom. I'd give her little twitchy mannerisms like not holding eye contact, wringing her hands, biting her lips, flinching if someone touches her unexpectedly, etc. Body language would be quite tight and closed up and she'd never be completely still. However, as soon as she comes into contact with the Phantom, be it physical or mental, I'd move a lot more fluidly and be a lot calmer and always look at the Phantom, if he's there, or else refuse to look at anybody else and move away from them. In a switch from this state back to the 'real world' state, she'd realise after a second or two and shudder, like she's feeling guilty for letting herself go again. However, in Christine/Phantom scenes like STYDI and Final Lair, when he gets really angry at her, his anger snaps her out of any trance, and she's really scared, trembling and nervous; she pities him, but can't understand why. She's pretty much back to her 'real world' self.

Okay, if you read through all that and understood all my warped thoughts, you deserve a medal.

[The Black Domino]

That's actually a very good way of portraying Christine, Angel. The way you portray her is nice because it makes Christine understandable. The problem with many actresses (*cough* Emmy Rossum *cough*) is that they have no clue whatsoever of *how* they want to portray Christine, or even how the version of her that they're portraying is, but you seem to have that under control, which is obviously fantastic.

[Angel]

Thanks, Black Domino Christine's character does intrigue me a bit, as there seem to be a lot of different ways that one can interpret her personality and motives. Basically, the drama student in me commands that I spend too much time thinking about things like this ... understanding a character is one of my favourite parts of acting.

Now I just need to wait for the POTO rights to be released and a local community theatre to hire them and get myself cast. All three of which are most likely not going to happen any time soon ::le sigh::

[Jaycee]

That's really good Angel! I admit, I've often dreamed of playing Christine, but I suppose I'll have to be content with Meg for now! I;d probably make it pretty R/C, but then so would probably anyone here. I'd probably play up hte fear of the phantom aspect. I think my portrayl of Christine would be pretty influenced by the way I interpret her character. I've alway thought that she didn't feel very much "real love" for the phantom, mostly just pity and admiration. My Christine would still be completely amazed by his music, but never really in love with him. The more romantic scenes for me would be the R/C ones of course. I'd obviously have to do something about hte PONR scene, so that some of the ECs will stop saying how in love with the Phantom Chrsitne was in that scene. Ithought maybe right in the middle if there's a moment when the Phantom looks away, maybe I could do a desperate glance a Raoul, so that It doesn't seems more like Christine is acting rather than actually falling under the Phantom's mysterious spell. Other than that, I aven't really thought of anyhting else. I;d definitel put more emotion in it than Emmy Rossum but I don't really know who else to compare to, since I've never seen another Christine, although I've heard a couple. The Christine in my acting class doesn't really count because we've only worked on drama once so far, so I haven't had a chance to analyze what kind of Chrsitine she is (and I probably never will, because I have to concentrate on my own character)

[LittleLotte394]

Hmmm...now I have something to think about this weekend. I really have no idea how I'd interpret the role...I've never really thought about it. But I love the ways everyone else would do it, and I agree with playing up the fear of Erik aspect, Jaycee.