(upbeat music)
- We're so glad you could be here
for this totally jam-packed episode of The Broadway Show.
I'm Tamsen Fadal.
- [Tamsen Fadal] Phantom of The Opera
is Broadway's longest-running musical,
but Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece
is making history once again.
Here's Paul Wontorek with the story.
- Thanks, Tamsen.
These angels of music are sharing an iconic Broadway part.
Meghan Picerno is once again,
Christine Daaé in the Phantom of The Opera.
Joined by newcomer
Emilie Kouatchou,
as an alternate in the role.
Making her the first Black actress
to play the part on Broadway.
I met up with the talented ladies
at the Renaissance Hotel's, R Lounge.
(orchestral music)
♪ The Phantom ♪
- [Phantom] Sing, my angel of music.
♪ of the Opera is there. ♪
♪ Inside my mind. ♪
- [Paul Wontorek] Meghan, let me start with you.
- [Meghan Picerno] Okay.
- You were performing in Phantom,
- Yes.
- when Broadway shut down.
- Yes.
- So you've been without Christine Daaé,
wishing you were somehow here again.
- [Meghan Picerno] Yes.
- She is. How does it feel?
- It's a little surreal.
I'm cautiously positive about everything.
- [Paul Wontorek] Yes.
I don't want to get too excited yet,
but it feels amazing.
I mean, we're making history.
- [Emilie Kouatchou] Yeah.
- Team Christine is making history right now
and we are historically returning.
Phantom has never been shut down like this before.
So it's quite a time to be alive,
and it's amazing to be back.
I'm going to cry a lot.
(laughs)
- There is a Team Christine.
That is a thing.
- There are a lot of amazing--
- It is a thing.
actresses who have played this role,
Christine Daaé, of Phantom of The Opera.
How does it feel to be joining their ranks?
Joining the club?
- I mean, it's surreal.
I just, I feel so grateful.
This has been like a dream of mine for a long time.
It's actually the first show I ever saw on Broadway.
So this is kind of full circle for me.
And it's special because I get to step into this role
as the first Black woman to play it.
I'm honored that it's me.
I'm honored that I get to carry on this legacy
of this iconic role.
Yeah, and I just feel great.
I feel really good.
- You were a young girl when you saw Phantom of The Opera,
when you were talking about.
When you see Christine Daaé on stage,
do you immediately think, that.
That's the role I should play?
- When I first saw it,
I saw it from the nosebleed seats.
So I didn't see anything.
- [Emilie Kouatchou] At that point, it was just like,
it was more of a feeling of,
this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
When it became clear to me that Christine was something
that I could handle,
was in college.
And I remember one of the casting directors
for Phantom came to our school.
We had meetings with him and I was like,
"I want to play Christine on Broadway."
And at that point he was like, "Okay, sure."
I've gotten already a few messages from girls
who are younger than me,
who are like,
"I'm coming to see Phantom because of you."
And that's really special for me
because, I mean,
I just think that theater should be for everyone.
- Meghan, you came at this role a little differently.
You came really more from the opera world, right?
- [Meghan Picerno] Yeah, and because of Hal Prince actually.
So I, you probably saw "Phantom" before I did,
because I was doing "Candide" at New York City Opera
and he was my director.
And he was like, "Have you ever seen Phantom?"
And I was like.
I saw the movie, I saw the movie,
but I was like, "No, I haven't."
And that was four years ago.
- Wow.
- What I think has been really interesting for me
as a fan of the show, P-H-A-N.
Is watching different actresses take on this role over time.
And I feel like it used to be cast
with very classic ingenue soprano ladies.
And over the years,
I've seen much more women
with so many different flavors taking on this part,
which is what's so awesome about it.
- Our resident director actually talks about this a lot.
He was very specific about me not putting on any airs
- [Paul Wontorek] Right.
that I don't need to,
or any preconceived notions
of who a woman was back in that time.
- Right.
- [Emilie Kouatchou] I am me.
I am Emilie playing this role.
I can be grounded in who I am.
I can speak like how I speak.
I really love that.
The growth in this show, in that way.
I really love that.
I can just be myself in Christine.
I don't have to play Christine.
- This role has always been split
between two actresses since it first opened on Broadway.
So you do six shows a week and you do two shows a week.
And you share the same dressing room.
So are there any, how does that work?
I mean, you've been through this before.
Are there certain rules about the space?
- It is definitely a Team Christine.
So I had never replaced ever before, in my life.
And I was very lucky that on my alternate at the time,
Eryn LeCroy, was just the sweetest.
And she like took all her stuff down
and she's like,
"Girl, this is your dressing room.
We'll share this and that."
It has been cleaned,
but you should know
that usually it's like a fairy threw up
(laughs)
in my room
- Okay, I like fairies.
- Unicorn, and lots of lights
Seth is our resident director and always comes in
and he's like, "Oh my God, there's more in here?"
(laughs)
I'll try to keep it, I don't know.
We'll see.
Maybe I'm a changed person post-pandemic.
(upbeat music)