colby thomas

Colby is currently the principal Christine in the Hamburg production of Phantom where she's been since 1992,
her first and continuing performance with the show.

colby thomas

"Colby Thomas was born in Huntington, NY, and was a student of voice and drama at New York State University in Oneonta. After some engagements in different tour productions, she landed the role of Princess Tuptim in The King and I in 1989. She performed in some off-Broadway productions; and on Broadway, she sang the role of Anne in Sondheim's A Little Night Music as well as the role of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. In regional US productions she's been seen as Maria in West Side Story, Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof, and Luisa in The Fantasticks. She has also appeared in various plays, including Olivia in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Molly in The Mousetrap. She is also a frequent concert performer, having been a soloist in Händel's Messiah and Mozart's Mass in C Major with the Concert Royal and performed in Poulenc's Gloria with the Catskill Symphony Orchestra. She was Laurey in the European tour of Oklahoma! when she auditioned for the role of Christine, and has since had over 1000 performances in the role. When not in Das Phantom der Oper she appears in different classical concerts as a soloist." (from Phantom program, Hamburg, translated from German by Sarah Maykopf)

How did you get the role of Christine (were you asked, auditioned, etc)? What was your reaction when you got the news you were to be playing the role? "I got the role of Christine after auditioning here in Germany while I was here on a 7 month tour of Europe with the musical Oklahoma!... I was of course ecstatic when I got the offer. Christine is a very demanding role- how do you keep yourself in shape vocally? Physically? "When I began it was very tiring doing the part but one can adapt to anything. I do live quietly however and party very little. I was also coming right out of a rigorous touring schedule so that helped as well. I try to warm-up vocally for at least 45 minutes every day. What do you like to do on your days off? "On my days off I like to shop, bike around beautiful Hamburg (weather permitting), go to the movies. Stuff like that. What do you find most challenging about the role and the show? "The most challenging thing about the role for me is the physical endurance, and trying to maintain the quality of the singing with the emotional intensity of the acting. Is there one scene in the show you always enjoy and are happy with, even with different performers playing opposite? "There are many moments in the show I enjoy. I really can't pick just one. Most of them are times when I'm not on stage: the overture when all the curtains rise, Raoul's jump in to the lake, one with me is when I give the ring back to the Phantom at the end of the show. Are there any performers within Phantom companies you wish you could work with? "I think it might have been fun to play opposite Franc D'Ambrosio. He and I performed together long ago in a NY production of A Little Night Music. Where does Christine rate as far as favorite roles to have performed? "Christine is a wonderful role but I cannot rate it against the others. Laurey, Maria, Mabel, Luisa and Anne were all wonderful roles I am so grateful to have been able to play. I regret very much never playing Eliza Doolittle. How does playing opposite alternate/understudy Phantoms and Raouls etc, affect your performances? "Being able to work with a varied cast is exciting. It keeps you on your toes and new people help revive a show that has been running here for 8 years now. What's your basic warm-up before each performance? "Basic warm-up: stretching and singing for 45 minutes before showtime. What was your most embarrassing moment onstage in Phantom? The most gratifying? "Most embarassing moment: almost falling on my face during "Denk an Mich," and most gratifying: when my mother saw the show. How did you *first* prepare yourself for the role, character wise? "How I first prepared myself for the role was of course learning all the outward stuff; the German text, the dancing and blocking, how to move in the costumes. I rerearsed two and a half weeks before premiering and after six years I'm still discovering better ways to do it. The emotional sub text is all there in the music and Hal Prince's staging there was actually very little for me to figure out on my own. Some specific questions about your characterization: does your Christine fear that the Phantom may harm her in any way? "Of course I fear him enormously. That fear is the show's engine. in Don Juan Triumphant ("Point of No Return"), how do you characterize your Christine - i.e. realizing that Don Juan is in fact the Phantom right away or not until she touches his mask near the end of the song? "Good question. In Don Juan I sense him and have a 'first' realisation when he gives me the cup of wine. After drinking however, I'm under his spell and caught up in the passion of the scene and play it out in full until I feel his mask on my face. That awakens me from his enchantment and I try to run... how's that? at the end of the show, what do *you* think Christine really feels for the Phantom, and how do you use that in your characterization? "I think this is a moment where the audience decides for itself what I'm feeling. Do you feel there any similarities between Christine and your own person? "Similarities with Christine... of course. I can only bring what I know and what I've lived to the part. Unfortunately I have the loss of my own father as the most direct similarity. As far as her personality is concerned, I can only endow her with what I know and have experienced. To totally confuse you, I also don't feel like her at all. How has playing the role of Christine changed *you*? "Playing the role has not changed me personally if that's what you mean. Having this incredible luck to have found success in this business and having this somewhat steady job in this wonderful city, that has been a blessing and that can probably change a person. And finally...if you knew someone who said they wanted to play this role or that they had just gotten the role- what advice would you give them? "For any one who does the part in the future, I will only say treasure every moment of this wonderful experience."

If anyone would like to write to Ms. Thomas, you may do so by contacting me.