“It was a big conversation when I was rehearsing first with our production supervisors. She said it can be difficult to assume a historic role people are familiar with, while still making it feel like it’s hers.

Christine - a young soprano - starts the musical with a small role in the show within the show, but becomes the Phantom’s love interest and he uses his influence to get her the lead role by any means possible.Ĭhristine is a beloved character in the iconic musical, known for her sweeping ballads “Think of Me,” “All I Ask of You” and “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.” No longer an understudy, Kouatchou stepped into the role full-time for the show’s anniversary on Jan 26, 2022. The Phantom, a mysterious character who inhabits the rafters, sabotages the ongoing opera to get what he wants from the new owners.

But yeah, it was a wonderful night.”īased on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, “Phantom of the Opera” tells the story of a love triangle that blossoms after two businessmen take ownership of a haunted opera house. “I remember feeling like, ‘OK, no matter what happens, the people out there have me and the people backstage have me and are supporting me.’ I remember it being a whirlwind and being extremely tired by the end, ready to drop. They cheered when I first came on stage,” the 25-year-old actor told TODAY via Zoom. “I remember feeling a lot of support from the audience. She felt pressure to live up to the role, yet also taken care of at the same time. Kouatchou still remembers the first time she hit the stage playing Christine as an understudy in October 2021. In celebration of Black history, Kouatchou sat down with TODAY to discuss disrupting an industry set in its ways and the significance of Black representation on Broadway, especially in predominately white musicals and plays.

Phantom of the opera cast 2021 broadway