INTERVIEW: Meghan Picerno says goodbye to Christine role in Broadway’s ‘Phantom’
Photo: Meghan Picerno will play the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway through mid-January. Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy / Provided by The Publicity Office with permission.
Meghan Picerno, the celebrated Broadway performer, is currently starring in a role she knows quite well. She can be seen as Christine Daaé in Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history. And as long as Omicron doesn’t change any plans, she will continue in the role until Jan. 23. Emilie Koutachou, who recently made history as the first Black actor to portray the part, will become the new Christine starting Jan. 26 (she currently plays the alternate).
For Picerno, playing Christine has been a professional love and personal passion for the past five years. She not only has played the role on Broadway, both now and before the pandemic, but she also portrayed the central character on a world tour, and even took one step further and played the part in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical sequel, Love Never Dies. It has been a long journey with this operatic role, and now, as Picerno enters the final weeks of her time with Phantom, she is recalling the many memories from throughout those years, most notably with the late great director Harold Prince.
“It really is one of those kismet stories actually,” Picerno said in a recent phone interview. “It starts with Hal Prince himself. I was cast in his New York City production of his revival of Candide, and that’s where I met Hal. And he very quickly became my mentor, and he had asked if I had ever seen Phantom. And this was five years ago, and I literally was super embarrassed and said, ‘No.’ So he got me tickets, and that was the first time I saw Phantom. And then shortly after I was cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies as Christine.”
Picerno remembers being brought into Prince’s office and told about a new Webber show that was coming to the United States — this being Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom. The legendary director suggested that she try out for the role of Christine, an opera singer who is at first haunted by the Phantom and then eventually falls in love with him. Theirs is a story of obsession and music, romance and mystery. Picerno was eventually put in front of Webber, the successful composer of many major musicals.
“It was awesome,” she said of her experience auditioning for Love Never Dies. “It was like an hour, and then three hours later, literally, I was cast as Christine, which is the fastest casting I’ve ever had in my life. Midway through Love Never Dies then Kristen Blodgette, who now is one of my dear fairy godmothers, who was the music director of Love Never Dies and an extraordinary female conductor of Phantom of the Opera, she, Andrew and Hal asked if I would like to open the new revival of Phantom of the Opera on the world tour and then transfer to Broadway.”
Since those early days, Picerno has played the role of Christine for nearly five years, in both Phantom and its sequel. That’s a rare treat for a musical theater star, and along the way, she has learned a great deal about the role and herself as well.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself actually via Christine, both the more mature version in Love Never Dies and then where it all began in Phantom,” she said. “Especially with this pause that we had with the pandemic, the Broadway shutdown, I am so changed from this whole experience as I’m sure everyone is. And so to have the opportunity to come back and inhabit her again, but as myself a different person, I really feel like I understand her even more … the vulnerability, the abandonment, the isolation, the fantasizing.”
She added: “This is my swan song for her. I’ve been Christine now going on five years in some form or fashion, so to have the opportunity also to come back and reopen Broadway as Christine is also a great honor. You just cherish every moment, truly, truly.”
When Phantom of the Opera reopened at the Majestic Theatre a couple months ago, Picerno thought she may have nerves before the opening curtain because she had been away from a live, in-person audience for many months. But, in fact, she had the opposite reaction when the big night came.
“The energy that I felt, that all of us felt, from not only each other on stage, backstage, but from the audience and everything, it was so human,” said Picerno, whose other credits include The Music Man, She Loves Me and My Fair Lady. “It was very existential actually, drawing on the energy of what this meant for all of us. … It was more than that — also to pay homage to all of those who we lost over the last couple of years. It was so much bigger than myself that I think that’s why I didn’t have nerves. Of course, there was a little bit, but not what I thought was going to happen. It was really quite beautiful actually.”
Of course, the resurgence of COVID-19, thanks to the Omicron variant, has shaken the theater community. As of this writing, Phantom of the Opera was not one of the shows impacted, but many high-profile shows have been forced to cancel performances. The next-door tenant of the Majestic Theatre, Jagged Little Pill at the Broadhurst, closed its production for good, and several others shut down until after Christmas. Picerno spoke to Hollywood Soapbox before the Omicron variant caused so many headaches and heartache.
Picerno, as she readies to say goodbye to this iconic role, takes her acting seriously and knows they physical toll playing such an important character can take. When she’s playing this beloved part, that’s her main focus in life.
“She’s a marathon, and at the end of a show you need to take a moment,” Picerno said. “I don’t really do much else except the show. You really can’t. My mind, body, spirit, vocally, it’s such a gigantic, epic role, and Christine is on stage for almost two hours. Once she starts, she doesn’t stop. It’s just like being an athlete. When I’m in show mode, particularly Christine show mode, it’s a very different kind of lifestyle then when I’m just Meghan walking around the streets. It’s a very strict lifestyle. It’s an epic role. It’s one of the most well-known roles in the world. It introduces music theater or music itself to many people, so that responsibility is huge. You really need to make sure that you’re giving whatever 100 percent you have that day to the audience. They deserve that, and you deserve that, and so do your castmates. And you have to take care of yourself in every possible way, so I don’t go out partying. The wild child in me has to take a backseat, and the soldier-nun-monk comes out.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Phantom of the Opera, starring Meghan Picerno, continues at the Majestic Theatre on 44th Street in Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
