BWW INTERVIEWS: Gina Beck of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

How's everything going?

Fantastic, the new cast started rehearsals this morning for the cast change, so it's both an exciting time and a sad time because I know I will be saying goodbye to good friends soon.

Oh, but you will have new friends!

Yes, exactly, and you always keep in touch with people that really matter to you.

Who will you miss most?

I really hit it off with Tori Johns who plays Meg Giry; we just have exactly the same sense of humour. So much so that she just got engaged and has asked me to be her maid of honour, so a friend for life, definitely.

And you get a new Phantom in the autumn, is that right?

Yes, David Shannon willl be opening on November 9.

Do you know him at all?

I've seen him playing Jean Valjean as my boyfriend Martin Neely just joined the new cast [of Les Miserables] and have met him in the pub a couple of times! He seems very nice and a great performer so I'm very excited! I'll be sad to say goodbye to Ramin [Ramin Karimloo], of course.

Have you had any sneak previews of Phantom 2 from Ramin?

No! He's been very guarded about that, only saying that it's some of Andrew's [Andrew Lloyd Webber] best work to date...He's extremely professional!

You were doing two jobs before getting the role of Christine. What were you doing?

Well, I had just bought a flat, spent all my savings and was auditioning for Phantom for two months. So I worked as a temp in the city during the day as an administrator and then got the tube and bus to Chelsea to work in a call-centre lining people up to attend stock market workshops! Very random! It was the greatest feeling in the world to say goodbye to that when I got Phantom!

A two-month audition process? That must have been quite gruelling for you.

The audition process was hard, they really put me through my paces. Obviously they have to make sure that I have the stamina and vocal ability for the job. It was doubly hard because I was working so many hours and had hardly any time to practise and always had to warm up in the office ladies' room!

That must have scared your colleagues as you practised your high C...

I had to go up to the fourth-floor ladies' in the office block to make sure I didn't bump into any of my colleagues working on the first floor! As soon as I heard the door open I shut up!

So now you've got the role, what's the best thing about it?

It's the most fantastic part for me as I love singing soprano and I trained classically. The show has so many different elements, I get to do a bit of ballet at the beginning, try a bit of comedy in the 'il
muto' scene, sing a beautiful love duet (All I Ask Of You), the steamy 'Point Of No Return' and ending in that dramatic final lair scene...it's amazing.

You say Point Of No Return is steamy - is it difficult to create that sense of intimacy? Or embarrassing, even, at first?

Actually, yes, I did find it difficult at first. It's hard to let go of your inhibitions like that, but it was a challenge. [Choreographer/director] Gillian Lynne gave me some tips when she came in last year which helped.

Christine's quite often thought of as quite a bland character because she's nice and a bit naive, but she actually has quite an emotional trajectory.

Extremely emotional, and I hope I manage to convey her journey leading up to the final scene when she truly sees the Phantom for who he really is and realises that she "gave her mind blindly", then you see the little girl who has been grieving for her father so strongly that she has been led astray by this 'Angel of Music' whom she believes has been sent to protect her.

The fans of the show tend to want her to end up with the Phantom...

Yes, and when she kisses him, all these different feelings come up making her question what she wants. The moment she gives the ring back is very hard, especially the way Ramin plays the Phantom, but ultimately she realises that her place is not with him.

I always think that Raoul must be the hardest role in the show, to be the man who comes between this doomed tragic pairing.

Yes, I think you're right. He has no understanding of what Christine feels for this man; all he sees is a deranged killer trying to harm his fiancee! He also doesn't do himself any favours by suggesting
Christine is used as bait, after promising her she wouldn't have to. Yet Christine is drawn to Raoul because he knew her father and her life with him before he died, but also because he represents
everything the Phantom is not - he is handsome, stable, rich...a fairytale prince, as it were. But I guess girls are always attracted to the bad guys too, aren't they?!

So you go through this big emotional trajectory - all while wearing that famous wig! What's it like?

The wig has a mind of its own! Sometimes it behaves and sometimes not. When it's hot it can drop within seconds and I end up with straight hair like a big carpet down my back! I wouldn't do without it, though, it makes me feel like Christine - even when bits get in my mouth, eugh!

Is that the worst thing about the role?

There's nothing bad about this role. The only slight unpleasantness is when it's really hot the Phantom's prosthetics can fill with sweat and when I kiss him, some fluids have been known to seep out...

That is foul!

You did ask!

That is just disgusting. You'd think in all the time it's been running they'd have found a better way round it.

It is very rare. But generally kissing the Phantom is like kissing a Spitting Image puppet!

So how long will you be kissing latex masks for?

I am contracted now until September 2010, which is brilliant in these hard times.

That's really quite a long run, isn't it? Have you stepped up your singing practice to make sure your voice holds out?

Touch wood I haven't been sick yet since I started 12 months ago, so I'm fairly healthy. I have to make sure I look after my voice but the fact I have two shows off a week really helps.

You said Christine is a perfect role for you - anything else on the wishlist for the future?

Oh, just the usual - Maria in West Side Story, Glinda in Wicked, Eliza Doolittle, Mary Poppins...and some Shakespeare!