The Phantom Of The Opera

Oh. My. Gosh!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I am something of a musical theatre obsessive, however, tonight was my first time seeing The Phantom Of The Opera actually on a stage in front of me (a shocking revelation, right?!). I came out of the performance this evening and I was actually shaking. Seriously. Despite all my years of amassed musical knowledge, and the vast range of productions that I’ve sat through in my time, I can hand on heart say that The Phantom Of The Opera has totally revolutionised and changed the way that I think about musical theatre, just at a time when I though there was nothing more that could really excite me at present. Even in its 26th year, it still holds that magical power, and you really have to see the show before you to appreciate the true beauty and spectacle of this absolute masterpiece!

The production appears to have benefited well from the 25th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall production, though I really must stress that watching the DVD of this alone is simply not enough!

The staging itself was absolutely BREATHTAKING. We had the benefit of being in row H of the stalls, and so everything appeared ‘seemless’ and my eyes popped out of their sockets several times – especially during the Lair scenes, which were even more fantastic than I’d previously seen on the DVD or in photos in books etc. We were also directly under the chandelier, and I tell you now, when that bad-boy is hurtling towards you (they’ve sped it back up again now) then you instinctively duck for cover and yelp a little bit! Amazing!

I was fortunate to be taken to the show by my pal Paul, who actually saw the very original cast, in its first ever week – how amazeballs is that?! He was very surprised to find that absolutely nothing has really changed in the time since – something which amazes me, as the production looks so fresh, and, even now, 26 years on, it is still able to blow my mind, despite all I’ve seen on the stage before! I cannot imagine just how revolutionary this must have been back in 1986.

The orchestra was simply devine. I had goosebumps throughout the production; not just where I normally look for them (Overture, and The Phantom Of The Opera), but in parts of the score where I never usually get them! Absolutely nothing compares to hearing this score played live, and, though the word ‘masterpiece’ is bandied about a lot with this show, it is a very suitable word. This score is one of the ones that really made me get into musical theatre as a kid and regard Andrew Lloyd Webber so highly (I even used to help moderate the official RUG and Phantom message boards), and I genuinely cannot think of another score which moves me as much as this one does.

The ultimate treat was that the Phantom is currently played by musical theatre stalwart Earl Carpenter. For those who read regularly, you’ll know that this is going to be my last West End show for quite some time, as I’m moving back to Manchester on Saturday, and so Phantom was the one show that I desperately needed to see before I went, and, prior to tonight, Earl Carpenter was the only West End legend that I had yet to see before me on a stage. That the two massive desires that I had desperately wanted to fulfil prior to my leaving the West End behind (a massive deal for me!) were made true on the same night will stay with me forever I think (also in keeping with the advertising strap line ‘remember your first time…’ too, ha!). It was made even better as I didn’t even know that Earl Carpenter had returned to the show in advance of my attendance this evening – I only found out at the end! (I had a bit of a Phantom style revelation myself it seems haha!)

Several times, and owing to our proximity to the stage, I found myself staring right into the Phantom‘s eyes, and he chilled me to the core – I had to keep breaking my gaze! The depth of emotion that Earl Carpenter was able to convey was magnificent, and I’m not ashamed to say that come the end of the show, I was in floods of tears! Such a beautiful performance.

Sofia Escobar as Christine was an absolute find. I may get shouted down for saying this, but her voice was even more perfect, for me, than that of Sarah Brightman, who the role was written specifically for! Perfect look for the role, an astonishing voice for someone who is fairly fresh to the wider world of musical theatre, and I really hope that she stays with the production for a long time.

Killian Donnelly as Raoul was fabulous. Raoul is that slightly simpering second male lead role that I usually find it hard to attach to in a musical, however in this case, Donnelly totally grabbed Raoul and gave him a decent pair of bollocks, and completely sold the role to me! Really enjoyed his performance.

I cannot discuss the cast without mentioning Wendy Ferguson’s Carlotta – I genuinely cannot imagine anyone more suited to the role. A gorgeous voice, a fantastic way of portraying the role, and I love just watching her, even if she’s not in the foreground. She’s secretly my favourite!

You only have to flick through the programme to see what a wealth of musical theatre royalty is in the current cast – everyone has really fabulous experience in the field, with many people previously appearing in significant roles that I really look up to!

I genuinely, genuinely cannot implore you enough to go and see this show, I guarantee that you will not regret it. I’m not normally a fan of the premium seating model, however for this show, I would definitely recommend those seats, and in fact, for the 25th Anniversary touring production, soon to be in Manchester, I am insisting that Max and I splash out on the premium seating!

I thought that no musical could ever affect me in such a significant way again – I thought that I’d seen all that the West End had to offer, and was ready to face the final curtain, and retire a contented man; especially as I thought I knew what I was getting tonight. However, seeing this show, in the ‘flesh’, has totally reignited the passion that I have for musical theatre, and I now find myself wishing that I could see this show a couple more times before I leave; if only!! For a show to do this, and totally blow my mind, it has to be worth a look, right?

The Phantom Of The Opera is playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre, and stars Earl Carpenter as The Phantom up until 17th March 2012. For further information, and to book tickets, please visit the show’s official webpage.

On Friday night, I was very lucky to be invited to the latest buzz-show to open in the West End, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, currently playing at the Adelphi Theatre, located on The Strand.

The show is currently in its preview period, and will have it’s opening night / World premiere on March 9th 2010.

For those unfamiliar with this terminology, a preview period is effectively a ‘workshop’ performance – I have had different friends in the audience each night, and I hear that it’s been a completely different show each night thus far. That said, the preview period gives one a chance to really see how they’re pulling a musical together, and so personally I think that it can actually enhance the experience. This review is based on a preview performance, and I know for a fact that they are currently working out some of the clunky elements to it as I type!

I attended last night with my good friend Adam (who used to play Edna in Hairspray – so had ‘an actors’ viewpoint), and two of my friends/colleagues from work, Joe and Huma.

Synopsis:

Setting: Coney Island in 1907. (Note: According to the show, the events occur approximately a decade after the events of The Phantom of the Opera. In reality, however, Lloyd Webber’s original show was set in 1881, meaning that the time period between the two stories amounts to 26 years.)

The Phantom has travelled to Coney Island with Madame Giry and her daughter Meg. Beginning his new life in America as a freak show attraction, he has worked his way up to a position of power and is now the successful architect of a number of Coney Island attractions. Despite his newfound wealth and success he still longs for Christine and manages to arrange for her to come and sing at one of his latest attractions. Christine arrives at Coney Island along with Raoul and their son Gustave, unknowingly returning to the man she feared most.

Let’s start with the positives first and say that this show is an absolute visual feast! Lloyd-Webber has clearly thrown a lot of money at this production – I heard several gasps coming from the audience during some of the more technological moments of the show, and some of the imagery created was simply beautiful! Huge flats and sets magically appeared out of nowhere (surely they weren’t all stashed in the wings?!) and the use of video technology really brought the audience into the story.

The score is both lavish and sound, and everybody is more than capable of holding their own on stage, with outstanding performances from Ramin Karimloo as The Phantom himself (what a voice!) and West End legend Liz Robertson as Madame Giry.

It was an enormous treat to be in a theatre that had a full orchestra in the orchestra pit – an increasing rarity these days in the West End, and the sounds coming out of the pit were warm, sumptuous and enveloping. More shows to follow suit please!

My favourite songs in the production were Bathing Beauty, Love Never Dies and, of course, the marvellous ‘Till I Hear You Sing

On the whole, I really did like the show, but (and without wanting to go into details of the story), I did have a few issues with it:

I felt a distinct lack of empathy with the characters – I didn’t really warm to anybody enough to ‘care’ for their fate as it were.

I only started to realise about half-way through the Second Act that I was really liking the show, and felt a little cheated out of the enjoyment factor that I’d not felt as much/realised that I’d had in Act One.

The title of the piece may be Love Never Dies, however I didn’t feel that the romance element didn’t really manifest itself to start with if I am honest, which is a bit of a travesty when considering the show’s links with The Phantom Of The Opera!

Raoul needs to grow a backbone and show more passion/fight.

The ending needs reworking in my opinion – I came very close to a tear, but it lacked that final emotional push to get it from me.

Perhaps the most disappointing for me was the realisation that Lloyd-Webber has ripped two of these songs pretty much straight out of one of his earlier musicals, The Beautiful Game! (yes, I am a hardcore musical theatre fan – this is a fairly obscure reference, I grant you!!).

The titular song Love Never Dies (clip above) is sourced from Our Kind Of Love:

The 80s Starlight-Express-esque The Beauty Underneath contains a lot of sounds from the latter bits of Dead Zone I think:

I really liked the soundtrack, don’t get me wrong, however I was sitting there feeling rather cheated that I was just listening to a rehash of a couple of songs from a musical that hadn’t really enjoyed the commercial success (outside of Hungary – random, I know!) that they’d hoped for. I feel that you can get away with this on a ‘normal’ song, but it’s a little bit cheeky to do this on the musical’s signature song!

The show lasts 2 hours 50 minutes (inc. Interval) – so you can expect to get out around 22:20.

Whilst not at all related to the show itself, please be warned that the toilet situation at the Adelphi Theatre is absolutely abysmal. The toilet facilities are tiny, and the queues for them were huge (including the gents – which never happens usually!). It ultimately got to the point where the ushers were starting to try and coax people out of queues as the performance was about to recommence. My friend Joe and I nearly ended up missing the start of Act Two due to queuing for the bathroom, and I reckon that around 20-25% of the stalls audience were not in their seats once the lights came down and the Entr’acte started. (As an aside for the theatre, I think that the lights should be dimmed but not switched off for this musical introduction to allow people to get back to their seats!)

In summation, I think that this is a show that newbies and some existing Phans will come to love, with the Phans perhaps enjoying it that little bit more than those there on their first time (though the show does still stand-alone successfully). I think that once the kinks are worked out of the production, this will garner positive reviews and become a firm favourite on theatre stages around the World.

For me (and as I know will be the case for some of the other Phans), it wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be (was it ever really going to live up to Phantom?), but realistically it was far better than I’d expected when I’d first heard of plans for it, and so for that reason it gets a thumbs up from me.

After the show, I was very lucky to be invited backstage and got to meet musical legend Liz Robertson (Madame Giry) and Summer Strallen (Meg Giry) – both of whom were lovely and are my two favourite characters in the show – this absolutely made my night!

Have you been to see the show already? Do please leave your comments and thoughts on it below!