DUUUUUN! DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNNNN!
For my birthday, the 'big present' was two tickets to the Phantom of the Opera--one for myself and one for whoever I wanted to take along. I went with my good friend bessyboo . Good times were had by all.
Phantom was the last of my 'big' shows that I needed to see. That is, the last of the shows that I'm honest to god obsessed with--not just musicals I really like, but things that I lived and breathed for a while. Things like Ragtime, or Wicked, or Les Miserables. So it was both really cool to see it, and a bit odd. What's to look forward to now, in my Broadway world?
In short, it was completely awesome. Andrew Lloyd Webber isn't the best composer, I feel, but Phantom is one of his best jobs. Sure, there are some dud parts (I can never, ever understand what anybody is saying in 'Prima Donna'), but for the most part? It's a pretty damn good score. The singing, all around was very good. Orchestration was nice, the sound was good, etc etc.
Acting:
What the hell, I'm liking Raoul's character? The guy who played him was really good. He and the Phantom were somewhat similarily built and shaped, too--made for an interesting contrast.
Madame Giry is a badass. Bess and I decided that, in fifty years or so, she's gonna be the Stage Manager version of her. She had a really cool staff...cane...thing.
Meg Giry has finally cemented the fact that I find few things hotter than an attractive, crossdressing female.
Christine's growth was fantastic. It was subtle but clearly defined--she stammered at the beginning, hid behind her friends, and tried not to draw any attention to herself. Her explosion to Carlotta was made of win.
Carlotta, Piangi, and the Managers were all good. Nothing really to complain about.
More on the Phantom later.
Spectacle:
Come on, when you see an Andrew Lloyd Webber show, you're going for the pretty lights and things. Bess is better trained at this than I am, so I'll let her comment with her two cents, if she ever reads this.
We'll start with the chandelier, iconic image it is. To be honest, it was... a bit disappointing. When it rose above the audience at the beginning, and the theatre repaired itself? That was really, really cool. But the crash was...Too safe, I felt. They were definitely lowering it down, like they had every night ever.
They had a lot of fire. Like, a lot of fire. Candles lit in the background. People carried lamps around. There were two really notable uses--first, in the graveyard, the Phantom started to throw fireballs around like no tomorrow. That's all fine. He's a magician, after all, and he's doing it while taunting Raoul to his death. But then, when that scene ends, the stage lights on fire. Everywhere. And it was really, really bright--actually blinded me for a moment or two. So that kinda sucked. However, they had a really cool subtle use of fire and lighting later on, when a random character was lighting up the stage with a torch. As he 'lit' the lamps and suchlike, the lights gradually brightened. It was neat.
My favorite toy they had, though, was this stairwell that was shown whenever somebody went into the catacombs. So, Christine and the Phantom start at the back of the stage, at the very top of this stairs. It slopes and goes maybe a third of the way down. They sing and walk down the stairs, and it slowly turns so that it's sloping in the opposite direction. They step out of sight for a moment, turn around, and walk across the stairs again. The illusion, though, had it so they were always going 'down' It was really neat.
Things I didn't like:
GASIDGHADSG FUCK YOU MOVIE! Seeing the show live reminded me of what a giant pile of fail that the movie was. See, I can deal with changing the odd line of the song and such. Most of them aren't too bad, really. But adding scenes to what is already a pretty long show? That's stupid. And then bringing the scenes into the show itself? What. The. Fuck. So, after the 'Masquerade' scene, Raoul confronts Madame Giry about the Phantom's past. She gives a brief rundown of what she knows--a disfigured genius, captured by a circus and forced to...well, just exist, really. And then he escapes and hides in the Opera House.
There are two things wrong with this. First is that it's a completely unecessary bit of backstory. Part of the mystery about the character is that we don't know his past. Doing it like this? Whaaaaat. In the original story, so my memory goes, the Phantom helped to construct the Opera House--which is also how he knows about all of its secrets and trapdoors and whatnot. If he didn't have that advantage, than how the hell does he know? Hi there, plothole!
Second was just the way it was presented. There were no sets, no lighting, no anything. Just Madame Giry and Raoul on a black stage, spotlights on them. Compared to the rest of the scenery-heavy show, it felt incredibly out of place. The only way that I can think that would make it even more awkward is if they stopped the play to just show that part of the movie. God, it just sucked.
The Phantom:
Oh my God. Oh. My. God. I could write an entire entry about how awesome this guy was. He nailed the part in a way that Gerard Butler dreams he could. I mean, he out Phantom'd Michael Crawford, the original actor in the role, the man who has a singing voice that causes me to spontaneously orgasm whenever I hear it.
I could talk about how good his singing was, or his acting, or his presence. All of which was stellar. But I really need to just dicuss his performance, and his interpretation of the character. See, the Phantom is a very sympathetic character. He's proof of judging books by covers, etc etc. I read most of Susan Kay's 'Phantom' in tears. Michael Crawford's performance is devastating. Hell, even Gerard Butler did a passable job on what he was given.
But the thing is? Despite the sympathy we gradually feel with him, the Phantom is a terrifying, creepy, evil force. He lures Christine down into his lair using only his hypnotic voice. His kingdom has a shrine to her, complete with a lifelike, full-sized doll. When people dare to interfere with her greatness, he kills them. He rules the Opera House through fear, blackmail, and vocal tricks.
That's what the actor did with this--he brought back the fear. I realized, halfway through the first act, that I didn't think that his Phantom was cool, or eccentric, or tragic. I thought he was scary. I remembered what I was feeling like the first time I listened to the show, when tingles went down my spine whenever he spoke, and I dreaded what would happen next.
The best part of his performance was how he moved and interacted with Christine. In both the movie and the clips of the stage show I've seen, the Phantom treats Christine very tenderly and firmly. He's precise and exact on what was expected, but at least somewhat kind. This Phantom, though? He was practically like a puppeteer. He'd move his hands to just sort of...direct her. Turn away, close your eyes, stop moving, come closer, etc. It blurred the lines of man and mystery, which is exactly what the character needs.
The second act saw a different side of it. He reminded me, a bit, of a villain whose plans are slowly coming undone. He's completely cool and in control at the beginning, manipulating everybody, playing his hand when he had to. But slowly, things slid out of his grasp, and his sanity slipped away. At the very end, he wasn't so much pathetic as he just was completely mad. He'd lost it, he was desperate and at the end of his rope. This was his final chance with anything.
What was also amazing--so, so amazing--was the kiss between him and Christine at the end. You've seen it a million times--the couple's first kiss, and even one of the participant's first kiss ever. A moment of awkardness, and then everything's picture perfect. The Phantom, though, just stood their, stunned. He tried to move his hands to run them across her back, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, and his arms were just...hanging there. It was perfect. It was just perfect.
I suppose I only had one sorta disappointment with him. During intermission, I silently issued the show a challenge: Convince me that Christine should leave with Raoul at the end. Make sure that there's not the slightest bit of doubt that the Phantom deserves a happy ending. It didn't quite get to that mark--I still second-guessed myself a bit. However, I wasn't yelling at her for being stupid, so it did change my opinions a bit.
So, in brief: Meg Giry is hot as hell and needs to crossdress more. Raoul is finally likable. The movie can go piss off. Things were shiny shiny shiny. Music was loud loud loud. Andrew Lloyd Webber needs to learn how to do countermelody properly. Watching Christine start to grow from a snivelling weakling to a strong woman was a treat.
And the actor who played the Phantom changed how I saw the character for good.
Phantom was the last of my 'big' shows that I needed to see. That is, the last of the shows that I'm honest to god obsessed with--not just musicals I really like, but things that I lived and breathed for a while. Things like Ragtime, or Wicked, or Les Miserables. So it was both really cool to see it, and a bit odd. What's to look forward to now, in my Broadway world?
In short, it was completely awesome. Andrew Lloyd Webber isn't the best composer, I feel, but Phantom is one of his best jobs. Sure, there are some dud parts (I can never, ever understand what anybody is saying in 'Prima Donna'), but for the most part? It's a pretty damn good score. The singing, all around was very good. Orchestration was nice, the sound was good, etc etc.
Acting:
What the hell, I'm liking Raoul's character? The guy who played him was really good. He and the Phantom were somewhat similarily built and shaped, too--made for an interesting contrast.
Madame Giry is a badass. Bess and I decided that, in fifty years or so, she's gonna be the Stage Manager version of her. She had a really cool staff...cane...thing.
Meg Giry has finally cemented the fact that I find few things hotter than an attractive, crossdressing female.
Christine's growth was fantastic. It was subtle but clearly defined--she stammered at the beginning, hid behind her friends, and tried not to draw any attention to herself. Her explosion to Carlotta was made of win.
Carlotta, Piangi, and the Managers were all good. Nothing really to complain about.
More on the Phantom later.
Spectacle:
Come on, when you see an Andrew Lloyd Webber show, you're going for the pretty lights and things. Bess is better trained at this than I am, so I'll let her comment with her two cents, if she ever reads this.
We'll start with the chandelier, iconic image it is. To be honest, it was... a bit disappointing. When it rose above the audience at the beginning, and the theatre repaired itself? That was really, really cool. But the crash was...Too safe, I felt. They were definitely lowering it down, like they had every night ever.
They had a lot of fire. Like, a lot of fire. Candles lit in the background. People carried lamps around. There were two really notable uses--first, in the graveyard, the Phantom started to throw fireballs around like no tomorrow. That's all fine. He's a magician, after all, and he's doing it while taunting Raoul to his death. But then, when that scene ends, the stage lights on fire. Everywhere. And it was really, really bright--actually blinded me for a moment or two. So that kinda sucked. However, they had a really cool subtle use of fire and lighting later on, when a random character was lighting up the stage with a torch. As he 'lit' the lamps and suchlike, the lights gradually brightened. It was neat.
My favorite toy they had, though, was this stairwell that was shown whenever somebody went into the catacombs. So, Christine and the Phantom start at the back of the stage, at the very top of this stairs. It slopes and goes maybe a third of the way down. They sing and walk down the stairs, and it slowly turns so that it's sloping in the opposite direction. They step out of sight for a moment, turn around, and walk across the stairs again. The illusion, though, had it so they were always going 'down' It was really neat.
Things I didn't like:
GASIDGHADSG FUCK YOU MOVIE! Seeing the show live reminded me of what a giant pile of fail that the movie was. See, I can deal with changing the odd line of the song and such. Most of them aren't too bad, really. But adding scenes to what is already a pretty long show? That's stupid. And then bringing the scenes into the show itself? What. The. Fuck. So, after the 'Masquerade' scene, Raoul confronts Madame Giry about the Phantom's past. She gives a brief rundown of what she knows--a disfigured genius, captured by a circus and forced to...well, just exist, really. And then he escapes and hides in the Opera House.
There are two things wrong with this. First is that it's a completely unecessary bit of backstory. Part of the mystery about the character is that we don't know his past. Doing it like this? Whaaaaat. In the original story, so my memory goes, the Phantom helped to construct the Opera House--which is also how he knows about all of its secrets and trapdoors and whatnot. If he didn't have that advantage, than how the hell does he know? Hi there, plothole!
Second was just the way it was presented. There were no sets, no lighting, no anything. Just Madame Giry and Raoul on a black stage, spotlights on them. Compared to the rest of the scenery-heavy show, it felt incredibly out of place. The only way that I can think that would make it even more awkward is if they stopped the play to just show that part of the movie. God, it just sucked.
The Phantom:
Oh my God. Oh. My. God. I could write an entire entry about how awesome this guy was. He nailed the part in a way that Gerard Butler dreams he could. I mean, he out Phantom'd Michael Crawford, the original actor in the role, the man who has a singing voice that causes me to spontaneously orgasm whenever I hear it.
I could talk about how good his singing was, or his acting, or his presence. All of which was stellar. But I really need to just dicuss his performance, and his interpretation of the character. See, the Phantom is a very sympathetic character. He's proof of judging books by covers, etc etc. I read most of Susan Kay's 'Phantom' in tears. Michael Crawford's performance is devastating. Hell, even Gerard Butler did a passable job on what he was given.
But the thing is? Despite the sympathy we gradually feel with him, the Phantom is a terrifying, creepy, evil force. He lures Christine down into his lair using only his hypnotic voice. His kingdom has a shrine to her, complete with a lifelike, full-sized doll. When people dare to interfere with her greatness, he kills them. He rules the Opera House through fear, blackmail, and vocal tricks.
That's what the actor did with this--he brought back the fear. I realized, halfway through the first act, that I didn't think that his Phantom was cool, or eccentric, or tragic. I thought he was scary. I remembered what I was feeling like the first time I listened to the show, when tingles went down my spine whenever he spoke, and I dreaded what would happen next.
The best part of his performance was how he moved and interacted with Christine. In both the movie and the clips of the stage show I've seen, the Phantom treats Christine very tenderly and firmly. He's precise and exact on what was expected, but at least somewhat kind. This Phantom, though? He was practically like a puppeteer. He'd move his hands to just sort of...direct her. Turn away, close your eyes, stop moving, come closer, etc. It blurred the lines of man and mystery, which is exactly what the character needs.
The second act saw a different side of it. He reminded me, a bit, of a villain whose plans are slowly coming undone. He's completely cool and in control at the beginning, manipulating everybody, playing his hand when he had to. But slowly, things slid out of his grasp, and his sanity slipped away. At the very end, he wasn't so much pathetic as he just was completely mad. He'd lost it, he was desperate and at the end of his rope. This was his final chance with anything.
What was also amazing--so, so amazing--was the kiss between him and Christine at the end. You've seen it a million times--the couple's first kiss, and even one of the participant's first kiss ever. A moment of awkardness, and then everything's picture perfect. The Phantom, though, just stood their, stunned. He tried to move his hands to run them across her back, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, and his arms were just...hanging there. It was perfect. It was just perfect.
I suppose I only had one sorta disappointment with him. During intermission, I silently issued the show a challenge: Convince me that Christine should leave with Raoul at the end. Make sure that there's not the slightest bit of doubt that the Phantom deserves a happy ending. It didn't quite get to that mark--I still second-guessed myself a bit. However, I wasn't yelling at her for being stupid, so it did change my opinions a bit.
So, in brief: Meg Giry is hot as hell and needs to crossdress more. Raoul is finally likable. The movie can go piss off. Things were shiny shiny shiny. Music was loud loud loud. Andrew Lloyd Webber needs to learn how to do countermelody properly. Watching Christine start to grow from a snivelling weakling to a strong woman was a treat.
And the actor who played the Phantom changed how I saw the character for good.