THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
lj-embed id="1">
Last Wednesday, I left work early to rush to the Star City Casino and it’s not because I’m a gambling addict but because I went to meet up with my friend Peggy and some of her mates to watch THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at the Lyric Theatre.
I received an email from Ticketek for the presales of Phantom tickets ages ago but I didn’t buy any because I was still trying to find someone to watch it with. I don’t really mind watching musicals on my own since I did that with THE LION KING and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF but of course, it would be good to share this magical experience with someone. James and I watched MISS SAIGON together and he was blown away by the play. Of course, I wasn’t able to hold my tears after the ending, which I never expected. I wasn’t familiar with the story at all so it was very exciting for me and watching a lot of Filipinos perform on Australian stage made me feel so proud to be one. Leo Valdez was just great as THE ENGINEER that it almost seemed like he was born to play the role. Even the Aussies gave him a standing ovation. The version that I saw was a bit downscaled so the helicopter was digital but I must admit that it didn’t dampen the experience at all. I was just a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to see the BIG HELICOPTER SCENE that even the Philippine performance in Manila apparently had. But it’s aaalllll gooooood….
But tonight, my friends, I’m writing about my most favourite broadway musical, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which leads me back to where I left before I started babbling about the other musicals I saw. So, if I didn’t buy the ticket, how did I end up watching the play on just the second week of its opening in Sydney? Well, as I mentioned a while ago, I went with Peggy and her mates. I went to have HOT POT with Peggy and Ross, a month ago, and she happened to mention that she got spare tickets and asked me if I wanted to watch it. Of course, I said YES!! I wouldn’t miss it! I’ve been waiting for this chance to see this play and I even considered flying to Melbourne to watch it. Melbourne is the culture, fashion and sports hub of Australia so most plays first open there so I was a bit scared that it wouldn’t travel to Sydney. I went there two years ago just to see their art galleries and my friend, Jana. Seeing works by the masters like Picasso, Monet etc made it all worth while.
Anyway, I jumped on the first train I could get after picking up my contacts from the optometrist. I was a bit agitated because I was supposed to meet up with them before 6:00 pm since we were planning to have dinner beforehand and I work around 45 minutes away from the city via train so the pressure was there. When I got to Town Hall station, I even had to find my way to this restaurant, and so I walked through the Darling Harbour and luckily, managed to spot the other restaurant that Peggy mentioned for a landmark. We had dinner and cocktails in this Vietnamese restaurant called THE RED MINT and it was good. The foods were not the normal dishes you can find in smaller Vietnamese restaurants. They kinda reminded of Filo dishes so it’s all right for my taste. Peggy’s mate, Tel (I don’t know how to spell her name but it sounded like Tel because I even thought it was Chantelle) is Vietnamese so I guess that helped. They already ordered the food before I arrived so they were served pretty much just after I got there.
Perhaps around twenty minutes before it started, we started heading towards Star City, which was just a short walk from the restaurant. When we got there, the first thing I did was to buy the programme as I always do when I go to concerts or plays. Then some of the ladies went to the lavatory in fear of not being able to hold it during the play. We already went to the loo before we left the restaurant so I didn’t go because I was pretty sure I could at least hold it til the intermission. When they came back, we went in together through the door closest to the stage and we were pretty excited because we knew we had good seats. I think we’re on the 6th row, middle seats, if I counted it right. We were on the fourth row when we watched SAIGON. But these seats were close enough to the stage. I never get dodgy seats when it comes to watching plays because I’d rather spend my money on good ones.
So we heard the announcement to turn the mobile phones on silent and that all sort of video and audio recording are prohibited during the course of the play. Then, the lights went off, and then I had goosebumps because I was just BLOODY EXCITED!!!
The first scene was of course the auction and when the time for the chandelier to go under the hammer arrived and they started fading into this dream about that time when the Phantom used to haunt the opera house, the chandelier suddenly lit up and was then slowly raised from the stage to the ceiling as The Phantom of the Opera score played in the background. A lot of Oohhhhsss and Wowwssss were heard among the audience and most especially from us because when the chandelier reached its fixed position, it was hanging almost directly above us. What a way to commence the play!!!
Cut to the scene in the Labyrinth Underground. The Angel of Music took Christine to his lair and the Phantom score started playing. The lights went dark and you could make out a tunnel in the background. The stage became misty and giant “candelabra-like” pillars slowly emerged from the ground. Tiny figures of a female and a masked male on a boat materialized from the misty tunnel. And as creepy as it looked while the boat glided across the lake that became of the stage, it was such a magical moment. With all due respect to the original Phantom of broadway, Michael Crawford, I reckon, Anthony Warlow is the best Phantom I’ve heard so far. He is the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. And although I didn’t like how Ana Marina looked as Christine, she was pretty good as well. Phantom made its debut in Australia in 1990 and Warlow was casted as the Phantom. I am so lucky to have seen him perform again when the play returned. To think that this guy suffered from throat cancer. Check out this short clip of the Labyrinth scene from Youtube.
Check out Warlow’s performance of Music of the Night. He didn’t even have his costume on and yet, I still felt it. Waaaa!!!! So David Cook, you can stick your MUSIC OF THE NIGHT performance up your arse. Pardon my language.
Fast forward to the Rooftop scene. The very hunky Raoul was singing ALL I ASK OF YOU with Christine, which was very romantic, of course. I wish I can find a Raoul somewhere. There was a large embellishment that hung in the middle of the stage. It was supposedly the adornment for one of the statues on the rooftop. It was raised and affixed to the top of the stage. Apparently, the Phantom was hiding behind one of those towering statues and appeared on it when the lovers left. That was a very funny and embarrassing moment for me. The Phantom started singing in grief, after overhearing the lovers pledge their love for each other on the rooftop. It was such a dramatic moment, and I was looking up, agape, when I broke into a coughing fit. Perhaps, because I had my mouth open for quite a while. I couldn’t help it, I was really enthralled and I was feeling it with him. I was desperately trying to suppress my coughs to avoid ruining the moment and so I waited for the Phantom to break into this really loud and powerful end to his song of lament to release the big ones. Hahaha. That was hilarious!
Infuriated by what he had just witnessed, the Phantom caused tragedy in the Opera by causing the chandelier to come crashing down the floor at the end of Act I. The chandelier fell and swooped to the stage where it landed.
I messaged my mates, Kacy, J.O, Tony Lou and Trina, in the Philippines when the chandelier fell. I was kinda waiting for it because as I mentioned, we were almost right below it so it was spectacular!!!! I knew Kacy and J.O would have loved it! My bestfriend Kacy almost died of envy. “Hanni Banni, I wish you were there with me.”
Act II opened with the Masquerade Ball and I loved it! The costumes were just bloody majestic! The costumes and masks were just works of art. The staircase was so grand and while they danced and sang on the steps, I wished I could join them. And who could forget the powerful music that accompanied the scene! The song kept playing in my head even days after.
Now, I wouldn’t want to discuss the rest of the play, especially the ending of the play because that would suck. I just wanted to discuss the highlights of my experience. It was theatre within theatre! It really was just brilliant and Warlow as the Phantom was just amazing. He humanized the character and made you feel really sorry for him. Awww…. The cast, production and the music were overall just spectacular! I bought meeself (haha) a CD of the broadway production because they didn’t have the Australian one. What a shame! But I didn’t mind because it had Brightman and Crawford so it’s all right.
Just like a normal die-hard fan or perhaps, an Asian tourist, I had my photos taken with the posters after the play.
In response to Kacy’s question via sms last Wednesday night, as to whether the play was as good as we hoped it would be, the answer is “YES. It was indeed”
Last Wednesday, I left work early to rush to the Star City Casino and it’s not because I’m a gambling addict but because I went to meet up with my friend Peggy and some of her mates to watch THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at the Lyric Theatre.
I received an email from Ticketek for the presales of Phantom tickets ages ago but I didn’t buy any because I was still trying to find someone to watch it with. I don’t really mind watching musicals on my own since I did that with THE LION KING and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF but of course, it would be good to share this magical experience with someone. James and I watched MISS SAIGON together and he was blown away by the play. Of course, I wasn’t able to hold my tears after the ending, which I never expected. I wasn’t familiar with the story at all so it was very exciting for me and watching a lot of Filipinos perform on Australian stage made me feel so proud to be one. Leo Valdez was just great as THE ENGINEER that it almost seemed like he was born to play the role. Even the Aussies gave him a standing ovation. The version that I saw was a bit downscaled so the helicopter was digital but I must admit that it didn’t dampen the experience at all. I was just a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to see the BIG HELICOPTER SCENE that even the Philippine performance in Manila apparently had. But it’s aaalllll gooooood….
But tonight, my friends, I’m writing about my most favourite broadway musical, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which leads me back to where I left before I started babbling about the other musicals I saw. So, if I didn’t buy the ticket, how did I end up watching the play on just the second week of its opening in Sydney? Well, as I mentioned a while ago, I went with Peggy and her mates. I went to have HOT POT with Peggy and Ross, a month ago, and she happened to mention that she got spare tickets and asked me if I wanted to watch it. Of course, I said YES!! I wouldn’t miss it! I’ve been waiting for this chance to see this play and I even considered flying to Melbourne to watch it. Melbourne is the culture, fashion and sports hub of Australia so most plays first open there so I was a bit scared that it wouldn’t travel to Sydney. I went there two years ago just to see their art galleries and my friend, Jana. Seeing works by the masters like Picasso, Monet etc made it all worth while.
Anyway, I jumped on the first train I could get after picking up my contacts from the optometrist. I was a bit agitated because I was supposed to meet up with them before 6:00 pm since we were planning to have dinner beforehand and I work around 45 minutes away from the city via train so the pressure was there. When I got to Town Hall station, I even had to find my way to this restaurant, and so I walked through the Darling Harbour and luckily, managed to spot the other restaurant that Peggy mentioned for a landmark. We had dinner and cocktails in this Vietnamese restaurant called THE RED MINT and it was good. The foods were not the normal dishes you can find in smaller Vietnamese restaurants. They kinda reminded of Filo dishes so it’s all right for my taste. Peggy’s mate, Tel (I don’t know how to spell her name but it sounded like Tel because I even thought it was Chantelle) is Vietnamese so I guess that helped. They already ordered the food before I arrived so they were served pretty much just after I got there.
Perhaps around twenty minutes before it started, we started heading towards Star City, which was just a short walk from the restaurant. When we got there, the first thing I did was to buy the programme as I always do when I go to concerts or plays. Then some of the ladies went to the lavatory in fear of not being able to hold it during the play. We already went to the loo before we left the restaurant so I didn’t go because I was pretty sure I could at least hold it til the intermission. When they came back, we went in together through the door closest to the stage and we were pretty excited because we knew we had good seats. I think we’re on the 6th row, middle seats, if I counted it right. We were on the fourth row when we watched SAIGON. But these seats were close enough to the stage. I never get dodgy seats when it comes to watching plays because I’d rather spend my money on good ones.
So we heard the announcement to turn the mobile phones on silent and that all sort of video and audio recording are prohibited during the course of the play. Then, the lights went off, and then I had goosebumps because I was just BLOODY EXCITED!!!
The first scene was of course the auction and when the time for the chandelier to go under the hammer arrived and they started fading into this dream about that time when the Phantom used to haunt the opera house, the chandelier suddenly lit up and was then slowly raised from the stage to the ceiling as The Phantom of the Opera score played in the background. A lot of Oohhhhsss and Wowwssss were heard among the audience and most especially from us because when the chandelier reached its fixed position, it was hanging almost directly above us. What a way to commence the play!!!
Cut to the scene in the Labyrinth Underground. The Angel of Music took Christine to his lair and the Phantom score started playing. The lights went dark and you could make out a tunnel in the background. The stage became misty and giant “candelabra-like” pillars slowly emerged from the ground. Tiny figures of a female and a masked male on a boat materialized from the misty tunnel. And as creepy as it looked while the boat glided across the lake that became of the stage, it was such a magical moment. With all due respect to the original Phantom of broadway, Michael Crawford, I reckon, Anthony Warlow is the best Phantom I’ve heard so far. He is the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. And although I didn’t like how Ana Marina looked as Christine, she was pretty good as well. Phantom made its debut in Australia in 1990 and Warlow was casted as the Phantom. I am so lucky to have seen him perform again when the play returned. To think that this guy suffered from throat cancer. Check out this short clip of the Labyrinth scene from Youtube.
Check out Warlow’s performance of Music of the Night. He didn’t even have his costume on and yet, I still felt it. Waaaa!!!! So David Cook, you can stick your MUSIC OF THE NIGHT performance up your arse. Pardon my language.
Fast forward to the Rooftop scene. The very hunky Raoul was singing ALL I ASK OF YOU with Christine, which was very romantic, of course. I wish I can find a Raoul somewhere. There was a large embellishment that hung in the middle of the stage. It was supposedly the adornment for one of the statues on the rooftop. It was raised and affixed to the top of the stage. Apparently, the Phantom was hiding behind one of those towering statues and appeared on it when the lovers left. That was a very funny and embarrassing moment for me. The Phantom started singing in grief, after overhearing the lovers pledge their love for each other on the rooftop. It was such a dramatic moment, and I was looking up, agape, when I broke into a coughing fit. Perhaps, because I had my mouth open for quite a while. I couldn’t help it, I was really enthralled and I was feeling it with him. I was desperately trying to suppress my coughs to avoid ruining the moment and so I waited for the Phantom to break into this really loud and powerful end to his song of lament to release the big ones. Hahaha. That was hilarious!
Infuriated by what he had just witnessed, the Phantom caused tragedy in the Opera by causing the chandelier to come crashing down the floor at the end of Act I. The chandelier fell and swooped to the stage where it landed.
I messaged my mates, Kacy, J.O, Tony Lou and Trina, in the Philippines when the chandelier fell. I was kinda waiting for it because as I mentioned, we were almost right below it so it was spectacular!!!! I knew Kacy and J.O would have loved it! My bestfriend Kacy almost died of envy. “Hanni Banni, I wish you were there with me.”
Act II opened with the Masquerade Ball and I loved it! The costumes were just bloody majestic! The costumes and masks were just works of art. The staircase was so grand and while they danced and sang on the steps, I wished I could join them. And who could forget the powerful music that accompanied the scene! The song kept playing in my head even days after.
Now, I wouldn’t want to discuss the rest of the play, especially the ending of the play because that would suck. I just wanted to discuss the highlights of my experience. It was theatre within theatre! It really was just brilliant and Warlow as the Phantom was just amazing. He humanized the character and made you feel really sorry for him. Awww…. The cast, production and the music were overall just spectacular! I bought meeself (haha) a CD of the broadway production because they didn’t have the Australian one. What a shame! But I didn’t mind because it had Brightman and Crawford so it’s all right.
Just like a normal die-hard fan or perhaps, an Asian tourist, I had my photos taken with the posters after the play.
In response to Kacy’s question via sms last Wednesday night, as to whether the play was as good as we hoped it would be, the answer is “YES. It was indeed”
Click to view