Phantom of the Opera

This probably isn't the best time to do it, because I like sleep (something that is in great demand and very short supply during the semester) but heck, I'm going to attempt the review....

So, tonight, I went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Princess Theatre. First up, thanks to Simon for organising everybody - you truly are the man of much knowledge.
The theatre is beautiful; unfortunately, I didn't really get a lot of time to wander around because we arrived about 10mins before the start. Oh well, it's in a really nice part of town, and definitely somewhere I'd like to explore more.

So, the review part. I've only ever seen the moview version and heard the music, so I was intrigued to see how everything would be portrayed on stage. We had fantastic seats - smack bang in the centre of row D of the Dress Circle.
Anthony Warlow played the part of the the Phantom. He was by far the most outstanding performer. There is much more acting in the stage version than the movie, and he did this really well. Furthermore, his voice is to die for! Just gorgeous - so much tonal colour, variety and emotion. His projection and characterisation were fantastic.
The role of Christine was well-played - she was a talented young woman. Funnily, her song "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" received a lot of applause, but I unfortuantely didn't like her version too much, not least because there were a few pitching issues.
Unfortunately I didn't like the actor who played Raoul. This was probably the thing lacking most for me - it often seemed that he didn't portray a complete character at any one time, that he was either focussed on acting, or singing, but never at the same time. His voice lacked some sort of intense passion that I would associate with the role of 'the lover'. Unfortunately his singing lacked tonal and colour variation and his vowel sounds, particularly "oo" (such as in "you") were very flat, which was disappointing.
The woman who played the dancing instructor of the Opera company was excellent, maintaining poise and character very well. I noticed that this character actually requies quite a large vocal range and great stage presence, of which tonight's performance showcased that. I think that this is a largely under-valued role.

Ensemble singing in the first act suffered a little, as it was sometimes unclear, particularly when different lines were being sung by the different characters. The second act was better in this respect. "Masquerade" was awesome to watch, even if one line was left out, I suppose accidentally! The visual spectacle that is, with so much colour, action and life is quite amazing.

The orchestra was ably led by the conductor - after Urinetown, I have even more respect for musical directors, repetiteurs and conductors of musicals. For at least a third of the musical, I know I was watching the pit instead of the stage! It was interesting to see how it all worked - I could spot out TV screens focussed on the conductor, I could see the conductor giving cues and showing cut-offs (something I wish more people would watch for and follow!), and looking at particular sections. Ok, so it was a bit far to see all of the orchestra, but it was pretty good. Okay, so I'm being picky when I saw that the horns split at least one note (pretty amusing), and that the clarinet was out of tune in one particuarly prominent moment. But overall, the music was very well done - I do really think some of this music is quite poxy, but after dealing with that....the drums (as opposed to the rest of the percussion) sounded quite tinny and synthetic, as if it were an electric drum kit. I wanted to know how many keyboard players there are for the musical! Generally, the horns were excellent (some great runs in there, some great high notes, and some great stopped notes!), the flautist was quite good, and the strings were definitely solid. Of particular mention in the musical which I thought was quite amusing is the bit where the owners of the opera company are exasperating over the added requirements of the Phantom's new opera, and singing about hiring an extra bassoonist - of course, with bassoon holding up the bass line. Hehe. I laughed.

The scenery and costumes were just amazing. Everything was appropriately elaborate. The coolest 2 bits of cool set and the like were probably the coming into the underground lair of the Phantom, and the effects created by those candles. And then when the Phantom disappeared. Just amazing, I still don't know how they did it..!! Those props were pretty cool too, including that staff which emitted fire! The lighting effects were fantastic, particularly with the use of fire and pyrotechnics, which surprised me a bit and hurt my eyes sufficiently :)

I see now that after being so heavily involved in a musical myself, I tend to pick a lot of things up and apart. This doesn't really diminish my ability to enjoy it though (much like listening and analysing a harmonic progression in a song doesn't really wreck my experience of listening to music) - I actually think it enhances it, as I consider things critically. I think this is a much more active way to lead a life!

So really, I thought it was a great production. I'm very happy that I saw Anthony Warlow - he is really the reason I decided to go see the musical, and he played such a demanding character with elegance, passion, finesse and intensity, making it his own. He really made it for me :) If you do get the chance to see this production, it really is a treat. A very sumptuous musical to leave you humming the songs. My kudos go to Anthony Warlow, the orchestra and the musical director!