Friday, September 04, 2009
‘Phantom’ Still King of Romance, Chills
Bloomberg.com: "After 8,984 performances and with no end in sight, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1988 hit “The Phantom of the Opera” survives into a ripe age that makes it deservedly Broadway’s longest-running musical as well as an international favorite."
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6 comments:
I must respectfully disagree with this critique about Phantom. I recently saw this production and my high standards for Broadway's longest running show were not met. The technical effects were stunning and I was in awe the entire performance. I loved brilliant, over-the-top and original costumes and the set design and lighting was great. However, I felt far too often the show relied entirely on its cool technical effects rather than the actual show quality. The performance of both the Phantom and Christine was quite awkward, but that set aside the brilliant technical work completely overwhelmed the show. Coming out of Phantom I can't remember a thing about the actual play, all I remember is the brilliant effects I saw. Technical brilliance and spectacle can't create a great show, and in this case my point was definitely true.
While I have to disagree with the author on the fact that not every aspect of Phantom is the great, but I do think there is some grain of truth in there. It is amazing that Phantom has lasted this long on Broadway and touring. I think that people like to know that there is one show on Broadway that they already know and is unlike all the others playing. For how much people like new and modern shows people find Phantom refreshing with its classic style. I am interested in when Phantom will ever close if it ever will.
My folks have always described Phantom as being a mind-blowing spectacle that changed how they thought theatre was done. I saw it recently and was a little dissappointed in what I saw. It was a bit monotone, and the performers were obviously bored, and thinking about their next rent check. I do believe that I have been spoiled by modern technology, but a lot of the effects were quite crude and dated. In my opinion, Phantom needs to get a major facelift so that it can be something exciting again, instead of just a steady, "always been there" show.
Despite Dick Block's opinion, you can't talk down the numbers. 'The Phantom of the Opera' has found the perfect formula or love, suspense, action, mystery, music, and characters that has opened up a broad audience to musical theatre. Unfortunately, there will come a time when the show will need to vamp itself to meet the new technological standards of Broadway, but all the same the substance is there. It would be ashame for the story to lose popularity because it's lack of interest in updating the equipment. The tour itself is better equipped and, of course, the Las Vegas show is state-of-the-art and are do fabulously. The Vegas show should be the most proof that this show is going no where. It opened twenty years after the fact and it was still met with grandeur.
I have never seen Phantom. What everyone was saying here is true. I feel like its not the shows fault that there was some disappointment with the overall effect of the show. i think the show has been praised and put up on some pedestal so that it cant fill its own shoes. I think it would help to give the show a make over.
I find that the Phantom formula works for drawing large audiences and creating lasting runs. Romance, thrills, and epic set pieces spell $$ for producers. I recently ran across a German musical called "Elisabeth" about the Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria and her romantic affair with "Death". The crescendoing music, 20th century costumes, and simmering sexuality of a dark stranger all feel very Phantomesque. Even in one scene Elisabeth wears a dress and headpiece very similar to Christine's "Think of Me" dress. One can conclude, that gothic romance is here to stay and sell tickets for a very long time.
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