As Broadway's
longest-running, biggest-selling musical, The Phantom of the Opera
has a lot to live up to. Amongst its many accolades are the esteemed
Tony Awards for Best Musical, Director, Costumes, Sets and Lighting.
After watching it performed onstage in front of you, though, you know
why. The Phantom's return to Singapore shores 12 years
after its last showing at Kallang Theatre finds a bigger theatre and
audience to accommodate its bigger budget and talent and, this time
round, I found the preview performance of The Phantom at the
Esplanade Theatre to be an nearly immaculate performance and a phenomenal
feast for the senses: the eyes, ears and the heart.
The Phantom's 8000 performances over the years have
garnered worldwide audiences amounting to no less than 80 million. Why
has it been so well received? Is it because of its tale of romance -
mistaken or true - that we find the heart to forgive and forget the
common criticism that it is just over-the-top melodrama at its best?
Is it the acclaimed musical score of leitmotifs and high expression
of emotion that mask the commercialism of this Spectacular Spectacular
- the employment for over 100 extras and crew to build revolving staircase
sets and design puffy ballroom gowns?
Well, it has to do with all of these - the story with its different
varieties of love, the moving characters, the high drama, even the revolving
staircase sets and puffy gowns have their part to play. The appeal of
The Phantom lies in its grandeur and the epic scale on which
heroic gestures are performed. Every gesture acted is calculated to
contribute to the resplendence onstage as the plot unfolds.
The evening begins in a greying Opera House bathed in greyish hues of
light and ghostly music and your appetite for spectacle is sated moments
into this opening scene as the chandelier unfolds itself and rises above
the centre of the stall seats. Later, during a fight scene, the audience
will also be treated to dramatic balls of fire being spewed from part
of the sets (although, admittedly, because of ill-judged timing, these
resulted in giggles rather than high drama).
Most people are, of course, familiar with the story of The
Phantom: When opera star Carlotta (affectionately known as
the Prima Donna who belts out that self-titled song) storms offstage
after yet another "freak accident", a young Christine Daae
is granted the opportunity to perform in her stead. Entranced by her
performance, childhood sweetheart Raoul seeks Christine after watching
her first big break onstage and reunites with her, only to have the
mysterious Phantom steal her away into his hidden retreat in the depths
of the Opera house.
(Your breath will be similarly stolen away at this point as the Phantom's
underground hideaway in all its candle-lit glory and the electrifying
songs performed in this scene all contribute to this justifiably being
one of the most legendary moments in theatre history.)
Christine escapes and eventually confides in Raoul that all she asks
of him is to love her and both exchange promises of everlasting romance.
The Phantom who overhears them appears high above in an overhanging
gargoyle statue and, in that perilous and pitiful moment, your heart
flies out to him as he stands, teetering on the edge, held by mere wire.
Needless to say, a dramatic but inconclusive battle ensues between Raoul
and the spurned Phantom who flees. A final trap is then set to lure
the Phantom out but he is a phantom for a reason; he evades capture
and does some capturing of his own, threatening Christine with Raoul's
life should she not return his love.
In the end, her kiss brings the Phantom to his senses and he redeems
himself in his most noble deed of letting the lovers go while he himself
disappears into the night.
But disappear from my mind is the last thing the Phantom will do; Brad
Little ensured that. There was nothing little about his performance;
he upped the play a notch with his immense stage presence. His fluid
emotional transitions from enraged outcast to pitiful unfortunate soul
and his ability to charm his way into your mind and heart despite his
abhorrent actions were also key to his successful performance. Little
and his touch of Broadway magic will inevitably appear in your fondest
memories of this musical; his portrayal of the Phantom will haunt me
for a long time to come.
Delivering a less magical performance, Rebecca Pitcher was a functional
but, unfortunately, forgettable Christine Daae. Her emotional depth
was wanting, and though she played her leading role appropriately, she
failed to supply her own unique take on the character that will differentiate
her from the past and to-be Christines. It will be hard to think of
her when looking back on this performance. John Bowles who played Christine's
love interest probably will think of her though, considering the healthy
level of chemistry between them that kept their romance believable,
even if it was not earth-shattering. On his own however, he could not
hold the fort for long, especially with the outstanding acting by other
cast members (such as Jackie Rees playing Madame Giry as a fully fleshed
out and nuanced character) overshadowing his average performance. Similarly,
actress / dancer Nadia Komazec as Giry's daughter Meg, disappointed.
All you leave with after the show is a faint recollection of a honey-voiced
dancer with disquieting ballet-possessed feet which kept repositioning
themselves in various ballet steps as she spoke.
A large part of The Phantom's great appeal, of course,
lies in its repertoire of some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's best and
most sublime melodies. Despite its dated composition and truly retro
execution - recall the electronic disco beat that drives the song The
Phantom of the Opera - the music retains its edge and emotive ability
to heighten the drama. The conventional top picks off The Phantom's
soundtrack Angel of Music, The Music of the Night and
All I Ask of You need no more promotion than they have received.
If the criteria for choosing was Best Emoted Without Shattering Glass
though, Think of Me and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
would be my picks for the night (having said that, Masquerade
and Prima Donna are the best if you did want a glass-shattering
time).
To enjoy The Phantom in all its glory, go to the theatre with
an appetite for spectacle, big sets, big costumes, even bigger voices
and a big heart. The Phantom is a dose of true Broadway magic
(I'm still trying to figure out how a giant staircase managed to appear
miraculously onstage in one scene), the ingredients of which must come
in generous proportions for it to be the huge success it is. Should
one refuse to experience this opera based on the conviction that it
puts extravaganza before credibility and hype above subtlety, it would
be one's loss.
Guest Writer Vivienne Tseng is 19 going on 20 and stuck in a time
of many possibilities and few certainties. Her teachers and peers at
the Victoria Junior College Theatre Studies and Drama programme ignited
her fire for the performing arts and she has been fanning the flames
ever since. She is figuring out if a Comms degree from NTU will suffice
to show for her academic efforts, and has slowly realized that you can't
get onstage through backstage. All the same, she has happily managed
Front of House for the Dim Sum Dollies and dressed Broadway Beng, all
the while dreaming of being in their shoes.
|
"To enjoy The Phantom of the Opera in all its glory, go to the
theatre with an appetite for spectacle, big sets, big costumes, even
bigger voices and a big heart."
Credits
Director: Hal Prince
Producer: Cameron Mackintosh & The Really Useful Theatre Company
Composer, Book, Co-Orchestrator: Andrew Llyod-Webber
Musical Staging & Choreography: Gillian Lynne
Lyrics: Charles Hart
Production Designer: Maria Bjornson
Lighting Designer: Andrew Bridge
Sound Designer: Martin Levan
Co-Orchestrator: David Cullen
Cast: Brad Little, Rebecca Pitcher, John Bowles, Ana Marina, John O'
May, Anders Sohlman, Pauline Du Presis, Jackie Rees, Nadia Komazec
|
