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Phantom of the Opera
May. 24th, 2008 05:04 pmA couple of updates coming, while I have a (very) little bit of time.
First, Phantom which I went to see with a friend and her daughter on Thursday.
I haven't seen the stage version before (and not for want of trying), and it was everything I hoped/expected it to be. There were no "names" in the play, but that didn't matter at all. It was just a spectacle, and a lot of fun.
The managers were terrific, with just the right amount of humour and comedic relief without being over done. Carlotta was just perfect...in that perfectly awful way as was Piangi.
Raoul was the weakest of all the performances. Well enough acted, but his voice wasn't powerful enough to compete with either Christine's or Phantom's, and he really needs to hold his own.
Christine was brilliant. Even though I've never liked the character much either in the movie, or particularly the novel, she was a delight here. And she was probably the best singer in all of the cast...which is appropriate, but she did outshine all the rest in that area.
The Phantom...well, what can I say, he is the star, and he too had a wonderful voicefar better than Gerry's, really, but there was something lacking. I didn't feel the passion for Christine that was there in the other mediums. I don't know whether that's because of the distance between audience and stage or something with the actors. And in a couple of instances, the Phantom was whiny. Now, he's emo...but he's not whiny. Otherwise he was really good, and caused a couple of instances of laughter with the audience.
The sets were stunning, and exceptionally done. And I wish I had seen a performance before the movie came out so that I could compare as I had a feeling that a couple of things were taken from the movie version and implemented. Although I could well be wrong and they were in the play all along. It just seemed they had 'borrowed' some things...not that I'm complaining, though.
All-in-all, despite a few shortcomings...and this was the preview, so they might still have been working out some of the rough-spots...it was really good, and I enjoyed it immensely.
First, Phantom which I went to see with a friend and her daughter on Thursday.
I haven't seen the stage version before (and not for want of trying), and it was everything I hoped/expected it to be. There were no "names" in the play, but that didn't matter at all. It was just a spectacle, and a lot of fun.
The managers were terrific, with just the right amount of humour and comedic relief without being over done. Carlotta was just perfect...in that perfectly awful way as was Piangi.
Raoul was the weakest of all the performances. Well enough acted, but his voice wasn't powerful enough to compete with either Christine's or Phantom's, and he really needs to hold his own.
Christine was brilliant. Even though I've never liked the character much either in the movie, or particularly the novel, she was a delight here. And she was probably the best singer in all of the cast...which is appropriate, but she did outshine all the rest in that area.
The Phantom...well, what can I say, he is the star, and he too had a wonderful voice
The sets were stunning, and exceptionally done. And I wish I had seen a performance before the movie came out so that I could compare as I had a feeling that a couple of things were taken from the movie version and implemented. Although I could well be wrong and they were in the play all along. It just seemed they had 'borrowed' some things...not that I'm complaining, though.
All-in-all, despite a few shortcomings...and this was the preview, so they might still have been working out some of the rough-spots...it was really good, and I enjoyed it immensely.
