Andrew Lloyd-Webber created a masterpiece that made its way to Broadway thirty years ago this year. That masterpiece is The Phantom of the Opera. A musical about a disfigured man who hides in the Paris Opera House and falls in love with a ballerina named Christine. It follows the Phantom in his pursuit to make Christine fall in love with him even when he is met with fear and hostility. The music adds so much depth to a compelling plot that when performed on stage create a piece of art that you will only see in The Phantom of the Opera.
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Christine and the Phantom
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The performance I watched was a live stage recording of the 25th-anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall. The portrayal of this musical was done so elegantly on stage. The costumes clearly express the time period this show is based in. There is Christine’s dress in Act Two, a beautiful deep blue color with white and gold accents and white bell sleeves tell us this musical is set in the 1800’s (including the big puff of fabric on her rear end). Even the blue hooded cape she wears shows us when this takes place. There are also the men’s suits. Though many seem like they are in a similar style to what men where today, you can’t deny that coattails on some of the suits seem very outdated for the modern era. Even the costumes worn by the opera house actors seemed very much for that time period, including the costume worn in their production of Hannibal had the women wearing brightly colored laced-up corsets and skirts that accentuate women’s breasts the way corsets do.
You may think that The Phantom of the Opera would not have the most extreme makeup you have ever seen. It is true that many of the actors, even the men, are wearing foundation, blush, eyeliner, and lip color. But the true work of art is what the makeup team do to make half of the Phantom’s face
look disfigured and in a sense, hideous. That is right, we see what the Phantom looks like under his mask. At the end of the show, when Christine rips off his mask and wig, we see the disfigurement that makes him seem like a monster. The prosthetic that is applied to his head and bald cap shows an opening in the skin that seems to show a part of his skull and a bit of his brain as well. You see the muscles just below his cheekbone where skins might have tried to appear, but at last, gave a scar-like effect. His lips are a distortion that does not come as a shock to many because it is the only thing we can see behind his mask. A prosthetic has been added to make his lips look unnaturally big and I really wonder how he was able to kiss Christine with those without it accidentally coming off. I’m guessing it was stuck down with spirit gum which can only be removed with it’s matching remover. And finally, there are the gray wisps of his balding head that would deceive many if you didn’t know that a bald cap was applied underneath.
The set helps to transport us to a time where the Phantom is. The opera house stage that is made by the set pieces of what show they are performing (Opera-seption!). This is including the giant chandelier (which sparks to demonstrate its destruction at the end of Act One) that is the focal point of the Paris Opera House. Laura Pledger at Radio Times tells us that “...I was sitting underneath it when the firecrackers went off at the interval and I can tell you, those smouldering remnants were hot.” (Link to article
here). The Phantom’s lair can be demonstrated by walking down the rafters which lead to a boat on wheels hidden off stage. The boat floats across a lake, demonstrated by fog across the stage. From there, you enter his lair, which includes a candelabra, an organ, and his throne-like chair. There is no set left to the imagination in this show, which is something to be admired.
The props also help us to know what is going on. The props of the hanging men show how far the
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Phantom without his mask
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Phantom will go in order to get his way. The ring that the Phantom forces on Christine’s finger, the mask the Phantom wears to cover his distortions, they all help move the show along. But what tied everything together was the script. An opera is a show that has very little to no talking within the entire show. The majority of the dialogue is portrayed through song. Many may think that it is something that would turn them off of the show since lyrics can sometimes get lost in the music but it is done so well that you are able to understand what is going on and understand the severity of what the Phantom is doing.
The music helps to transport us to the show you are seeing. The instruments tell us the mood of this point in the show. “The Phantom of the Opera” song uses instrumentals to display the curiosity of
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Raoul and Christine
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Christine and the eagerness of the Phantom in their “strange duet”. “Masquerade” displays their joy of going an entire six months without any interference with the Phantom. And “Wishing You Were Here” shows us Christine’s heart when she wishes her father were here so that he would have never sent her the Angel of Music (A.K.A. the Phantom). These songs are all accompanied by the lyrics of each song which tells us what is going on during those moments in the show. The music helps us to understand differently than when the words are spoken. It creates a different kind of clarity that you would not know if it were just spoken word. The emotion is presented in a different way to when things are presented in spoken tongue. The Phantom’s menacing threats, Raoul's love for Christine, Christine’s fear of the Phantom.
The music helps to create a plot that moves the audience, and the actors bring this plot-through-song
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Point of No Return
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to life. The storyline displays some humor, but mostly drama. Sierra Boggess uses her beautiful opera voice to let us know of the different emotions the script is presenting. Ramin Karimloo portrays the Phantom’s storyline in a way that I think would make Lloyd-Webber very proud. He displayed his hatred for the world that shunned him but also his love for the young singer, Christine. Hadley Fraser perfectly used the script to portray Raoul’s hatred and anger toward the Phantom, but also his love for Christine which she shares for him. The way the actors portray the characters and give light to what goes on during the show is perfect. They express so seamlessly the trouble the Phantom is causing and how the script intends for them to feel about the trouble.
All in all, this show is one of Lloyd-Webber’s works of art and if you have the opportunity, I would recommend seeing this show. It is performed beautifully on stage, has a compelling score, and creates a story that resonates with the freak in all of us. Make your way to experience The Phantom of the Opera. You won’t regret it.
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