The Phantom of the Opera - 10.05.12

It is a fruitless task to write a mean description of an event that might have just as well been plagiarised from another source and that source just merely imitating what's already been said before that. However, cows churn the same products for our cereals, hot drinks and elaborate recipes - and there is no greater, more elaborate cow than Lord Lloyd Webber's 25 (26 this October) year spectacle, The Phantom of the Opera. On this particular date though, it was harder to see which show was the bigger spectacle: the police marches in London, trade unions just a crossing away from the beleaguered political houses just across the bridge or, if what can only be called 'smaller' in this context, the ongoing protests of citizens from Pakistan, hostile against government negotiations with apparent terrorists. Indeed, I had the strange feeling that the 'Magical Lasso' of the Phantom would comfortably fit the heads of the Home Secretary or Hamad Karzai, current President of Pakistan, if given the chance to these less than merry protesters. But, I was not prepared to trade in a highly expensive ticket to have a front seat for marching placards and unsentimental shirts embedded with messages of  'GET SHAFTED AND CARRY ON''. So the show went as planned...

Cover page of my 'Phantom'
programme.

At first sight, it is almost incomprehensible how any other show besides this can remain in one of the most competitive markets, where without the 'Full House' many shows have seen an untimely axe in as many days before their first contract expires, for so long whilst additionally retaining its original setting, in this case Her Majesty's, Haymarket. After over 100 million bums-on-seats later, one solution that may be found in its success is that a recent article in The Guardian suggested that Phantom's connection with French literature, like many other successful shows from Parisian origins, is why it manages to sustain high audience support, along with the even more welcome premium fees for the best seats. Indeed, I don't doubt this, with the shows strong European set and costume design, the poor battered chandelier that falls time and time again, what's not to like? With the concert inspired sound of the orchestra bristling around the Hanoverian construct and the intense rock-opera, obsessive lyrics of the title song to the more sentimental Lloyd Webebr-esque romance of 'All I Ask of You', an audience who appreciates both of these sorts of extremes surely can't be wrong. I am personally a fan of the former style of the intense, heart-stopping psychodrama of our lead character, but that won't stop me liking other efforts such as the opera performances within an opera.

Ah, but what of the performers that day? Interestingly enough I was fortunate to have 2/3 of the principal leads that day. Phantom's global reach has now meant it has now been a very attractive resource for international performers to have their chance in what is perhaps one of the most fickle music industries in the world. It was almost embarrassing to admit that I lived in the mean-spirited hope that I would not be treated to the 'Show of Understudies' that day and would be reminiscent of my visit to Drury Lane Theatre in 2010 in Oliver! when Rowan Atkinson (Fagin) was swiftly replaced by Last of the Summer Wine's Russ Abbott in a seat that both I and my mother nearly fell asleep in the first act due to the scorching humidity of the theatre hall. Although, I shouldn't be so as pompous to choose my performers. Many great Phantom understudies (Rebecca Caine, Ramin Karimloo) have inherited the top roles due to their abilities on stage. The Swedish Phantom, Peter Joback (though I think Joback may translate as 'Gabriel') is apparently a very much coveted star in his homeland and may be regarded more in Sweden's commercial culture than his theatrical background here in the UK. And a very impressive interpretation of the vocals on show that afternoon, as his somewhat Crawford-like, higher pitch diction highlighted more of the romantic pathos and isolation of the Phantom compared to the baritone terror that seems to be more common in this show. Saying that, Steve Barton's Phantom in Broadway 20 years ago just demonstrates the ability of this complex character when sung right. One of the criticisms of the show, as Guardian writer Stuart Jeffries argued, was that the show lacked the courage to make the Phantom "dark or disturbed", calling the show a "cultural juggernaut". Goodness, what was I supposed to have seen if the show was to be made darker - a shotgun marriage between Phantom and Christine, or as the show left from the original novel, the toture chamber which Raoul and his Persian ally must escape if they do not wish to die from being roasted to gooses? But if the Phantom's inspiration of Byron's Don Juan is to be taken seriously, his character seemed to certainly reflect this stanza:

Thus would he while his lonely hours away

Dissatisfied, nor knowing what he wanted;

Nor glowing reverie, nor poet's lay

Could yield his spirit for which he panted,

Joback is just that, and while I do not state he is perfection in the role, he is the embodiment of Lloyd Webber's dashing, anti-heroic deformed stallion with a creepy fixation on another Byronic female who doesn't know if she's coming or going. Maybe it's the epigraph for the composer's marriage to the first Christine, Sarah Brightman, which without her, this subversion of 'Beauty and the Beast' many not even exist. Here's another stanza, with Don's sweetheart, Donna Julia's farewell letter:

My misery can be scarce be more complete

I had not lived till now, could sorrow kill [...]

And I must even survive this last adieu,

And bear with life, to love and pray for you!

Primary details of the show that day.

The song 'The Point of No Return' may give you a hint to the lyrics in sync with Byron's poetry. Look at the sequel, Love Never Dies and you will have your answer affirmed, but that's another juggernaut I won't go into now. Sofia Escobar's performance as Christine was very much youthful and energetic, in match I think to the personality as portrayed in the show, rather than the more grave adult sopranos who give her a much darker edge in her voice. Her original Portuguese tints in her voice gave the French Christine a much needed continental air compared to the US/UK dominated accents in this show, though I feel with her short time still with Joback, she seemed to lack a stonger chemistry with all the other Phantoms she's snag on stage with. This is compensated by the harmonious workings of both their voices when they are on stage together and she is a pleasant actress to watch. Raoul, played by understudy, Nadim Namman, gave a solid and assured performance as Raoul, though I was inexplicably haunted still by the ghost of Steve Barton's peerless portrayal, who I feel is the only actor who doesn't get a rough ride by the 'Phans' out there. Poor Raoul.

So ignore all the naysayers who call this show style with no substance, melodrama without the drama. It's a good, classic show to enjoy and you could go much worse than see something in musical disasters such as the dismal English translation of Tanz der Vampire. It's a good day/evening's time out and money well spent. From the desolate opening of the cloth plagued opera house to the spectacular ascending of the candelabrum's out of the stage as the raft-cum-bed makes its way across the misty stage, it satisfies that craving of wanting to watch the same event 100x over. As the original Daily Mail review of 1986 would clarify it is "In its unabashed romanticism it reminds us that the Phantom is at heart a simple take of unrequited love". And the rest, as another undying proverb would say, is history.