The first big touring show to hit the Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts is the new production of Phantom Of The Opera, and I was fortunate enough to go see it Sunday night. Diana works there part-time as an usher, and after seeing bits and pieces of it last week, she encouraged me to go see it.
I've been fortunate enough to get involved a bit with the center on a volunteer basis, and even had a chance to tour the facility while it was still under construction. I hope people in Orlando understand how awesome it is to have something like this here. It's a really beautiful set of venues, and it sounds like it's generally very functional. (That sounds obvious, but ask people who have occupied theaters built in the 70's and 80's how functional their space is.) I was really excited to see an actual production in the building.
Like most people, I know the music from the show because it has been around for decades. Prior to this, I had only seen the show twice, both in Vegas when it ran at The Venetian. That show borrowed heavily from the other productions in New York, London and such, but had some changes to compress it a bit and drop the intermission (essentially the movie arrangement, with the chandelier shenanigans later, in the second act). It was also the most technically advanced, taking the chandelier gag to new levels by making it this multi-piece thing that rotated all around the theater to its center, with a guy repelling out of its center. In fact, much of the auditorium was used to simulate the Opera Populaire.
This show was a reboot in terms of its staging, with mostly minor tweaks to dialog and music, as best I could tell. So without being bound to the original technical gags like the chandelier rising off the stage during the auction, the big staircase for the masquerade, the Phantom in the proscenium, the portcullis in the Phantom's lair, etc., there was an opportunity to do something new that had not been seen before, and I suspect it has meant that the show travels better as well. My point here is probably half review and half observation of the "new" show.
In terms of casting, I'll cut to the chase: The show is pretty solid overall with a great cast. The understudy Carlotta was on this performance, and she was fantastic. I still think in terms of skill, that's an underrated part because you have to sing well while playing it a little silly and inept. Her opposite, the Piangi character, got a lot of laughs, as did the managers. Madame and Meg Giry played their parts much as you would expect. I don't know if the role of Raoul is easy to sing, but every one of them that I've seen has been great in the part, and this one was no exception.
They cast Chris Mann, who mostly is just known for being on The Voice, as the Phantom, and if I'm being honest, he's not very good. I've heard five different Phantoms now (live and recorded), and he's easily the weakest. He's fine during the "angry" parts of the show, but when he has to convey emotion and connect with the audience, it feels like he's phoning it in. The show only works if you can feel bad for him, and he doesn't convey that. He also can't hold the big notes, wanders excessively into speaking lines (that might be a directorial decision) and went really flat a few times. At the end of "Music Of The Night" he just completely crumbled and gave up while the orchestra kept going. Not impressed. His resume isn't long enough for that role, compared to his peers.
On the other hand, Katie Travis as Christine was fantastic. That role is another that you can't just fake, you've gotta make the audience believe that she has feelings for the bad guy, the good guy and a whole lot of baggage over losing her father. "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" has always been my measuring stick for that, because when it's done right, and you're really plugged in, it should almost bring you to tears. I'm probably alone in thinking that, but I think the song is what ties everything about the character together, bridging the musical legacy of her father with the Phantom's obsession over developing her talent. Travis just nailed it.
From a technical standpoint, the scene, lighting and sound design choices were great to geek out over. The company uses a false floor with various lighting effects in it, flash pots and a track for a rotary set piece that acts as a descending wall (with disappearing steps!), a housing for the managers' office, external walls to the dressing room and the Phantom's lair... it's very versatile. Two large columns on either side rotate to be either exterior/dungeon walls or the theater boxes that merge with a fake proscenium. At one point where Buquet gets hung, they cleverly stage it so it appears that you're seeing the ballet performing on stage while looking backstage. I thought the whole thing was clever and probably more practical for a touring show, and it felt fresh, as if I was seeing a different show.
I'm a big lighting nerd, and I was surprised to see that very little of the house infrastructure was used for the show (in terms of house instruments and such... no idea if they used their control system or wiring). There were a few washes used above the boxes. The FOH electrics weren't used at all, and they instead flew a truss just above the front of the proscenium. Even more interesting is that it was composed almost entirely of automated lighting. Vertical trusses on either side of the stage included more of the same, as well as a few specials. They used one house follow spot and two just off stage inside the upper corners of the proscenium. Not sure what they were using further up stage, since I was in the balcony.
They were also a big fan of lighting from a low angle. A few automated washes were positioned under the boxes, and a number of specials were mounted at the front of the mezzanine. They also had a video projector there, which was used sparingly to display "cobwebs" during the auction, and tell the Phantom's backstory in shadows on a wall. Oh, and they had video monitors of the conductor up there.
Sound was just amazing, in part because that theater sounds so great. There were times where I wasn't sure if I was hearing an actor directly or amplified. It was so clean and I hesitated to cough because all 2,700 people could hear me. The show also mounts small theaters all around to throw the Phantom's voice, and allow for the "police" to indicate that they've "locked the doors" when they try to catch the Phantom in the second act.
Overall, I think it's a great evolution for a show that has been around for so long. It felt new to me. I really wish they would have cast someone with more experience as Phantom, but judging by the crowd reaction, people apparently loved him anyway. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad Diana encouraged me to go see it.
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