Phantom of the Opera. The Royal Masterpiece

Another true masterwork by Andrew Lloyd Weber takes you to Royal Theater is musical called Phantom of the Opera. Yes, Phantom of the Opera is Royal masterwork that is around for a quite long time. This year it celebrated the 25-th anniversary in October at Royal Albert Hall. This show was outstanding! Phantom of the Opera musical wasn’t able to receive any negative critics and reviews and celebrated its anniversary on the high note. I have never been so satisfied after watching this wonderful show, so I could truly give a bow to great actors, Andrew Lloyd Weber himself, Live Orchestra, producer Cameron Macintosh and all other members.

I would like to share my personal experience about Phantom of the Opera. Since 1986 (the original premiere in London) Phantom of the Opera conquered Broadway, Europe, Australia and many more countries. It’s so popular in the World and it’s one of the most successful theoretical shows in the history. It even holds record for the longest running show in Broadway and second longest in West End musicals. Phantom won countless awards in 1986, 1988 and 2002. It managed to win almost all available nominations for outstanding actors, scene design, lightning and so on.

Phantom

But that’s not the real story of the Phantom of the Opera. Today’s reviews will be dedicated about the show from viewer’s point of view, and why it’s so successful and why it needs to be visited once in a lifetime.

I started in the beginning that Phantom is Royal masterpiece. Well, it is. It really took back to France to 1905. The spirit of the show reminded of French culture in the beginning of 20th century.
The heart of the show was the live music accompaniment by the Orchestra with conductor Anthony Inglis. Orchestra made Phantom very enjoyable and real, with no boredom. I can’t really think how Phantom would sound and look without live Orchestra because of the well-considered and professional scenario of the show. Orchestra included violins, guitar, bass guitar, drums, contra bass and wind instruments. Orchestra made this musical stand out in front of every other Theater show in the World.

Secondly, Phantom of Opera scene design was Royal with no complex structures. The main element was gorgeous candle stands, mist and, of course, lights with elements of fireworks. Costumes, designed by Maria Bjornson, reminded of true French culture. Ballet isn’t main accent in the show but it is great for few true master dances. The great idea I liked about the design was the big mirror in the center of the scene with Phantom’s reflection in it. This opened new door to future stage designs.

And last but not least why Phantom of Opera is so great is that every song scene is well-considered to tiny pieces. Even if Phantom is the longest of the Broadway shows and in West End (it runs about 3 hours) it flies in one moment with no boredom. Yes, every scene has beginning (loud or quit), then follows strain and then solution with loud Orchestra music, multiple vocals and gorgeous lights. Every actor sings and plays with soul and experience and that makes every move and song very enjoyable. Song scenes are quite long, but the performance of every move makes Phantom of the Opera really royal.

Phantom musical is the one who comes to audience with the feel and Theater spirit. That makes show unique and there are no words, just “Awesome!”

At the end of the show I really had no words to say or any critics, I was so inspired and I had only one phrase – “Wow!!!”

Check out images of Musical from Royal Albert Hall!

Christine

Musical screen

Dancing scene