The Phantom of the Opera - Essay Example

Concert Report: The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera, a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, was attended in New York on October 4th, 2006. I went to the matinee at the Majestic Theatre. The two hours and a half of performance flew by as I listened to this show, based on the novel by Gaston Leroux. The musical tells the story of the passion and love of a disfigured musical genius, who lives in the catacombs of the Paris Opera, for his protégé Christine Daaé, surrounded by the horror he causes between the cast. Since the attended concert was a matinee, the dressing style of the audience was casual, and the age range went from adolescents to third-age people. The performers wore colorful and rich costumes. The style of costumes changed depending on the scenes. Some of them represented parts of other operas inside the musical. For example, the rehearsal of the opera Hannibal takes place in the Ancient Rome, and the costumes had a luxury Roman and Carthaginian style. In the opera Il Muto, the performers wore eighteenth-century clothing. The musical offers a great visual interest in the group scenes, specially in the number “Masquerade”, where the cast showed different costumes, like ballerinas, buffoons, clowns, mythological figures, and the “Red Mask” of the Phantom. The Phantom of the Opera does not have the traditional concert setting. The audience does not just listen quietly, like in a concert of classical music. The scenario is partly integrated with the rest of the theater. It is important to notice that The Phantom of the Opera is a musical about a theater, which takes place within a theater. In some moments, the public could feel that they belonged to the same fictional audience who witnessed all the events in the Paris Opera. For example, the fall of the chandelier, the appearance of the nobleman Raoul in a balcony, from where he sees Christine singing; the representation of Don Juan Triumphant, the opera written by the Phantom, or in the other opera Il Muto, when the diva Carlotta loses her voice. Undeniably, the show produced diverse emotions among the audience. The scene when the chandelier falls caused an impact, although it is one of the most famous and expected moments of the show. Diverse flashes, fires, lights, and smoke were present in determined scenes, such as the fight between the Phantom and the Raoul in the cemetery, or after the prelude, when the rise of the chandelier represents the turn to the past. The musical has moments of humor, romance, suspense and drama. It does not let the audience indifferent. The audience was diverse. There were fans of the musical who whispered almost every song, and they had seen the musical more than once. Additionally, some people knew the musical from the CD of the Original London Cast, or had seen the movies about the story, and they attended the live concert for the first time. Tourists and people coming from other cities of the United States were present among the public, and others went just attracted by the fame of the musical as the Broadway’s longest-running show. The most meaningful part of the musical is the number entitled “The Phantom of the Opera”, a duet between the Phantom and Christine, while he takes her to the underground lake. A very dramatic and rock-like music contains sensual lyrics about the fascination that the Phantom causes on Christine and his satisfaction when he realizes his power on her. In the meanwhile, both characters cross the stage, which becomes stairs, and then a lake, in a vertiginous way. The scene of the chandelier at the end of the first act is also very thrilling. After a love scene between Raoul and Christine in the roof of the opera house, the Phantom emerges from behind a statue hanging from the roof of the stage. He expresses his jealousy and his rage for what he considers a betrayal of Christine, and he makes the big chandelier to swing and then fall to the singers’ feet. The beginning of the second act shows a colorful and happy scenario. The Phantom has been disappeared for six months; it is New Year’s Eve, and the members of the cast dance with their costumes, while they sing “Masquerade”. The mask as a symbol is very meaningful in this musical. The Phantom wears a half-faced mask which hides part of his disfigured face, a mask hiding his dark side as well as his heart. The Phantom role is interpreted by a tenor, and his voice sounds youthful, away from the dark voices expected in a ghostly character. It is not casual that the last scene of the musical highlights the mask, left behind when the Phantom vanishes. The music alternates between some segments of opera, light rock, and musical-comedy. It touches the audience with its convincing and eclectic style. The music often combines with the characters: The exaggeration of the opera in Carlotta, the sweetness in Meg Giry, the different emotions of the Phantom, oscillating between the tenderness and the violence. It is important to notice the difference in the song “Think of me”, when it is interpreted by Carlotta and by Christine. There are highly romantic melodies, such as “The Music of the Night”. The Phantom is a dual character, a victim of circumstances (his disfiguration) as well as a villain (murderer of Piangi and Buquet, and kidnapper of Christine). However, the sympathy extends to the Phantom. As Christine sings, he is a tortured soul: “Pitiful creature of darkness/ what kind of live/ have you known?” The Phantom lives the drama of his own face. His appearance makes him impossible of being loved. A double world exists in the Paris Opera: the fascinating celebrity, sophistication and splendor of the classical opera, and the underworld of a backstage plenty of secrets. From a cultural perspective, the musical reflects the myth of the girl who confronts a dark and paternalistic figure in contrast with a young man. Christine faces a conflict due to the rejection and the attraction she feels for the Phantom, and she is scared although she engages the young and noble Raoul. At the end, she accepts the Phantom under his menace of killing Raoul, and she kisses him passionately. Then, the Phantom releases her. The story recalls the same pattern in other fictions, such as the tale The Beauty and the Beast, as well as some myths such as Cupid and Psyche, or Pluto and Persephone, with elements of the gothic, ghost tales of the nineteenth century. The Phantom of the Opera causes an emotional and visual impact which perfectly combines with the music. The lyrics are full of poetry, especially the song “The Music of the Night”. The high notes of the prelude during the ascension of the chandelier and the recreation of the Paris Opera fill the theater with such a magic that films cannot achieve despite all their special effects. The magic has to do with the imagination that the audience has to put on the theatrical piece, an imagination like the children’s when they play. Also, the stage effects excite the audience, beginning when the Phantom steps out of the mirror. An open ending leaves the audience with the doubt about the fate of the Phantom. He vanishes when he was about to be captured, and the mask remains instead of him. Watching the live musical The Phantom of the Opera is an experience that cannot be overcome by the movie, or the CD and libretto enjoyed at home. On the stage, the musical acquires its real sense, and develops all its musical and theatrical possibilities. Work Cited The Phantom of the Opera. Longest Running Show Program. New York, 2006. The Phantom of the Opera. Original London Cast Recording. Double CD featuring Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton, with full libretto. London, 1986. Read More