For me, I was lucky that my college offered tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera right around Mothers’ Day. I celebrated the holiday early by taking my mother to see her first professional performance. I bought tickets to see the musical on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 8:00 PM at the Majestic Theatre in New York City. We spent the day shopping in New York with my some of my college mates. When we got to the theatre, I was slightly disappointed at the size and stuffiness of the theatre, as my imagination always cited spacious grand opera houses as the house for all Broadway shows. What The Majestic Theatre lacks in size, it certainly makes up for in atmosphere. It was very beautiful and ornate and it was like stepping back in time. I was instantly reminded of the movie Moulin Rouge when I entered. It definitely has an old-Hollywood glitz and glamour vibe, with the deep tangerine curtains and the hauntingly dim lighting, which seemed to fit the musical perfectly. There were a lot of steep stairs to climb to get to our seating area. We arrived about two minutes before it began, therefore, as we attempted to find our seats within that 2 minute countdown, the lights shut totally off, leaving us in a blacked out haze of confusion. Somehow, an usher made his way to us and helped us find our seats. Our seats moderately comfortable, but because our seats were located in the mezzanine area, our vision was at times obscured when anything went on at the top of the stage; we were forced to crouch down in our seats to see it.
The music in The Phantom of the Opera was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Music was provided by a large orchestra; the instruments I noted were violins and a harp. There were also percussion instruments, an organ, s...
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...r croaking like a frog and being terrified of a shaking chandelier.
The Phantom shows his jealousy throughout the musical, and at one point he gives Christine a frightful warning about her closeness to Raoul. Hugh Panaro as The Phantom was interesting. He has a lovely tenor voice, and acts as the Phantom well. There were parts where I thought he went a little bit overboard in acting out in the final scene. I understand that an opera has dramatically embellished gestures, but the final act seemed a bit disingenuous. His voice made him too pretty and too delicate for the part. In my imagination, the Phantom was more physically intimidating. Nevertheless, my mother and I did enjoy the show a lot. It’s amazing how you can sit for an hour and a half with your body glued to the stage as if it were 10 minutes. We plan to attend more Broadway shows in the near future.
If there is truly tradition to be found among the great theatres both on and off Broadway, then certainly the Sullivan Street Playhouse and its long running production of The Fantasticks rates as one of the most celebrated of New York theatrical traditions. Maintaining its place as the longest running production Off Broadway, The Fantasticks remains an enchanting and insightful tale of both young love and bitter disillusionment. It also reminds one, in this age of spectacle and the mega-musical, how powerful and truly inspiring theatre itself can be. Clearly, one of the great strengths of this production and a large part of its appeal for audiences over the last four decades lies in the fact that both the story and the style of presentation compliment each other so completely. Here we find the non-essentials are stripped away, and we are left to rely simply on the imagination of both the audience and the performers to create a magical evening.
Overall, Wicked was an extraordinary show with very little flaws! It was such an enjoyable show to see and I would most definitely love to see it again! It is for sure a must-see musical. I assure you, you wont regret seeing it at all!! So what are you waiting for? Buy your tickets now!
One of its numerous strengths was the costuming and set. This musical would not have been the same had these elements not come together to transport the viewer. In addition to the costuming and the set, the actors were very well cast. Each actor was in a role that fit them and they portrayed their characters very well. For example, the man who played Glen really seemed like a greedy Wall Street worker. The choreography was also well done. It fit true to the style of dance in the 1980s and added to the immersion experience. The only thing that could have made this experience better would be to add more music. This may just be a personal preference, but when I see a musical I like for the music to be central like it is in Hamilton or Les Miserables. However, this musical was very good and not much could be added to enhance the
On November 12, I had the incredible experience of seeing Ballet West’s Production of Madame Butterfly. I am so grateful for this experience because I was the first time I had ever seen a ballet performed. I enjoyed the evening immensely, and hope to be able to attend more ballets in the future.
The music, which was composed and conducted by Thomas Newman also includes orchestrations by Thomas Pasatieri. Featured musical soloists include George Doering, Michael Fisher, Rick Cox, Sid Paige, Steve Kujala, Jon Clarke, George Budd, and Bill Bernstein.
The audience, for the most part, seemed to be made up of college students attending for the same reasons as myself. However, there were some audience members who are part of older age groups in the audience. They were there only seeking a good performance and a great time. These older age group audience members were located mostly in the center section of the theatre seated in the first few rows. The dress was more casual among the students but dressier for the older people. Some people were in jeans and a T-shirt, including myself, while some wore nice clothes. The audience rewarded each soloist with a warm ovation of applause after their turn was finished. This led me to believe the audience enjoyed the performance and was very respectable to the performers.
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall. By Andrew Lloyd Webber. Prod. Cameron Mackintosh. Perf. Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, Hadley Fraser. Really Useful Films, 2011. DVD.
In Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera fantastic literature is displayed at its best. Originally published in 1911, this French writer produced one of the most famous novels in French history. Created into a play and a musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, this story has touched millions. However, this transition from a novel to a theatrical performance has caused much of the story to be left out of the production. When viewed in its entirety, the novel exhibits many fantastical elements. Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera meets all of the requirements of fantastic literature. These characteristics do not resemble those of Magical Realism extensively.
From physical deformities and mental illnesses, society has oppressed people who differ from normality. In those times, these issues were kept secret and their problems were considered irrelevant. However, with times changing alongside advancements in education, people have socially and morally accepted these flaws, allowing for the proper treatments necessary. Gaston Leroux incorporated symbolism, character depth, and history on the real life Opera House to create The Phantom of the Opera, impacting how we handle modern societal situations and injustices.
You could argue that one of the main reasons why “Love Never Dies” didn’t do very well was because the public had already seen the story of Christine and the Phantom in “Phantom of the Opera,” so to try and replicate the emotions a second time would have been much harder because the audience wouldn’t have been as thrilled or excited when they saw the Phantom because they had already seen him once before. Also when “Phantom of the Opera” finishes you think you have a conclusion as to what happens, but because of “Love Never Dies” everything that you knew about “Phantom of the Opera” suddenly changes. Maybe that’s why audiences weren’t a fan of “Love Never Dies.” Because the audience had already seen everything else once, and some of the events that they thought they had witnessed didn’t actually happen. For example in “Phantom of the Opera” there is nothing to suggest that Christine and the Phantom had a child together, but in “Love Never Dies” it suggests that the Phantom and Gustave are father and son in the song “Beautiful.”
...); and Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (1904); to list just a few. Famous recording opera stars include Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Dame Joan Sutherland, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and José Carreras. During the 400-year history of modern opera, there have been many improvements in the art of music drama. Throughout its history opera has exerted great influence on other forms of music. The symphony, for example, began as an instrumental introduction to 18th-century Italian opera. The cadenzas of violin and piano concertos emerged, in large part, from an attempt to replicate some of opera's vocal intensity. Opera will continue to be a dynamic art form.
Love equals power in this case. The Phantom seeks the love of a young girl, Christine who's cast into the opera from a dancer to a lead role when the original vocalist bails last minute. If he is able to obtain this love, he can have her sing all of his musicals that he has composed while hidden in the dark anterooms of the opera house, which then will give him the power he is so eager to finally have. Christine's love for music and singing makes her extremely vulnerable to The Phantom. As the audience patiently watches the film, one can see that The Phantoms love for Christine and his music slowly grows into an uncontrollable obsession that will ultimately lead to Christine's death. But, before that the audience is taken on a ride through all of loves games. Christine must choose between the hot male; who returns from somewhere along her past (Raoul); and the ugly man who seemingly just wants to be loved (The Phantom). Everyone wants to love and/or be loved, but not everyone gets what they want. Because of this films emphasis on love and all that it entails, the spectator; consciously or subconsciously; is taken on an emotional ride that allows them to relate to and learn from the experiences being acted out throughout the entire film. Everyone knows what it feels like to give and receive love, as well as to not be loved and not give love. So, through the film, The Phantom of the Opera, the viewers can relate to the characters making the film more personable than ever imagined.
Before I started Introduction to Theatre class, I had been only to a couple of plays in my life. Just in this semester I’ve been to about ten plays and have learned so much about the art of theatre. The information I retained from class will help out a lot in the future, but the most important part of this class was the shadowing experience of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With being able to get an inside look at this play during rehearsal and then going to see the performance was an incredible experience. By going to the rehearsal and then seeing the show, I was able to learn and understand more on how the theatre works. From there, I could understand the long process the actors and directors have to go through before the opening show happens.
The Phantom of the Opera directed by Joel Schumacher is the 2004 adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 musical of the same name. The Phantom of the Opera stars Gerard Butler as the Phantom, Emmy Rossum as Christine Daaé, and Patrick Wilson as Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, who are embroiled in a love triangle. The film was met with generally mixed and negative reviews: Schumacher’s use of mise-en-scène, cinematography and editing, as well as symbolism contributes to the production of The Phantom of the Opera.
A mere mention of the term theatre acts as a relief to many people. It is in this place that a m...