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selfindulgentmusicalreviews · 2 years ago

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The Phantom of the Opera - Melbourne Arts Centre - 27 Jan 2023

Hello Musical Theatre fans!

Well, I just took a whirlwind trip down to Melbourne to see not one, but two shows in the span of 48 hours. It was an amazing trip, full of everything that makes a trip good - a nice hotel, plans changing at the last minute, and never knowing whether or not you’re going to miss your flight home.

Like most things these days, I’d already seen this particular production of Phantom in Sydney, but my best friend hadn’t seen it professionally, and I loved it so much I didn’t really have a choice :P

Phantom is a bit of a special play for me; it’s probably the first show I’d seen professionally that actually stuck with me (I did see Oliver when I was about 11, but my memories of it are few and far between). I’d grown up with the music, and it’s one of my sister’s favourite shows of all time.

The Story

The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a man, disfigured from birth, who lives in the underbelly of an Opera House in Paris. He wears a mask that covers the disfiguration on his face, shielding him from the mockery and judgement of the world that he was subjected to throughout his life. He hears the voice of Christine Daae, a chorus girl, and develops an unhealthy obsession with her voice.

Christine’s father (a famous violinist), had brought her to the opera house before falling ill and dying. According to the original book, Christine’s father would always tell her the story of the Angel of Music, since she was a little girl, and it was her favourite. In the musical, her father promises to send her the Angel of Music after he dies. The Phantom easily swoops in as her new mentor, a gift from her father, though he never reveals himself to her.

When the Opera’s prima donna, Carlotta, walks out from their production of Hannibal due to their new managers dismissing the ‘opera ghost’ rumour, Christine is given a chance to sing for them, and is easily cast as the lead. Her success attracts the attention of Viscount Raoul de Chagny, a boy she grew up with who is now (with his family), a patron of the opera.

What follows is a horrific descent into chaos and trouble, with Christine torn between her love for her old friend Raoul, and her love for this mentor that she believes has some connection with her beloved father. The Phantom’s passion and obsession for her leads to multiple deaths, a fallen chandelier, and a whole lot of trauma for everyone involved.

The Phantom of the Opera has a movie version, which is… fine, but tends to fall into the trap of casting names instead of voices, which I find can really retract from the story-telling. But this isn’t about the movie!

There weren’t any major changes to this tale; but one thing I have to mention is that when Christine returns to the Phantom to give him back the ring, Raoul comes with her (insistently tugging at her hand to get her to walk away with him). This is different to the movie but I’m grateful for the change; there would be absolutely no way I’d let her back to the Phantom ALONE.

Musical Numbers and Staging

The visuals behind this production of Phantom are absolutely breathtaking. The set is incredible, and I can see why it’s not something that can be brought to QPAC; I don’t think our stage is tall or wide enough.

The show travels through an enormous number of sets, (the initial auction room, the stage for Hannibal, Christine’s dressing room, the route to the Phantom’s lair, then separately his actual lair, Andre and Firmin’s office… and that’s just Act 1). It’s mostly assisted through a rotating stage, with set pieces mysteriously appearing and disappearing in what feels like no time at all.

The sets themselves are well detailed and visually stunning. My only tiny gripe is that when the Phantom first reveals himself to Christine through the mirror, even sitting in the second row it was hard to see him; I doubt it would’ve been easier any further back.

It’s fun to watch the set pieces appear and I think that one of the really cool things is that the set transitions are sometimes incorporated into the movement of the characters. Raoul looks for Christine and the set turns as he’s searching, and it really does feel like we’ve followed him through the opera house into this new room. The leads also walk down steps that move in and out from the walls (and I always enjoy watching where the cast have to hook/unhook safety lines to costumes).

I’m also impressed by how Andre and Firmin’s office during Notes feels claustrophobic with seven people in there, despite it being open to the rest of the front of the stage. It’s just little things like this that create variation between the visuals and make it even more fun to watch.

The costuming is beautiful and bold; every piece is so intricate and beautifully fitted to each character. My personal favourites are the outfits for Masquerade - both Meg and Christine’s dresses are so pretty, and I love Raoul’s Hussar outfit. Blake looks very dashing in it!

Leads

The main reason we went and saw this twice, aside from how great it is, was for Blake Bowden and Josh Piterman, who played Raoul and the Phantom. I watched Blake in the lead role of Elder Price from Book of Mormon in 2018, and have been obsessed with him and his amazing family ever since. Josh Piterman played Gus/Growltiger in the 2016 production of Cats (which ranks up as one of my favourite musicals.)

When quarantine first started and Josh was back in Australia, (after performing as Phantom in the UK) I remember that he was hosting little digital quarantine parties on Instagram, where he’d invite musical theatre performers on to sing for everyone. Blake was one of his first guests, and he sang The Wizard and I! It was clearly foreshadowing :)

Josh plays an amazing Phantom. He’s so poised and careful, every move calculated and refined. His voice radiates throughout the theatre and his first “INSOLENT BOY” gave me goosebumps! I love watching him through the song, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ as he coaxes Christine into singing higher and higher, how he’s fueled from her success and intoxicated by it. It’s such an excellent little journey to watch, and Josh does it so clearly and perfectly. He’s cautious and almost tentative with Christine, for her sake, but his as well - he hasn’t truly been around people in such a long time, and he doesn’t want to scare her off. It’s incredible to see the stark difference between the Phantom, a year later, as the creation of Don Juan and his jealousy and obsession has thrown him into madness.

I have to admit, my heart broke when Christine kisses him, and you can see it through Josh’s entire body, the shock and horror and relief and devastation coursing through him. It’s a brilliant bit of acting (like all of it). It’s hard to love the Phantom at this point in the show but somehow Josh sucks that tiny last bit of humanity back into him, and it hurts to know just how different and brilliant the Phantom could have been, had the world been a little kinder to him.

Watching Blake in this production has brought to my attention how small Raoul’s role really is, and how he doesn’t even get his own solo song. I obviously enjoyed every second Blake was onstage, but there definitely wasn’t enough of it. I particularly loved some subtle bits and pieces; Raoul’s initial reaction to Christine asking him to love her is almost hesitant, as he glances away to consider if that’s what he really feels. It only makes sense; they were children together very briefly, and if Il Muto only took about 6-8 weeks to produce, these two haven’t known each other that long to suddenly be in love.

I appreciate Blake for what he brings to Raoul’s character, especially since Raoul’s character annoys me the entire way through the show. I enjoyed the way they paired him with Meg for Notes/Prima Donna, and that the two of them have a bit of a friendship blooming in the interests of protecting Christine. Watching him come to his decisions and have realisations at pivotal moments is just great storytelling. A special mention to the fact that gasping for air as he’s being hung isn’t intrusive while the focus is elsewhere.

Amy Manford is new to me; I haven’t seen her in anything else, but now I really want to. She plays Christine with the perfect innocence and naivety. Her anxious little breathing every time the Phantom does something mildly upsetting ties her character together in such a great way. My favourite part was watching her try and desperately signal to Andre, Firmin and Raoul that the Phantom is literally on stage with her, and once she realises they won’t listen, she practically vows to at least make it a good show. Her voice is pure and beautiful, and watching her Christine-excitement over reaching that insane E6 at the end of The ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is really fun.

A special little shout out to Mietta White, who plays such a sweet but fierce and strong Meg. Not only is she a beautiful dancer, but her voice is amazing. Giuseppina Grech and Paul Tabone, our Carlotta and Piangi, were incredible as well.

Ensemble

Surprisingly, I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the ensemble cast, but I think it’s because the vast majority of them are specifically ballerinas/dancers.

I’ve previously seen Lewis Francis in Book of Mormon (with Blake, funnily enough). We got quite close to him when he stood in the orchestra pit as the rifleman!

Stage Door

So, I don’t know if anyone has been to the Melbourne Arts Centre, but we were down in the stalls. The centre is a round building, and to reach the stalls, you come in at ground level and go down an escalator, walk halfway around the building, go down another escalator, walk a little bit further, then go down TWO MORE flights of stairs until you finally reach the theatre… and then like 7 more large steps to your seats.

It’s not a short way and I figured there was no way that we’d make it back to stage door before Blake or Josh managed to escape. But, the second the show finished, we RACED through the crowds, managed to find some mysterious stairs instead of taking the escalators, and found ourselves waiting at stage door in, I swear, no more than 5 minutes.

And then we waited.

And waited.

And waited some more…

And then it turns out, that THE Cameron Mackintosh had decided to go visit the cast and that they weren’t coming out any time soon, which I didn’t find out until the following day. So while I was a little disappointed at the time, I’m more excited by the fact that Cameron Mackintosh a) was in that room and b) got to witness the perfection that was this cast.

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selfindulgentmusicalreviews · 2 years ago

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Mary Poppins - Brisbane 2022 - QPAC

Hello Musical Theatre fans!

So 07/12/22 clocked in as my third viewing of Mary Poppins, and unfortunately seeing shows more than once in the run has started to become a very expensive habit. Strangely though, all three reasons had a different purpose, which usually isn’t the case (and rather, I just go because I enjoyed it so much I wanted to see it again.)

The first was due to some complimentary seats; so why not?

The second was the planned, intended viewing with the family.

And the third? Well. We found out one of our favourite ensemble members was playing Bert, so we booked some last minute tickets (literally 6 hours before the show started) and went!

(And, as of Jan 2023, I ended up seeing it a FOURTH time, due to a lottery win. That adventure isn't included here but it didn't change much!)

The Story

Mary Poppins is an excellent show. I went and saw it when it came to Brisbane for the first time in 2012. I have to admit, I wasn’t as impressed back then and came away not really wanting to go this time, but through either age/maturity or just a different cast/different production, I left with a completely different review of it.

The story of Mary Poppins is the same as it always has been - two misunderstood children with parents who have no time for them, so they act out and escape from their boring, strict nannies. In an attempt to open their parents’ eyes, a mysterious, magical nanny comes down from the sky to teach everyone a lesson. A special mention to Bert, the guardian angel jack-of-all-trades that always appears when the kids need him most.

The musical adaptation takes a slightly different turn than the movie, I can only assume for staging and pacing purposes. There are several new songs, and some of the songs from the movie have been changed, and in my opinion, some of the character arcs are a little more blurry. In the movie, the children are quite soft and don’t require such a firm hand to guide them (despite their letter going on about their pranks). They immediately love Mary, and follow her every request. It’s only on Mary’s day off when they’re with their father do things turn upside down. In comparison, the musical children are petulant trouble makers with strong personalities, who are dubious about Mary Poppins even after her introduction (that whole, “we hope you’ll stay” in ‘Practically Perfect’ is definitely sarcastic). They’re still making trouble despite Mary's influence; causing a mess in the kitchen for poor Robertson Ay. It’s definitely better consistency for their characters, given how much the other nannies label them as terrors. Luckily, with strong children, the stage role of Mary is equally as strong and no-nonsense to match.

Jane and Michael get their own miniature character arcs, though I find Jane’s is a little harder to follow. Michael learns to not judge a book by its cover when he feeds the birds, but Jane doesn’t quite come around at the same time and is still afraid of the bird woman. She eventually gets a throwaway line at the end about learning to look beyond what’s at the end of her nose, but we never see it truly resolved, and they’re still fairly judgy about how dirty Bert is as a chimney sweep.

George Banks is, of course, the man of the show with the most change, as intended by the original source material. We find that his lifestyle is deeply rooted in the trauma he faced as a young child - seeing his parents barely once a week and never being kissed goodnight, and forever being molded by brimstone and treacle (which after a quick google, I’m surprised George even made it to adulthood!)

One thing I probably don’t agree with and would love to see a rewrite for is the character of Winifred Banks. In the movie she’s a strong-willed suffragette, fighting for women’s rights (but is unable to stand up to or for her husband at home). In the musical, she’s a former actress that left the stage to host dinner parties and luncheons for rich ‘friends’ she doesn’t really know, which is the reason why she can’t look after the children (and ‘all the best people have nannies’.) At the end of the musical, she decides that the acting life isn’t for her, and that she’d rather just concentrate on being a mother.

Personally, I would love to see her in that suffragette role once more, and like Mr Banks, come to the conclusion that she needs to balance her lifestyle and the parenting with George. In the movie, watching her march and stand up for women, but be completely incapable of standing up to her husband was a fun juxtaposition (though in the movie, this was never resolved either.)

Upon first watching, I found at least one of the musical numbers was a little hard to piece together from a story perspective; specifically ‘Playing the Game.’ To be truthful, I’m still not sure how this song fits; Valentine is broken because the children are fighting over him, and after this (horrifically haunting) number about respecting your toys, Mary Poppins leaves because she can’t help children who won’t listen. While totally relatable and a generally good message, what does this have to do with anything that’s happened so far, and why does THIS particular issue prompt Mary Poppins to leave? The children seem to be following up to this point, and aren’t really resisting her lessons.

Some minor gripes that definitely don’t detract, but just make me laugh; I’m not sure how okay I am with the ‘Spoonful of Sugar’ essentially being a drug that gets them all high enough to enjoy cleaning. The rest of the show tends to rely highly on metaphor but this one feels a bit off.

Also, the reason for them being swept up the chimney sweep to meet Bert and the other sweeps will forever make me laugh with how random of an event it is, with no explanation or information about why it happens.

I suppose, just like Mary, the show makes a habit of never explaining anything ;)

Musical Numbers and Staging

Mary Poppins incorporates well loved songs from the movie with a host of great new songs that fit the pacing of the stage play. I always find myself with ‘Practically Perfect’ in my head as I leave the theatre (and for days afterwards).

Feed the Birds is always a standout in my mind; a hauntingly beautiful song on a dim stage, with beautiful harmonies from Mary and the bird woman. It never fails to give me goosebumps!

The choreography is incredible, especially Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - I always enjoy watching the cast rattle off letter after letter, and I’m pleased that we get to see it once more at the end.

One part I always love to watch is how quickly the park changes during ‘Jolly Holiday’ - from quiet browns and greys and blacks to suddenly brilliant greens and reds and purples (Colours of my Life, anyone?) as the lights come up always has me staring in childlike wonder, marvelling at just how incredible the stage can be. It’s magic moments like those that really make me love the theatre.

The costuming is brilliant, although if I have one criticism I would have loved to see Jane and Michael’s costumes start to brighten as the musical goes on. They wear greys and browns for the majority of the time (except in Jolly Holiday), but as they start to become happier, better adjusted children, it wouldn’t have hurt to see some of the colour leaching into their clothing as well.

Leads

For the 2022 run of Mary Poppins, we had Stefanie Jones and Jack Chambers as our Mary and Bert. I saw them for two of the three shows I’ve seen, and their portrayal of these characters was amazing. Stephanie’s vocals and Jack’s charm really brought out the magic of these two characters, and their chemistry on stage was a delight to watch. I haven’t seen either of them in any other productions (I don’t think), so it was nice to see some new faces.

I’ve also got to give a special mention to Genevieve Kingsford and Patrick Whitbread, the understudies we saw on the 07/12/22. Patrick Whitbread was the ensemble member we were there specifically to see, and while I’m completely biased, Patrick played an incredible Bert to Genevieve’s Mary.

I always love getting to see multiple people in the same roles; they each bring something just a little different that usually offers unique perspectives.

Patrick’s Bert is goofy. He’s a sweet, lovable dork who pulls faces while he dances, and his portrayal reminded me a lot more of the Dick Van Dyke version of Bert from the movie. Jack plays a much more suave Bert, which is no less endearing and exciting to watch. Genevieve’s Mary was softer than Stephanie’s prim and proper nanny, but that softness didn’t diminish the way she commanded the stage.

Tom Wren was excellent all three nights - he has such a great smile and it’s such a standout when he goes from always frowning and scowling to these brilliant pearly grins. I absolutely loved Lucy Maunder’s performance; for the character she plays, she does it incredibly well and her vocals during “Being Mr Banks” are absolutely beautiful.

The children are always fantastic; I got to see three (four!) different sets, and all of them were equally amazing.

Ensemble

As per usual when I go to the theatre, I like to pay close attention to the ensemble, and see if I’ve seen any of them in any former productions. Some of them just end up sticking and I try to make sure I watch out for them during the shows. Due to the costuming and make-up usually covering faces and hair, I found it incredibly difficult to single them out as individuals on this show.

There were only a couple of them this time;

Hayden Baum, Ellie Nunan and Taylor Scanlan I’ve followed through numerous Cats productions.

Andrew Broadbent - we saw him in Book of Mormon; I’ve been trying to chase him down at Stage Door to no avail; he’s far too sneaky. I enjoyed watching him as Von Hussler and the Policemen - it’s always just nice to see familiar faces. As of the fourth viewing, I managed to get to Andrew at Stage Door! He was the kindest, most polite person I've ever met and I LOVE him very much.

Thanks for reading!

#QPAC #Queensland Performing Arts Centre #Musical Theatre #Musical Theatre Review #Queensland Musical Theatre #Mary Poppins #Stefanie Jones #Jack Chambers #Genevieve Kingsford #Patrick Whitbread #Tom Wren #Lucy Maunder #Hayden Baum #Ellie Nunan #Taylor Scanlan #Andrew Broadbent #Michael Cassel #Michael Cassel Group #Australian Musical Theatre

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