She’s here! Lord help us over the next 2.5 weeks as she turns our life upsidedown.
Tennis Star Suzie, Blee, G and I went to see Phantom last night at the Princess of Wales Theatre. This was my fourth time seeing Phantom on stage, and my third time seeing it sober (smile).
Mixed reviews, frankly. I thought the lighting was outstanding (with nods to Caravaggio and Jan Vermeer), the staging wonderful (with nods to Degas), the set transitions excellent, the lead, John Cuida (as the Phantom), worth the price of admission. But the rest of the US cast was ho-hum, including Marni Raab (as Christine, who can sing but needs more acting lessons). The sound was also downright bad (Prima Dona, in particular, which is a pity as it’s a great piece).
Of note, people were crying during the classic “All I Ask of You” song, which was a disconnect for me as I thought Raab and Michael Gillis (playing Raoul) had zero chemistry on stage, to say nothing of Gillis lack of singing ability. Go figure.
I’m hard I know, but blame opera. I expect too much of what is essentially an operetta masquerading as ‘musical theatre’.
Lesson learned: see Phantom drunk; it plays better and you don’t mind poor performances.
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