The Phantom of The Opera - princess Theatre, Melb.

'The Phantom of The Opera' Review

I travelled to the exciting city of Melbourne to give myself the chance to view one of the world’s most famous musicals of this time, live in its premiere Australian theatre, ‘The Princess Theatre’.  The Phantom of the Opera is a western musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the singer, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius known as The Phantom of the Opera, who terrorises the Paris Opera theatre, and set in the late time of the eighteenth century.  In its revival season of two years as an Australian and New Zealand tour, part of the new world tour of the production, this is a show that has stunned millions of people around the world, and is the longest running show on Broadway of all time.  The Really Useful Group produces this wonderful musical that opened again on the twenty eighth of July this year, and the breathtaking direction is done by Harold Prince, one of the worlds most famous musical theatre directors, having won twenty one Tony Awards, and directing the original productions of Phantom both on Broadway and the West End in London.  With the revival holding acclaimed production credits such as these, it was sure to be a masterpiece of a show, and a definite ambition to fly across Australia to see. 

Upon arrival into the wonderfully old yet preserved theatre that was built in 1886, I was instantly drawn into and attracted to the feeling that was present inside of the theatre, a feeling of excitement and amazement as I sat there and took in the incredible look of the opening set, that sought in creating the run down Paris Opera Theatre at an auction of the goods; The prologue of the musical was ready and set.  Once the house lights were gone and the audience were welcomed, it was a relieved feeling to note that there were to be no understudies in part for the performance; I was to watch Anthony Warlow produce his magic live for the very first time. 

The setting of this theatre is very intimate and allows the audience to feel a sense of connection and closeness to the action on stage, which was an ideal environment for the proscenium arch styled theatre that held greatness for the creation of illusion and intimacy in the shows presence.  In keeping with the traditional values of the staging of the show, Prince has captivated the gothic and very morbid atmosphere that is intended through the compositions of the famous pieces, and demonstrated through captivating suspense and dramatic energy in the portrayal, just how significant this show is to the modern world of musical theatre.  The direction was sharp, in shape and incredibly polished, which created the mystic and suspenseful atmosphere that captivated the emotion and essence of the show so very well.      

In the role that he was born to play, Anthony Warlow produced a gripping characterisation in the role of the Phantom, bringing something to this character that gave a solid and well rounded performance in the role, and that saw him become an extreme pleasure to watch on stage.  He created the mystery and fearful suspense in the character through his extensive uses of mannerisms, highlighting vivid using of arm and hand movements that captivated the morbid and dark feel to the portrayal.  His non-verbals consisted of slow pacing movements that expressed the fierce tone and mystery in the character, especially through gestures of evil and powerful arm movement that created the overpowerful and controlling feel to the characters motivation.   Warlow created effect in his point of focus, expressing fear and anger in the character through glaring stares and strengthened focus that reinforced the fierce and mystic effect on the audience.  His presence on stage was convincing and outstandingly polished, as he produced sheer brilliance in his role that appeared so natural for him as a performer.  Warlow created the characters manner and strength through a deep, rich pitching sound, giving the effect of a controlling and authority figure, whilst luring in Christine with his powerful charm and deep sense of majesty in the role.  His voice stole the show, as he produced perfectly sound vocals that brought incredible amounts of strength and dramatic feeling through his strong tenor voice, hitting every note perfectly with a sense of power and control in his outstanding voice.  Warlow’s voice was strong and energised the show with an immense sense of emotion and confidence, bringing tears to the eyes of the heartfelt fans of his.
Anna Marina brought a new vibe and incredible character structure to her role of Christine, as she steps into the role with confidence, and the ability to draw on a deep emotional journey in her character portrayal of the much loved character.  This role is a physical challenge, as she appears in mot scenes, and when not on stage she’d be changing in wardrobe to a new captivating costume outfit.  What I found most intriguing about her portrayal was her ability to absorb Christine as a naïve, lonely girl at the beginning of the show, and through her incredible acting ability and stamina in the role, she grew in the character as to grow into a woman by the end, portraying guts and a confident ability to stand up to the Phantom.  Marina created the vulnerable character expressively through her innocence in the portrayal, focusing on a quietened volume in her verbals which stabilised the naivety in the character, whilst creating a very sweet and vulnerable depiction of the character in performance.         

I have never seen such ‘real’ chemistry between two people on stage.  Anna Marina in the role of Christine, alongside Warlow, produced their stunning acting abilities together, and their performance in the roles was the most professional portrayal that I have viewed.  When in scene and song, the vibe was magical; it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. There voice’s patterned so well together, creating everything from a smile, a laugh, and a tear from every audience member present.  The music theatre style was present in a way that created exaggeration and entertainment in the portrayal, yet the piece sets out a sense of musical realism as if to create high levels of audience connection and condolences to the emotion and responses to the character journeys present, whilst vividly living out the heightened emotional expressions and dramatic style to the actors creations on stage.

I was especially surprised at how intriguing and dramatic the set design was, as it created looks that realistically brought out scenic setting, whilst expressing the time period of the eighteenth century so very well, with complete amazement in the design of transitions and set items used.  I found the design to hold extreme amounts of depth and character within them, such as the many curtain drapes that were flown down, that created the theatre like atmosphere inside of the proscenium window, and creating a sophisticated look that reinforced the very old eighteenth century dated design to the stage design.  The scenes set in the basement river of the theatre that holds the home to the Phantom, was designed with maximum effect and dramatic feel, creating an extremely dark and gloomy atmospheric effect, with golden candle features, and the uses of a green lighting wash very far down to the stage level, creating the water effect, along with a set bridge, bringing realism to the dark basement setting, that created a suspenseful mood and feel to the design concept of the show.
The concept of the musical saw many set changes throughout, and the quick transition pace and fluid changes that were seen, created a fluid flow of energy and anticipation in the show that drew on heightened quality and polished professionalism in their portrayal of theatre. 

Creating the incredible uplifting atmosphere was also attained through the exceptional use of the stage space, and auditorium surroundings, as Prince heavily concentrated on the proscenium arch, through blocking the actors appearing above the arch, and with effective entrances and levels that were seen to be spread through a range of areas in and around the theatre stage. This thorough use of the stage space brought an interesting and enclosed vibe to the performance, which caught an intense and intimate feeling in terms of audience involvement with journeying with the characters in path. Dramatic tension played a big part in the completion of the musical, through its gothic and very morbid outlook; it conveyed shock, horror and a grippingly suspenseful outtake in performance portrayal.  The dramatic tension was heavily focused on through the angered actions of the Phantom, due to the theatre owners not abiding by his requests, and such moments as the crashing of the chandelier, the hanging of the stage hand and the eye candy of the masquerade sequence, which are all played out through dark and intensified playing of the score, as well as crucial and sharp blocking methods, retaining the effectiveness of these heightened moments in the show, observing total audience reaction and response as a result of such strengthened moments in the show . 

It is evidently noted that this new revival of The Phantom of the Opera is an outstanding success, when in the final bows; the entire audience produces a standing ovation lasting over five minutes.  The feeling inside of me as I stood there in amazement was one of the most inspirational moments of my life, giving complete acknowledgement to the most incredible stage production that I have ever seen.  Prince has brought strikingly new advances in the portrayal of the musical, and the production achieves the product of such a high level of quality, foreseeing some of Australia’s most talented musical theatre performers as they present to each audience the reasons why musical theatre was born.  The performance was strong, sharp and captivated a magical feel in creation, taking the audience on a journey through the history of the Paris Opera Theatre through abiding to the emotion of the well loved story of The Phantom of the Opera.  This production is a masterpiece, and definitely worth a travel across the country to see.