If you can elicit stillness in a performance, that is the greatest honour - except when they break into applause of course - where people just sit there with a drawn in expression. It is the silence, there is no other show that gives silence the way this one does. “You could not get that with Grease, The Musical,” Roxmouth grins, adding more seriously, “I was one of those people when I saw it for the first time in 2004, so I know how that felt. Literally every day we are contacted by people on social media, sharing how special the evening they watched the show was for them, even weeks later.” “I have never been in a show that affects people so strongly. Matt Leisy, the British-American actor who plays Viscount Raoul de Chagny, agrees.
“When someone stages a gothic musical, it draws comparisons like ‘oh, that’s very Phantom’ but, in turn, Phantom reminds you of nothing else - it is a show that starts with an auction and then suddenly there’s a chandelier, then there’s a boat and a ghost … it’s insane, it’s from a golden age of theatre that people are still trying to emulate today.” “ Phantom is an adjective in itself in the musical theatre world,” says Jonathan Roxmouth, who stars in the titular role for the second time. Watching it through a 21st century lens brings with it a heightened awareness and discomfort of seeing a broken madman trying to control every move of an innocent young woman Certainly, when Options was invited to visit the cast and creative team of the tour in Manila, the show’s larger-than-life legacy loomed over our conversations about the production itself. Known for its ardent fandom - perhaps comparable to the hypnotic spell the phantom casts on his ingénue Christine Daae - there has been no end to discussions on the enduring popularity of the show. Having just completed its foremost engagement in Manila, the Philippines, this week sees its month-long run in Singapore begin and after the stop in Malaysia, the show will travel to Tel Aviv in Israel and Dubai.
Marking another first, the musical - which is inspired by French author Gaston Leroux’s 1909 novel - will make its debut in Kuala Lumpur this June, as part of an ongoing world tour. Most notably, the US production is the longest running musical in Broadway history and at 33 years and counting, the UK production is the second longest running musical in London’s West End. Since the chandelier first rose from the stage to the iconic and haunting overture at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End on October 9, 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom Of The Operahas chalked up a multitude of impressive achievements, accolades, and records.
0 kommentar(er)
