The Arts in New York City

The Phantom of the Opera is a marvelous play shown at the Majestic Theater in the Broadway Box.  This show has been the longest running show in Broadway history.  I watched the movie before and since I enjoyed it very much, I decided to see the play itself.  I heard from others that the show was even more beautiful than the movie, and after watching the play, I see that they stand correct.  The show is astounding and amazing to see.  A large part of this opinion comes from the fact that the actors are right in front of you, unlike in the movie where the actors filmed it on some Hollywood set.  Broadway shows, such as The Phantom of the Opera, are wonderful due to the audience’s feel of the actors’ true feelings while acting the play.

The Phantom of the Opera was based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, which tells the story of a deformed man living in the caverns of a famous Opera house in Paris trying to get a young girl’s love; even if it means through violent ways.  Its making into a musical is legendary in that the storyline runs smoothly with the author’s original story.  The songs are a crucial part to understanding the tone and feeling of the musical.  The feeling they emit are just so passionate and touching to the heart because you feel either happiness or pity for the characters singing.  The music, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, is genius in its coherence with the songs.  An example is “The Music of the Night,” which contains tender lyrics accompanied by passionate music.  Just hearing the song made me feel the love between the Phantom and Christine.  The feeling I got when I saw the same song in the movie was nowhere near to that which I felt when I heard it in the Majestic Theater.  I am unable to put into words the sensation you get when such concordant tones make their way into your ear.

The music was marvelous, but the musical would not be complete in its spectacular-ness without visual effects.  Before the musical started, if you look at the set, it just looks like any other set; plain.  As the show started and went on in its glamour, I was surprised to see how advanced and theatrical the set was.  Sparks flew, fire rose from the floor, a stairways appeared below the floor, the top pathway kept on coming down to simulate tunnels leading to the cavern, lights rose from the floor, fog appeared from the floor, a rowboat was led to and from the stage and a huge gate to simulate the Phantom’s chamber appeared from the top of the set.  I admit that the fire and spark effects where a little too bright but it added drama and theatricality to the play.  The Phantom’s chamber was astounding since it was dark and all that was giving light to the set were the scattered candles. The set contributed to the play’s overall tone as it made the surroundings in accordance with the plot.

The musical is unique, and in my opinion, better than the movie.  The audience feels the actors’ feelings as they play the character in the musical.  There is a certain tone the actors emit each and every single time they perform.  The movie is recorded with just one tone and repeated over and over again every time you watch the movie; the feeling does not change.  Just knowing the actors are right in front of you helps in making it beautiful.  I felt even more pity for the Phantom since as you follow through; you feel what the Phantom feels.  You feel pity for him as you know he’s never felt love his whole life and finally when he gets a chance to, his heart is broken as another steals his true love.  Such a life can bring a tear to your eye as it did to the Phantom.  This feeling also comes partly from making the audience part of the play.  The audience would sometimes play the audience of the Opera Populaire, which is the setting of the musical.  Being part of the musical made the audience feel what was truly going on as if they were there themselves.

The Phantom of the Opera was a musical that was truly awe-inspiring and moving.  The use of the music and the set was very crucial as it made the musical a wonder to see.  The feel of the show is just breathtaking and there is no comparison of the movie to the show.  This musical is highly recommended for everyone regardless if you know the story or not.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 9:40 pm and is filed under Oscar Meza, WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.