After many exhortations in the tube, on magazines and posters, and by ticket touts to "See the Legendary Original Production," I realized I never had. In a new century, would it measure up? Yes and no. On the positive side, when the Phantom rows Christine to his home beneath the steamy Paris sewers, and candles rise to illuminate both, the lavishness of the Mother Production hasn't been beat. There's a winning convergence, too, between the freshness the artists and crews have been able to maintain (nary a yawn or slump in the bunch at a Wednesday matinee) and the anticipation, then satisfaction one can feel from the audience. But I got one impression I've had before: the staging, except as noted, isn't any more elaborate than at most actual operas, where the music is better. Both story and crashing chandelier I've experienced in better versions. Here, too, the Phantom in mask at the organ resembles Fu Manchu and, when unmasked, looks more like Lon Chaney than the handsomely hideous man I've come to expect. What intrigued me this time is noticing how many things come in threes. Christine has to choose among Phantom, Raoul and the memory of her deceased father. Staged are parts of three operas, same number as the outstanding sets (sewers-lair, "Masquerade" ball, Paris from the rooftop of the Palais Garnier). The Phantom's most dastardly acts are murders, Opera House destructions, an attempted seduction. And instead of the usual one good song in a Lloyd-Webber musical, there are three.
John Owen-Jones makes wonderful "Music of the Night" but is a bit too puffy-beefy, along with that awful makeup, to be at all romantic. However, Matthew Cammelle handsomely offers Raoul's romantic bravery, while Deborah Dutcher's Christine seems out of a mould of pretty brunette sopranos. Odd that An Launereins' Carlotta is comparably more distinctive. Janet Murphy's creepy-but-nice ballet mistress gets balanced by Lucy Middleton's cute Meg. Opera owners Bruce Montague and Charles Shirvell are down to earth.
From my up-front seat, I noticed a male singer in the wings blowing a kiss to the onstage soprano: another bonus of the original production?
