Phantom Of The Opera

If looks could kill, I would not be writing this now. I actually got to see Phantom twice on the London stage, with Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton, and both times were on a fluke. The first time I was walking past the theatre about 10 minutes after the start, and a scalper who had been unsuccessful at selling his tickets was giving it out at cost. This is the time my secretary nearly killed me. The second time was 'inherited' from a friend who was unexpectedly called out of the country on Foreign Office business.

I got the tape of the cast recording as soon as I could after seeing it the first time, and it brought back all of the wonderful scenes. The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber seems to either captivate or irritate, but not a lot in between. And, in fact, I find some of his music which falls into each camp for me. Phantom is one of those for me in which there are no weak songs.

Perhaps the best song of all is 'Music of the Night', a haunting minor key piece with superb lyrics which weave hopefulness and darkness together skillfully. The chord change at the end of the song, from minor to major and back to minor, is one of the most memorable changes in modern musicals. Crawford's strong but expressive and quivering voice exudes emotion as the lyrics work to expand perceptions:

'Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation;
darkness stirs and wakes imagination..
Silently the senses abandon their defenses...'

Strong songs such as the title piece, 'Phantom of the Opera', which mix traditional pipe-organ with modern electronic beats seem to work well in getting the mood established for the power the Phantom has over Christine, played beautifully by Sarah Brightman. Brightman became an international star in this role; she planned it that way--some cynics might say she used Webber to get stardom and then dumped him (of course, I would never say such a thing!). Brightman's voice was not the strongest, either on the recording or on the stage; she has matured much since then; however, as the part of Christine was to be a young-discovery, maturity and strength might have been misplaced in this role.

Raoul, Christine's true love interest, is played by Steve Barton, who does a very good job, with a good vocal interplay with Brightman on songs such as Think of Me and All I Ask of You, in addition to the interplay with Crawford on various songs, particularly nearing the conclusion of the story.

However, my favourite chorus piece has to be 'Notes', in which the proprietors of the opera, as well as the singers and patrons, begin to receive notes from unknown sources, and suspect everyone save the real source, the Phantom, who in the end comes into the scene -- this song is humourous, choral, and dramatic with simultaneous and dissonant elements in wonderful exchange. It then spins down to a wonderful violin strain that shows the fragile state of Christine in a beautiful musical way, hard to express in words.

This is a fun musical, with tunes and a story which stay with one long after hearing, and one that entices repeating over and over. Even though the 'craze' for Phantom has died down from its height more than a decade ago, the strength of the musical shows in the strong sales and widespread recognition that the songs from this musical generate.