One Love, One Lifetime

We went to see Phantom of the Opera last night at the Venetian Hotel. It was superb! CoolGuy used our "locals" coupon and got us two-for-one seats on the front row. When the Trumpeting Elephant sounds...we practically got sprayed with elephant sweat. We love Phantom of the Opera.

We've seen Phantom quite a few times. When our oldest son was in high school, we chaperoned a band trip to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles to see their production. We sat up in the farthest balcony seats, but were absolutely stunned as we watched the show. The band had been playing the music, and we'd had a friend send us a tape of some of the songs, so we were familiar with the score. But the entire production was so magnificent and spectacular that we almost felt compelled to go down and buy tickets for the next night when the lights came up for the intermission.

We did go see it two more times while we lived in So. Cal. I discovered that you could go to the box office in person, with a student ID, and get half price tickets. So, I drove down there with all the kids, even the one in 1st grade, and we presented our IDs (I had one for college) and we got tickets for the whole family---sort of. The first grader stayed overnight with a friend while the rest of us--including non-student Dad--went to the show.

Then we moved to the East Coast, and by then that "little" boy was in high school and we took him to see Phantom at the Kennedy Center. Of course, he'd been fully indoctrinated to the music through listening, playing in band, and the piano book of the score that was constantly played at our house. His reaction--like ours each time we've seen it--was the desire to run down to the lobby and buy tickets for tomorrow. We've actually resisted that impulse, but it is a strong one.

Before last night, our most recent viewing was in the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore. It is the perfect venue because it is a beautifully restored old-fashioned theater that strongly resembles the Paris Opera House where Phantom is set. That production was also fabulous.

Which brings us to the Las Vegas version...It was very well done--very professional, well-acted. The costumes were superb, the theater interior was reconstructed just for this production, and it is stunning. There is a live mini-orchestra that sounds like an entire symphony (the percussion dude really gets a workout). We loved the music, the special effects--mist, fireworks, chandelier crashing. The OG is all over the place and a couple of times, they break the "wall" and come down into the audience, treating us as though we are in the theater, too.

You're hearing my "but" aren't you? The hesitation for a full-on Two Thumbs Up is because of our previous experiences. We're Phantom snobs, I know. But, the show lacks that ultimate punch because--even though they are VERY good---the leads aren't awesome. The Phantom is a good singer, but not as expressive as the versions we've seen. His voice doesn't have the range of emotion that the others who did the role. I've seen it and heard it so often, that I was waiting for his voice to crack with sorrow and emotion in certain places, and while he did use some dynamics, they weren't authentic. "Christine" was the best of the principals--she had the range for the songs, but you could tell that those high notes were her limit. "Raul" was pretty good, too, but not fantastic. His passion was sometimes a little meh.

But---it was terrific! Fabulous! Worth the time and money! It's just that I'm able [unfairly] to compare this production that these people do six days of the week--and sometimes twice a night--with no intermission--with the Broadway productions. I don't mean to demean their talent or professionalism. If you love Phantom, you will enjoy this production. The theater is packed every night. We really enjoyed ourselves, but...we've seen better.