My Favorite Things

MarqueePolitics is turning two this month, and this blogger is turning the big 27. With these milestones on the horizon, it got me thinking.

I’m often asked about my favorite performances, and to identify which ones made the biggest impact on me.  With my birthday right around the corner, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to reflect on the performances that have never quite left me.

Phantom/Miss. Saigon/Cats

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

All it took was: a crashing chandelier, helicopter landing and dancing cats.  These were first shows I ever saw (ages 3, 6, 7).  Their combination of: high emotions, grand spectacle and memorable pop scores sent my young imagination soaring.  I often call them the holy trinity of musicals, because it was these three shows that introduced me to the great love of my life, the theater.

Evita – 1979 Original Broadway Cast Recording

I had an epiphany in high school, and it was the first time I ever listened to the original Broadway cast recording of Evita.

The rock opera’s themes of politics, revolution and media manipulation hooked this young politico at age 16.  Evita was further electrified by Patti LuPone’s fierce portrayal as Argentina’s First Lady and her ambition to succeed at all costs.  Despite having the album for the 11 years, not a week goes by when LuPone and the original Broadway cast of Evita can been heard from my apartment, giving this show a touch of star quality!

Elaine Stritch at Liberty – 2002 Broadway Production

Rare, intense, humorous, honest and a triumph of the human soul.

I was lucky enough to attend the last Broadway matinee performance of this show.  From that Sunday afternoon, I learned that human’s can triumph over any adversity as long as we don’t stop fighting.  Accompanied by a songbook of classic Broadway hits, Stritch walked the audience thru her: fights with alcoholism, struggles with love, triumphs working with Noel Coward and Stephen Sondheim, and life’s journey from being raised in Detroit to having her name adorn Broadway marquees.

Great actors leave it all out on the stage and Stritch set the bar for generations to come.

 Company – 2006 Broadway Revival

Company, more than any other show, changed my perspective on life.

My parents split when I was very young, and what understanding of marriage I had came from television.  Because of that, I never understood the emotional complexity involved when two people enter into a relationship, and what I did know was very one-sided.   Company threw cold-water on that idea, teaching me that relationships are about sharing your life with somebody, not just some-body.  Theater is often a reflection of life through art, and its through art that we learn so much about ourselves as individuals.

The Audience

The one constant in all these productions is the audience, and I’ve been lucky to have always had a supporting audience of my own.  While I won’t use their names, I want recognize the friends and family who have encouraged my love of the theater: My parents who introduced me to the musical at age 3, grandparents who were always game to see a show on Broadway – even if they didn’t quite “get it”, Chief of Staff, and dear friends living across the country in: New York, Pittsburgh, Rockville, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, DC.  All of which I owe a debt a gratitude for indulging in my life’s great passion!

The cast albums to all shows mentioned above are available on amazon.com.

Furthermore, video productions of: Cats, Company, Elaine Stritch at Liberty and Phantom may also be found at amazon.com.

From Bush to Chicago: A Comeback Story

Last week Gallup revealed a once unthinkable poll result: former President George W. Bush now has a higher approval rating than President Barack Obama.  Considering how much of Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaign narratives were about being the anti-Bush candidate, it’s an interesting twist and one the current West Wing must not be enjoying.

In discussing the poll result with a former Bush White House colleague who follows my blog, I was asked: “Perceptions of presidents have changed over time, is the same true for musicals?”

It’s an interesting question and the answer can be found in this statement:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery – all those things we hold dear to our hearts.”

There’s been no greater second act for a musical than Chicago, currently playing at Broadway’s Ambassador Theater.  With more than 6,583 performances on Broadway, the winner of seven 1997 Tony Awards and six 2002 Oscars, it’s hard to believe but Chicago was once on the verge of being condemned to the Playbill archives.

On paper, Chicago had the makings of a hit with: Bob Fosse as the director-choreographer, written by the composer-lyricist team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a cast that included theatrical legends: Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach and Gwen Verdon.   What it didn’t have was timing, and sometimes on Broadway that’s the most important ingredient.

A week prior to Chicago’s opening in June 1975, the most groundbreaking musical since Oklahoma opened down the block at the Shubert Theatre, A Chorus Line.  Compared to Chicago’s overtly cynical view of the justice system, Chorus Line’s story about the dreams and struggles of dancers on Broadway was cheered by critics and audiences.  When the 1976 Tony Award nominations were announced, Chicago received 10 nominations, losing everyone of them to A Chorus Line.

Despite a respectable Broadway run of 936 performances, the original Broadway production of Chicago closed in 1977 with little fan fare.  Chicago’s portrayal of justice and celebrity seemed in poor taste.  That perception would change overtime, all thanks to OJ Simpson, 24 hour cable news and a growing tabloid media culture in the United States.

At New York City’s City Center Encores, a program dedicated to performing musicals that are rarely produced, the creative team knew that by 1996 the time was right for audiences to get reacquainted with Chicago.  The coverage of the Simpson Trial had only validated the show’s concept of criminal celebrity.  So they scheduled a revival concert and well, the rest is history.

The concert production was turned into a full-blown Broadway revival, opening in November 1996.  In 2002 Chicago, which was first deemed too cynical for audiences, further advanced its comeback with a hit movie that grossed more than $306 million worldwide, and became the first movie-musical to win the Oscar for Best Picture  in more than 30 years. 

Time changes our perspective on everything, from politics and musicals, to policy issues and songs.  What both President Bush and Chicago demonstrate is that the verdict of the critics is only temporary.  It is history who will render the final judgment…and all that jazz!

For tickets to the Broadway, US Tour and International Productions of Chicago please visit: www.chicagothemusical.com/

SPECIAL TONY AWARD EDITION – Here’s to the losers!

“And the Tony Award goes to…” (Watch the video, how many faces do you recognize?)

These will be the final words dozens of nominees hear tonight before: hearts’ break, dreams’ shatter and the realization sets in that they lost the American theater’s highest honor to someone else.

While everyone says, “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” no one believes that BS line.

However, time has shown that winning a Tony Award doesn’t make one a star, it’s the audience who makes that judgment call.  To those who will lose tonight, I’d like to console them with two actresses’ stories who confirm that it is the performance, not the accolades, that history ultimately remembers.

Wouldn’t It Be Loverly – 1957 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical

Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolitte in 1956’s My Fair Lady.

It’s hard to believe that Julie Andrews has never won a Tony Award, especially given that her name is synonymous with one of Broadway’s masterpiece’s My Fair Lady.  She was only 21 when the show opened in 1956, and a relative unknown, but her performance of cockney-flower girl Eliza Doolittle earned her cheers from audiences and critics.  Although, not from Tony Award voters who gave the 1957 Best Actress in a Musical Award to Judy Holliday for Bells Are Ringing.

What’s remarkable is that even though she lost the Tony, and even the film role to Audrey Hepburn, no actress has ever been to escape Andrews’ shadow as Eliza.  Many actresses have tried, but none have come close.  Fortunately for us, Andrews’ performance as Eliza was preserved on My Fair Lady’s original Broadway and London cast albums.

While a Tony Award for Andrews would have been great, it must be especially loverly knowing that 58 years onward, people are still cheering her performance!

Don’t Rain on My Parade – 1964 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical

How does one justify the fact that Barbra Streisand won an Oscar for her portrayal as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, but lost the Tony Award for Best Actress in 1964 for that very same role?  In reality, despite giving a knockout performance, Streisand had the misfortune of being nominated against another iconic actress/role, Carol Channing as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!  History though had other plans!

Streisand was Funny Girl, and till this day her performance is still talked about! Don’t believe me, give the YouTube clip a list and prepare to be blown away!

Yes, this is aided by her performance in the 1968 film adaption of Funny Girl.  But since the original Broadway production of Funny Girl closed in 1967, no actress has ever come close to matching Streisand.  So great is the memory of Streisand’s performance, than many potential Broadway revivals have failed to materialize simply because of the memory of her.  Quite simply put, don’t rain on Streisand’s parade!

 A word to the nominees

Yes, it stinks to lose.  But Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand’s examples demonstrates that history and the audience will ultimately judge who was the best that season.  Great actors don’t let awards define them; they allow their performance to do just that.

As for yours truly, I am a 2009 Tony Award holder.  And yes, the Tony medal feels great to carry!

Happy Liza Doolittle Day!

Next week, on the twentieth of May, I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day!

-My Fair Lady

Ok, it isn’t, Christmas or the 4^th of July, but every year on the 20^th of May, I look forward to Eliza Doolittle Day!

The 20^th of May reference comes from My Fair Lady’s Act I fantasy number “Just You Wait (Henry Higgins).”  While not an official holiday, Eliza Doolittle Day is the nearest event I’ll ever have to celebrating the brilliance of My Fair Lady because it conceptualizes the definition of a masterpiece.

My Fair Lady is about a professor named Henry Higgins, and his attempt to turn cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a lady by teaching her how to speak properly.  Underpinning the entire show is a romantic, dare I say sexual, tension between the two as they struggle to understand one another in their attempt to master the English language.

It wasn’t until last December when I finally saw My Fair Lady on-stage for the first time in an ill-conceived production at Washington, DC’s Arena Stage.  This revival had many errors including: poor casting, an over-stated and misguided focus on the issue of class relations, and the removal of the show’s glorious overture.  Why though, was I still applauding at the show’s curtain call?

Herein lays what defines a masterpiece and why My Fair Lady is one.

At its core, My Fair Lady addresses one of humanity’s great enigmas: the relationship between the sexes.   Despite attempts to re-frame the story, My Fair Lady’s book and musical structure are so solidly constructed that it’s impossible to lose focus on the show’s underlying theme.

A masterpiece is something whose integrity, meaning and impact never change throughout time.  Their statement on society is timeless.  One of the great attributes of this masterpiece, is that regardless of whatever future artistic interpretations may bring, nothing can diminish how the elegant-simplicity of Alan Jay Lerner’s lyrics, the beauty and innocence of Frederick Lowe’s score or the pitch perfect wording of Lerner’s book tell the story of Eliza and Higgins.

A lot of musicals have opened and closed since My Fair Lady first debuted in 1956, but none have continued to capture the public’s attention quite like My Fair Lady.

It’s a rare musical that can continue to please generations of thespians, theater critics and audiences, not to mention moviegoers as well.  So on this Eliza Doolittle Day, give the cast album a listen or the movie a viewing.  And remember, you’re in the presence of a masterpiece!

Just You Wait Henry Higgins – Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison in the original Broadway Cast of My Fair Lady

 

The Art of Storytelling Part II

The nature of love and the meaning of life are two abstract concepts which Broadway shows seem to be in a constant struggle to forever define.  Fortunately, I saw two shows on my recent trip to Broadway which employed unconventional methods to answer these unconventional questions.

Pippin – The Music Box Theatre

The theatre was pitch black, the curtain a dingy tent flap and from the orchestra a faint piano could be heard as a slinky black shadow slithered toward the audience beckoning, “Join us…”

It’s easy to hook an audience with a great opening number, and Pippin has one of the best in “Magic to Do.”  But it’s also easy to lose an audience when trying to define an abstract question, which is what Pippin is all about.

The musical follows the story of a boy named Pippin as he searches for the meaning of life.  It’s a quest everyone in the audience is familiar with, both personally and on-stage, for Pippin’s journey is not unlike Princeton in Avenue Q or Candide in Candide.

What makes Pippin’s journey different from those before (and after) him is the honesty with which life’s choices are laid out.  Pippin, like many of us, searches through life’s all too familiar phases including: military glory, sex, politics, family and even ordinary life before finally arriving at what he views as the best way to make his life extraordinary.

The emotional and physical choices Pippin must address are conveyed by the fact that the show is performed by a troupe in a circus like atmosphere.  This troupe not only breaks the fourth wall in addressing the audience, but uses the circus setting to symbolize the hoops one must jump through and the beams one must walk across to find the answers to life’s most complex questions.

Life as circus is not an original metaphor, but it is an honest one.  And Pippin’s quest to find life’s meaning is an innocent and honest enigma we all try to solve.  Pippin’s greatest attribute as a musical is the clarity in the portrayal of life’s choices through its spectacles.

The Last 5 Years – Second Stage Theatre (Off-Broadway)

Countless musicals have told love stories on linear paths regardless of their ending.  But what about telling the story from two different angles and time perspectives?  That’s what makes The Last 5 Years a modern classic.

The Last 5 Years is a one act, two character, 90 minute show.  It tells the story of Jamie and Cathy over their five-year relationship, from the first date to their divorce.  Now, I’m not spoiling the ending, because the audience learns of the couple’s demise within the first song.  But the real question is how did they get there?

To answer that question composer Jason Robert Brown, who also directed this magnificent production, told their story in two distinct directions.  The songs alternate between Cathy and Jamie, with Cathy starting the show at the end of the marriage, and Jamie starting at the beginning of the relationship.  When the show concludes, it is Jamie who laments the marriage’s demise while Cathy is celebrating their meeting.

The real joy in watching The Last 5 Years is seeing this one-story told in two different and opposing emotional directions.  Even more fascinating is that both characters only meet and appear onstage together one-time throughout the show.  That happens mid-way thru when both stories intersect, at their wedding.  The scene is both heartbreaking because you know what’s coming, but also thrilling because you see the joy in their eyes.  Now, that’s great storytelling!

Finale

I saw The Last 5 Years and Pippin on the same day, one at the matinee and the other in the evening.  It was perhaps one of the greatest days in my theater-going journey, and reinforced what I love so much about the American theater: its ability to tell a story and the creativity involved.

The Last 5 Years will conclude its limited run on May 18, tickets are available by clicking here.

Pippin currently has an open-ended run, tickets are available by clicking here.

The Art of Storytelling: 2013 NYC Broadway Recap

Warning: This post will contain plot spoilers for the show’s mentioned.  Proceed at your own risk!

MarqueePolitics has been busy traveling and just returned from a whirlwind weekend in New York City seeing four shows: Matilda, The Last 5 Years, Pippin and Cinderella.  And while each musical was different in its style and staging, one thought kept popping into my head.  Sometimes it’s not the story that counts, but how you tell it!

Matilda – Shubert Theatre 

Matilda sailed into Broadway from London last month with a lot of hype and dazzling reviews.  Yet, it was the most anticlimactic-boring musical I have sat thru in a long, long time.  I arrived at this summation when heading to the men’s room at intermission, thinking about the Act I Finale and simply saying, “That’s it?”

Based on the Roald Dahl book, Matilda centers on an extremely intelligent five-year old girl. Despite having parents who hate her, and a nasty headmistress, she’s able to conquer life’s problems using her intelligence and, later on, telekinetic powers.

The problem with the telekinetic plot twist is that for a good 70% of the show, Matilda uses her intelligence to outwit those who wish her ill-will.  This shtick maybe cute, but by Act II it becomes quite predictable.  When Matilda’s telekinetic discovery finally is made,  it arrives in the form of Matilda knocking over a glass of water.  This discovery had a feeling of suspense comparable to hanging wallpaper.

I know the British are stereotyped as being rather dull, bloated and uptight, but that’s exactly how Matilda came off.  It was charming, yet dreadfully dull.  Good stories hold your attention, Matilda forced my attention to think about which bar I would frequent after the show.

Cinderella – Broadway Theatre

If Matilda was prim and proper, than Cinderella was its musical sibling of an adverse nature.  Originally a 90-minute Rodgers & Hammerstein (R&H) television musical, the show was elongated by one hour for its Broadway debut this spring.  To fill the gap, the producers imported music from other R&H shows and commissioned a new book (the spoken text of a musical) to be written.

The result was a mismatched narrative of a show, akin to wearing a tuxedo shirt and jacket with gym shorts and flip flops.   Cinderella is a classic fairy-tale where formality, elegance, manners and grace are as essential as the white ball gown and glass slippers.  Yet the words being spoken out of the characters mouth placed them in a B-movie comedy circa 2002.

While the new book attempted to freshen-up the show’s well-worn plot, the use of modern slang and colloquialisms not only cheapened the characters, but a lovely musical.  Cinderella is a reminder that in musical theater, music and lyrics simply don’t tell the story.  They ONLY work when combined with a well written book.

Storytelling maters….

Despite technological advances in stagecraft, Matilda and Cinderella confirmed that nothing can overrule a well told story.  Matilda and Cinderella were nice productions, but lacked the essential tools of drama (Matilda) and eloquence (Cinderella).

In Part II of this post, I’ll explore two shows which redefined the art of story-telling in vastly different ways including: forwards, backwards and with a little bit of magic to do!

Some Enchanted Recording

It was some enchanted evening on April 7, 1949 when South Pacific opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre.  So culturally significant was this event that last week the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry.  While this blogger, and millions others, have always recognized the Rodgers & Hammerstein show for its cultural significance, the Library of Congress has now also taken note.  Now future generations of American’s will know what it is like when ‘you see a stranger across a crowded room.’

To be selected for the National Recording Registry is an immense honor.  It not only signifies a recording’s popular appeal, but more importantly it’s cultural significance to the heritage of the United States.  The recordings aren’t based on trivial matters such as: “weeks spent at #1” or “total # of albums sold.”  Rather, selections are because the albums “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”

Each year the National Recording Registry Board accepts nominations in 23 different categories for an album’s inclusion into the Registry.  Those categories include: Documentary/Broadcast/Spoken Word, Heavy Metal, Rap/Hip-Hop and Broadway/Musical Theatre/Soundtrack.  From the nominations, the Board then chooses roughly 25-50 recordings to be preserved by the Library of Congress.  In addition to original cast album of South Pacific this year’s list also includes: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, Van Cliburn’s 1958 rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 and a D-Day radio broadcast by journalist George Hicks.

The Registry is a who’s who of American political, entertainment and religious culture.  While Congress usually gets jeered, I feel that this is one occasion where they should be cheered.  For none of this would be possible had it not been mandated by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000.

Going back to South Pacific, I don’t think it was picked solely because of its success on both stage and screen.  Yes, the show won 10 Tony awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and has been produced around the world, but it also represents something more.  On the eve of the American Civil Rights movement, South Pacific unapologetically proclaimed, “You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear.”  This statement is still as bold now as was when it was first sung in 1949.  That declaration alone is reason enough why South Pacific should be preserved, and listened too for generations to come.

Review: Elaine Paige at The Birchmere

Last Thursday at 8:06 p.m., the earth stopped when a musician at a black Steinway piano played the chords: D-D-E-G-E-G-E-D and a 4’11, 64 year old British lady announced to the crowd, “It  won’t be easy, you’ll think it strange…”  Yes, the time-space continuum of the nation’s capital paused, sat and listened to Elaine Paige make her American concert debut in one of the greatest shows to ever be performed in the history of Washington, DC.

Paige is not a household name, and you’ve probably never heard of her; however her voice has dominated radio and the international theater scene for the last 40 years.  She was the first EVER woman to portray on-stage, Eva Peron in Evita, Grizabella in Cats, Florence in Chess, not to mention reviving some of the theater’s greatest female roles  including: Edith Piaf in Piaf, Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and most recently Carlotta in the Kennedy Center’s smash hit production of Follies.

Despite becoming an overnight sensation with Evita in 1978, Paige never made it to America until two decades later replacing Tony-winner Betty Buckley in the original Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard.   Even after receiving rave reviews on the Great White Way, recording numerous hit records, having a top rated BBC radio show and performing for countless heads of state (including President Reagan), Paige never embarked on a US concert tour, until now.  Hence what made last Thursday so special.

Paige’s show is a combination of her two albums: Encore and Elaine Paige – Celebrating 40 Years on Stage, making it part autobiographical and part hit parade.   For her musical hits, Paige performed each song in the character and context of the show.  This is quite a departure as her theater contemporaries tend to put their own spin on a song.

Not Paige, she stuck with the music, lyrics and even stage direction for how she originally performed each song.  The result of her performance showcased the beauty that is the perfect marriage of music and lyrics in a show tune.  Each song became a mini-scene from her performance repertoire.  If that wasn’t enough she even performed one song in French, “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” from the show Piaf.

It was clear throughout the 90 minute concert that the audience recognized Paige’s extraordinary performance and they rewarded with her several, roaring standing ovations throughout the show.  Paige was clearly touched, as she even teared up at the audience’s response to her performance of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.”  When the audience cheered her mention of the flop musical Chess, Paige became overcome with emotion.  A bond had formed between performer and audience.

Paige is currently touring the US with her show, and you should use every LEGAL method possible to get tickets.  Her show is testament to the notion that great performers simply only need an empty stage and a piano to create something truly special.  At the end of her show, it seemed that Paige had played every audience request except one: please keep performing in the states!

And with her grand departure from the stage, the earth resumed its rotation and Washington went about its business.

Ms. Paige’s set list includes: All That Jazz, Broadway Baby, Hello Young Lovers, Easy To Be Hard, Yesterday, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, As If We Never Said Goodbye, I Get A Kick Out Of You, Non Je Ne Regrette Rien, If You Loved Me, I Know Him So Well, Memory and With One Look.

Ms. Paige’s Tour Schedule maybe found here: http://www.elainepaige.com/news.html

My Cabbage Patch Doll, The Phantom and I

When I was a kid, the basement of our house used to flood after every major thunderstorm.  Naturally, I would become paranoid that the Phantom of the Opera was going to kidnap me.  This fear was instilled in me at age three when my parents took me to see my first-ever musical, The Phantom of Opera.  Over the weekend, the Broadway production of Phantom celebrated its 25^th anniversary, a remarkable milestone for the show that embedded in me, along with so many others, a love for musical theater.

After the smashing success of Phantom on Broadway and in London, the producers decided to launch two America touring productions and a sit-down production in Toronto, Canada.  In 1989 my parents scored tickets to see the show with its original Canadian cast in Toronto.  Despite only being three, and ignoring the fact that the main character was a deformed madman, my parents decided to introduce me to live theater.  To calm my fears, they bribed me into good behavior by allowing me to bring my cabbage doll named Hannibal (ironically enough, that’s also the name of the first act opera in Phantom).

What my parents failed to tell me was that our seats were two rows from the stage, center orchestra.  Due to the proximity of our seats to the stage, my three-year old self was introduced to live theater by: having a chandelier rise and fall on-top of us, the stage get set on fire, fireballs shot at us from the Phantom himself, the Phantom taking his curtain call without his mask – thus waving at me with his deformed face, and the infamous gondola journey to the underground where he takes Christine to his lair.

Poor Hannibal, he got squashed that evening by me hugging him so tightly.  After that night, and after every rain storm when our basement would flood, I was terrified the Phantom would come and kidnap me, like he did Christine, in his gondola.  Growing up I had numerous sightings of the Phantom in our basement, although none were ever confirmed by my parents.

It wasn’t until the movie version of Phantom came out, when I started re-listening to the cast album and finally decided to revisit the show.  When the tour came to Pittsburgh the next year, my father scored two tickets for my mother and I (Hannibal stayed home).  Same seats, second row, center orchestra, and this time I loved every minute.

Prior to the show, Mom and I went for dinner at a restaurant near the theater.  Sitting at the table next to us was a young boy (age 3) and his mother.  We started chatting with them, and the boy proceeded to talk non-stop about the show, movie and cast album.  This was his first time seeing the show and he could barely contain his excitement.  Leaving dinner, I turned to the woman and said, “You’re not going to believe this, but that was mom and I 15 years ago.”  My mother and I got up and then proceeded to the theater.

I am so proud of Phantom’s 25^th anniversary, and even prouder that it was the first musical I ever saw.  Since originally opening in London in 1986 (three months after I was born), the show has been seen by more than 100 million theatergoers in 150 cities located worldwide in 25 countries.  In a world so wrought with division, Phantom’s success reminds me of the power of the arts to unify us.  We all may have seen the same show, but our takeaways are all different and this allows us to have a dialogue and forge relationships we might have otherwise passed up.

I was unable to attend Phantom’s 25^th anniversary gala in New York City, but could not be happier for their milestone.  With each year that passes, and each performance where the chandelier crashes, I am constantly reminded how special this show is as fellow fans return again, often bringing along their children and continuing the tradition.  The Phantom never did come and kidnap me with his gondola through our flooded basement, but as the years pass I have gone back to the Opera Populaire many times to revisit my old friend and remember how I fell in love with the music of the night.

For tickets to Phantom, please visit: http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/

The Opera Ghost’s Special Day

This Saturday, January 26 2013, the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera will celebrate its 25 anniversary.  Not only is the production the longest running show in Broadway history, but Phantom is also the first production in American theater history to be consistently playing for 25 years.

Phantom’s creative team likes to say, “It’s the Broadway musical all others are measured against,” and they couldn’t be more correct.  It was for a whole generation of thespians (including yours truly), the show that made them fall in love with Broadway.  On Monday, I’ll be posting my tribute to Broadway’s most haunting love story, but for now I’m posting several videos to remind us how we fell in love with the music of the night.

The Overture and Raising of the Chandelier – For sooooo many phans, it was that heart-stopping overture and the raising of the chandelier which forever hooked us to the show.  Below is a clip of both from the show’s 25^th anniversary concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

In All Your Fantasies, You Always Knew – What made Phantom great was that the show could be terrifying one minute, and intensely romantic the next.  Combined with the exquisite set design, and chemistry between lead actors Michael Crawford (Phantom) and Sarah Brightman (Christine), it’s easy to see why so many fell in love with the story of a disfigured composer and his muse.  Here’s a clip from the 1988 Tony Awards with Crawford and Brightman.  (Sorry for the bad quality, there was no HD in 1988.)

By The Numbers – This is a wonderful clip made by the producers to highlight the show’s success around the world.  One of my favorite scenes is of a young and beautiful Princess Diana receiving a red rose from the Phantom.

A WORLDWIDE Phenomenon –  A major part of Phantom’s success has been its ability to travel the world, literally.  Early on, producer Cameron Mackintosh made the decision that the same show which played on Broadway, would also tour the world.  This meant that the sets/costumes, special effects and orchestra would all be the same.  The show would not be scaled down.  At the time, this was a revolutionary concept for musical touring productions, and an expensive once.  However, it is safe to say that the show’s investors made their money back.

Below is a great clip from the Chicago Tribune taking phans behind the scenes to see exactly how Phantom tours the world.

Behind the Mask – People tend to forget the struggle to launch Phantom.  The show’s special effects, controversy behind the affair/casting of Lloyd Webber’s wife Sarah Brightman and unflattering coverage by the press almost doomed the musical before its London opening.  In 2008, the BBC did a great hour long documentary called Behind the Mask about the show’s creative process.  Below is part one, with all the other parts available on Youtube.

For tickets to Phantom and more information on the show, please visit: http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/