Thoughts about the Phantom of the Opera U.S. Tour

I don't usually write reviews of shows, but it seemed only fitting to share my thoughts of the touring production of The Phantom of the Opera. After all, I have spent this past week talking about my favorite Phantom covers in celebration of the tour coming to Nashville for the first time in 14 years. I dubbed it Phantom week and what a week it has been. We've had Nick Pitera's One Man Phantom medley. Two instrumental medleys, one from Lindsey Stirling that rocked. The other a lovely classical duet by performed by Taylor Davis and Lara de Wit. We've had husband and wife dynamic duo, Peter and Evynne Hollens, with their Phantom medley. Finally, my favorite, VoicePlay's interpretation of "The Phantom of the Opera" featuring Rachel Potter. They were all wonderful and just a small sampling of all the Phantom covers in existence.

On Thursday, the 10th, I went to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, known simply as the TPAC, to see The Phantom of the Opera. It was the second night of the tour. My third time seeing it performed live and my first time seeing the new production. I've enjoyed most of the musicals I've seen, but there are some that are head and shoulders above the rest. The cream of the crop. Those shows that have been around for years and still entrance pretty much all who go to see them. The Phantom of the Opera is one of those. It is one of my absolute favorite Broadway musicals and there's something magical that happens when you go see it. I don't see this as a review, which is why I didn't title it as one. The truth is that I can't think of anything I didn't like about the show. It was outstanding. Simple outstanding. I felt like I was under some kind of spell from the moment it began until the moment it ended. Well worth seeing if it comes to your town.

Let's talk about it.

I'm going to start with the new. As I said, this was my first time seeing the new production. I know that some musical diehards get nervous when shows change things up. Sometimes the changes simply don't work. I saw a revival of another musical that made changes I hated and it kind of ruined my memories of seeing that show. I was less worried about that happening here. Especially after seeing an article that said the show kept the iconic costumes and the spirit of the original. Said article was right. It was still very much like the Phantom I remember, but fresher. So what was different? The staging and the choreography and I'm going to be completely honest and admit that there were probably a bunch of changes there that I missed. Perhaps a perk of having not seen the show in a while. The biggest change in this respect that comes to mind is that we saw the Phantom more than we used to. We got to see him do more instead of only seeing the results of his actions. This is a good thing. It made him seem even more ominous. It helped raise the tension. 

There was a more fire in this production than I remember. Walls of flame at a couple point and actually I might have to take back what I said about not being able to think of anything I didn't like. We got pretty lucky and ended up with seats in the middle of the first row. When we had the walls of flame - more like columns of fire - you couldn't even look at the stage because the heat made your eyes water too much. That said, it was a cool effect and probably only an issue for the first few rows. It might also depend on the theater. It only happened a couple of times, too, and not for terribly long either time.

This production featured new sets and backdrops that I just loved. You saw more of the backstage of the Opera House, which was cool. They took a page out of the old production of Les Miserables and added a turntable that big parts of the set turned around on and it worked very well. All of the classic Phantom images, like the boat the Phantom take Christine to his lair on, were still there. The other notable change was that the show added some more humor which I liked. Considering how they made the Phantom seem more ominous, the little doses of humor served to break up the tension a bit. It was just the right amount. 

Now. The performances. First, the orchestra, under the direction of Dale Rieling. Four of the musicians travel with the show - a violinist and three keyboard players. The remaining ten musicians were from local Nashville musicians. They sounded fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. The music of Phantom is so wonderful and it's great when musicians do it justice. No surprise there though.

The cast. This is such a strong ensemble cast, one where you'll be hard pressed to find any slouches. I couldn't find any in this group. Everyone stayed in character 100% of the time which makes it more believable. David Benoit and Edward Staudenmayer were great as Messieurs Firmin and Andre, respectively, the often humorous new managers of the Opera House. Morgan Cowling was a great Meg and Anne Kanengeiser was pretty perfect as Madame Giry, the ballet instructor and most knowledgable about the Phantom himself. We had Phumzile Sojola as Ubaldo Piangi and what a voice he had! Very rich. Jacquelynne Fontaine was a terrific Carlotta, the great diva of the Opera House. I like what they've done with Carlotta. Originally, she an almost cartoonish quality to her. In this new production, she was still very much the diva, but felt more human to me. She seemed to have more layers. This is most likely due to a combination of good directing and great acting. I love what Jacquelynne Fontaine brought to the character. 

Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, was played by Storm Lineberger. I have to say that I feel for Raoul, who I think gets a bad rep from a good chunk of Phantom fans. Namely the ones who believe that Christine should've ended up with the Phantom. Now I will acknowledge that Raoul seems a bit stalkery the Gaston Leroux novel. But he did genuinely love and care for Christine. He was scared for her and rightfully so. Spoiler alert: the Phantom is not a good dude. He's a tragic character, to be sure, and you can sympathize for him. But the guy's got serious problems. Like the way he manipulates and tortures people on a regular basis. He also tends to kidnap and murder on occasion. Not exactly the kind of guy you want the woman you love to be hanging out with, you know? Raoul's main motivation throughout the show is to free Christine from this rather unhealthy relationship. He's a good man who Christine loved. Her choice at the end was the right one. Rant over. Anyway, I though Storm Lineberger did a great job.

Our heroine, Christine, was wonderfully played by Celia Hottenstein. What a beautiful voice she had! These are not easy songs to sing and honestly, they seemed like they've gotten harder. Especially for this role. Her high notes - and she had a ton of them - looked and sounded completely effortless. The times she sang in her lower register, her voice was so full. Gorgeous tone. It was a treat hearing her sing. The character of Christine Daae is often criticized for being a kind of bland, not very smart character. I feel like a lot of this depends on the actress playing her part. Celia Hottenstein might be my favorite of the Christines I've seen live. She was fully invested in her character and did such a great job emoting that you really felt for her. She seemed so real. The perfect contrast to our Phantom and speaking of our Phantom, holy smokes.

Chris Mann is the primary Phantom on this tour. The character has two understudies and while I'm sure either of them would've been good, I'm so happy we got to see Chris Mann. Some of you might remember him from an early season The Voice. That was back when I still liked and watched The Voice. Confession: I remember not being too crazy about him while he was on there, but for the life of me I cannot remember why. Didn't hate him or anything; I just remember being kind of lukewarm on him. No strong feelings, good or bad. As such, I didn't keep up with him after that season ended. I mention that because my opinion of him has changed. I mention that because his performance as the Phantom blew my mind. He. Blew. My. Mind. 

People, I cannot remember the last time I've been so utterly captivated by a performance. I don't know if I've ever been that captivated by a performance. I said it in another of my Phantom posts, but the Phantom is one of my favorite characters. He's so complex and I find him fascinating. I feel like I could write an essay about the character. There's so many layers to him that I imagine it must be a very difficult part to play effectively. Chris Mann had him down. Incredible vocals, even more incredible performance. There were times when he legitimately scared me. There were times when he actually seemed to be out of his mind. And then there were times when he was seductive and tender and you could tell that he did love Christine in his own way. It was a selfish, twisted, manipulative kind of love; a dangerous kind of love, but it was genuine. He loved her the only way he knew how. He loved her the only way he could love her. He shows it in his last interaction with Christine at the end. He did terrible things, committed these awful acts of violence and yet you end up feeling so bad for him. Your heart even breaks for him at the end there.

I don't know if I can describe how much Chris Mann's performance at the end moved me. His performance made me cry. It was outstanding and wonderful and I feel so lucky that I got to see it live. Y'all, I think I can now safely call myself a Mann fan. I love it when someone I had a not too wonderful opinion of wins me over. It's one of the times where I actually enjoy being wrong. So a big kudos to him for that. 

This has been a pretty wonderful week of Phantom-y goodness. The show is here in Nashville until the 20th and if you follow me on twitter (@countrymusicATK), I may post some more Phantom covers on there until then. Probably won't do any other video spotlights, but you never know. We'll see. I hope some of you watched all of the Phantom covers I've written about because they all offer a slightly different take on the show. If you didn't, I encourage you to do so. You can find all of the links for all of the video spotlights in the introduction and I'll include the YouTube links below. If you were already a Phantom fan, I hope this may have helped remind you of why you love the show. If you're new to Phantom, well, I hope that this might inspire you to check out the show. It is the longest running show on Broadway for a reason. Hard to beat seeing it on Broadway, but I know it's not feasible for many of us. If you get an opportunity to catch the tour, I cannot recommend it strongly enough. It may not have come across, but I kind of loved it. Like a lot. 

Thank you for indulging my love for The Phantom of the Opera this week and thank you for reading.

The links to all the Phantom covers:
Nick Pitera
Lindsey Stirling
Peter & Evynne Hollens
Taylor Davis & Lara
VoicePlay & Rachel Potter