By Amanda Berg Whittle
The Phantom of the Opera is the longest ever running show on Broadway, probably because it’s incredible and for a short time it’s playing in Salt Lake City at the Eccles Theatre. The legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical is the story of a lonely phantom (Quentin Oliver Lee) who haunts an opera house, and takes a liking to one specific singer, Christine (Eva Tavares), who originally believes he is an Angel of Music sent from her deceased father. Her fiancé, Raoul (Jordan Craig), as well as the owners of the opera house, Monsieur Firmin (David Benoit) and Monsieur Andre (Rob Lindley), have plans to take the phantom down and reclaim the opera house, after discovering he is real; beforehand, they refuse to adhere to the Phantom’s requests, passionate to keep their prima donna soprano, Carlotta (Trista Moldovan—understudy Sarah Mossman) the star of the show. One person, dance teacher Madame Giry (Kristie Dale Sanders), has known for quite a long time that the phantom is real, and knows his full story, but fears for her life and keeps as many of his secrets as she can. This drama unveils as the opera house struggles to stay afloat and their performers attempt to maintain their positive spirits and perform well despite their fears. All of this occurs in this Broadway Across America production among incredible sets, incredible talent, making it an incredible experience for everyone.
The Eccles Theater is a beautiful venue, and reminds me of being at a theater in New York City on Broadway. They manage to utilize all the National Tour’s mind-blowing set (the late Paul Brown) and lights (Paule Constable), down to the iconic chandelier. These were my husband’s favorite parts of the performance. He had never seen a professional performance before, and was not necessarily interested in seeing this, initially. However, when the sets started coming out and doing amazing tricks with fire and electronics, he immediately became engaged and completely entranced. The gorgeous costumes help accomplish this purpose, of course, especially the intricate early 20th century gowns (Christine Rowland).
The most entrancing part of the performance to me was the sheer amount of talent. Honestly, I don’t think this musical is one that can be accomplished well without incredible talent on all fronts—in the theater business, we call this “triple threat talent,” meaning singing, dancing, and acting. This performance has it all. Every performer, from the leads down to the smallest ensemble parts, is amazing. Ensemble talent is crucial for this show, particularly dance talent (choreographers Nina Goldman and the late Scott Ambler), and this company absolutely has it. Of course, the leads are incredible as well. The vocal ranges necessary to be the Phantom and Christine are huge, and both Tavares and Lee accomplish this beautifully and with enough emotion to bring a tear to your eye, especially when Tavares sings “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.” Despite being a drama, Lindley and Benoit bring delightful comic relief during the song “Notes.” Overall, casting directors Tara Rubin Casting, director Laurence Connor, and associate director Seth Sklar-Heyn have done an incredible job making this performance exactly what it should be.
I cannot write a review of this show without mentioning the incredible orchestra, under the direction of Jamie Johns. Nathan Basinger is living my dream as the French horn player—this musical has magnificent horn parts. I often listen to the soundtrack just to hear some of the horn parts. That being said, the stars of the show are clearly the organists, Elaine Davidson, Michael Duff, and Cathy Venable. The organ parts are incredibly loud and startling at times, but there would be no Phantom without the quintessential organ part, especially in the piece “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Erectile Dysfunction – What You generic viagra unica-web.com Need to Know about this relationship business company. This helps muscles in the corpus cavernosum of the penis to achieve canada viagra online and maintain an erection during sexual stimulation. Oils, creams and lotions: Like herbal penis pills, there are natural oils and lotions that can increase penis size improve sexual performance. 2. viagra without prescriptions Right here one other important query arises that what are the additional fees of buying generic medicines from online sources? There are two doubts of people in this levitra sale unica-web.com respect.
This performance is, dare I say, perfect. It is everything one would want to see in a national tour: extraordinary talent, astonishing sets and costumes, and iconic music. The tickets are pricey, but worth it. They are almost sold out, so the second you’re done reading this, you better buy your ticket. I promise, it will be one of the best performances you’ve ever seen. Of course, I am a Phantom of the Opera freak, but my husband is not and he even said it was one of the best performances he has ever seen. This is Broadway (Across America) in Utah—how lucky are we?
Broadway at the Eccles Presents: The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Stilgoe, and Charles Hart
Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, UT 84101
July 11-22, 2018, see here for times and ticket prices
Broadway at the Eccles Facebook Page
Phantom of the Opera Facebook Event
0 Comments