MUSICAL
Phantom of the Opera ★★★★½
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, from November 4
One eerie theatre tradition has seen a major resurgence in recent times – the practice of putting “ghost lights” on stage to ward off spirits between performances. These shone constantly during Melbourne’s many lockdowns, and now they’ve flickered out, the most famous spectre in musical theatre has made a triumphant return.
Josh Piterman and Amy Manford as the Phantom and Christine in Phantom of the Opera.Credit:Brittany Long/Getty Images
Melbourne has a special connection to Phantom of the Opera. In the early 1990s, audiences flocked to its premiere at the Princess Theatre – an atmospheric venue reputed to be haunted by the ghost of opera singer Frederick Federici – and it became the longest-running musical in Australian history.
Two decades later, when the sequel Love Never Dies tanked on the West End (one newspaper unkindly dubbed it “Paint Never Dries”), Andrew Lloyd Webber looked to Melbourne to salvage the show, with Simon Phillips’ 2011 production opening at the Regent in a dazzling redesign.
How does the new Phantom stack up, especially to those whose nostalgia for the original run, starring Anthony Warlow/Rob Guest and Marina Prior, has only grown with time?
It’s marvellous, actually – a lavish, chocolate-box affair that should reactivate and enrich cherished memories in those who’ve seen it before, while giving new generations the chance to experience live the hypnotic allure of a global musical theatre phenomenon.
Blake Bowden and Amy Manford star as Raoul and Christine in the new production of Phantom of the Opera.Credit:Brittany Long/Getty Images
Spectacle and sonic splendour abound. A gloriously ornate set, elaborate costume and brooding lighting design are backed by projections and pyrotechnics, with stage wizardry effecting a thrilling reignition of the show’s signature “chandelier moment”.
And Phantom’s greatest strength – a through-composed, eminently hummable score that riffs off (and lightly parodies) a range of operatic styles, from opera buffa such as Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro to the kind of epic monumentality you get in Verdi’s Aida – demands and receives full play in the hands of a live orchestra.
Opera Australia’s involvement ensures an unusually full-throated and funny treatment of the operatic lampoon, with preening diva Carlotta (Giuseppina Grech) and rotund tenor Ubaldo (Paul Tabone) leading the vocal charge.
The show’s two hapless impresarios (Andy Morton and David Whitney) and its sinister ballet mistress (Jayde Westaby) join them for brilliantly constructed scenes that swell from comic recitative into squabbling sestet, and the entire chorus surges into a deluge of song after interval in the show-stopping Masquerade.
Phantom of the Opera makes a triumphant return to the Melbourne stage.Credit:Paul Jeffers
Yet the musical’s dark heart is the gothic love triangle between the Phantom, his beloved protégé Christine, and her secret fiancée Raoul. All three are excellent.
As the show’s disfigured antagonist, Josh Piterman convinces as both musical genius and monster, delivering all the dark charm and torment you could want in a Phantom. Blake Bowden gives uncluttered voice to his rival, with a vocal strength that also outlines the limitations of this deliberate stereotype of a masculine hero.
And I had the advantage of seeing both Amy Manford and alternate Bridget Costello in the role of Christine Daaé. You’re in safe hands with either soprano, whose range and purity of tone are equally impressive, from soaring big-notes and ornamentation in the break-out aria Think of Me to the bell-like melancholy of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.
Some critics get sniffy about Phantom. That’s mostly snobbery, in my opinion, and the ultimate critic – time – gives it a more favourable verdict.
This slick and spectacular revival has everything it needs to let the music of the night carry you along. It will delight devotees, and just as importantly, serve as a vivid popular introduction to opera and musical theatre for newcomers.
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