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re: Why is THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA B'ways longest-running musical?

Posted by: wizrdofoz27 03:05 pm EDT 10/30/15
In reply to: Why is THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA B'ways longest-running musical? - GrumpyMorningBoy 02:32 pm EDT 10/30/15

I've always thought Phantom of the Opera played well off a European tradition of fancy opera houses that carried it into the age of higher ticket prices. The spectacle of it has not aged well (the chandelier's got nothing on Wicked's Act I finale.)

But at a certain level I think people like feeling like they're going to something 'fancy' like 'the opera' even if in 2015 it is only an overamplified amusement for tourists (and a good paycheck for the actors.) Pure speculation, but I think it aids in the marketing.

That, and it's a beautiful and pretty damn dark story that gets me every time.


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sorry chandelier crashing down over audience beats witch flying any day

Posted by: dramedy 04:30 pm EDT 10/30/15
In reply to: re: Why is THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA B'ways longest-running musical? - wizrdofoz27 03:05 pm EDT 10/30/15

I never feel the flying is that effective with the dress just getting longer. It's not even attempt to look realistic,like chitty chitty bang bang or Spider-Man.


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re: sorry chandelier crashing down over audience beats witch flying any day

Posted by: Chromolume 06:07 pm EDT 10/30/15
In reply to: sorry chandelier crashing down over audience beats witch flying any day - dramedy 04:30 pm EDT 10/30/15

It's a very stylized show, in all aspects. I do;t think it was ever intended to look "realistic." The story is fantasy, the look of the show is evocative and grandiose and purposely larger-than-life, and the score reflects these attributes as well.

Chitty is fantasy also, but rooted in a more "real" and simplistic world. Plus, the audience expectation that the car would fly is a given, therefore I think they bowed to the idea that it would have to be a coup de theatre that people would accept in "realistic" terms.

Spiderman, as we all know, had no grasp on reality in any way, but I get the impression that the flying wasn't really rooted in the style of the story, it was there to show off the (often dangerous)
technology. It wasn't cartoon fantasy translated to the stage, it was simple hubris.

I'm not a Phantom fan - but I do seem to think that you're more trying to dump on the piece in any way you can, which is just as blind as it is with the people who love the show unconditionally, lol.


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re: sorry chandelier crashing down over audience beats witch flying any day

Posted by: Chromolume 06:18 pm EDT 10/30/15
In reply to: re: sorry chandelier crashing down over audience beats witch flying any day - Chromolume 06:07 pm EDT 10/30/15

Actually, I owe you an apology, dramedy. I was mixing up who posted what above this, and I was thinking one of the other posts trashing the show was yours, and then realized it wasn't. So ignore that last paragraph.

BUT - I still don't think the effects are out of place in the world of the show as Prince and his designers created it.


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