Phantom of the Opera

It is a very ambitious project to produce Phantom of the Opera and even more so producing it with a group of young actors but this one certainly paid off for Geoff Whitfield and the Take 2 Company.

The opening scene with William Batty as the Auctioneer whose clear commanding voice set the pace for a cracking show, William was immediately followed by Charlotte McCamley as Carlotta, who has a beautiful crystal clear voice hitting the top notes without any hesitation of seemingly any effort, she was perfect as the diva of the piece always wanting the starlight. In her scenes she was joined by Thomas White who audiences at The Academy will know always gives a great performance and this was true in the part of Piangi, strutting around the stage and singing the set pieces of the role.

There were some good comedy items from Jake Lomas as Monsieur Andre and Jodan Moxon as Monsieur Firmin; this was a perfect pairing bringing out the full comedic values of both parts as well as the drama when the Phantom was around.

The Phantom has a good aid in the guise of Madame Giry and this was in the very capable hands of Nicola Watson, from the opening scene when she played the older character with her slightly shaking hands to the demanding choreographer of the pieces in the show she was excellent.

The Phantom also has another friend in Meg Giry who always knows when he is around and Ellie Cooper in this part was very good she helped with the mystery searching around the stage with her eyes when she suspected he was present.

Of course having good actors in these parts is all well and good but you also need some good ones in the three main leads and Take 2 did have with Lucie Cooper as Christine Daae, as always Lucie produced and excellent performance producing the emotions called for in this part as well as singing her heart out with both Raoul and of course The Phantom.

The part of Raoul was played with energy by James Bradshaw, his duets with Lucie were perfect as indeed in “Notes/Prima Donna” when you had all the voices battling against each other, none of them faltering and performing perfectly.

The final part I have to mention is that of the title role, “The Phantom”, this is a very complex role for anyone to play and some professional actors have not been able to give this the full value required, however Take 2 need not have any concerns at giving this role to Jacob Steers, he was excellent. Jacob was able to act and sing his way through this part and I am not saying with ease as he did work his socks off but it certainly paid off. Jacob not only sang the songs but he acted them out as well which left the audience in no doubt about this role’s complexities and his varied emotions culminating in his love for Christine and allowing her to go to Raoul and then disappearing from view.

The whole show was completed by Iain Price and his band who complimented the actors with a  superb backing, in fact I did hear someone saying “Oh they must be using backing tracks”, no they were not using backing tracks although I do understand why someone would think that as they were brilliant.

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