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Phantom of the Opera (2)

Author: Tessa Davies

Information

Date
22nd November 2018
Society
Brentwood Operatic Society Youth Theatrical Group
Venue
The Brentwood Theatre
Type of Production
Musical
Director
Gaynor Wilson assisted by James Wilson
Musical Director
David Pickthall MBE
Choreographer
Katie Lawrence and Jake Hunter

I do love coming to see BOSSY’s shows and this is no exception.   Phantom is a difficult show to perform and, in the main, the cast did it very well.   

Sam Harper played the Phantom; this is the second part I have seen him perform and he was excellent, he has a superb singing voice, with a strength and maturity of a much older performer.   This was a good characterisation, with plenty of light and shade.   However, when he was unmasked, I was disappointed to see that his disfigurement was not as bad, as it should be to generate the fear that the story demands.

There were two actresses playing Christine and I was able to see both performers in the part.   Rebecca McDiarmid played it in the first performance I watched.   She created a very good character and she has an excellent singing voice too.   She did hit all the extremely high notes and performed with emotion. On the second performance I saw Jessica Richardson, she too has a beautiful singing voice, with a bell-like quality in the top notes, perfectly suited to the part.  Her character was also very good.  It is a great responsibility on these young people to take on such challenging parts and the Principals all did it very well.

The other Principals were all good, particularly Lucy Gree (Carlottan) and Sam Johnson (Piangi) who made an excellent comedy pairing.   Sam, in particular, seemed to relish the comedy of the part and the audience certainly appreciated it too.   The other excellent duo were Messrs Firmin and Andre, played by Theo Harris and Dillon Buckley. They were a bit slow to start with, but the partnership became more interesting as they warmed and their vocal harmonies very good.   Jamie Wilson was very good, he produced a warm and strong characterisation as Raoul. The scenes between him and Christine were especially poignant and effective.   Mia Harper (Meg Giry) completed the main Principal line-up and she produced a lively and passionate performance.

Some of the cast, playing the smaller parts, seemed to lack experience which did affect their performance.  It is important to remember that everyone on stage is seen, and that every effort should always be made to perform strongly.   If the part requires a loud and compelling voice, then it is important that this, actually, happens.  If the choreography and movement need full arm extensions, then they must be fully extended.   I would bet that the choreographers have told the performers that.  They have the experience to help develop the performers, take advantage of their experience.  I do appreciate that performing in this theatre for the first time can be a bit scary, the audience are very close, and it takes a lot of inner strength to perform that close to the audience without being intimidated, it does get easier, I promise!

The corps de ballet was very good, mostly trained dancers, they brought a nice touch of grace and colour to the performance. However, the dancing was extremely distracting during the scene when the Phantom disguises himself to come on stage and sing with Christine. This is an important scene, but I was so busy admiring the dancer’s graceful efforts to move across several different levels with apparent ease, that I was in danger of missing the focus of the scene.

This theatre has very limited wing space, consequently the scenery must be minimal, but the key pieces were there; like the Phantom’s Lair and Box 5 (which could have been better screened so we didn’t see backstage). Lighting was generally good, although one or two of the cast walked out of the lit area into the dark.  Usually, they walked back in again, but it seems to be a bit of a problem in this theatre and one that I have mentioned before.    Christine’s dressing table with mirror was poorly placed so it blocked the view of her when she sat down.  If I had paid for one of the seats in the front, stage left, I might have been a bit miffed not to be able to see her!!    It just needed repositioning with a view to what the audience would see.

Costumes were lovely, especially the dancer’s costume when it was converted for Christine and the masquerade, which were colourful and varied.

The singing was very good, compliments to MD David Pickthall, it must have been quite a challenge. There are a few songs with multiple singers and different tunes for each.  I am sure this must have been hard work in rehearsal and, generally, they worked well.   I think this was the largest orchestra I have seen at this theatre, with 19 separate musicians, it was larger than many full stage theatres.  The sound was very good, although it did, occasionally drown out the dialogue.  But this was more down to the sound engineer, who, yet again, did not always bring the mics up on time.  Such a shame to miss the first few lines or bars from a Principal and so unfair to them.

Overall, BOSSY should be, really, proud to pull off this very difficult show.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to seeing the next production.

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