The Phantom of the Opera

It seems important - or certainly worthwhile - to begin this show report by considering the consistently high quality of productions from youth groups in District 3 over the last few years, something I have noticed since I have been acting as district representative. The pool of talent seems to be getting both wider and deeper and the freshness of approach which is apparent suggests that in many cases, youth groups are proving to be the font from which new ideas are springing. It would appear that amateur theatre in our area has a very rosy future and nowhere could this be better exemplified than with Pendle Hippodrome Youth Theatre's fantastic production of 'The Phantom of the Opera'. This was an amazing evening's entertainment of the highest quality which left a capacity audience open mouthed at the level of commitment and professionalism from everyone involved.

 There can't be many people with even a passing interest in the lively arts who doesn't know 'Phantom', nor be aware of its place very high up on the list of long-running blockbuster musicals. For the uninitiated, the show is a modern take on traditional operetta - think 'The Merry Widow' but with fewer decent tunes and one tenth of the wit - with some punishing vocal and technical demands which make the show stand out from the crowd. As familiarity can sometimes breed contempt, I was interested to see what the Hippodrome Youth Theatre would do with the production to put their own individual stamp on this modern classic: the short answer to that being that the hallmark of quality which always comes with a Hippodrome production made the show less of a musical and more of an 'experience'. You'll find that this show report may end up running out of superlatives to fully do justice to this fantastic production, such was the impact that these youngsters made on everybody present in the audience.

 The show's prologue was very neatly done and set the show off to a good start, setting a very high bar which the rest of the show more than lived up to. The famous chandelier was in evidence and the stage was particularly well presented. The technical side of the production was faultless, with a range of terrific sets, all of them sumptuously dressed and with scene changes flowing seamlessly. As well as the chandelier - which did it's tricky business smoothly and to great effect - the gondola manoeuvred its way around the stage in an effectively ghostly fashion too. There were a number of scenes which looked simply fantastic, my favourite being the Phantom's lair: a really exquisite piece of staging which wouldn't have looked out of place in the West End. Every aspect of the staging and technical side of the production was perfectly accomplished and tremendously effective (even the Hippodrome's sound gremlins had vanished for the evening) and my congratulations go to the tech team for managing to pull off what must have been a Herculean task, doing it seemingly effortlessly and with great style. Cutting no corners and making no concessions to this being a 'youth' rather than an 'adult' production, the Hippodrome crew cannot be praised too highly. There wasn't one scene where there wasn't something interesting happening with the stage lighting; scenery and special effects ran like clockwork; scene changes which transformed the stage beautifully were perfectly executed; make-up and costumes made for a professional 'look' on stage...  Altogether a breathtaking achievement of which Andrea Jackson and her stage team should be very proud.

 There wasn't a performance on stage all evening which was anything less than outstanding. Ronan Pilkington as the Phantom was quite amazing: vocally strong and a characterisation which managed to suggest both sinister intent and a wounded soul deserving of our sympathy. Excellent makeup for the Phantom's disfigured half complemented Ronan's body language and vocal work to create a very memorable character. That the role comes with so much in the way of audience expectation could have fazed a lesser performer but Ronan really made the part his own and brought the Phantom to life as a fully rounded character rather than a mere cipher. The Phantom's unwitting muse and pupil Christine was brought to life with great skill by Jade Brett whose stunning vocal range made the difficult score melt away into a soaring musical display. Bringing warmth and reality to her performance, Jade excelled in a confident portrayal which won the audience over from the moment she appeared on stage. Lewis Bolton as Raoul excelled as always: peerless vocals and his chameleon-like ability to inhabit whichever character he happens to be playing made him the embodiment of the romantic lead. Lewis is a performer who has really impressed me over the years and I hope he continues to benefit the local amateur scene for many long years to come. Two old hands at the Hippodrome (can one say 'old' hands in a youth production?!) Jessica Balderstone and Ben Fontaine had great fun as Carlotta and Piangi, the two opera singers who are the embodiment of theatrical egotism. Throughout the show, I had a few flights of fancy imagining Jessica as the title role in Richard Strauss's 'Salome' or 'Elektra' (perhaps something for the Youth Theatre to consider for a future presentation!) that's how good she was: a strong, mature operatic voice which brought a touch of real class to the show.The 'show within a show' sequences of the production worked very well with the skill of the performers giving a solid base for the wit of the operatic send-ups to work as they should, without looking or sounding silly or overdone: this was finely judged work from both the performers and the director. Ben brought humour and maturity to his role and Jessica's particularly strong vocal work and characterisation really stood out for me as being a peak in an amateur career already full of highlights.

 Moving down the cast list, Laura Schofield as Mme Girey had excellent poise and really inhabited the character, giving a peerless rendition of the mysterious dance mistress. Laura is always an interesting performer: never more so than here. Marcus Geldard and George Bury as Messrs Firmin and Andre gave very solid performances indeed: Marcus showed his versatility in a role I wouldn't have imagined him in hitherto and George brought a maturity to the role which supported rather than undermined the humour inherent in their scenes. In fact, across the whole production, there was a lightness of touch which I really appreciated, bringing a human element to a show which in lesser hands could have been pompous and overbearing. This show can teeter along, weighed down by its own rather excessively over-praised reputation and become a lumbering exercise in doing the show just for the sake of doing it but that certainly didn't happen here. There were metaphorical sparks flying between all the performers throughout the evening and a real energy and life to the whole production. Sophie Counsell was a delight as Meg and Neil Salway managed to disguise his youthful good looks remarkably well to become creepy caretaker Buquet, with Ryan Clark - another of the Hippodrome's reliably talented regulars - adding his usual charm to the production as M. Lefevre. In fact, it was gratifying to see so many familiar faces on stage at the Hippodrome: proof if proof were needed that such is the bank of talent available at the Youth Theatre that the necessity to parachute other performers in from far and wide to fill outstanding roles is completely redundant.

 It would be impossible to mention everyone who appeared on stage by name in anything other than a cursory fashion in a report such as this and that would be unfair as there's always someone who ends up being left out - so I won't. Everyone on stage had obviously worked so very hard to throw their heart and soul into making a success of this production; smaller roles were very well executed without a slip; the dancers performed superbly in a number of sparkling routines which were very well choreographed; all the members of the chorus brought a dedication to their art which was very impressive. I could go on and on about the superlative way in which everyone on stage worked together to make the show really come to life. Similarly, the were so many standout moments, scenes and musical triumphs that to list them all would be pointless: this was a show where the whole evening was, taken all of a piece, a 'standout moment' in itself.

 Lisa Manley came up trumps as always in the music department, summoning a fine sound from her orchestra and had obviously worked hard over the months to school the cast in really making the most of the demanding musical score. Musically, the show is difficult in that the vocal score throws up some notes which would test the best endeavours of any professional soprano (rather than 'difficult' in the sense of being musically interesting, challenging or groundbreaking!) and the vocal results from this group of youthful singers, really impressed. The hours of work which went into creating the set were well spent as the whole theatre looked simply superb and each scene looked fantastic. The entire production was just about perfect: try as I might - and I really have tried! - I can't really find a hole to pick at or any even minor criticism to make. This is a production which will go down in the annals as a theatrical landmark and deservedly so.

 It's often bandied about that directing a show is all in the casting. The idea that a show will sort itself out just as long as you can assemble the right cast, throw a script at them and let them get on with it has almost become a commonplace. It is of course a particularly wrongheaded bit of nonsense and this production was an excellent example of illustrating exactly why. Howard G Raw may have had an amazing well of talent from which to draw - and he did! - but it is the way his skills, experience and talent shaped the production which resulted in such a great achievement. The choices the director makes; the nourishing and encouraging of both the players on stage and the supporting team in every area off stage and behind the scenes; the overall vision which has taken months of work and is finally revealed only when the curtain rises on the opening night; all this has to come from him. As we know, amateur theatre is a great example of a communal, group endeavour and of course, it takes many people to work together to bring any production to the stage and there are always many unsung heroes who provide the backbone of amateur theatre.

All too often however, it is the director who has to take the blame when a production doesn't quite hit the spot: when a production as good as this hits the stage, it seems only fair that the director should also get the plaudits he so richly deserves.

 My sincere thanks go to everyone at the Hippodrome for a wonderful evening and the very warm welcome Stuart and myself always receive. Every visit to the Hippodrome is a pleasure and it is always great to see so many people experiencing the magic of live theatre: there's nothing quite like it. I left the theatre thinking just how wonderful it would be to see this group tackle a bit of G&S in the future - there is a recently minted NODA youth award ('Best Youth G&S Production') which is just waiting for the Hippodrome Youth Theatre to snap up...

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