Phantom of the Opera

I must say this musical is full of special effects, memorable songs, and above all, I must say Brad Little is really good as the Phantom.

His voice is very soulful and he brought out the emotions of the Phantom very well. I think the set is very good! Using dry ice as the effect when the Phantom and Christine were in the 'river'. Also, the candles were lovely!

The theatre was being fully made use of. The Phantom appeared on top of the stage during the scene where he's angered and the chandelier fell! Too bad the chandelier didn't drop too low to engage the audience sitting below to try to take cover in case it fell on them!

There was the effect of 'surround sound system' when the Phantom was sending out his 'warning' and its engulfing us! And the parts where the policemen took positions to guard the Opera house in case the Phantom appeared.

I was a bit disappointed when Christine sang "Think of Me" in the beginning as it was quite soft, and she didn't really express it that well. Some of the notes were quite flat and I could feel the strain between the orchestra and her voice as they don't blend that well. Luckily she picked up her pace later, and I liked her rendition of "Point of No Return" with the Phantom.

I could feel goosebumps appear when I hear "All I Ask Of You" by Raoul and Christine, as well as the Phantom singing "Music of the Night".

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is truly a genius to come up with good melodies and simple lyrics for "The Phantom of the Opera".

I also enjoyed "Prima Donna", where the different casts tried to sing their parts all at the same time. Due to the limited cast, they had to make use of mannequins when they sang "Masquerade".

The last part of the musical was where the Phantom disappeared under a black cloak on the chair when policemen tried to hunt him down. It's like watching David Copperfield perform in front of us! haha.... and him throwing sparks of fire at Raoul when Christine was at her father's altar.

Brad Little is good at the minor details in the performance, truly engaging himself in the role. When Christine kissed him, the surprise and emotional toil within him, made him shake a bit, and I could see his hands trembling. And he expressed his emotions so well that I shed a tear for him when I see his pain.

The conductor for the orchestra was a female!!!! YEAH!!! Hope to see more of that happen!

http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/poto/home.php - Official Homepage of POTO

http://www.bradlittle.com/main.html - Brad Little's homepage

http://www.johnbowles.org/john.htm - John Bowles - the actor who played Raoul