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My mom and I attended the Phantom of The Opera musical last night. It was an exciting event for her because it was the first musical she has ever been to, and knowing that she loves the score for PTO, I decided she would be the best candidate to watch it with, albeit she would have a bit of trouble understanding the story and the lyrics. However, I had already ‘briefed’ her prior to the show, so she just followed the plot which I had explained and she managed to grasp the whole essence of PTO (I'm sure she's gonna make me play some scores on the piano again).
We were both thoroughly immersed in the whole musical and allowed ourselves to be transported back to 19th century, Paris. Haha. Although I know the musical at the back of my hand, nothing beats watching the live performance. My first ever experience at Kallang was simply breathtaking and I was absolutely astounded at how all actors and dancers were prompt and always on cue. Their costumes and props were dazzling, paying attention to every single detail – ballet shoes, the type of ballet that was popular in the 19th century (as opposed to the high-legged Russian ballet we see very often now), gargoyles, curtains, desks, books, typewriter (even?), the chandelier, the staircase of the Paris Opera, masks, hats, canes, shoes, flowers, ribbons, the mirror, candles, the gondola, the den, score sheets, etc. Thank goodness we both had binoculars so that we could see everything in detail.
One thing I noticed though was that no one did a standing ovation during the curtain call. How unenthusiastic! I mean, Mamma Mia wasn’t that grand a musical as PTO, but when I watched it in Melbourne, everyone did a standing ovation. However, I’ve observed that the standing ovation is gradually being downplayed, due to what reasons, I know not of.
I’m still feeling the after effects of PTO (something I get all the time despite having watched so many adaptations and renditions of it). It’s the same feeling I get from watching Cirque Du Soleil and Les Miserables. Such productions always remain fresh and enticing; no matter how long they have been running for. And then I realized: I’m only interested in productions that have the French element in it. Hmmm.
While soaking in the glamour and amazing score last night, I couldn’t stop thinking of Zon, of how we attended two Cirque Du Soleil productions (where we both wanted to purchase the beautifully hand-made and crafted masks) and the recent movie adaptation of PTO (and how we were extremely annoyed with a woman who kept humming throughout the whole movie, because anyone who knows PTO will definitely know the music, so there wasn’t a need to hum it, goddamn it!). I know she’ll feel the same after-effects once she attends the PTO Australian Tour in July!
After the whole musical had ended, my mom and I went downstairs, preparing to leave the Esplanade, when we realized there was an autograph session by Brad Little, who played the role of Phantom. Since the queue wasn’t that long, we decided to let him sign our programme book (which cost us $25; I remember it was only $10 long time ago). Exchanged a few sentences with him and we headed home after that.
Damn it, now I wish I had bought the $160 tickets instead.
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