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"Phantom" Dazzles Appleton Audience With
Magnificent Production, Technical Wizardry
by Bob
Lowe
May 10, 2004
One thing the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center has accomplished
is to elevate the sartorial standards of the jeans and T-shirt
crowd in the Fox Valley. That thought came to mind as I attended
last Friday night’s official premiere of "Phantom
of the Opera," Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatrical
masterpiece. In a city where tennis shoes are considered the
fashionable footwear and bowling shirts and Packer jerseys
are sometimes worn to weddings and church, it was a delight
to look out into the 2,000-seat audience and see none of these
items.
After
all, when the Broadway cast of 36 is wearing 230 lavish costumes
that cost $1.5 million, you want to dress appropriately for
the occasion. And the theater crowd, which included a good
number of high school students, showed up in suits, more than
a few long gowns and tuxedos, stylish pantsuits and sophisticated
high-heeled sandals that would be the envy of Carrie, Miranda,
Charlotte and Samantha from HBO’s "Sex and the
City."
In
terms of wardrobe, scenery, choreography, musical quality
and sheer dramatic effect, the "Phantom" did not
disappoint. The ornate Baroque proscenium, with a frame loaded
with intricate gold sculptures of wrestling nymphs, satyrs,
gargoyles, gilded figures and beautifully carved angels in
distress, conveys the luxuriously lewd look of the Paris Opera
House in the 1880s. The packed house got a chance to see the
spectacular staging, the dazzling designs, the colorful costumes,
the mesmerizing musical score and glorious Gilda, the fiberglass
elephant. It was first class all the way.
Local
theatergoers got a chance to experience a true Broadway experience
without having to travel to New York. The PAC is one of only
three theatrical venues in the state – along with Green
Bay’s Weidner Center and Milwaukee’s Marcus Theater
-- that is large enough to accommodate this magnificent spectacle.
"The Phantom of the Opera" is based on the 1911
novel by Gaston Leroux, who capitalized on the widespread
belief in the supernatural that pervaded France in the late
19th Century.
Gary
Mauer in the title role dominated every scene in which he
appeared. It is a complex role, calling for a lot of depth
and powerful vocalizations that ranged from high tenor to
a booming baritone.
The Phantom character calls for qualities that would almost
seem to be contradictory. On one hand, he had to portray the
scary, angry, murderous and conniving Phantom, obsessed with
making a star of Christine Daaé, his love object played
by Rebecca Pitcher. On the other hand, Bauer had to show a
certain vulnerability to get the audience to empathize with
his disability, a horribly disfigured face. Bauer manages
to stretch himself dramatically to achieve those results,
although it did appear that his vocalizations were somewhat
subdued in the first half. He stumbled a bit with the lyrics,
"Close your eyes and let your spirit soar..." in
""Music of the Night." He was, however, impressive
in his duet with Pitcher, "Point of No Return."
Raoul,
played by Tim Martin Gleason, was the Phantom’s rival
for Christine’s affection. He was, however, under whelming
in tone. He did not project as forceful a voice as Mauer,
and was overmatched, by comparison.
Pitcher
is described as a "lyric coloratura soprano," which
simply means that her powerful and agile voice can reach the
highest ranges of a musical scale. She also had to negotiate
multiple octaves to capture the many moods of Christine Daaé.
She did it superbly and with a great deal of artistic flair,
particularly in "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again."
In
fact, all the female singers, including Kim Stengel (as Carlotta
Giudicelli) and Patti Davidson-Gorbea (Madame Giry) displayed
some awesome vocal talents. Their voices projected extremely
well. Also, the choruses were uniformly excellent, particularly
in their rendition of "Masquerade."
One
area in which the production was lacking was in the climactic
scene at the end of the first half when the 1,000-pound, 35,000-bead
chandelier comes crashing to the ground. This scene was inspired
by an 1896 incident, when a counterweight for the real chandelier
fell and killed a woman sitting in the audience. Make no mistake
about it. This should have been a moment of high drama. But
the way it happened, with the chandelier soundlessly sliding
towards stage, made this potentially thrilling moment wimpish.
With all the improvements in acoustics and pyrotechnics technology
available to the technical staff, it is remarkable that they
didn’t employ more intense special effects to capture
the sounds of glass shattering and pieces flying.
Also the visual effects of the underground lake scene, with
the Phantom paddling Christine around in a gondola, was less
than mesmerizing. But these shortcomings were minor compared
to the overall impact of the show. The allure of the "Phantom"
remains it storyline, a compelling love story between a tortured
soul, his vulnerable lover and his rival for her affections.
The show will continue its run through May 30. Tickets still
remain for each of the performances. |
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