wow - Phantom was scary bad....
Dec. 3rd, 2008 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thoreauomg - what a mess!
That has to be the cheapest touring broadway production I've ever seen. and the stage crew made no effort to obscure themselves - ruining the magic of several scenes. It almost played like American Idol does Phantom of the Opera. (with a program ad for Grease - starring "American Idol winner Taylor Hicks as "Beauty School Dropout") It was cheesy, oversung and just looked cheap. Nevermind that ALW really struggles to find anything original in the piece - the cast included a leading voice in one of the "new owners" characters - who sang above and beyond everyone else. There were technical issues with mics cutting in and out. so some characters were never heard. The diva over-diva'd making everything she sung sound like the peanuts teacher - whawhatwhatwhawha - ugh.
It was terrible to watch. I laughed outloud during the second act as it spiraled out of control. ALW repeating the same page of notes with different words, stage hands being hit with the spotlight, pyrotechnics going off early - clearly startling the actors.
Raul broke character in the Masquerade dance to sneer at a stage hand.. completely visible to the audience. How poor!
I was embarrassed for the cast and crew. and the poor orchestra must have been hacking drowning in the 'dungeon fog' that was over produced and flowed out into the audience - at one point obscuring the poor conductor. Add to it that I had some folks sitting next to me that had never been in the Orpheum before - and almost gave every number a standing ovation - and it made for a very entertaining evening for all the wrong reasons. It was like watching a once proud play simply go through the motions.
Having seen the touring production of "Drowsy Chaperone" rock the roof off of the Orpheum this felt extremely second tier.
That has to be the cheapest touring broadway production I've ever seen. and the stage crew made no effort to obscure themselves - ruining the magic of several scenes. It almost played like American Idol does Phantom of the Opera. (with a program ad for Grease - starring "American Idol winner Taylor Hicks as "Beauty School Dropout") It was cheesy, oversung and just looked cheap. Nevermind that ALW really struggles to find anything original in the piece - the cast included a leading voice in one of the "new owners" characters - who sang above and beyond everyone else. There were technical issues with mics cutting in and out. so some characters were never heard. The diva over-diva'd making everything she sung sound like the peanuts teacher - whawhatwhatwhawha - ugh.
It was terrible to watch. I laughed outloud during the second act as it spiraled out of control. ALW repeating the same page of notes with different words, stage hands being hit with the spotlight, pyrotechnics going off early - clearly startling the actors.
Raul broke character in the Masquerade dance to sneer at a stage hand.. completely visible to the audience. How poor!
I was embarrassed for the cast and crew. and the poor orchestra must have been hacking drowning in the 'dungeon fog' that was over produced and flowed out into the audience - at one point obscuring the poor conductor. Add to it that I had some folks sitting next to me that had never been in the Orpheum before - and almost gave every number a standing ovation - and it made for a very entertaining evening for all the wrong reasons. It was like watching a once proud play simply go through the motions.
Having seen the touring production of "Drowsy Chaperone" rock the roof off of the Orpheum this felt extremely second tier.
