Phantom of the opera the current longest running musical on Broadway, is it ready for the final curtain?
Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, The Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Theatre Company and Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterwork is a timeless story of seduction and despair. Set at the Paris opera house, a beautiful soprano Christine becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius.
The Phantom of the Opera had its first preview on the 27th September 1986, and then officially opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on the 9th October of the same year, starring Michael Crawford as the Phantom.
Based on the book by Gaston Leroux in 1911 and directed by Harold Prince, Phantom later opened on Broadway on January 26th 1988 and played its 6,000th Broadway performance on June 13 2002, and you can’t help wonder if Phantom is ready for the real final curtain?
Well according to the musical's website, it has been seen in 124 cities in 25 countries and played to over 100 million people, not to mention total worldwide box office takings of over £3.5bn ($5.1bn). Phantom is the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time, enough evidence to say that the romance and the fright continues to attract audiences worldwide.
Go and see for yourself and take a trip to the prestigious Majestic Theatre on Broadway and see how this landmark musical production is holding up after almost fourteen and a half years, “That’s all I ask of you”.
247 West 44th Street
Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes with one 15 minute intermission
Schedule: Monday through Saturday at 8 PM. Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM
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I agree totally with describing this production as a 'landmark'. However could its popularity and success be altered opening of 'Phantom- Love never dies'. From past ventures, only on film not in theatre, Grease 2 and Dirty Dancing 2 seem never to have made it to the recognizable stage, Im sure if you ask someone in the street what songs are in Grease 2 the answers don't flow freely. "Annie," which opened in 1977, was one of Broadway's biggest hits, but "Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge" closed during its 1989 out of town tryout in Washington. The sequel to "Bye Bye Birdie," a Tony-winning hit in 1960, died on Broadway in 1981 after only four performances.
ReplyDeleteHave these sequels taken away popularity, respect and longevity of their prequels? Does trying to create a second smash hit of the original change the opinions of the first show or can we as an audience separate the two parts as Andrew Lloyd Webber plans,
"I don't regard this as a sequel; it's a standalone piece,"
How do you think this new show will be percieved?
(hey abbI!, this is my first attempt of task e!)
Hello thanks for the comment i see you are exercising task E!
ReplyDeleteI really didn't know their was a sequal! I have literally just googled it now to see what this is all about and i must say im not buying it.
It's all modern! I think that it's a shame Phantom of the Opera is a landmark musical because of what it is and i do agree with what you said about the sequals taking popularity away from the prequels.
There are so many modern musicals around now like lion king, Tarzan etc and Phantom stands out as its set years and years ago to give it that old feel, the costumes also represent this and in my opinion i can't say whether it will do well but think it will be a risk as people will compare it to Phantom and with Phantoms track record it could have some harsh remarks and reviews!!!
I too was disappointed by the decision to create a sequel to Phantom of the Opera. The success of the original musical has been phenomenal, which you have highlighted well through the statistics in your piece, Abbi. Phantom has firmly established itself as a classic, and I think it is a shame to try to update it at this stage. Even if Andrew Lloyd Webber wants the musical to be a 'stand alone piece', the very name of the production instantly links it to the original 'Phantom of the Opera'. Therefore, the success or failure of this new production will inevitably be related back to the original. I feel it would be a great shame to potentially tarnish the name of such an illustrious musical.
ReplyDeleteAlso, were either of you suprised by the lack of publicity surrounding the new musical's release? The first I heard of it was on the day of its premiere. Surely Andrew Lloyd Webber could have used the renown of 'Phantom of the Opera' as a platform to generate much more publicty, and therefore ticket sales?
Yes i am totally surprised by the lack of advertising as I knew nothing about it and I do like phantom of the opera. As I said in my comment to Rosina I am not buying it. I totally respect choreographers and composers choices to modernise productions, but to do it and act like it’s a stand alone piece when clearly it isn’t I find offensive as well as confusing.
ReplyDeleteI understand that Webber has had these thoughts of doing a sequel to Phantom for many years which you will see in my academic piece of writing, he then has thought it up and created it, and after he has created so many fantastic musicals why wouldn’t he, but to say he wants it to be a stand alone piece is ridiculous as it's obvious it's about Phantom, it's set 10 years from Phantom and is all about the original characters from Phantom. Why wouldn’t you use Phantom as a catalyst to advertise “Love Never Dies”? I think that this is very risky and I really hope that Phantom doesn't lose it's edge as it has been so successful.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so negative and think that yes Phantom was very successful and exhilarating so it’s great news that it will be continued. Maybe I am just thinking what the majority of the public is thinking, and this is that most sequels like Grease and Annie have been a major letdown.
Anyway ladies what did you think about my Marketing? Does it work?
ReplyDeleteHi Abbi,
ReplyDeleteA great piece if "marketing" writing.
I appreciated the end of the blog where you wrote information on the times, venue etc where to see the show.
In my opinion there were too many facts and figures about the show for the "marketing" style. I think that trying to encourage people to see the show would have been a better choice for a marketing piece, as opposed to writing a debate/raising the question of whether the musical should close.
having said that, your writing is of a very high quality and easy to read as it is very clear and well laid out.
Great piece of writing!
Yes it is my marketing piece and I used this title as when researching marketing writing I found information expressing that using a question is the best way to engage a reader, so I posed a question. This question also related to the current debate between it being right or wrong of Andrew Lloyd Webber to produce the sequel “Love Never Dies”. Do you think that I should use another question? Or do you think I can keep the question but loose some of the facts?
ReplyDeleteI thought that the facts would entice people and convince people who have not seen Phantom to watch it.
Maybe I will keep some of the facts and add a little description so it’s fairly balanced.
It is good and very helpful to hear your comments as I feel you are very honest and constructive at the same time. Thank you.
Sorry Abbi ,back to the point rather than discussing its success and sequel!
ReplyDeleteI think the piece (I looked at your revised version) is perfect for marketing. Concisely put together without unnecessary information.
I agree slightly with Laura about the title, i'mnot sure if it catches the audiences eye for a positive or negative reason. Although it is a rhetorical question which automatically invites the reader to read on. The rest of the piece is balanced and inspires me to go see the show, but not sure about the title. I feel maybe the title would fit better with the Academic writing.
wow thanks Abbs hope am allowed to call you that.
ReplyDeletewell just commenting on your writing style 1 it has given me a broader knowledge of what to write.
well it did caught my eyes and made me wonder or ponder on some things in the theatrical world or theatre even in design it self