Phantom of the Opera Flub Question?

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 1:33am

I had the pleasure of seeing Norm Lewis in Phantom of the Opera tonight. (He was INCREDIBLE, by the way!) However, at the end, the chair that the Phantom is supposed to disappear in didn't work, so the Phantom just kind of handed Meg the mask instead of it appearing in the chair. Now, reading past comments on this website, I have noticed that this has happened on more than one occasion with Norm Lewis. Has anyone experienced this? How often has this little "flub" been happening recently? Did they just decide to do away with the trick altogether? Just curious, because I find this interesting.

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 01:33 AM

[Alan Henry]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 1:35am

They did *not* do away with the trick.

Haven't seen Norm but it may just be accidental. From the way it's been described to me by some past Phantoms, it takes a bit of time to finesse the trick.

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 01:35 AM

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 1:41am

Ah. I figured it was accidental, since you could clearly see Norm struggling a bit underneath the cloak as Meg was walking over to him. I just found it interesting that this has happened multiple times now.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 1:47am

My guess is that we're hearing about it now because Norm Lewis going into the show has brought the show a level of scrutiny/interest that it hasn't really gathered much of in recent memory on the message boards. A lot of people who either haven't seen the show in quite a while, or haven't seen it at all, have been in attendance to catch Norm's performance.

[brettarnett]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 1:51am

I also feel like I saw an interview with him and sierra talking about being put into the show and problems he was having with the chair. I think he alluded to his being so tall being a problem for the trick/illusion.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 11:27am

That would make sense, too. Norm is a pretty tall guy.

[Sinfonian4life]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 11:27am

I was going to mention height may have something to do with it.

Hopefully he is able to master the trick soon. It is probably one of my favorite endings to a show.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 6/22/14 at 9:20pm

^I agree! I've seen the show quite a few times over the years (Including recently, with Norm and Sierra where the trick did in fact work!) and it never fails to give me chills, even though by now the surprise factor is gone.