Phantom Closing? — Page 54

Obviously the musicians were extremely appreciative of the steady gig for so long but, in reading through the This American Life story from a couple of years ago, I was definitely getting an A Short Stay in Hell vibe from some of them.

Lot666 said: "Piparoo said: "Obviously the musicians were extremely appreciative of the steady gig for so long but, in reading through the This American Life story from a couple of years ago, I was definitely getting an A Short Stay in Hell vibe from some of them."

Then why didn't they leave for greener fields? No one was forcing them to remain in the show's employ."

It was obvious the writers of that piece were pushing that narrative, asking leading questions like how do they stay sane playing the same music night after night. There's definitely a bias in a question like that.

Lot666 said: "Did anyone else note that, near the end of Frank DiLella's piece about the closing night red carpet, he said something about "the rumor" going around that night night was a new "immersive" production of Phantom?"

When they announced the re-opening of the London production, the restoration of the side boxes for audience use and the proscenium were described as "blurring the boundary" between the production and the audience. Of course, it turned out to not really be anything spectacularly "new" which the original didn't do.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Details-Emerge-on-the-Redesigned-Her-Majestys-Theatre-Home-to-THE-PHANTOM-OF-THE-OPERA-in-the-West-End-20210211


Perhaps, along the same lines, Cameron and/or RUG were teasing the media with that information, just to get a buzz going? Frank DiLella could have interpreted this to mean "immersive" or perhaps he was told that key word and he ran with it.

Updated On: 4/25/23 at 10:13 AM

"And we are comparing the changes in London to dusting the set? Yikes this thread really has jumped the shark. I'm not surprised though. The same thing happened on the British theater message boards where the pro-Cameron people just relentlessly supported him and the phans kind of eventually let it go and now everybody over there seems to be walking around going "It's the original 1986 Brilliant Original! They just dusted it!"



Respectfully, this is incorrect. If there's one thing the Phans never did over there it was "let it go." The problem was precisely the opposite. Most people took a measured view along the lines of mourning the loss of the huge orchestra but appreciating the peri-post pandemic environment and understanding that the changes were needed for the longevity* of the show. A small but very vocal set of Phans (there were only about 4 or 5 of them) repeatedly replied to everyone else telling them they were wrong. When the new show opened, the vast majority of people that actually saw it rated it highly and confirmed nothing was as bad as had been feared. The Phans (most of whom hadn't actually gone to see it due to their entrenched position) continued to reply to everyone that enjoyed it telling them they were wrong, despite art being subjective. The discourse was completely stifled and the moderators eventually had to intervene. But "let it go" they did not.

*Which has now born true. Contrary to the Phans confidence that London would struggle and Broadway would blossom (being the only place in the world to hear the 1986 orchestration), the opposite of course turned out to be true. The public voted with their feet, Broadway became unviable and closed, but after a slow start London is performing better and better.

(My own personal opinion - saw the show last time I was in London and it looked and sounded great. I'd urge people to see it before judging).

Updated On: 4/25/23 at 02:42 PM

Phantom4ever said: "So Danny, you're telling me that the London phans are still not happy with the downscaled show, but then you remind us that the downscaled show looks and sounds great?"

Well, in essence I suppose. There's a bit of inference in what you say. I can't speak for the London Phans now, but the ones that used to post were pretty anti it. And in the main had not seen it.

It is my opinion from when I went to London that it still looks and sounds great, yes. Not as good as the 80's and 90's, but better than the tired version of the original it became in the 00's and 10's (when, as TBFL correctly stated, Prince's involvement was increasingly minimal). And a gulf away, I think from the way the Phans (who hadn't seen it) described it.

Did any of you go to special ticket performance on April 13th, with that VIP experience at the Lambs Club afterward?

Did anyone special perform there? They promised company members from the last 35 years would attend and entertain...did it happen? Considering how much they charged for tickets, I would like to think so.

I hope we're not getting a non-equity Phantom

The entire title song is pre-recorded, and the Phantom has the following scenes pre-recorded:

• ”Bravi…bravi…bravissimi”
• POST-COVID: the final two “I am your angel of music, come to me angel of music” (Likely to give the Phantom/Christine more time to get to the other side of the stage to get on the set piece for the descent to the lair, since they got rid of the doubles after reopening)
• Notes/Prima Donna: All voiceovers
• “Il Muto” Ballet: Evil laughter before Buquet’s hanging
• All I Ask Of You (Reprise): Evil laughter as the chandelier falls
• All of “Why So Silent?”
• Notes II: All voiceovers
• All of the bits before the performance “Don Juan Triumphant” (“I’m here…”, “seal my fate” etc.)

Everything else is sung live

NETworks started as one of the first non-Equity touring companies to really show the viability of non-Equity touring on a larger scale (their name literally stands for Non Equity Touring works). They also have a decent amount of storage/warehouse space nearer their home office in Maryland, so it’s just as likely, if this is true, that Cameron Mackintosh/RUG are renting space from them cheaper than they would get anywhere in the tri-state area. It’s also possible that NETworks purchased it in anticipation of the rights getting released for professional productions and wanting to have it as part of their show package rentals.

All that being said, even if NETworks comes to a deal with Mackintosh to produce a non-Equity tour there is no way that the Broadway set is going out on the road.

Edited to add: since their founding NETworks did expand to also producing Equity tours as well.

Updated On: 4/26/23 at 11:18 AM

Lot666 said: "AEA AGMA SM said: "All that being said, even if NETworks comes to a deal with Mackintosh to produce a non-Equity tour there is no way that the Broadway set is going out on the road."

Then why send the Broadway set to NETworks?"

As I said, it could be that Mackintosh is just renting storage space, or it could be that they bought it in anticipation of being able to rent it out for future regional productions. I’m not saying a non-Equity tour is never going to happen, just that the Broadway set that was just loaded out is not going to be on tour. A set that old, that was not engineered and built to tour, would cost far more to maintain and transport on the road than building a new set would.


It’s also not a guarantee that a NETworks produced tour would be non-Equity. They've been co-producing the Les Mis tour for years now and haven't shown any sign of making that non-Equity.

I guess Ben Crawford has moved on.

https://www.theatermania.com/news/ashley-blanchet-ben-crawford-claybourne-elder-ann-harada-to-lead-muny-beauty-and-the-beast_1700135/?fbclid=IwAR2dyhu5N2EhopXGjfRSmmmtEEzuQ3LF8sh3OX6qPare3KZf-J9ZOBUKZrQ

Which set pieces went out this week?