Vegas Phantom Review!!
Vegas Phantom Review!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
Vegas Phantom Review!!#0
Posted: 8/16/06 at 1:21am
Last night, I had a wonderful (?) opportunity to see the Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera, and I'll stick with the technical aspects in this review.
You won't believe how many times we got lost in Las Vegas. Actually, we didn't really get lost, but it took heck of an effort to find the parking garage and such. We missed it, and since it was impossible to make a U-turn, we decided to go around the block and come back to the parking garage entrance. This took 15 minutes! I hate Las Vegas... It's so freakin confusing and crowded too! Anyways, we took the elevator to the casino entrance (3rd floor) then went down an escalator, made a U-turn, then there was the theatre entrance. There were a big mob of people... There were at least 4 people selling the souvenir brochures, which were 10 dollars. We had time to look around the giftshop located right next to the theatre, so we took a peek. There wasn't much, except that most of the merchandise emphasized that it was in Las Vegas... We went up to the register and asked for a souvenir brochure since we didn't have any cash with us. Then, somehow, the dumb cashier took out 3 souvenir brochures (one for each of us, probably) and told us that it'll cost us $30 total. WTF? Geez! We don't need a souvenir program for each of us! They seem to be really wanting to sell those programs... Anyways, we told him we only needed one, then took off to the theatre. When we got upstairs to the mezzanine section, I realized there was no restrooms, so I went downstairs back to the lobby, and down another set of stairs to the basement for the restrooms... Geez! They really ought to build another restroom upstairs.
Anyways, we got in the theater. The walls on the both sides of the orchestra was covered in a gray-ish drapes. There was a big dome in the middle of the theatre, which was pretty cool to look at. Then, there were the chandeliers. They were broken up into four layers. The bottom layer was covered in cloth, on stage. The next layer was floating above the center orchestra, tilted toward the stage in a way so that the mezzanine can see the stage. Then, the top two layers were floating above the side orchestra, both of them tilted toward the center orchestra. I thought it was rather odd, since the three pieces were floating in midair!
Anyways, the voice of the Phantom warns us to turn off any cell phones, etc. then the auction process starts. They 664, 665 (music box), then 666. The dialogue is mostly the same, I think. Right when the overture starts, all of the chandelier starts moving in some direction (very slowly) The strobe lights set in the front of the mezzanine starts flashing, then the drapes on the sides of the orchestra are pulled upward, revealing the boxes with lifeless-looking mannequins. The audience applauded. Each of the pieces moved in a circular motion, (each moving about 1/3 of the circle) then went up to the dome to form the chandelier that was about 1.5 times bigger than the ones used in tour, I believe. This whole process gave me chills!
Then, Carlotta starts singing. It felt very soft and quiet since the overture was so loud and powerful! The whole Hannibal sequence was very lavish, and everything was gold, but it was rather short. When the 'accident' happens during Think of Me, Carlotta was upstage, and it didn't look like it was trying to meant her, so I was a bit confused...
Skip forward to Il Muto...
I don't exactly remember this part very well, but somehow, during Il Muto, the Chandelier shook, then from BOTTOM of the chandelier, this guy comes down hanging on to a rope, trying to wriggle out of it or something. Then chandelier flashes, goes down 5 feet, then goes up and the guy gets pulled back inside the chandelier... WTF? I have no clue what exactly happened. Then, the chandelier shakes and flashes whenever Phantom talks when Carlotta is singing... I don't get the point of shaking the chandelier...
Then, what amazed me the most last night was right after All I Ask of You. After Phantom goes up and the Overture plays, instead of Phantom dropping the chandelier, there's a big loud CRACK and the lightning flashes once. Then, after a pitch darkness for 2 seconds, these big yellow sparks of fire bursts out from the edge of the stage. It was VERY BRIGHT! I was really confused what was going on... Then, all these bright colorful fireworks go on in the midair in the stage with a festive music in the background! It was such an AMAZING SIGHT! It reminded me that I was in Las Vegas. I know my explanation is VERY vague, but you need to see it to experience it fully.
Then, this big backdrop of the facade of the opera house lowers down to the front of the stage. It was really cool, but I didn't get the point of it...
Masquerade was cut down quite a bit. They cut down the dancing part, and moved straight into the slow key-changed "Masqueraaaaade!" which was good, because I couldn't stand much of this boring musical by then.
Then, after the scream when Meg (?) finds Piangi dead, instead of Phantom escaping to his lair right away, he drops the chandelier. I thought it worked well this way, instead of after AIAOY. The chandelier falls for about 5 feet again, stops, shakes a bit with the lights flickering, then drops down all he way straight down, not toward the stage like the other productions. Right when the audience think it's going to hit the ground, all of the lights turns off. I could see the outline of the chandelier going back up to the dome super fast (as fast as it dropped) then went ABOVE the ceiling and when the lights turned back on, it was nowhere to be sighted. I thought it was really cool! I mean, Broadway's chandelier is a joke. You can literally escape to New Jersey by the time it hits the stage...
The rest was good. Nothing much different or worth mentioning.
To sum it up, I thought this production was much better since it's only 95-minute toture of ALW's repetitive score. The whole sequences seemed a little bit rushed, but still the plot was understandable. I'll try to answer any of the questions you guys may have, so ask them away!
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#1
Posted: 8/16/06 at 1:54amOh, and on the unmentionable tube site, there's a clip from the TV commercial, and it shows a REALLY BRIEF (less then .5 second) clip of the firework effects.
Understudy Joined: 7/5/06
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#2
Posted: 8/16/06 at 2:20am"I liked the show because it was only 95 min of tortue". Since you obviously seen the show before you've seen the Vegas production and know you didn't like the show and thought it was torture, Why did you even go to the Vegas production?
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#3
Posted: 8/16/06 at 2:36amI was planning to see Hairspray, but it had closed already... Also, I found the clips of Overture, Il Muto chandelier oddness, and the act changes on the you-know-what site.
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#4
Posted: 8/16/06 at 8:26amI was excited and glad to read your review until the last sentence. If you hate the show so much, why on Earth did you pay all that money for a ticket to see it in Las Vegas wheh you know you'd hate it?! Then say something like that at the end of a decent review? Seems strange to me...
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#5
Posted: 8/16/06 at 3:25pmThe show was good, but the score isn't my cup of tea. I basically paid 75 bucks to see all the special effects, which was pretty worth it.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/03
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#6
Posted: 8/16/06 at 3:43pmWho was playing the Phantom when you saw the show?
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#7
Posted: 8/16/06 at 3:47pmI had no idea! There wasn't a slip/announcement telling us who was playing Phantom or Christine, and I think there was a board which listed all the cast, but I'm not sure if it listed both phantoms, or just one that was playing that night... I watched the 7 o'clock showing.
Leading Actor Joined: 9/8/04
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#8
Posted: 8/16/06 at 4:30pm
If you saw the show Monday night (they are dark on Tuesdays) at 7:00 pm then you most likely saw: Brent Barrett (Phantom) and Sierra Boggess (Christine).
They have a call board in the lobby off to the side of the the bar in the lobby, that tells who is playing the leads for the evening. I do not know which Carlotta you would have seen. Since Sierra usually performs with Brent that is why I figure it was her. Brent has his schedule listed on his Website. :)
Yours,
Carolyn
Updated On: 8/16/06 at 04:30 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
re: Vegas Phantom Review!!#9
Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:51am
Ah, thanks for that information! 
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