phantom of the opera national tour?- Page 2

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/16/14 at 10:14pm

"The new version is so complex that it takes something like 64 trucks to move the sets."

Let's not go overboard. 64 trucks would bankrupt the show in transportation costs alone.

The show, according to the IA guys in Tampa when I was there in October with another show (a few weeks before the show was due to load in there), was traveling in 18 trucks. Still a fairly high number, but nowhere near as high as 64 (even the largest arena concert acts, like Gaga, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, etc, don't have as many as 64 trucks).

[NoName3]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 1:13am

"NoName3, I didn't mean to imply that Forbidden Broadway's Sweeney Todd parody had anything directly to do with Phantom. Instead, I said that Cameron Mackintosh avoided doing what Sweeney Todd's producers did -- making everything less expensive, till the show became a pale imitation of the original."

The first national tour was NOT a "pale imitation of the original." Although the set was slightly scaled down to facilitate touring, it starred the original Mrs. Lovett, Angela Lansbury, and the wonderful George Hearn, who took over from Len Cariou. All anyone has to do is to look at the video of that production, widely available on DVD and various tube sites after having been a national cable broadcast, to confirm it was anything but a "pale imitation" of the original. I saw the original production three times and although the tour may not have quite equaled that, you don't know what you're talking about when you claim "pale imitation."

If you want to talk about pale imitations of the original, talk about the national tour of Camelot with Jeannie Carson and Biff McGuire.

Updated On: 12/17/14 at 01:13 AM

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 1:30am

NoName3, I too saw the first Sweeney Todd national tour, and I agree that it was an incredible production. I wasn't talking about the tour -- I was talking about a revival, specifically the one that Forbidden Broadway skewered. As you yourself implied, there is reason to consider that revival a "pale imitation."

AEA AG SM, I stand corrected about the number of trucks to move the scenery in the new POTO tour. One of the reasons that I hang around on this board is that I'm only on the periphery of theater, and can learn a lot from you folks who actually work in the business.

[NoName3]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 1:41am

Well, Sweeney's original producers, ie, Hal Prince and his associates, had nothing to do with the revival, which was not meant to be a recreation of the original production, but a different conception of the material.

Stop trying to dig yourself out of the hole you created by misstating facts and instead digging yourself deeper.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 1:58am

Geez, NoName, what facts did I misstate (other than the number of trucks)? I did not say or imply that the watered down Sweeney Todd was a touring production. I do know that when the new Phantom tour started in the UK, there was talk of its being easier to stage than the original, and that it could play in smaller venues. If that was the original intention, the plan changed before the U.S. tour was finalized.

[NoName3]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 2:10am

Then which production, exactly, by the original producers, was a "pale imitation" of the original Sweeney Todd, as you claimed?

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 2:33am

NoName, I did NOT say that any Sweeney Todd production "by the original producers" was a pale imitation of the original. I was referring to the revival that you said "was not meant to be a recreation of the original production, but a different conception of the material." When I referred to the Sweeney Todd producers, I was talking about the folks who produced the revival.

There is no reason that a revival (or even a tour) has to match the original production, but if it does not, the revival's or tour's producers are likely to get criticized by fans of the original who feel cheated by the changes. This is especially likely if a show with a large cast and complex sets turns into a show with a smaller cast and simpler sets. No one expects a small, local theater to land a helicopter on stage during a production of "Miss Saigon," but I'll bet there would be disappointment from some people if a Broadway revival got rid of the helicopter.

[NoName3]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 2:34am

LOL goodnight.