Critique of Phantom of the Opera

"The Phantom of the Opera" is a well-known musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of many of the world best musicals, including Cats the Musical, Sunset Boulevard, and many others. The Phantom of the Opera is about a man disaffirmed from birth, he is known as the Phantom (Ghost) and he lives in the sewers beneath the Paris Opera House. The Phantom falls in love with the chorus singer, throughout he demands that she always be the main role and to make sure this happens he threatens everyone else but they rarely see him thats why he is known as The Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom of the Opera is a very well written play, and well thought through. There is a smooth transition through all scenes. I personally thought it was a good play, and the use of different effects (both sound and stage) worked well with the theme and plot of the story. I am not a fan of Opera singing however in the Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber included more than just Opera singing, there was also more modern singing a long with dancing for this reason it appealed to me and grabbed my attention. Not only was is written well but it was also excellently directed (by, Harold Prince) which is evident through the amazing musical that was performed on stage. Overall, it is a great, well-written play with excellent actors.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and the well known mask from Phantom of the Opera 

The Phantom of the Opera had very great actors and actresses. There were many great performers however there were 2 characters who stood out to me though their very outstanding performance. Firstly, the one who mainly stood out to me was Madame Giry, played by Tina Walsh. Madame Giry stood out to me because she had a strong personality and showed her emotions and expressions really well. Although she wasn't a big character she had a big personality which grabbed my attention. Tina Walsh did a fantastic good interpreting her character and showing her emotion to the audience. Secondly, I was also intrigued by the Phantom played by Brad little. Throughout the entire play, the Phantom did a great job in staying in character and expressing his emotions. The Phantom came from a bad childhood and had a hard life growing up and although they didn't say this in the play it is evident that he had a bad life.  Brad Little plays the character really well. The reason I say that he stayed in character throughout the entire play is because I felt that some smaller characters didn't act the same they did in the beginning, they weren't as good with emotions in the end as they were at the very beginning of the play. However overall everyone did a great job, because 2 hours is a very long time and although the emotions weren't as strong in the end it was still a great ending. 

In this picture it is evident the amount of emotion Tina Walsh shows in her face. I think this is a great picture to explain my previous thoughts on Tina Walsh's performance. 

Brad Little as the Phantom

One of the reasons the musical was so good was the staging. The staging of the Phantom of the Opera was spectacular, all transitions between sets were smooth and very quick. One of the breath taking scenes was the one in the Phantoms home (sewer underneath Paris Opera House). I think that the scenes that took place in the Phantoms House were the most spectacular. The staging and use of props smoke and lights made it very interesting and it grabbed my attention. The use of the small twinkle lights gave of a very creepy vibe and mixed with the smoke it look very cool. Also, what I thought was quite interesting was the fact that the Phantoms house matched his personality. Another part that was very effective in conveying a message to the audience is how at the end when he sits on the chair and then disappears and his mask is left and then the light followed the mask I thought that was very interesting.