As musicals go, The Phantom of the Opera can be considered quintessential.
Based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, The Phantom of the Opera has been widely considered the single most popular musical and the longest running in Broadway history. With a storied history of performance, rivalling that of the Phantom himself, The Phantom of the Opera is often a visual and audio feast.
While The Phantom of the Opera is often celebrated for its re-telling of the gothic-romance tale, story has never really been its strongest suit. Glossing over much of what made the novel poignant, the musical is nevertheless an achievement on the modern stage.
It’s this scale of music, drama, and costumes that makes The Phantom of the Opera a recurrently welcome sight to behold on Singaporean stages. And while the cast (and some of the crew) have changed, the awe inspiring magnitude remains intact as testament to the immortality of the musical.
The only downside would be the unfortunate restriction of local theatre. Where The Phantom of the Opera benefits from a grandiose presence, it is somewhat diminished when size is of concern. Nevertheless, the intricacies of the set up remain intact.
A constant problem faced with modern day performances of The Phantom of the Opera is the somewhat outdated depiction of leading lady Christine Daae. The damsel in constant distress, the character’s growth feels somewhat undermined by the overarching “love triangle” between the Phantom and Raoul.
Of course, that is very much the point of the adapted story, but it does highlight the flaws in translation. As a personal fan of Maury Yeston’s musical adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s take has always felt to be more of a reason to serve his epic scoring.
And that is all that really matters with The Phantom of the Opera truly.
The Phantom of the Opera is running at Marina Bay Sands till the 8th of June!