{"id":53704,"date":"2015-09-23T20:32:36","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T03:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/?p=53704"},"modified":"2019-02-27T16:59:26","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T00:59:26","slug":"phantom-of-the-opera-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/phantom-of-the-opera-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiencing Phantom of the Opera in SF 20+ Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When I was about 12 or 13 years old, I went to see the operetta\/musical, Phantom of the Opera, for the first time. I loved it. I loved it even more the second time. The whole production was so special, so captivating, that the experience stayed with me all these years and I couldn\u2019t wait to go again.<\/p>\n
When I found out that Phantom of the Opera was on tour again and coming to the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, I had to go see it with my family. I was especially excited for my daughter to attend since Phantom had such an impact on me when I was about her age. After a quick close-up look at the starring chandelier (part of a media pre-tour), I fetched my family and we took our seats.<\/p>\n
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Phantom of the Opera is about a musically gifted, but disfigured, man who hides deep below the opera house. He mysteriously trains a young woman from the shadows and becomes enamored with her. She thinks Phantom is the \u201cAngel of Music\u201d her father promised to send when he died. Things turn sour when Phantom resorts to drastic measures to further the girl\u2019s career and his rage boils as her affection turns toward another man. The story is delivered almost entirely in song (in English though).<\/p>\n
The touring Phantom of the Opera production is completely different from the original I saw 20+ years ago. The cast specifically features younger talent in the lead roles, including Chris Mann as Phantom (who performed the night we attended) and actors were given more freedom to interpret their characters. As for the set and props, aside from the costumes, everything else is new. Even the music was altered to replace the sound of synthesizers so characteristic of the 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n
This Phantom of the Opera is much darker than the previous version (which is currently still playing in London and on Broadway in New York). Phantom is no longer a pitiable romantic who had a hard life and who picked up some tricks of illusion along the way. No, this Phantom is disturbed, vengeful, and violent. He gets into fistfights and masterfully ties rope into nooses to graphically hang people (versus the dummy used in the original). He also throws around the woman he supposedly loves and tries to have his way with her on the bed when he\u2019s angry.<\/p>\n