My mother loved to tell horror stories. Among her favorites were the tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe and the movies of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney. This is the reason why I can still quote The Raven and why I went poking around the rundown Paris Opera House on the Boulevard des Capucines one cold winter. I wanted to see if the place could indeed be home to a phantom. It looked like it was, even more so when dark and empty as it was viewed from across the street on a foggy day. It has since then been restored.
I remained incredulous. Is there any truth to the Phantom? But I’ve been also fascinated over the years. What a love story! I read the Gaston Leroux book where he claimed that the Phantom was real. I later got to see a Phantom of the Opera movie of course with my mother. Herbert Lom played the title role. It was nothing much. Not even scary but it helped clear up some of my questions. Now the silent Lon Chaney film I saw at the old Thomas Jefferson Library was really creepy. There was another movie, a forgettable one by Brian de Palma that transplanted the story to modern-day New York, Phantom of the Paradise.
Things about the Phantom were pretty much silent throughout the late ’70s until the mid-’80s when I first heard Michael Crawford singing The Music Of The Night. What a voice! What a song! It was from the new musical, The Phantom of the Opera. I thought then that there was no question that this Phantom would be good. It was by Andrew Lloyd Webber who had by then already done successful musicals like Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Cats. It was not only good. It was excellent.
Webber’s Phantom has by now been seen on stage by over 130 million people from all over the world since it opened in London on Sept. 27, 1986. It has grossed in excess of P5.6B at the box-office. It is the longest running and most successful musical of all time. That logo of the discarded mask and a rose is one of the most familiar ever seen. And who can mistake that intro for something else. Webber has created the most distinctive first few bars in the history of the theater. You hear those chords and you know in an instant that Phantom doings are afoot again.
I missed Sarah Brightman, the original Christine in London, but I did get to see the fantastic Crawford. I believe that he remains the best Phantom of all. Truth to tell, I did not like Gerard Butler at all in the movie. Not because he was bad, but because he was not like Crawford who gave the character a fragile lyricism. Not to mention that his singing was angelic. I have been fortunate to see other Phantoms, Broadway, Toronto even Los Angeles and I missed Crawford in each one.
Every show I saw brought back memories of the first time I saw Webber’s Phantom. I had always loved the theater, more so musicals but the Phantom was something else. It was wow throughout. There had been lots of great musicals in the past. The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, West Side Story and so many more that dazzled with the moving blend of music and dance.
However, the producers dared to do the impossible with the Phantom and succeeded. That falling chandelier, the mirror, the underground river and other novel ideas were combinations of superior design, foolproof engineering and modern technology that took the theater experience to a new level. And have you ever seen anything so opulent? That masked ball in the second act is another eye-popper.
I am looking forward to watching another Phantom soon. The touring company of the musical will perform at the main theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines from Aug. 25 to Sept. 30. This is the first time that the legendary show will be seen in the country and excitement about it is already evident. Proof is the local season had already been extended, with additional 16 performances.
I am sure I will again compare whoever is playing the Phantom to Crawford. He might measure up, he might not. But who cares. As the blurb from the London Daily Mirror in the souvenir program says, “If you see only one show, make sure it is this one.”