As a big sporty bloke, few people would guess that I grew up saturated with musicals. I’ve seen all the greats, sometimes multiple times and in multiple cities. I’m of a generation that, for some reason, knows every line of (the OG 1969 Concept Album version of) Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and now my kids do too. So, while I was keen to get the whole fam to see Phantom on the Harbour, I wasn’t wanting to build-up their expectations, as live performances of this musical GOAT can actually be rather underwhelming.
For me, Phantom of the Opera deserves its generally regarded Top 3 position in the musical royalty list, but that’s largely down to the original cast led by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, plus the blanket TV coverage the hit songs received in the 80s. By the time I actually saw it in London’s West End, I was at a matinee with an understudy and despite a few big moments, the show was a big pile of meh in the face of sky-high expectations. Some of the more-recent notable performances haven’t been much better: often featuring celebs who can sing a bit rather than a phenomenal singer who can command the stage.
Well that ain’t the case here.
Take a look at this…
That’s just the supporting cast in one of their many ensemble appearances. The staging is as stunning as the costumes and has been dialled-up in the face of everything in recent years. The supporting performances from Debora Krizak and Daniel Belle often steal the show whenever they’re on stage… but that’s because they’re rarely on stage with the Phantom himself.
London taught me that you absolutely need a strong Phantom to make this show work and apparently, this is leading-man Jake Lyle’s debut professional performance. His voice and presence make him absolutely mesmerising and he’s the best thing about this brilliant production. I need to mention the female lead, played by Amy Manford, who might seem trapped in the middle of some superlative stars, but she more than holds her own and rounds out a brilliant four, main, musical leads.
As for the show, the following provides no spoilers to anyone with a passing knowledge of the musical. Here are my highlights:
Watching the Phantom of the Opera performing the Phantom of the Opera main theme with Sydney Opera House (and the harbour, and the Bridge) behind him is one of the very best things I’ve seen in 20 years of living in Australia. If you’re a musical super-fan, it’s worth travelling just for this. It’s way better than London’s West End (and The Albert Hall) and I can’t imagine any of the US versions can match it either. It doesn’t appear that any of the celeb-packed celebration performances on YouTube come close to what this looks and sounds like. Part of me wishes I’d snuck a forbidden photo of this particular moment, but I didn’t want to spoil one second of what I was experiencing.
The Chandelier is practically a main character of the show. If you’re going to watch this performance, just be wary that whatever your expectations might be about it, the mechanical realities of an open-air production mean that its role has had to be adapted accordingly. It can still steal a scene – just not in the way Phantom aficionados might be expecting.
If you’ve been hearing more fireworks across Sydney than a usual Opera on the Harbour season, there’s a very good reason for that. They’ve been dialled-up and integrated better than in all recent, previous years.
I will offer one piece of criticism of the performance. For pity’s sake learn to pause for applause! I sensed that the entire crowd would have offered a standing ovation after the main theme song but instead, it instantly rolled into the show’s other Godzilla hit, the much slower-paced Music of the Night. This didn’t give the audience time to reflect and absorb what they’d just experienced and meant that, without resetting, they were still processing it while much of Music of the Night passed them by. Result: a very warm round of applause that should have been two opportunities to bring-the-house-down.
Anyhow, there’s less-than a week left to see it and tickets are scarce. The wife loved it and said it was better than Les Mis. Mr 23 loved it. Ms 10 was on the fence as to whether it was better than the recent production of Cats, but that was apparently because she was scared by the (seemingly) extra loud, unexpected fireworks (the other, adult-oriented shock-and-awe moments were fine it seems). Ms 13 preferred it over Cats (which she also loved) but mainly because there was a story that could be followed.
Everyone liked the bar and food set-up.
The last few years of Opera on the harbour have been excellent. But, Handa’s production is world class. You likely will never get another opportunity to see one of the world’s top musicals performed this well again. So, try your hardest not to miss it and get the best seats you can – the high price will produce a core memory and is absolutely worth it.
Addendum: As a final note to any of the producers reading this, I can’t be the only person wondering what you could do with Les Mis if you can do this with Phantom. You’ve certainly earned a shot at it, by which I mean staging the best performance of the best musical ever.
At the same time, it would be hard to follow that with anything so, may I also suggest staging the seemingly forgotten contemporary of both of them, Chess? For those who don’t know, it’s by ABBA’s Benny and Björn with lyrics from Tim Rice, there are plenty of bangers it features Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson monster duet, I Know Him So Well plus a popular ditty called One Night in Bangkok.
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