Review of The Phantom of the Opera (Broadway in Chicago)

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called The Phantom of the Opera. The music was by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Lyrics were by Charles Hart. It was directed by Laurence Conner. It was about a girl named Christine (Julia Udine) who worked at the Opera but she was a dancer. She wasn't the main singer for the opera but she was really good. She meets the Phantom (Cooper Grodin) of the Opera and he wants her to always sing instead of Carlotta (Jacquelynne Fontaine). The show is about the Phantom getting to know Christine and how she actually sort of loves him but she also loved her boyfriend Raoul (Ben Jacoby). This production is a new production, but this is the first time I've seen it so I don't know how it is different, but whatever ways it is different, I liked it a lot. This is a very spooky show and an exciting show, and all the special effects are really cool.

All the special effects were cool and very memorable. One of my favorite special effect was when the Phantom of the Opera, the Angel of Music at that time, came out of the mirror. I thought it would be funny if he said, "The Phantom of the Op-er-aah is here. Inside your mirror!" There was this really awesome fire effect where the Phantom of the Opera is trying to kill Christine's boyfriend. I thought it was really cool how they used real fire and not just projections or a lighting effect. I thought that it was really amazing how the stairs came out of the wall and they just came out as they stepped. I thought that was really fun. I want my staircase to be like that! That effect told me that one of them, Christine, was really clueless about where they were going and the Phantom was trying to show her how amazing this place was. I really liked how he was rowing through the mist like it was water, and the thing was it was the only thing around them that had anything to do with water, so it really made sense to me. And the boat was exactly how I imagined. It was an inspiration for my class when they asked me to do a horror genre reciting of a poem. I did the Phantom of the Opera with the boat and the secret lair. It was really fun; so, thanks, Phantom of the Opera!

There was this song called "Masquerade" that happened at the Masquerade ball. The ball is for fixing the opera house successfully so it looks nice again. The part that I found a little annoying was the part where they explained what a masquerade was, which basically everybody knows who is going to see that. But I really liked that scene. I loved the dancing! It was very clean and I was like, how do they do that!?! I liked when they twirled the girls around and lifted them. And I also thought all the masks and costumes (Maria Björnson) were really fancy and cool.

There was this scene where everybody was getting notes from the Phantom. But the guys that ran the opera house, Firmin (Craig Bennett) and André (Edward Staudenmayer), weren't taking the Phantom seriously. They just thought that he was a small threat and they could take him down easily. It was a funny scene because everyone had a note and everybody said the exact same line, "I have a note!" It added some comedy to the horror and tragedy. I thought that was a really good idea and I really liked that scene.

Once Christine stepped forward and said, "I will sing," I knew she was going to be a major character. You really love that character because she is very brave. She is not scared of the Phantom, which I would be, and she is brave in the way that she just goes up and sings even though she is not a professional singer. I liked how she was very open to whatever anyone asked of her. I thought that her singing was very beautiful.

There was a girl who was friends with Christine and her name was Meg (Hannah Florence). I thought that her singing was very nice and I thought it was ironic that she sang a song about her not being able to sing! The main singer at the opera house, Carlotta, was sort of a mean character, but I enjoyed how the actress really tackled the role well. Piangi (Frank Viveros) was a very funny role until the end. I thought it was funny how, when he was rehearsing for the Phantom's opera, he couldn't sing any higher than as low as possible! Madame Giry reminded me of my ballet teacher because she seems very strict but I also liked the character. I liked how she actually seemed like a ballet teacher and how if she thumped her stick everybody would listen.

The Phantom wants to be the director but he doesn't really succeed because people don't even really know if he is real. You know he wants to be the director because he is giving them orders about the opera house and he hates people who overact. All that he wants is to be in power over the opera house because the opera house is basically his house. Then he would also be able to control Christine. That is not really the best first date, but he didn't really understand love. Love is not about control it is about being able to converse about things that you wouldn't be able to talk about with anybody else. The Phantom and Christine can go through things together that other people wouldn't understand, so that shows he loves her, but not in the right way because he is also trying to control her. At the beginning you feel like the Phantom is not a nice person, but at the end he finds out what love is, and then you feel like he could be a better person in life.

People who would like this show are people who like masquerade balls, love, and Phantoms coming out of your mirrors. People should go see this show because it is scary but fun at the same time and all the special effects are really awesome. For the entire show I had a really bad headache because I was getting sick, but I still enjoyed it. And people who go without a headache will enjoy it even more!

Photos: Matthew Murphy