An evening with the Phantom of the Opera

I’ll admit, though I’ve always known about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, thanks to a really bad Joel Schumacher musical and the countless mention on various shows, the best being Modern Family, when Cam stages it in Luke’s and Mannys school with Luke eventually playing the part of the phantom (ok that was quite a big digression of thought), I’ve never truly seen the musical though I do know some of the musical numbers. So when it was announced that show was coming to Mumbai, I was excited but not that excited to want to go and watch it like I was in case of The Sound of Music and Mamma Mia. However, somehow, on a whim, I found myself going for it, as a way of indulging myself (thanks to the events of the day and how life had been lately) and thanks to the recommendations of friends.

(Damn… that was quite a long route I’ve taken to get to the point… and I’ve been told that brevity is not my forte)

And at the end of the evening (ok make that night) I was glad that I did cause the show was AMAZING. Well not as amazing as Mamma Mia, which is my gold standard of the most entertained and fun I’ve had watching musicals here in Mumbai (whether you agree with me or not). As always I went by myself (cue Celine Dion’s All by myself) as I have always down when going out on a whim. 

Watching the show was an absolute joyful experience that successfully managed to wash away any of the weird taste that was felt by the god awful movie based on it.

The costumes were exquisite, the set pieces were neat, at least from what I could see from my seat, which doesn’t say much of the seat I managed to get. But how I wished I could actually get to clearly take in the setting when the Phantom takes Christine to his liar for the first time. From what I could see I could see it was one ethereal scene with the illusion of floating lights and candelabras.

The singing was amazing, that’s if you like songs sung operatically. I found myself getting goose pimples everything a performer hit those high notes or sang an aria. Though I hadn’t heard many of the musical numbers, I couldn’t stop myself humming along to them. And then you had the songs like The Phantom of the Opera, Angel of Music and All I Ask of You that had my heart from the first note (last being the one I fell in love with thanks to the duet sung by Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson). 

However, I really wished the acoustic of the theatre was better cause at times you couldn’t understand what the performers were singing. So you had to pay attention as most of the dialogues were sung.

The background score was brilliant, thanks to the amazing orchestra, adding so much to the  musical creating the tension, the romance, the ominity, the mood. 

The choreography was magnificent. I think this was the first time I saw a ballet so up close and personal and it was not on a dance reality show. It was so gracefully and beautifully and elegantly and perfectly done. I simply loved the choreography for the song Masquerade, with the costumes adding to the awesomeness of the scene.

All in all it was indeed a well spent evening at the opera, I meant at the NMACC. The only other gripe I had (other than the acoustics) was somehow I failed to link the first scene with the last scene and how the paper machete monkey connected the two scenes.

But that said it was an indeed another one for the memory of an evening well spent with the Phantom of the Opera!!!

West Side Story

For me West Side Story has always been about the choreography and the dancing and those dresses, those beautiful dresses that just come to life with every leap and every twirl. It has been less about the music as the only songs I could remember from the movie was “I Feel Pretty” and “America”, and much later I fell in love with “Somewhere”. It wasn’t a movie that I had seen in childhood, in fact the first time actually saw the film was in the 2000s. Although it was not as beloved to me as the Sound of Music, it was still a movie that I loved.

So watching the Broadway musical was a no brainer, after all when would you get to experience Broadway, or at least most part of it, without having to travel to New York, but in our very own good old Mumbai. And after watching Sound of Music, there was no way I was going to miss watching another gem here.

And in the end, for the most part, it did live to expectations. It was a sublimely staged musical (something that you would expect from an international production). Be it the sets, the lights, orchestra, choreography, the costumes, the music, the story (which was something I was familiar with), the acting, the characters. everything was on point.

The songs were beautifully staged and sung, each well received by the audience, well may not be as well received as it deserved to be, as not all the songs were familiar to the audience, unless you belong to the era, or are an old soul like me. But yes every song was met with an enthusiastic applause. 

For me the standout song would definitely be Somewhere. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have America sung by Anita and Bernardo, but instead by the ladies. Though I did also like Dear Officer Kripkee, which came as a nice relief  before the final act.

The characters were well played and well cast. For me the standout was definitely the character of Anita. She danced like with such sensual energy and fiery passion, sang so beautifully with emotion and finesse, and acted amazingly, doing justice to the actors who have played this character before, the great Rita Mareno and Arianna DiBose. The actors playing Maria and Toni had beautiful chemistry, but somewhere I felt Maria was more loud than naive and Toni was naive than having that swagger. For me Maria only came into her own in the final act.

The choreography was as amazing. It was all that I had expected to witness, and almost well executed. I say almost as I felt that there were moment when not all the dancers were sync, or achieved the same height in their leaps. Or maybe it was  just my  seat.

 But these were minor gripes of an otherwise flawlessly staged musical.

In the end it was a delightful experience that was totally worth it, and I can say (if not sing out loud, or for that matter even soft cause I am not praying)

“I feel happy, Oh so happy

I feel happy and filled with joy

Cause I got to watch 

A wonderful Broadway play”

.. the hills are alive with the Sound of Music

“The hills are alive with the Sound of Music, with the songs they have sung for a thousand years, the hills fill my heart with the Sound of Music, my heart wants to sing every song it hears!”

These were verses that I had heard a thousand time before, and I will hear a thousand times again, but never in this way. And now that I have experienced it once again, in such a new and different (at least for me), and beautiful way, I am once again going to treasure these moments close to my heart.

Watching something so beloved, so cherished, unfold in front of your eyes is a treat (even if it cost a bomb to watch it). It had my heart from the very first Do to the last Ti. My spirit soared as it climbed every mountain, ford every stream. I was willing to follow any rainbow to watch this beautiful Broadway calibre musical live! My heart felt like it was sixteen going on seventeen, waiting to hear from the lonely goat herd. Indeed a few of my favourite things, smelling the edelweiss on those beautiful hills of Salzburg. 

It’s a dream come true to see something that you have been brought up watching, listening to, that you have sung a million times before (in your not so melodious voice), to witness it, makes you realise how blessed you are.

You couldn’t help yourself but sing along, and be amazed that you could hear many others in this magnificent (but slightly Gujju) theatre, sing along with you. 

Each song was so melodiously sung, beautifully staged, and those amazing sets, met with well deserved applause. Each song taking you back to your childhood, leaving you nostalgic, leaving you awestruck and blessed.

Every scene, every set, felt familiar but still felt oh so new. Still felt so breathtakingly beautiful. Still felt you were watching something for the first time in forever, for the first time all over again.

Every scene, every act, every song, every character moved you, lifted you, left you wiping that little tear in your eye, that lump in your throat, cause face it you are an emotional fool, a sucker who will tear up at a drop of a hat. And this is something so beloved to you, how could you not get teary eyed. 

Especially when Mother Superior sing Climb Every Mountain to Maria, this scene will so remain etched in my memory for all eternity.

The stained glass cross and it’s reflection on the floor, and the song, that song that always moved me, gave me goosebumps, inspired me (definitely not to sing, cause I croak), did just that, and then some more. It left me teary eyed, and replaying in my head a thousand times!

But then there were thing you did quite miss (thanks to the movie being so dear to you). First thing you did miss was the great and magnificent and beautiful Dame Julie Andrews, though the actress playing Maria did a brilliantly amazing job filling in those huge shoes, she was no Julie Andrew. 

You missed the regality and poise and handsomeness of Christopher Plummer. The Baroness came across a tad bit hammy and lacked the sophistication and poise of the character. Then you missed some of the songs like “I have confidence”, and the children singing“Edelweiss” with Capt Vin Trapp for the first time. 

You missed some of the scenes that were switched up, like “Favourite thing” was replaced  by the “The Lonely Goat her”, when the children sing it with Maria during the storm, though I loved how “Favourite Things” was used as a way to show the bond between Mother Superior and Maria. 

Then of course “The Lonely Goat Herd” sung with the puppets, was sorely missed.

The developing romance between the captain and Maria felt rushed and was only kind of mentioned. 

You missed the beautiful choreography that was so much part of the movie. The second half a tad too many reprises, which tended to drag the show (but you can’t fault the show as this was inherent in the movie itself).

In the end, these were just a few minor quibbles that easily got outweighed by the magnificence and beauty of the entire show, that left you awe struck and amazed, but most importantly left you entertained and moved, a truly wonderful experience that you’ll cherish forever.

And if you ever needed proof of how much the audience loved the show, you could see and hear it in the rapturous applause and the standing ovation that the cast received during the curtain call, with the loudest cheers reserved for Maria and Capt Von Trapp, (for me it was for Mother Superior who had an absolutely beautiful singing voice, and who so effortlessly hit those high notes).

And though the show may have come to an end and it was time to depart from the hills of Salzburg, and back to normalcy or life, you took a huge piece, a memory, from the play with you, and your heart was indeed filled with the Sound of Music.