The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera, Lyric Theatre, Pyrmont, May 15-August 3; ph: 136 100 or www.thephantomoftheopera.com.au
When Anthony Warlow first donned the white half-mask he wasjust 28 – the youngest performer to take on the Phantom – and he had a spectacular success. Now he’s 46 and has been persuaded to revisit the role. The result is a personal triumph and also a fascinating, rich interpretation.
Back then, Warlow had no choice but to reproduce the role as played by Michael Crawford, the original London Phantom. It’s what the producers required and he did it, although he could never be as self-consciously, rrrrrrridiculously operrrrrratic as Crawford. (Who was out to prove that he wasn’t actually the creepy fool, Frank Spencer, of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em.)
This time, nearly two decades on, Warlow is one of the great musical theatre performers of the world, never mind Pyrmont, and has the power to bring a personal take to Phantom. For interest and commitment he also needed to make it his own: why reprise a role that must have been creatively frustrating when, as he has said, he’s lived a life and can bring so much more to it that is uniquely his? So this Phantom is a true creature of the night.
The most mesmerising aspect is the white, white hands. They shift constantly with preternaturally elongated white, white fingers; reaching for his love with great tenderness and painful hesitation, repeatedly clenching and grasping for his music and his theatre and conjuring powerful echoes of Nosferatu the Vampyre. With that nod to the 1922 FW Murnau silent classic comes a combustible mix of transgression, tragedy and sensuality – and a much more compelling character. The Phantom’s love for Christine is now unmistakably overtaken by the competing impulse of sexual desire; so the inevitable end for him is now truly sad and moving: there was much snuffling into tissues and fixing of mascara during the curtain calls on opening night.
Anthony Warlow has achieved something rare: taken a well known and not particularly interesting musical theatre character and fashioned a complex, credible man who repels and attracts with equal power. It’s brilliant.
The production is up to his standard: the set and costumes are the rich, eyecatching melange originally dreamed up by the late Maria Bjornson; the sound design and engineering (Martin Levan) are close to faultless, aside from the occasional tiny, inevitable techno-hiccup. Hal Prince’s original direction with Gillian Lynne’s choreography and musical staging, keep the action swirling and the focus tight; the visual surprises still surprise (FX by Howard Eaton) and with Vanessa Scammell conducting in the pit, the band is on the money and sounds much bigger than it is.
The supporting cast is led by the exceptional Alexander Lewis as Christine’s suitor Raoul. He is charming, princely, plausibly masculine and has a beautiful voice (he remains the abiding good memory of the pre-sunk Titanic) and when Phantom is restaged in another few years he will be a shoe-in for the title role.
The role of the object of desire, Christine, is a tricky one: look gorgeous, sing like an angel and do a bit of fluttering and fainting. To invest her with more than that isn’t necessary or even desirable, but Ana Marina does everything she’s called upon to do and also manages a kind of vulnerability that allows her a certain growth through the evening. She makes it her own.
The company is strong and includes Andrea Creighton as Christine’s chorus line pal and Jackie Rees as the ramrod stiff ballet mistress. Although it’s impossible to say with any certainty that this production is different in certain ways than the original 17 years ago, it does seem funnier: either the humorous elements have been foregrounded or times have changed and it’s more evident now; whatever the reason it’s epitomised by John O’May and Derek Taylor as a Gilbert & Sullivan-comic duo of the two Monsieurs, and the laughter helps highlight the underlying tragedy.
This Phantom opened in Sydney in the knowledge that it had already broken all box office records (more than $10 million in advance sales) and those hopeful or faithful ticketholders will not be disappointed: even the chandelier stands the test of time.
