I finally saw a stage performance of The Phantom of the Opera. Back in college, when we stopped in London on the way to my year abroad in Glasgow, it was my third choice, and we only had time to see two shows; my first choices were Cats and Les Miserables. Interestingly, I’ve seen both of those again, multiple times, but kept missing Phantom. When I received a Broadway in Chicago e-mail saying it was coming to town in December, I decided that this would finally be my opportunity to see it. I checked our schedules and bought tickets. Simple, right?
Not quite… my work holiday party was scheduled late, and I ended up flying back from California that day; my sister-in-law got to use my ticket. So I bought myself a single ticket for the following Saturday. I’m glad I finally saw it, I love the music, and would see it again. [Spoilers after this point!]
But holy moly, what a bunch of nutcases! Just looking at the three main characters, wow. You have Christine who is fine with receiving singing lessons from a mysterious voice and initially unconcerned with the acts of violence that propel her to a lead role. Kudos to Raoul for his devotion to his long lost childhood friend, but he ranges from gaslighting her – telling her there’s no Phantom immediately after a violent attack at the theatre – to somewhere between pushy and over-protective while helping plot to capture the Phantom, using Christine as bait.
As to the Phantom himself, having insinuated himself into Christine’s life by advancing her training and pushing out the previous leading lady with seemingly random violence, he throws a temper tantrum when Christine falls in love with someone else. And then he manipulates the entire theatre crew to position himself with Christine on stage, so he can propose to her in front of an audience, knowing that she’s in love with Raoul. Talk about audacity!
All’s well that ends well, I suppose… the Phantom, rejected, eventually allows Raoul and Christine to leave, though he presumably lingers around Paris for a time before moving to New York for the sequel, Love Never Dies.