Phantom of the Oy-pera.

[leleboo]

OK, I admit that I don't hate The Phantom of the Opera. I was a young teenager when I first saw it and it was fun, a spectacle. I also liked the old Gaston LeRoux fiction on which it was based -- a good pulp read.

But today, Phantom replaces Cats as the longest-running show on Broadway.

Well, it was sad in the first place when Cats took that

Comments

[muteflute]

yeah, it's all very depressing. people have no taste.

[stagemanager18]

oh i so agree. it is so depressing to watch good shows come and go and struggle for an audience when every night a there is a line of idiot tourists going around the block waiting for Phantom. the show isnt even good anymore...I mean it wasnt great to begin with, but now it is old and tired. and though it used to be a "feat of technical achievment" the effects in it are well 20 years old. sigh... and yet it is the steadiest paycheck in theater. I don't suppose i would turn down a job on it, even if it would drive me INSANE. I just dont get it! Webber just sucks so bad! and the good music in Phantom isnt even his!

[jen_tiggerpooh]

yes, it has been running a little too long. I saw it when i was much younger and thought it was ok. But how in the world is it still going?!?! Perhaps had it had a break and came back but...
As for Lion King, sniff sniff. I had an exam the day of auditions in Toronto for acrobats. twas not fun, physio exam or auditioning for Lion King? Hmmmmm I wonder what would be better teehee
:-)

[eblizelteth]

Hmm, I'm not convinced that a lot of Broadway's big money-makers are any better than Phantom, even than the dulled, dated Phantom that we have today. Sure, Light in the Piazza: haven't seen it, heard it's great. But more often than not Broadway is overrun (as much as you can be given how relatively few theatres there are) with shows based on movies or older shows or, worst of all, freaking medleys. The economics of big-budget theatre have created a bit of a crap-machine, if you ask me. Instead of decrying the persistence of Phantom on Broadway, I think we should be shouting down instead the dominance of Broadway itself. (Can we really say that tourists have no taste if they choose to see Phantom instead of In My Life or Mamma Mia

[leleboo]

Yeah, we caught the end and that was definitely genius of a must-watch-while-drunk type. :)

My parents -- who as you know can be vaguely theatre-snobbish -- actually enjoyed Mamma Mia, which sort of amazes me. Then again, I believe one goes to that show expect, well, a Tony-and-Tina-meets-ABBA experience; if one goes for quote-unquote theatre, it's a bust.

I agree that, no, we can't make a judgment of a theatregoer's taste based on choosing among several terrible shows, and I also agree that the more the bottom line takes over, the more crap reigns (cf. indie films versus studio blow-em-up-fests, for the uber-obvious example).

I'm not one of those who think theatre has to be deep or unenjoyable to be good, of course. (Did you know John Simon was fired at age 80 because he gave a good review to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?) I just happen to think that this particular show has outlived any usefulness it may ever have had (like Mel's comment above, where the once-groundbreaking tech is now ho-hum and so it barely even counts as "

[eblizelteth]

To be perfectly honest, I should have admitted upfront that I am very much down on theatre these days, so I'm coming from a particularly biased perspective. I don't know if I've misplaced my grown-up attention span or if I've lost my patience with theatre generally as a mode of expression (I've certainly lost my patience with theatrical dialogue, due in no small part to the travesty that was Closer), but it takes a lot to get me to see a show these days.

Also, I fucking hate - HATE - Wicked.

All this being said, I am very much looking forward to my roommate's upcoming show: Heddatron. Hedda Gabler ... with robots.

[leleboo]

Yeah, I'm the same. I'm the worst theatre-goer ever these days; I just have no patience. I've never seen Wicked and I have no desire to. Granted, I still adore the Into the Woods soundtrack -- and I always will -- but it's definitely nostalgic at this point

Hedda Gabler, however, can only be improved by robots. :)

[eblizelteth]

Also, that's a truly tragic pun. I like.

[leleboo]

Thanks! I worked hard on it. :)