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Showing posts with label Phantom of the Opera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phantom of the Opera. Show all posts

Monday, June 15, 2009

No Longer a Phantom Noob

Saturday night I had a new experience... I saw Phantom of the Opera with friends Amy and Jennifer. Girl's night out - not a new experience, but this type of show? Definitely a new experience. I'd like to think I'm not all that culturally sheltered - but I've never seen a Broadway show or even the Los Angeles equivalent! (I do believe I can hear Vegas Princess gasping in horror.) I'm almost ashamed to admit I didn't even know this particular storyline, I had no idea what to expect (I guess that made me a Phantom Noob).

So the Venetian Hotel and Casino here in Las Vegas built their own theater for the production, and I found it gorgeous! The stage was very ornate but unlike other Vegas productions I've seen. Hey, I grew up here with the magicians, the cheesy lounge acts... the showgirls. This is soooooo different. I think I had an advantage in not having seen it before - I hadn't those Broadway expectations? I don't know that Vegas has truly proved itself worthy to some. (Personally, I think this town is big enough for it all - the magicians, cheesy lounge acts, showgirls AND Broadway productions, not to mention all the kickass concerts we get.) I loved the stage mechanics - the scenes were seamless, the sets were beautiful and the costumes were breathtaking!

I do enjoy a good musical, but honestly it's not my favorite genre. The singing was very well done and for the most part I caught all the words, and if there was a little I missed, I got the gist of the scene. But the words - the words are so important to me. I'm the one who reads all the lyrics in the sleeves of my albums. :) So during those scenes were they're singing over each other? I had issue with that. You can't tell what one of them is saying! So I've ordered the paperback edition from Amazon, because now I feel the need to know this story.

In the theater you see the famous chandelier in pieces, hanging from the ceiling - and they make this big deal of it when the show starts, and I remember Amy noting the chandelier more than once, so I had this sense that the chandelier played a large part in the story. In the end, not so much? I kept waiting for this crescendo taking us to the point of the chandelier... and if it came, I missed it. LOL

Don't get me wrong, I was entertained, and I am always up for new experiences. It was girl's night, besides - and you just can't go wrong there. After reading the story I should see it again; perhaps I'll get more out of it. My favorite scene? Definitely the masquerade!


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