Her Majesty's Theatre, West End

[Ynot]

Whilst sitting and watching the latest of the Mardis Gras dance school offerings this evening (one of my girls was involved) I found myself looking at the rather ornate sculptures/mouldings around the prosc arch.

 

It struck me as a bit OTT for a general theatre prosc, and considering the normal show in there is Phantom, I suspect that it is indeed an addition to the regular fittings.

 

Anyone have the skinny?

[david.elsbury]

I might be waaaaay off the mark (and if so, I apologise :** laughs out loud **: ) but when Phantom was here earlier this year, they did indeed tour with a false prosc... so therefore it's a logical assumption that the rest of the Phantom tours have a false prosc... what exactly was moulded into this one? Angels, etc?

 

:P

[Ynot]

what exactly was moulded into this one? Angels, etc?

:** laughs out loud **:

Hard to say exactly, but possibly - I had to duck a bit to look clearly (was in the Royal (middle) Circle, so not the best overall view...! :P

[w/robe]

I suspect that it is indeed an addition to the regular fittings.

You suspect correctly.

 

 

Anyone have the skinny?

The what?

[david.elsbury]

"the skinny" = the lowdown, the story

[Ynot]

"the skinny" = the lowdown, the story

Precisely!

:** laughs out loud **:

 

Thanks Mark.

[PDD]

It is indeed false, and a pretty important part of 'Phantom'. The PA is concealed within it, plus there is a bridge which goes over the top where the Phantom appears at various times. Plus the centrepiece is the angel, which descends with the Phantom inside it. It is a pretty loose interpretation of the Palais Garnier pros... well, actually, it bears no resemblance, but it's still a lovely bit of design by Maria Bjornson. There is a pic of the angel section right at the bottom of this page.

 

Edit to add: Set model from the original design in 1986!

[pete LD]

And the show opens with it covered in dust sheets as if the theatre had been closed! I cant belive you havent seen it Tony! its a fantastic show! and lit beautifuly with old genrics! :unsure:

[Ynot]

And the show opens with it covered in dust sheets as if the theatre had been closed! I cant belive you havent seen it Tony! its a fantastic show! and lit beautifuly with old genrics! :unsure:

 

Nope - one that I've never gotten to.

Have to say it's never been one I've really fancied - soundtrack never really appealed.

[david.elsbury]

It's a very... theatrical... show. Lighting wise, my impressions were that there's been a lot of crafting, and care taken in the design. As Pete says... beatifully lit :unsure:

[mikienorth]

Indeed a thrilling show to watch, and one that I think helped turn my head towards this business.

But I was unimpressed by the show in London, it was lacking a certian tightness when I saw it two years ago.

Cues were missed that were quite obvious (due to it coming in mid scene) and the lightning flas was not a great moment.

 

Worth going to though, a reasonable story, and great execution. 20+ years of technology doing it's thing and it doesn't look 'old' The chandalier is a definite party peice.

[Spooz]

Having seen it three times (!), I must say that the quality of the show did vary significantly. The first time I saw it was wonderful - everything went smoothly, the cast were brilliant... The second time, Christine was rubbish and the technical aspects were rather rough round the edges with things flying jerkily, some noise backstage, bits of scenery not pushed on in time and some very odd lighting. The third time was great again, although the Phantom wasn't as good.

[GridGirl]

I saw it in London three years ago and was severely unimpressed - huge amounts of noise during scene changes, if more than two people were singing you couldn't hear the words, there was feedback quite a few times during the show and it just seemed very, very tired. I saw it again in Sydney six months ago (I wouldn't have, except that a friend is in it, he knew I was in Sydney and I would have felt bad had I not gone to see it!) and it was much better - newer production, newer sets and a better sound operator! Plus Anthony Warlow really was astonishingly good as the Phantom. Still don't love the show, but my opinion of it has improved slightly having seen a better production.

[mikienorth]

Hmm, two out of three bad comments are within 6-12 months of each other.

Was the show having 'issues' at the time, one of the things I didn't mention, as at a guess only those who know how it works would spot, was that you could see the standbys being called to flies as the peices visibly twitched then waited, then moved...

Funny on the first couple of times I saw it, but intensely irritating by the curtain call.

 

However, it might be worth another trip to see, it is my personal favourite...

[LXbydesign]

Of course, another thing to remember in that this remarkable piece of work both in lighting design / set / etc etc was all created and produced in the days before autoCAD, laptops, mobiles, moving lights, HOG2's and the like - so, its just remarkable what was achieved "back then" compared to whats available now.

 

Aside from the learning process , I do think that West-end shows should have more of a crew / op turnaround or indeed a couple of crews that swap between shows week by week. Opping LX night after night on any show in West -End, regardless of what it is does become very boring after the 1st month and so it would be good to keep refreshed!

 

When all the cast and crew of Phantom are on top form, this is a blinding show - and the 1st boat scene will never fail to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up..