Welcome to the Musicals Thread, the Avocado’s space for anything and everything related to musical theatre! Every month I’ll post a discussion prompt, but please feel free to comment on other topics, from new discoveries to old favorites. If you have ideas for future prompts or would like to write a feature for the thread, let me know!
It’s over now, the music of the night!
A predictable opening line, perhaps, but we’re past the point of no return now. All I ask of you is to think of me, bent over my laptop, trying to assemble just a few notes on the legacy of this massive show…not that I’m trying to masquerade as some kind of prima donna.
Ahem. Last month, The Phantom of the Opera closed in New York, ending its historic 36-year run, the longest of any Broadway production. I saw a Chicago production as a teenager, still high off the discovery of Les Misérables and new to the wider world of musical theatre. Not long after, I watched the Joel Schumacher movie adaptation and, also new to the wider world of film criticism, was surprised to learn it wasn’t as well-regarded as I’d expected. I’d go on to find the dedicated online camps of Team Raoul versus Team Erik, the opera house re-imagined as just another wacky sitcom workplace, the jokes about the logistics of the Phantom’s subterranean lair, etc. While it didn’t capture my heart the same way Les Mis did or many other shows would later do, and despite the affectionate teasing from the fandom, I can’t deny the appeal of its soaring score and passionate emotion – it’s had a place in my rotation of cast albums ever since.
What’s *your* history with The Phantom of the Opera? If you haven’t seen or listened to it, are you interested in doing so? Why/Why not? If you have, what’s your take on it? Thoughts on the movie or Love Never Dies? Was now the right time (or long past the right time) for the show to close, or are you wishing it was somehow here again?
(Okay, okay, I’m done!)