Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of "Phantom" in Vegas Tonight?
Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of "Phantom" in Vegas Tonight?
#1Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of "Phantom" in Vegas Tonight?
Posted: 9/2/12 at 3:15pmMy boyfriend got us tickets for tonight's final performance. This will be our first time seeing it. We have balcony seats toward the back, and apparently it's sold out. I'm really excited! Anyone else going?
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#2Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/2/12 at 3:20pmI bet a thousand million dollars Rob Diamond will be. I love his uncool taste!
Twitter @NamoInExile
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Quiche2
Broadway Star Joined: 7/20/12
#2Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/2/12 at 4:02pmMy aunt will be. She lives in Vegas, so she sees just about every show there. She has seen Criss Angel about 700 times, literally.
Theatre is my life. No one can take that away from me.
#3Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/2/12 at 4:28pm
Thanks Namo -- I've always been known for my uncool taste if nothing else. 
I won't be at Phantom tonight in Vegas though. I was there at the opening and once mid-run which was enough for me. I'm sure it'll be a special night though for those there.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#4Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/2/12 at 4:33pm* Um, I don't actually have a thousand million dollars so I hope everybody knows I was just kiddin'...
Twitter @NamoInExile
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RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#6Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/3/12 at 11:52amhttp://www.phantomlasvegas.com/cast_list.php
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#7Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/7/12 at 8:33pm
My boyfriend and I just returned from Vegas and saw the final production of "Phantom". It was an emotional night, with the cast receiving a standing ovation. Just a couple of thoughts on this production.
The theater was, indeed, beautiful. Upon entering the theater, the stage and the side walls were draped in black sheets that were later dramatically removed during the raising of the chandelier scene for a breathtaking reveal.
The good: The sets and costumes were gorgeous. However, there were a few moments when I was disappointed. There was a lot of negative space in both the "Notes"scene s (which was understandable) and "Masquerade"(which was kind of odd). Perhaps it was supposed to be for dramatic effect, but I thought it would have been more dramatic had there been a backdrop to the staircase in the "Masquerade" number. Especially when the backdrop in "Past the Point of No Return" was more beautifully rendered than that in "Masquerade". Both the lair scenes and the graveyard scene were done incredibly well.
At the beginning of what would have been Act II, there was a beautiful, forced-perspective exterior representation of the Paris Opera House that was used so briefly that I thought it was a waste. I wish they could have found a way to use it a little more. It was that beautiful.
The bad: Why was the Phantom playing a Casio keyboard? I actually laughed out loud at this portion of the lair scenes because, for a set piece that is pivotal to the theme of the Phantom's obsessive and destructive creative desire, his organ was rendered so tiny it looked like a child's toy.
I also didn't understand why, during "Prima Donna," there was no wooing of Carlotta with gifts. In most every production I've seen, this scene is an opportunity for the producers to ply her with trinkets and gifts in order to convince her of her importance to them and to stroke her ego. In this version, however, all they did was strut about the stage with Carlotta at one point spinning around in a swivel chair. Very odd production choice, in my humble opinion, for a production that is supposedly based on opulence and extravagance.
All in all it was a very enjoyable evening. It was definitely a feast for the eyes, but some of the production choices were a little puzzling. It's a shame to see this go. On our way back from doing a little shopping on the south end of the strip, we say a billboard for what will be going into the Venetian (and presumably this theater) next: Rock of Ages during the week with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on the weekends.
Apparently they will be keeping the $5 million chandelier in the theater.
Updated On: 9/7/12 at 08:33 PM
#8Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/7/12 at 8:51pmI think Rock of Ages is going into the (current) Blue Man Theatre.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
#9Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/7/12 at 9:01pm
Really? I've seen Phantom on Broadway, San Francisco, and the 3rd national tour (and Vegas) and I've never seen them try to tempt Carlotta with anything but some ass-kissing and spinning her around in that chair.
I heard the same thing about Rock of Ages.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#10Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/7/12 at 9:20pm
Same here. I've seen all three U.S. national tours and the Broadway production multiple times each and in every single performance during "Prima Donna," they strut about the stage and swirl La Carlotta around in a swivel chair.
One of the best examples of what I call "making things up" based on assumptions and hazy memories. Not knocking the poster, as we all tend to do that every now and then. But it's amusing nonetheless, due to how sure one tends to sound when they aren't really sure at all. XD
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
#11Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/7/12 at 9:24pm
Well, I'm not "making anything up," as the recent Royal Albert Hall production featured this particular sequence. However, I'll admit I may be confusing other stage versions with the film and RAH production.
Updated On: 9/7/12 at 09:24 PM
#12Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/7/12 at 9:30pm
"However, I'll admit I may be confusing other stage versions with the film and RAH production."
Well, that's all I was saying, that you likely are confusing something or going on what you--somewhere down the line--assumed they probably did or you mistakenly remember seeing in one of the productions and figured was standard.
Surely, you didn't actually think I accused you of literally making things up? Hence the quotation marks; they weren't placed there for decoration. 
Like I said, not knocking you. I've "made-up" a few gems myself in my time as a Les Mis nut.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
Updated On: 9/7/12 at 09:30 PM
ThankstoPhantom
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/05
#14Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/8/12 at 11:20am
About the design for Masquerade and the office...
The world of the show purposefully only gives you suggestions of environments. It is meant to provoke and entice your imagination and arouse the sense of danger, for you never fully can see the world. The opera scenes are fully detailed because that is a separate world from the "real/default" world of the show, and harking the style.
However, in your defense, actually, it is likely that the stage for the Vegas production is very, very wide, so the negative space could be quite stark. Phantom's original production in London was designed for a very narrow, but deep, stage.
How to properly use its/it's:
Its is the possessive. It's is the contraction for it is...
#15Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/8/12 at 11:54am
I love the original production designs and find it puzzling how anyone can interpret them as being anything but opulent. Such opulence was not only a standard feature of the productions I grew up watching, it was served in a very theatrical manner that is nowadays being abandoned as it's deemed, well, too theatrical in today's rampant aversion to imagination.
And no, not applying that to every last soul who thought the show looked sparse or could have used more detail. Not liking something I love doesn't automatically make you a moron and I fully acknowledge that my love of certain things can very well be interpreted as moronic by some and that's all good. =)
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#16Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/8/12 at 9:11pm
"However, in your defense, actually, it is likely that the stage for the Vegas production is very, very wide, so the negative space could be quite stark. Phantom's original production in London was designed for a very narrow, but deep, stage."
I don't recall the stage being particularly wide in Vegas. I've certainly seen it played on wider prosceniums on tour. And seeing as how this theatre was custom built for this production I would assume that it is exactly as wide as David Rockwell (who designed the theatre itself) and Paul Kelly (who did the adaptations of Maria Bjornsen's original design) wanted it to be.
They actually added a bit more scenery for the manager's office, fully defining and framing the entrance into it, whereas on Broadway it is just an opening in the flat black wall.
lightguy06222
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/3/06
#17Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/9/12 at 8:49pmthe exterior of the opera house was absolutely gorgeous, and based on Bjornson's original designs and renderings... When it was being re-invisioned for this new vegas production, the creative team went back to Bjornson's sketches, designs, etc, and added in stuff cut from the original production. like the gorgeous facade of the opera house. which is completely unnecessary. but pretty.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#18Will Anyone Here Be at the Final Curtain of
Posted: 9/9/12 at 9:34pmI wouldn't say that the facade set piece was unnecessary for this production, as it gave a very nice visual for the Entr'acte/shift into "Masquerade." I preferred seeing the facade of the opera house with the fireworks over just dropping a curtain for the entire couple of minutes while the crew got the staircase into place. Just a curtain at that point in the show would have reminded the audience that it had been a while since they'd had a bathroom break and you probably would have had a good number of people getting up to sneak out to relieve their bladder.
