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'The Phantom of the Opera' Music and Stagecraft | The BSB Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  If you've ever heard a crashing chandelier, a soaring high note, or that iconic organ medley, you already know we're talking about the Phantom of the Opera.
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  In today's episode of the BSB podcast, we're exploring the music and stagecraft behind the mask.
• 0:11
  In our last episode, we talked about
• 0:14
  themes from the show that were tied to these characters, themes of obsession, themes of property, themes of identity, really centering on three main characters, the Phantom,
• 0:27
  Raoul and Christine, which surprisingly, we were both Team Phantom.
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  But if you want to know why you to watch the first episode, because you got to watch the first episode.
• 0:39
  You have to find out there.
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  But in this one, we are going to talk about the music.
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  RJ, I have to be honest.
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  Rock opera is not exactly something that you tend to see, and yet it works so well in this show.
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  Why rock and opera together?
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  And why does it seem to fit a story that is set back in the 1800s or even farther back?
• 1:05
  I don't remember exactly when this takes place.
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  I mean, where are we getting rock opera from?
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  Is that how it's classified?
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  I think that it is classified as a rock opera.
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  But I'm going to pull it up.
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  I'm going to pull it up because I do want to make sure I am telling the truth here.
• 1:27
  Hold, please.
• 1:29
  I'm so curious.
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  It's generally classified as oh a musical or a romantic gothic musical rather than a rock opera, though it is sung through an opera and features rock-style instrumentations.
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  A true rock uh opera is Jesus Christ Superstar, which I've never seen.
• 1:50
  Yes, a true rock opera.
• 1:52
  Well, I can't say a true rock opera because I'm not sure what it is, but actually would remind me of the previous show, Kinky Boots.
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  um
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  Okay.
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  that feels more like headbanger to me than Phantom of the Opera.
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  Phantom of the Opera, I mean, of course, it's Andrew Lloyd Webber.
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  It's classic, classic musical theater.
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  And I know like that doesn't mean much when it comes to genre because it's so specific, but.
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  It gives that the ornamentation is very theatrical.
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  It's very dramatic.
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  Um, and obviously the organ feature is what makes it feel.
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  It gives that opera feel, I think, and it makes it feel dated because like, how often do we hear an organ nowadays?
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  Um, but I can understand where like rock, like
• 2:52
  The themes are very harsh, right?
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  Like the themes that we know and love from this show are very bold.
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  They aren't soft.
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  They aren't, you know, gentle.
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  They're just like, here's how it is.
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  And it's very powerful.
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  Even during the ballads, like all I ask of you, while it is a softer song, it's still, it doesn't feel small.
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  uh
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  It's still, I mean, like I would still put it at like a medium, mid level.
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  Um, but.
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  It's unique.
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  mean, you, there's not another score like it.
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  I think because you do have those pieces of opera in there because obviously it's about opera.
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  So you're going to have the think of me, you're going to have, I would even say masquerade is kind of operatic.
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  You have the Don Juan, you have like all of those pieces of them literally singing opera.
• 3:58
  Um,
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  and arguably a lot of vibrato is happening in this show.
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  For those of you who don't know what vibrato is, it's basically just a...
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  a facet of the voice, the way in which you're making sound, pretty much.
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  It's technically like when you volley between a half note up and a half note down, correct?
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  Yes.
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  It's when you're kind of, you're going in between those notes for artistic purposes, like to make the sound be a specific way.
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  um operas have a lot, like they're basically exclusively vibrato.
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  Musical theater is kind of a balance where we have straight tone, which is the opposite of vibrato.
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  And then you have vibrato.
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  usually at like the end of a phrase, it's supposed to make it sound prettier or more detailed.
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  um
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  Um, but yeah, it's, I mean, what can you even, what is there to even say about the score of a Phantom of the Opera?
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  Can I just though, so I looked up a rock opera and it is a genre of music that blends rock instrumentation with the dramatic narrative storytelling of opera, typically through song.
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  So oh while all songs aren't like that, could you make an argument that the Phantom of the Opera song is technically a rock opera song then?
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  Cause it uses electric guitars, it uses a synthesizer, it uses all of these different things.
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  There's also opera in it because she, at the end, she is going in operatic
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  as he's asking her to sing more.
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  So to me, like, in my head, I'm thinking that that song is rock opera, even though this apparently is not operatic of a show.
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  Um...
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  Sorry, I'm being a nerd here for a second.
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  I thought you were gonna nerd out.
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  I know.
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  can't even tell you why it doesn't feel rock to me.
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  I think it's just because I think it might feel that way because of the strong, I mean, the Phantom of the Opera theme, right?
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  Like, you just, it feels intense.
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  It feels like you could probably headbang to it.
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  People probably do.
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  ah
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  And yet the vocal side of that is a little bit gentler or more gentle.
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  Um, right.
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  Cause she's kind of singing this like very fluid, pretty line.
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  And then yes, she has the kind of, uh, runs at the end of the infamous runs at the end of the song, which
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  I mean, yes, you could argue that that's like very Aria-esque.
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  ah
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  But opera, like opera, you'd be doing that the whole song.
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  Like I'm just thinking of like some classical pieces that I've sung and like literally all you're doing is the runs for four minutes solid comparatively to like, I mean, what does
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  she probably like 16 bars of a six minute song, but I can understand why it would be perceived that way.
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  I was doing some Googling real quick while you were talking as I was listening.
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  Thank you for all of that wonderful information.
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  oh But I guess apparently it is the two things of why I can't classify as an opera or an operata.
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  uh Operata is that they use microphones and apparently you can't with operas and that there is no arias in it.
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  They use operatic idioms.
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  So whatever that means.
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  I'm not an opera person.
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  Yes, I can see what they're um Interesting that they say that you can't use microphones because that's...
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  I mean, like for sure, operas use stage mics.
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  so there's like, can't, you can't fill a house of 3,500 people with just people singing on stage.
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  Um, but yes, I would say it is, it's, it's got operatic style.
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  It's pop.
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  I would say it's strong pop.
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  It leans.
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  you know, towards, if there was a spectrum, it would be leaning towards rock.
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  So it's more like a pop musical is what you're saying.
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  Yeah, but I mean, but that's even hard to say because like I actually consider pop musicals to be like Dear Evan Hansen.
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  Like this, yeah, this is just like true, tried and true musical theater.
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  Like this is the belly of the beast.
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  It is your ballads.
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  It is your power numbers.
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  It is the dynamic duo of most classical musical theater shows.
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  from the, what I'll say golden era of musical theater.
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  And when you're talking about the golden era of musical theater, what's very interesting about this show to me, which I love, is how the music really sets the tone for how creepy
• 9:33
  this show can be.
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  And again, I'm going go back to the Phantom of the opera music, but when they are opening up the chandelier at the beginning, like we're going right at the beginning, it opens up,
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  the show opens up stage, silence, they're kind of talking.
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  And then they take off the, they reveal the chandelier and that music just starts.
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  What a major way to start a show like that overture as the chandelier is going up to the top of the ceiling, as the smoke and the lights are kind of flickering as it yanks off the
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  covering.
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  It's really interesting how that just sets the tone so well.
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  Of being like a creepy show.
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  It is a very creepy show, especially when you see it in an opera house, which I think we're going to talk about in just a little bit, but I just.
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  As much as I love so much of this music, I think that to me is such an iconic moment that always just kind of steals the show for me.
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  Like the reveal of the chandelier and the music that accompanies just is so iconic.
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  Well, it does exactly what it's meant to do, right?
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  The shock factor, especially for someone who has never been to it before, just it physically is bringing you in.
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  You don't get too many shows that physically take you to a place.
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  rather than just watching a place.
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  Like this show, and again, we can talk about the fact that it was literally in an opera house, um which hand holds the whole premise, but you're just in the space and you feel
• 11:16
  like you're now, you're in that opera house.
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  um
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  Like to your bones, like yeah, the second those chords hit, the second the chandelier is revealed, um you go from like...
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  I mean, obviously you're paying attention when the show starts, you just, you can't help, but just literally be snapped to attention.
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  Um, because also Holy smokes, the volume on that as well, which it is, mean, literally I felt I could feel the vibrations in my chest.
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  Um, and of course, like we were sitting in the orchestra level, so you're, we're going to get pounded with sound.
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  Um,
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  But it is, it's supposed to hit you deep in your soul and it definitely did.
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  And it's sweeping score.
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  ah Obviously, Weber knew what he was doing.
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  And those who study music do.
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  Like there are, there is a science to music and the way that it makes people feel.
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  And he plucked those exact right notes and buttons.
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  to hit us that way.
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  And that is part of the magic and why, I mean, Phantom is such a phenomenon overall.
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  sure.
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  Like you are automatically on the edge of your seat.
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  Also for where we're sitting and a lot of people are sitting, you're looking directly up at the chandelier.
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  Granted we're looking, we were looking like up into the side, but you're watching the chandelier, which is like beautiful in its presence, but it's just like slowly floating to
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  the top.
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  And Granted there's some stuff happening on stage that you could be paying attention to, but like you're just drawn.
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  Like it, like it says we have begun and it just starts off there and it really, you don't have time to quite
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  You're going the song.
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  The show is song heavy.
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  You're just going into song after song after song.
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  Many of them are fantastic.
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  Some of them are not some of my favorites.
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  And so I think that is.
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  Let's talk about think of me.
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  This is the second real song of the show and is absolutely one of my favorites.
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  I sing it all the time.
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  RJ, I'm sorry you've had to hear me sing off key and out of tune for this because I do think that sometimes I can hit it and I can't.
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  ah
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  But truly this is one of my favorite moments of the show because it's such a sweet song and it was the first time in the show that I said, oh, this is not the song from the
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  movie.
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  Most of the words to think of me have been changed for the movie, which is wild to me.
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  Yeah, this is a show that so interestingly, so many pieces were changed for the film.
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  And I feel like nowadays, like movie musicals, there are obviously differences, but they aren't so starkly different.
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  And for some reason, I don't know if it was just at that time, they thought it was a good idea.
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  Cause really it didn't change anything.
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  Like it wasn't like they changed any of the plot points or anything.
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  I truly just, I don't understand why the lyrics were so different.
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  I'm gonna take a real big swing here and I'm sorry to those who love the musical.
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  This is not a slight against you guys.
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  I'm so glad you love the musical on stage.
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  think of me in the film, the lyrics are significantly better because I think it's more poetic.
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  Like one of the lines that always sticks with me is, flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade, we have our season, so do we.
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  And that's not in the show.
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  And to me, I was like, that's such an important line because it shows that people come into your life and some people are meant to stay and some people aren't, and both of those
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  things are okay.
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  And so to me, right off the bat, that's not
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  Like, think of me in the show almost felt like a lament where she's almost like pining after the person she lost, where the one in the film is you're gone and that's okay
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  because we had our moment and we did something beautiful together and then we all move on.
• 15:18
  But I hope every once in a while you think of me when you're going off to live your life.
• 15:22
  And I think that was the difference for me where I was like, I think that they improved upon it to be a little more like hopeful instead of sad.
• 15:29
  Because think of me in the show as quite sad, actually.
• 15:32
  Yeah, mean, just again, a little bit of research.
• 15:37
  um Really the only thing that's stated is that it was changed for the visual plot of the film versus the live theater version and eliminating the British.
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  slang or words, um which I guess because in the film it was pretty not British.
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  um So I can understand that.
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  And obviously there's a little bit of adaptation too with where Raoul sings in it and how that's different.
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  And so I'm wondering if the rhyming and if the feel of the song
• 16:26
  was changing or like in order to make that work they had to change it.
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  Because obviously in the musical he's just like sitting there and in the movie, if I remember right, he's sitting there but then he's also like moving.
• 16:40
  um yeah, yeah.
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  So like even though you wouldn't think that that makes a big difference, it kind of does because like now he's not looking directly at her.
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  She's no longer, we're not seeing her on stage.
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  we're kind of, taken away from her.
• 16:57
  ah But yeah, but arguably, I mean, this happens throughout the show, right?
• 17:03
  So there are many different facets in which that could, you know, be different for different reasons.
• 17:10
  I think one of the things that's really noticeable in that aspect too is the Phantom of the Opera.
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  There's actually another whole verse in the stage production, which for those who only know the movie, you're not going to know those words and it's fine.
• 17:23
  Please don't sing when we have these amazing talented people up on stage.
• 17:27
  Keep that for your drive home and stuff.
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  I almost forgot, because if I remember correctly, correct me if I'm wrong here, RJ.
• 17:36
  when it's on stage, they actually change the key as it goes to that second verse.
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  Like something changes, like they either add more like instruments or like it goes up an octave or something and it's sung slightly different.
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  And I was like, oh, I didn't realize that.
• 17:52
  for which song for the Phantom of the Opera.
• 17:54
  For Phantom of the Opera, yes.
• 17:56
  Seems like they're in the boat and then something changes.
• 18:00
  Yeah, maybe it changes key.
• 18:02
  um I honestly can't remember offhand, but that wouldn't, I mean, that wouldn't shock me at all.
• 18:12
  um But of Act 1 then, what song is your favorite?
• 18:19
  Do you have a favorite?
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  Is it prima donna?
• 18:23
  absolutely not.
• 18:25
  one of my least favorite songs.
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  Although it is one of the, like, technically one of the most difficult.
• 18:31
  Um, I mean, here's the thing.
• 18:35
  I love All I Ask of You, even though I do not like Raoul.
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  And then I love The Phantom of the Opera.
• 18:43
  So really I'm getting both, right?
• 18:45
  I got the Phantom song with Christine and I have the Raoul song with Christine.
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  So those two are pretty...
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  pretty much it for me.
• 18:56
  Okay, listeners, come closer, come closer.
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  We're about to have a moment.
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  RJ, I hate All I Ask of You.
• 19:03
  With the exception of the only part of All I Ask of You that I like is the Phantom's reprise because it is so good.
• 19:11
  It is so haunting.
• 19:13
  That's a really cool way to end act one.
• 19:16
  All I Ask of You is so boring.
• 19:21
  It's so slow.
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  it is very repetitive.
• 19:25
  um However, also, I think the show slows it down.
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  I think in the movie it's faster, um which is arguably, yes, I would take, again, I would take the soundtrack version over the musical score.
• 19:43
  But clearly you were never a musical theater nerd in middle school and high school who in the dressing rooms, we were all singing this to each other because you know, that's what
• 19:55
  you do when you're a child and you think that you have a crush on someone.
• 19:59
  And this is just the iconic, dramatic song that everyone knows.
• 20:07
  Like definitely the karaoke, like one of the top karaoke songs for a duet.
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  even though nobody at that age can sing it correctly, but we all thought we could.
• 20:18
  I
• 20:19
  it's just like nostalgia for me.
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  Maybe it's not even my favorite.
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  It's just the nostalgia of the playfulness of singing it a thousand times.
• 20:29
  What is crazy to me is that, you know, I met you as an adult, we were adults.
• 20:35
  I had a different song picked out for your favorite from Act One.
• 20:39
  I thought for sure it would be the music of the night.
• 20:42
  because it feels like that one is the most melodic, especially for the phantom's voice, which is something I just, I felt like that was something you would have connected on.
• 20:52
  I, but if I'm taking this a step further, correct me if I'm wrong, the music of the night and all I ask of you use the same melody.
• 21:00
  At least for the chorus part of it.
• 21:02
  Yeah, there's some there are some lines that are like again, Weber being Weber.
• 21:09
  He's intertwining a lot of these melodies underneath and over top of and uh Like the irony of that happening, right?
• 21:19
  music of the night
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  is apparently what all I ask of you is to you.
• 21:28
  it's just, it's slow.
• 21:31
  It's the same.
• 21:33
  um Except for literally like the last phrase where he goes up and floats in his head voice.
• 21:41
  um But it's also like the creepy song, right?
• 21:45
  Like that is the song where he is kind of seducing quote unquote her.
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  um
• 21:52
  So I think maybe that's also why it gives me like the ick.
• 21:56
  Sure, sure.
• 21:57
  And before I go on to act two, I do have something I want to point out about the Phantom in this one.
• 22:02
  And I talked with a few people who've seen it.
• 22:04
  They all agreed, but they're not music nerds like you.
• 22:06
  They don't have a degree somewhere.
• 22:08
  I've never seen your degree, but you have a music degree somewhere.
• 22:11
  RJ, correct me if I'm wrong.
• 22:13
  The Phantom's voice was higher for this production of The Phantom of the Opera.
• 22:19
  He was not as low as some of the other ones that we have gotten, correct?
• 22:24
  So here's where it gets complicated because it depends on what you mean by higher and lower.
• 22:33
  So the songs themselves were
• 22:37
  either in or very close to the original keys.
• 22:41
  So all of the music was hung the same.
• 22:44
  So it wasn't higher or lower per se.
• 22:46
  However, the tone of his voice, the timbre, I should say, of his voice was warm.
• 22:56
  It wasn't dark, like we're used to.
• 23:02
  So...
• 23:03
  Even though he was literally singing the same thing because of the way that his voice is literally built, it did sound almost kinder and less scary.
• 23:20
  um Even when his voice was bouncing around for those few scenes where they make that magic happen, it was like, like, it's cool, but it's not particularly like,
• 23:31
  intimidating or terrifying with.
• 23:34
  Yeah.
• 23:35
  Um, but I think that's just like per the individual and that's based on casting too.
• 23:41
  Like, I don't think, and I didn't even look at that part of his bio to see, well, it doesn't really say if he's a tenor or a baritone or a bass.
• 23:52
  I would imagine that he is a baritone leaning tenor rather than a baritone leaning bass.
• 24:01
  because of the timbre of his voice.
• 24:03
  um But yeah, it's an interesting...
• 24:10
  interesting pieces.
• 24:12
  Apparently he is a baritone with an extended vocal versatile range and not a tenor.
• 24:20
  interesting.
• 24:22
  He apparently has a video on Instagram about it.
• 24:25
  well, I might have to do some recon on that.
• 24:29
  Because otherwise it would just say like, bases are usually...
• 24:34
  I mean, you know, you know, when you're talking to a true bass.
• 24:38
  So it's very obvious that he's uh a baritone.
• 24:42
  And the phantom does need to be one of the few and far between that isn't just a straight up tenor and it's not a straight up
• 24:51
  baritone, um because he has those like very high, you know, we talked about music of the night, he ends on an incredibly gentle high note.
• 25:02
  um That's all up in his head voice.
• 25:06
  which can be hard to do if you're, if you are like a bass because that's typically way out of the range depending on what your range is, but.
• 25:17
  what's interesting is I didn't feel scared by him until All I Ask of You when he got really deep and as he's singing to Christine like almost like you're gonna regret this you
• 25:28
  know and so that was the first time I felt scared by him because he didn't feel scary he felt like I'm gonna have like a dreamlike quality to him and there wasn't a lot of other
• 25:36
  spaces or songs that I really felt him being scary including one of my favorites in act 2 Masquerade which usually I feel like the Phantom is terrifying in that one and he didn't
• 25:46
  feel terrifying.
• 25:48
  He felt...
• 25:51
  I don't even know what word to use.
• 25:53
  But I do think that Masquerade is one of the best songs of Act 2.
• 25:55
  I will go down swinging that most of Act 2 I could probably leave, ah which is probably blasphemous for people who love The Point of No Return.
• 26:03
  ah But Masquerade, I think, is one of the best songs.
• 26:07
  But he's not intimidating in that song.
• 26:09
  It's like he's not scary.
• 26:10
  I'm not terrified of him appearing.
• 26:13
  So I don't know what that says about me and maybe his voice.
• 26:16
  So interesting, I'm biting my tongue a little bit because I looked up what part of the Phantom is written to be.
• 26:23
  And it is written to be a high baritone or baritone tenor, which technically seems like that is exactly where his vocal range might fall.
• 26:37
  I think what was lacking, like you kind of mentioned, is what they kind of claim as the booming.
• 26:45
  part of the voice, um there wasn't a lot of boom, which is like a not great adverb, but it just...
• 26:58
  that the gut, the part that typically I envision coming from like the bottom of your gut, like when you sing and you're singing maybe something that's lower or you want it to sound
• 27:09
  really, really deep or booming, you're singing it from like your toes.
• 27:13
  And I'm so sorry for all the non-musical people who are like, what does this even mean?
• 27:19
  But it's like, I mean, singing is a full body experience.
• 27:22
  So when you're singing something that's deep and booming, you're going to be using your
• 27:26
  whole body to do that.
• 27:28
  And it just didn't feel.
• 27:33
  Like that was the direction that they wanted the Phantom to be for this production.
• 27:38
  You know, maybe that's just because I'm so used to Gerard Butler's Phantom.
• 27:42
  And I looked it up and he's a gritty baritone with a gravelly tone is how it's being described, which is probably why it feels so haunting and like that.
• 27:50
  It feels like you're almost being gut punched.
• 27:52
  And so maybe I just didn't have what the Phantom should have been in my head.
• 27:57
  And so like, this is like, obviously this is what they are aiming for, um which doesn't necessarily feel scary, but also maybe that adds to him being a little more sympathetic.
• 28:06
  Why were a little more team Phantom?
• 28:09
  Yes, I do think they were leaning across the board vocally acting wise, they were leaning into a softer, more lyrical, even more operatic, phantom.
• 28:24
  that just, yeah, maybe more human um comparatively to, yeah, the movie version where, I mean, honestly, you don't even really see him as human in the movie.
• 28:38
  He's like a ghost.
• 28:39
  Yeah, feels like a ghost.
• 28:42
  feels like something otherworldly.
• 28:45
  Whereas this production felt like his humanity was being reclaimed.
• 28:54
  And so in that sense, this production did a very, very good job of achieving that.
• 29:02
  Because I mean, here we are talking about it.
• 29:04
  And so of course, before we close out the music part of this, why don't you tell the people why The Point in a Return is one of your favorite songs from Phantom of the Opera?
• 29:13
  ah I mean, there's nothing like acting within acting, right?
• 29:17
  um
• 29:19
  I, we know I'm a dramatic person.
• 29:22
  I love the drama of the drama.
• 29:25
  And so this idea that
• 29:31
  They're both on a stage acting around each other and ultimately trying to trick.
• 29:37
  mean, he's trying to trick her, but then in the end she is kind of tricking him.
• 29:42
  It's just the game that's being played is very intriguing to me.
• 29:47
  Of course, all like through song.
• 29:49
  Um,
• 29:51
  And I don't know, is very like, maybe it's the romantic in me that is very like
• 29:58
  I don't even know how to describe it.
• 29:59
  It's sensual, it's...
• 30:02
  um
• 30:04
  I mean, it's probably the most sensual that we get in the entire show.
• 30:10
  You don't even see his face.
• 30:13
  Yeah, it's, I don't know.
• 30:15
  says a lot about the romantic and RJ ladies.
• 30:19
  He wants to nevermind.
• 30:21
  oh Yeah, we were gonna go somewhere but we decided to not.
• 30:28
  Instead we're gonna go talk about.
• 30:30
  We're past the point of no return.
• 30:32
  We are past the point of no return.
• 30:34
  So I do want to talk about how maximalist the show is.
• 30:36
  So they decided they opted for the original production slash touring production so much so that they gave the director like the credit to Harold Prince, who is the original director
• 30:52
  of the show.
• 30:53
  He is still the director of the touring production, which I thought was crazy and wild.
• 30:58
  But I think it explains why they decided like that, how they opted for this.
• 31:02
  really maximalist production.
• 31:05
  I have heard that it was going to be 31 trucks rolling in and rolling out.
• 31:09
  That's kind of what the thing was.
• 31:11
  that wasn't, I'd love for somebody to correct me on that one.
• 31:14
  But truthfully, this was a show that had sets, had costumes, had magical curtains, and we all know I love a fucking magical curtain.
• 31:26
  So, RJ, this impact, the chandelier to, oh my God, okay.
• 31:31
  This show is huge when it comes to sets and the costumes.
• 31:35
  Did you appreciate this aspect of the show?
• 31:37
  Because I feel like this is almost like a character in and of itself.
• 31:40
  I was not expecting it to the degree of detail that we got because I mean it literally was like seeing it on Broadway.
• 31:50
  Every detail, everything was there.
• 31:53
  Like when the candles came up for whatever we want to call it, dungeon sewer area layer, um I was like, my God, the amount of time.
• 32:10
  to roll that in.
• 32:11
  And I just looked it up.
• 32:13
  17 to 20 semi trucks.
• 32:16
  That's a lot.
• 32:18
  I'll just say again, on average, because working back of how it's like we always, we saw the semis come in and out, on average, like shows had a couple of semis.
• 32:31
  The only exceptions typically being shows like Hamilton that have like a full stage.
• 32:37
  And even then, it's only, it's still nowhere close to 17 to 20.
• 32:43
  So.
• 32:45
  It's just insane to think.
• 32:50
  And also I'm thinking of, for those who don't know, like loading a set into a building.
• 33:00
  It's, it's not like the whole back of the theater opens up and they just unload the set.
• 33:06
  Most of the time you have a doorway that is no bigger than maybe a garage door, an average garage.
• 33:15
  And they are physically one piece after the other rolling stuff.
• 33:20
  Oftentimes through the theater, through backstage, sometimes it's not even directly onto the stage.
• 33:30
  and then setting it up.
• 33:31
  And so I just, I would love to see, and it probably, there probably is one out there.
• 33:36
  I would love to see a time lapse video of the set build for the show because.
• 33:44
  uh
• 33:45
  between that and the chandelier alone.
• 33:48
  You have to make sure, you have to install a whole piece.
• 33:53
  You have to make sure that it's the right uh leveling and all of those.
• 34:00
  It's just insane.
• 34:02
  I was blown away by literally everything about the staging in the set.
• 34:10
  It was so, I think it's a good call.
• 34:13
  When people are going to see Phantom of the Opera, and this is the first time it's toured in America since it was on Broadway, people are expecting a certain level of quality and
• 34:23
  storytelling.
• 34:24
  I don't think that they could have pared this down and people would have been okay with it.
• 34:27
  I think it would have been similar to like what we got with Beauty and the Beast where people would have been a little upset that like it was so boiled down.
• 34:33
  This one, you almost had to go big because you were not going to be able to pull this off anyways.
• 34:37
  And it is so impressive.
• 34:39
  The costumes are big and huge and kind of accurate.
• 34:43
  The rolling in of the pieces on the sides where you had like the booths were really cool.
• 34:48
  I also was amazed by the candles.
• 34:50
  I was like, how did they get those to come up there?
• 34:52
  Like, like there was just, it was truly theater magic.
• 34:57
  Not just the chandelier, which was beautiful.
• 34:59
  Every aspect of this show and even having the conductor above the, like so that
• 35:07
  that you could see them standing.
• 35:09
  It all felt so Broadway theatrical that I could not imagine anything else but this full production of so many trucks rolling everything out.
• 35:20
  It was just so magical.
• 35:21
  It was absolutely magic.
• 35:23
  Yeah, um, it takes three days for them to build it every time they go into a city, which is insane to think about because a show is touring, you know, let's say from Tuesday to
• 35:39
  Sunday is typically the show run.
• 35:42
  So I imagine that that can't, that literally can't be the case for the show.
• 35:46
  must be Wednesday, right?
• 35:49
  Monday, Tuesday.
• 35:51
  Wednesday.
• 35:51
  Yeah, so like literally by the skin of their teeth They're Typically coming in probably Sunday night and what that means is there's probably two sets um This is also what
• 36:07
  Hamilton does at least or did Touring they have a set that's built and they have a set that's traveling to the next place So that by the time the rest of the tour company gets
• 36:20
  there
• 36:21
  the set is at least halfway done because the turnaround time is so fast, especially if you're going to a city that's further away.
• 36:28
  Um, they just, you have to have it done already.
• 36:36
  And so I would imagine that this is very much the same except holy cow to have, to have your set rely, especially in the winter time.
• 36:47
  Like if one truck gets stuck in a winter storm.
• 36:51
  Like you don't have a quarter of your set.
• 36:54
  I will just say this, I just looked it up, they call them jump sets and there are multiple sets for Phantom of the Opera.
• 37:02
  So not even just two, there's multiple.
• 37:05
  Yeah, because literally you can't tear down is quick.
• 37:09
  It is typically a lot faster.
• 37:12
  Like it is with literally anything.
• 37:16
  but building it up and then testing.
• 37:20
  So before every single performance, you can bet that they are testing the candles.
• 37:30
  They're testing the chandelier.
• 37:32
  They're testing every single cue.
• 37:36
  Every single light cue, they're testing every microphone, of course.
• 37:41
  um They're probably running the boat once or twice.
• 37:44
  Like, it's just insane to think about.
• 37:48
  We just, we don't have musicals that are built like this anymore.
• 37:51
  And so to do all of that in, especially on a two show day, I don't know.
• 38:00
  I do not know how.
• 38:03
  I mean, they probably just don't take breaks.
• 38:05
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 38:06
  mean, there is, this was from 2009.
• 38:12
  They had two sets then.
• 38:15
  And they have them where they can also be adjusted depending on which place they're going to, if it's a smaller theater or a bigger theater.
• 38:23
  It happens in a week in advance.
• 38:27
  So like this is already at the next location.
• 38:29
  Right now it's currently, while we're filming, it's in Detroit.
• 38:32
  They'll be in St.
• 38:33
  Louis in February 18th, which means that the second set's already pretty much built in St.
• 38:38
  Louis to be tested, which is crazy to think about.
• 38:42
  Yeah, well, and again, uh people wonder why tickets to this are so expensive.
• 38:48
  uh Comparatively to a lot of shows that we see nowadays, this is exactly why you're paying in one month.
• 38:56
  I mean, you're paying the company, you're paying the crew, and then you've got, I don't know, 40 semi-trailer truck drivers uh driving cross country.
• 39:07
  uh
• 39:09
  And then of course the orchestra as well.
• 39:13
  Um, I'm not sure.
• 39:15
  I didn't look to see if they have a touring orchestra.
• 39:19
  Some orchestras hire in locally when they come into a city.
• 39:24
  Um, but with a show like this, I'm not so sure that that would be the case.
• 39:31
  but also it's probably a bigger orchestra because it requires it's built like an opera.
• 39:35
  need more instruments.
• 39:37
  It gives a fuller sound.
• 39:38
  So.
• 39:39
  I, hundreds of people are on payroll for this show.
• 39:44
  So I understand why everything is exactly the way that it is.
• 39:49
  But I don't think anyone goes home disappointed.
• 39:53
  I just say looked it up.
• 39:54
  They did slim down the orchestra from the Broadway run, but it's still 14 musicians that travel around with a 38 person cast for this tour of Phantom of the Opera.
• 40:04
  Which is still impressive.
• 40:06
  that's still quite a few to be traveled.
• 40:11
  So before I let you go then, would you see Phantom again?
• 40:16
  I mean, yes, even though ironically before we went, I was like, do I really need to see Phantom again?
• 40:24
  Because you know, like obviously you know the story, you know exactly what's gonna happen, you know what to expect, but it is literally just the holy crap moment visually that you
• 40:39
  just, don't get it.
• 40:41
  I can't think of another show that compares.
• 40:44
  I will say that I think that we didn't touch on it too much, I think that the effect of seeing it in an opera house definitely made it like a must see.
• 40:55
  Like if it ever tours the Detroit Opera House again, I have to see it because it added to the atmosphere.
• 41:02
  It made it feel like you were actually a part of the show and not just observing the show, which I didn't have that feel when I saw it on Broadway because it didn't feel like an
• 41:09
  opera house.
• 41:09
  Like this felt like you were walking into a piece of history and you were watching it come up to life.
• 41:13
  And I would have seen it regardless any time at tours.
• 41:16
  But like this just felt different in a way that it was just a more alive show.
• 41:21
  And it was more, it was for me.
• 41:23
  This is a show for me.
• 41:24
  Like it's a show for everybody, but it's a show for me.
• 41:28
  for the true, the tried and true musical theater lovers.
• 41:33
  And so with that, are running out of time.
• 41:35
  However, stay tuned for future podcast episodes from shows here in Detroit and on Broadway.
• 41:40
  In the comments, let us know what your favorite song was and if you are seeing this when it rolls into a city near you.
• 41:45
  Thanks again for joining us here in our box seats until next curtain call.