But the beauty of the Phantom has always been its unselfconscious earnestness, its insistence on embellishments and old theatre magic. With costume tweaks that elaborate on the late Maria Björnson’s original sketches, the new look as a whole feels partly like the world of the Phantom has grown up, and partly like it’s trying to be taken more seriously. Paule Constable’s lights add a little more gravitas to the whole affair. Gothic staircases have been replaced by one that seems to appear magically out of a wall, step by step, and the gondola still glides on the Opera House’s underground lake, though it’s a journey taken more out of efficiency now than spectacle. He has downsized all the power-ballad music video-style candles and crosses for a more sophisticated (if less fun) take on the Phantom’s lair. The now classic (and gently dated) set has given way to a refresh by Paul Brown with more modular pieces, mirrors to heighten the show’s preoccupation with illusion and tricks of light. Josh Piterman and Amy Manford in Phantom of the Opera. This new production – claiming to be grittier (which in the world of the Phantom seems to mean “more shadows”) and more empowering of its protagonist, Christine (which isn’t really possible in this story) – has never been seen before in Australia. Producer Cameron Mackintosh created a new version of the frozen-in-time musical in 2012 for touring through the UK and North America, and after the West End Covid-19 theatre shutdowns, it was installed at London’s Her Majesty’s Theatre, the show’s spiritual home. This production, however, is something new. It seems we can’t quite let go of this phenomenon.
Opera Australia even staged Phantom of the Opera earlier this year for Handa Opera on the harbour before coming back indoors to do it again. Local creative collaborators Simon Phillips and Gabriela Tylesova made the best out of Webber’s muddled Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies, and their production remains the definitive, recorded for international posterity. Indeed, Australia has its own long history with the Phantom, making international careers for its most famous men in the mask, Rob Guest and Anthony Warlow.
Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Impossibly of its time and remarkably persistent, it is the longest running show in the history of Broadway and the second longest running musical in the West End (after only Les Miserables).
Since 1986, the improbable mix of operatic flourish, classic broadway pop, and 80s synth-rock that forms the backbone of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s love-triangle take on Gaston Leroux’s novel has won hearts across the globe, surpassing its source to become our best-known version of the tale. The now classic set has given way to a refresh by Paul Brown to heighten the show’s preoccupation with illusion and tricks of light.
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