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In the world
of musicals say "Phantom of the Opera" and everyone thinks
of Andrew Lloyd Webber. But ten years before Sir Lloyd Webber penned
his musical Ken Hill wrote his own "Phantom".
Although the story is basically the same, the treatment is very
different. Daddy
promises an aspiring opera singer to send the Angel of Music to
her after he dies.
Low and behold after he pops his clogs who turns up but a mysterious,
golden-voiced, masked being.
The promised "Angel" begins to coach the singer and her
voice improves dramatically.
Meanwhile, the
new owners of the Paris Opera House are becoming increasingly annoyed
by the activities a certain Opera Ghost going around making demands.
If I told you that this Opera Ghost bore an uncanny resemblance
to an Angel of Music would I be giving too much away.
Eventually the
theatre owners make the connection and are off in pursuit of the
phantom - cue more songs, lots of declarations of true love and
a nice little bit of self sacrifice.
Ken Hill has
written Phantom as a musical comedy. The songs may not be household
names, but that doesn’t diminish from the score too much.
Ken pokes fun at Opera, and in particular Opera as it used to be.
And so as not to be outdone by it’s more famous younger sibling
a few modern changes enable it to poke subtle fun at the Andrew
Lloyd Webber version.
So don't be
put off if you thought you were getting the other one - this Phantom
is a funny and moving production, with songs a plenty to get you
humming along.
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