Chasing Phantoms

The Edge – That Fine Line between Passion and Reason

We often refer to our new theatrical production of PHANTOM at the Players Theatre as being edgy.  As I prepared for tonight’s rehearsal with Christine and Raoul, intending to push them into edgier performances, I had to ask myself what it really meant to be “edgy”.

 

I think for us it means working outside of the comfort zone.  I mean our comfort zone as director, writer, composer, choreographer and actors – but also the comfort zone of the audience as well.  The format itself is outside a comfort zone.  It is not a typical musical.  The music supports the story in very non-traditional ways.  Imagine – no big splashy opening number!  It is all acoustic with the chamber ensemble of percussion and cello in front of the stage and in full view of the audience.  The singers have to reach over the pit with volume and passion to grab the listener’s ears.  There is no magical sound man sitting in the back balancing the show into audible perfection.  No it is raw and not at all what we are used to hearing.

 

Should a “classic” piece evoke a lack of comfort and ease?  Well, certainly Gaston Leroux, who would shoot off a pistol in his house after completing each novel, did not care for comfort.  Erik – the life blood of the story – who created secret passages and trap doors through the opera, who used reeds to transport his voice from one room to the other and every other possible illusion did not seek comfort.

 

No my friends – if you seek comfort – retreat to your favorite coffee shop.  If you want to have the hair raise on the back of your next – come see our PHANTOM.

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

Come and Believe

It has been almost 3 months since the first preview performance of the new Phantom – the Real Story.  The show continues to raise much controversy and discussion – not unlike the novel it was based on by Gaston Leroux.  The unique style that Leroux used – seamlessly blending fact and fiction - is the basis for our productions theatrical style.  Come and Believe – but beware!  Don’t expect a typical musical theatre piece.  Expect the unexpected.

 

Take a look at our new video clip featuring Eric Fletcher (Erik) singing Come and Believe (composed by Michael Sgouros) and featuring the exquisite choreography of Stefanie Smith.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Until Next Time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

A Giant White Horse!

Mounting a new production of “Phantom of the Opera” can be a bit like holding the reins of Caesar, Erik’s giant white horse that he freely companions under the Paris Opera House.

 

Beautiful, free spirited and massive – our new production at the Players Theatre and Caesar have these attributes in common.  I know I have been very quiet this past week but it is because I have been lurking deep within the mind of Gaston Leroux and the heart of Erik.  Previews begin in two days and all of the piece of our Phuzzle are coming together – slow and steady.

 

Each layer of the production added more depth and texture to the story we are attempting to share with our audience.  The set is grand and gorgeous, but our stage manager Chad Howard has had no small task in choreographing it’s every move.  I am constantly amazed at what is capable in limited space – there are no limits to our team’s imagination.

 

The costumes and lighting are starting to take shape.  Josh Iacovelli – lighting designer at the helm – continues to tinker with wonderful new toys purchased for the production.  His lighting spins our tale seamlessly from one scene to the next creating a lush and emotional effect.

 

I want to share more but I must get back to guiding the journey.  More to come!

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

Who is Leroux?

Gaston Leroux, I mean.  The author of the infamous novel “Phantom of the Opera” and the man behind the man behind the mask. 

A man so interesting, so entertaining and imaginative, that I found it impossible to write a stage adaptation of Phantom without including Leroux as a main character.  In our new musical production at the Players Theatre in NYC Gaston Leroux is the narrator.  Then man who spins the tale in front of the audiences eyes, inviting them to open their imaginations and join him on a thrilling journey backstage at the Opera d’ Paris! 

One of the reasons Leroux’s writing is so compelling is that he draws on his background as an investigative reporter.  His stories are steeped in facts – or near facts – or at least they are flavored with the facts.  For instance – everyone knows about the scene in the book when the Phantom causes the great chandelier in the Paris Opera House to come crashing down on the audience.  People often ask if this is true.  So when I chased the Phantom in Paris I made sure to get the answer.  Well, the whole truth is that the chandelier never actually crashed on the audience BUT, one night one of its cables inexplicably snapped and killed a woman in the balcony.  Leroux reported on this incident and I imagine he embellished the story in his mind and tucked it away for future use - the inspiration for the legendary scene in his novel and all the movies and stage adaptations that followed.

But these “facts” are found in every corner of the novel.  For instance, when the opera managers are tricked by the Opera Ghost, and find play money in place of their 20,000 francs, Richard remarks that it is better than anything Robert Houdin could do.  I often wondered who Robert Houdin was and it turns out that he did exist, he was a French magician widely considered to be the father of the modern style of conjuring.  I imagine Leroux found a great deal of inspiration from Houdin’s life and works.

Leroux’s fascination with the facts certainly helped me on my trip to Paris.  His detailed descriptions of locations and events in the Phantom made it possible for me to track them down – but in true mystery writer style – it was not easy – he made me work for it and I enjoyed every stone I had to turn!

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

Brenda

Beyond the Phantom’s Mask

 

Who among us doesn’t wear a mask?  Even different masks for different occasions?  At times it feels like our life is just one big masquerade ball - doesn’t it?  We have our work mask, our lover mask, the parent mask, a friend mask and of course the mask of silent indifference we don on the subway to shield us from unpleasant intrusions.  If we think about our own reasons for hiding behind a variety of facades, it becomes easier to understand Erik – the elusive “phantom” or “opera ghost” in Gaston Leroux’s novel “Phantom of the Opera”.

 

When preparing to direct the new musical production of “Phantom of the Opera” at the Players Theatre in NYC – I spent a lot of time getting to know the man behind the infamous mask and as a result came to learn a lot about myself through comparison.

 

Erik had a tragic beginning.  Born with an unsightly, horrifying appearance, he learned at birth that hiding behind a mask was the only way to protect himself from ruthless scorn and ridicule.  It is amazing how what happens as a child forms us and haunts us for the rest of our lives.  I still have nightmares about the lunch line in high school – do you still have dreams of those brutal childhood events?  Imagine what it must have been like for Erik to have no refuge from such brutality.  As Gaston Leroux points out in the novel, “even his mother never looked lovingly upon him”.

 

So we have a child neglected by his mother and abused by his father who runs away and joins a band of gypsies who, being “freaks” themselves, accept him.  They use him – exhibiting him as “living corpse” - but they also teach him the skills of illusion and deception allowing him to master every skill from ventriloquism to pick-pocketing.  Interesting, a child growing up in terrible circumstances is tossed away by his family and ends up in the company of “bad people” and inherits their lifestyle.  Hmmm.  That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  Too familiar.

 

Yes, the more I study the Phantom the more I realize that he is not some obscure monster or evil demon.  No he is simply a man as human as you or I.  There is a piece of Erik in all of us.  It may be hidden beneath a mask so that no one can see it – but we still know it is there.

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

The Difference Between Crazy and Sane is an Eighth Note

The difference between crazy and sane is an eighth note!  I’d love to take credit for this thought but I wasn’t the one who said it.  The composer of the new “Phantom of the Opera” musical at the Players Theatre, Michael Sgouros, has a way of just saying these gems and then I am scrambling for a pencil and paper to write it down.

 

During our music rehearsal with Eric Fletcher, who is playing Erik – aka – the Phantom, Michael was discussing that the difference between Erik’s song “Soul Mate” and Christine Daae’s song “Why Must I Choose” is only an eighth note.  Yet one is quite mad and one is not.

 

I began to think about all of the characters in reference to this thought.  Everyone in the show has their turn at riding the wonky merry-go-round of madness in our production.  All the characters are pushed to their psychological limits.  Every ounce of sanity is tested and retested.  And the great part is – we as the audience get to sit back and watch!

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

Bone Chilling

I know how unbelievably cold the wind feels when I am walking my puppy Bravo along the Hudson River at night – so I can’t even begin to conceive what it must have felt like to be Christine Daae the night she went to the graveyard in Perros.

 

I re-read Chapter 5 in Gaston Leroux’s “Phantom of the Opera” last night and tried to imagine the scene as it would have been and how we were going to recreate the scene onstage in our production at the Players Theatre.  The cold – can you imagine the bone-chilling cold (every pun intended)?  I know that even in the summer Perros, a small sea-side town in the north of France, is cool.  In the winter it must be incredibly bitter as the wind whips up off the bluffs.

 

Such great imagery comes to mind as I relive Leroux’s descriptions of the icy darkness.  What theatrical devices will we employ to literally transport the audience to this pious event in Perros?  The streams of moonlight casting shadows are a lighting designers dream and will surely create a feast for the spectator eyes.  But I feel our ears with have the finest treat of all.  Under the artistic guidance of composer, Michael Sgouros, the pit of two percussionists and a cello player will conjure up the haunting sound effects and music we desire.  Imagine the tingle down your spine as the iron gates of the church-yard piercingly squeal upon opening, resounding off the tiny, poor tombstones.  Tap your toes to the rhythm of the skulls and bones dancing among the graves.  Catch your breath as the church bells announce midnight and Christine hears her dead father playing his violin.

 

Oh yes, we will be in that desolate graveyard on a bitter cold winter’s night and watch it come to life before your eyes.  Wind and thunder mixed with fear and frost – this is the magic theatre is made off.  Bone-chilling and hair-raising – I hope!

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

Phantom of the Opera at the Players Theatre is Cast!

We had a great story by Gaston Leroux to start with.  Passionate music by Michael Sgouros and a script filled with compelling drama and intimate moments.  But without the perfect actors to bring these songs and scenes and characters to life – the story could not be told.  I am pleased to announce that after 3 weeks of auditioning we have a brilliant cast and I can’t wait to start working with them.

 

Actors bring the story to life – it is a noble and vulnerable art form that takes intense dedication and courage.  The actors are the living bridge between the plays creators and the audience.  If feel fortunate to have found a group of talented actors who I know will bring intelligence, emotion and depth to the incredible story of “The Phantom of the Opera”.

 

We will have our first read-thru this Thursday.  Over the next two months it will be my pleasure to introduce you to these brave artists and the characters they will convey on the stage.  We will invite you into our hearts, our heads and our rehearsals.  You can interact with us as much as you want on this blog, our facebook page or twitter, or you can simply satisfy your voyeuristic needs and silently watch as this new production at the Players Theatre takes shape and comes to life before your eyes!

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

A Passionate Fruit

The other evening while enjoying some tasty Thai food at Yum Yums in Hell’s Kitchen, my friend Susan and I began discussing a delicious and frustrating fruit – the Pomegranate.  I was remarking how I bought one for the first time, and with no experience or instructions dove in boldly to harvest the juicy, delicate seeds that lie hidden below its tough exterior.  When I was done, I did indeed have a bowl full of luscious seeds, but my kitchen, my puppy Bravo and I all looked like we had been witness to the Texas Chainsaw Murders!

 

Susan then told me about the Greek myth of Persephone.  Persephone was the innocent daughter of Zeus who was abducted by Hades, God of the Underworld.  Her mother, Demeter, Goddess of the Earth, grieved so much over the loss of her daughter that winter become perpetual.  In order to save the Earth, Hades agreed to let Persephone return to her mother, but before releasing her, he tricked her into eating the seeds of a Pomegranate.  Because of this she was forever bound to Hades and had to return once a year to the underworld.

 

Doesn’t this sound similar to the story of the “The Phantom of the Opera”?  Is not Erik the God of the Underworld of the Paris Opera?  And Christine, once partaking in the seeds of his passion, did she not become bound to him and his world forever?

 

I was excited by this discovery because we had decided to create a special drink for our production of “Phantom of the Opera” at the Players Theatre called “Forbidden Passion”.  I wasn’t sure what the concoction would be, but I knew I wanted to use pomegranate juice – now I know my instinct was right!   Could there be a more passionate fruit?  Is there anything better to sip before such a passionate show?  I think not!

 

Until next time – Be Bold!

 

Brenda

Is It Chamber Theatre?

I was riding home on the subway last night and I noticed that a person sitting more than  half a dozen seats away from me had their iPod turned up so loud that I could have danced to the music - I could have - but I didn't.  At the time I was pouring over my Phantom of the Opera script and found the music a little … distracting.  But then I began to ponder how technology has changed our ears expectations.  In an eara (yes I know it is era but I couldn’t help myself) where music is served to us on a techno-platter, how does the ear and mind respond to acoustic sound?  Has it become so foreign to our generation that it is almost new?

At the Players Theatre there is a concert series called Music on MacDougal and almost every concert is chamber music.  A small group of musicians playing their instrument acoustically, the way our ears were meant to hear them.  The design of the Players Theatre is perfect for acoustical sound, instrumental and vocal.  Michael Sgouros, the composer of the new Phantom of the Opera, once remarked that he felt the work we were doing at the Players Theatre was Chamber Theatre.  It’s true and I like it.  We are all so used to the amplified sounds of Broadway musicals and films – we rarely have an opportunity to hear the sounds of the natural voice and instrumentation.  We are somehow cheated of the natural interaction between the artists and the audience.

I know in a large Broadway theatre amplification becomes necessary in many cases, but that is the gift of our production of Phantom at the Players Theatre; in a 180 –seat house  we can interact with the audience on an intimate level of sight and sound.  The audience will hear sounds authentically, the way it would have sounded in 1881 at the Paris Opera House.  I’m excited and so are my ears!

Until next time … Be Bold!

Brenda