It seems that I just can't get enough of The Phantom of the Opera.
If you haven't been reading my previous entry, Brad Little played the Phantom for the musical in Singapore. I feel that his voice is more expressive and powerful than Michael Crawford, the original Phantom. Crawford's voice is thinner and sometimes lacks variation in tone. However, I must say that without Crawford's initial interpretation and contribution to the creation of this dark character behind the mask, the Phantom would not go this far. So Crawford must still be lauded for his talent which shapes the Phantoms that we see now.
Here's a clip dedicated to you, Julia - "Brad Little, Unmasked". Feel his strong stage presence albeit without the mask.
Brad Little sings "Music of the Night"
Here's an interesting one - the actors and actresses talking about the show when they were in Hong Kong.
Interview of Brad Little, Marni Raab & John Bowles
More audio clips of Brad Little singing. He's amazing.
The Mirror/Angel of Music/The Phantom of the Opera
I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It
The Point of No Return
All I Ask of You
Little sang the song for his South Korean fans before his concert impromtu, without accompaniment. This song is actually sang by Raoul and Christine in the musical. Little was playing the role of Raoul before he went on the play the Phantom.
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the novel novel by French novelist Gaston Leroux. The music was composed by Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe.
The musical focuses on a beautiful singer, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius known as "The Phantom of the Opera," who terrorizes the Paris Opera.
The Phantom of the Opera was inspired by a different musical version of the same story by Ken Hill, which Lloyd Webber saw at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1984 . The music for Lloyd Webber's version was composed specifically for the voice of his then-wife Sarah Brightman.
The musical was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group and opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on October 9, 1986, where it still runs as of 2007. The original cast included Michael Crawford (the Phantom), Sarah Brightman (Christine), and Steve Barton (Raoul), all of whom reprised their roles in the Broadway production, which opened on January 26, 1988 at the Majestic Theatre, where it still is running as of 2007. It is now the longest-running Broadway musical of all time, breaking the record held by Lloyd Webber's Cats on January 9, 2006 with its 7,486th performance.
Major Characters
The Phantom of the Opera (tenor/baritone) — The genius composer and musician who lives beneath the opera house. Facially deformed from birth, the Phantom hides behind a white mask and is known to the managers and actors as the "Opera Ghost". His name is given in the novel as Erik. The role of the Phantom was first performed by Michael Crawford, with over 1,300 performances in London, New York, and Los Angeles. Although the role of The Phantom is normally played by a tenor, he has been played by baritones numerous times, including Gerard Butler in the film version and Howard McGillin who holds the record for most performances in the role on Broadway (over 1,300).
Christine Daaé (soprano) — A chorus girl at the Opéra Populaire, and the daughter of a prominent violinist. Although talented, she lacks focus until the Phantom takes her under his wing and teaches her to sing. The role of Christine Daae is generally shared by two performers; the regular actress performs six times a week and the alternate performs at the other two performances. This practice was started by the original London and Broadway Christine Daae, Sarah Brightman, ostensibly due to the vocal demands of the role.
Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny (tenor/baritone) — The patron of the Opéra Populaire and a childhood sweetheart of Christine's, who rediscovers her singing at the Opéra.
The haunting theme song of The Phantom of the Opera
Brad Little, playing Phantom in this clip, was the Phantom that we saw in Singapore. He's the Phantom with an expressive voice and some even feel that his fingers are "sexy".
Music of the Night
Did you notice that this is a direct continuation of the previous clip? It's just that the cast is different ie. the "Phantom" and "Christine" are different.
This is still "Music of the Night". But this clip is significant as the Phantom here is Michael Crawford, who was the original Phantom in the 1986 London play, inspiring the many Phantoms after that. His style of acting, body movements and voice expressions are still seen in many Phantoms even till today.
All I Ask of You (Reprise)
This is Brad Little again. You can't help but feel sorry for Phantom when he slowly revealed himself from behind the statue. Apparently, he had saw Christine and Raoul singing "All I Ask of You" on the rooftop of the opera house and how we wished he had not seen it. Knowing that he saw it made us all pity him.
The Point of No Return
I find that the arrangement of the "The Point of No Return" sounds a bit like tango in the beginning. This scene is really the climax of the whole musical. Phantom posed as Don Juan in the opera he wrote, which was supposed to be played by Piangi, a flamboyant Italian-accent actor. However, Phantom killed Piangi and assumed his role as Don Juan, acting with Chrsitine without her knowing. Climax comes when Piangi was found dead on the set, and Christine revealed the hood of Don Juan to find the deformed face of Phantom. This is the first time audience get to see the face behind the mask after so long into the musical.
最近几天，脑子里都是《The Phantom of the Opera》里面的旋律。感觉有点像 Christine 一样，被 Phantom 的歌声迷惑了。所以这篇以 《Angel of Music》里面，Christine 唱的 “The Angel of Music sing songs in my head! ”为题。
我很少因为爱情故事而感动，遑论掉泪。但上个星期三在看《The Phantom of the Opera》的时候，我真的有掉泪的冲动。华丽多变的服装、似真似幻的舞台设计、出色的灯光音效、魔术般的舞台特效、动人耐听的歌曲、优秀的演员、注定要以悲剧收场的故事……不感动，很难。
音乐剧结束后走出剧院，眼泪还在眼眶里打转，《Music of the Night》、《Phantom of the Opera》、《All I Ask of You》、《The Point of No Return》等等旋律在脑海中久久不散。看来这一段日子我还会彻底 indulge 在这其中，至少让我在还没堕入红尘体验世俗之苦前，让 The Angel of Music Sings Songs in My Head……
You must be wondering what happened to me after exams at the end of April.
No, I wasn't shaking legs at home after all the weeks of hard work.
No, I wasn't buried under the piles of "How to write a perfect resume" trying to produce a sure-sell resume.
No, I wasn't called up for interview so often that I don't have time for other things (in fact, I didn't even receive any call to go for interview which makes me feel very worried).
So what have I done so far after exams?
1. Finished marking a few piles of exams paper and there are some more to go 2. Went for 3-hr crash course on radio broadcasting 3. After the crash course (only 1!), I had produced half a morning programme, a full afternoon programme and a night-time programme with 3 different mentors to date. I did the talking, pushing buttons, news-reading and of course, the bonus is I get to choose to play my favourite songs (in Mandarin, English and guess what, Hokkien and Cantonese haha...)
That's the 机遇 I mentioned earlier. I think I need to tell you all this because some of you have been asking me very curiously. In case you want to catch me on air, I can tell you that it's extremely difficult.
Why?
Because I didn't appear in some conventional stations like FM933 or FM1003. I am on Rediffusion. What? What Rediffusion? Maybe you are more familiar with its Chinese name.
丽的呼声. Heard that before? If you haven't, go ask you parents, maybe your grandparents. I am sure they have lived to see the glorious days of this subscribed radio channel, the one and only in Singapore.
I wonder if I can take some pictures of myself in the studio when I go solo this Wednesday night. Yep, I am going solo soon and I still mixed up the buttons on the equipment and very often pushed the wrong buttons. Good luck to me on Wednesday.
P/S: If you ever found anyone who subscribed to Rediffusion, please let me know.
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