The Phantom of The Opera, Mumbai
Great venue and an even greater show
I had heard about the Phantom of the Opera from various sources. It was on my bucket list, but I was unsure if I would ever get to see anything on Broadway. So when it was advertised that it was coming to Mumbai at the NMACC, I decided to go. It was my birthday month so, decided to splurge a bit. The ticket was booked and I was all set to travel to Mumbai for the show.
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The Grand Theater is a class apart. They have multiple balconies, a dress circle and gold and platinum seating areas. The seats and the décor are all very plush. Feels like you are somewhere in an ultra-rich country rather than Mumbai. I got a very premium seat, just below the iconic chandelier.
This was my first opera, so it took some time to adjust to the musical nature of the show. Slowly but surely, I could make out the words and then it became easy to understand what they were singing about. There are moments when there are multiple cast members on the stage and they all sing together, sometimes in chorus, sometimes contradicting each other. These were the times it was difficult to follow and it became very chaotic. Thankfully, they spell out the key aspects of the story in a much clearer tone so it is easy for you to follow. Grace Roberts is just beautiful. Her fear, panic and excitement reached the audience very well and I stayed with her emotionally till the very end. She was supported quite well by Matt Leisy as Raul, and Jonathan Roxmouth as the titular phantom. Jonathan comes alive during his signature song and then towards the end very end of the play. It was electrifying how he could portray the anger and resentment towards the world but how that comes from an emotional artistic core.
One big happy memory of this show was the costume design. The opulence was over the top. I started thinking if this was so bright, colourful and flamboyant, how the musical theatre of yesteryear, especially Balgandharva and his troupe must have been. The beauty was out of this world. There were colors spilling over beyond the corners of my eyes, thanks to being seated in the front. Especially the masquerade is so full of colours that I can’t get those images out of my mind.
Another worthwhile aspect was set design or नेपथ्य. The phantom’s layer is dingy and dark place under a bridge lit up by candles housed in gothic-styled torchiere. So many curtains… semi-transparent, translucent. They worked to establish the scene, slowly unfurling the objects to set up scenes like the shadow play of showing the phantom in the backdrop, slowly bringing forth the tomb of Christie’s father as if you walked towards it in the night and its details became clearer. Only dropping half the curtains to play with the audience’s attention in the other half of the exposed stage was brilliant. I saw it for the first time here. The lightwork was spot on too. Each time the actors moved the spot traced them flawlessly without any janky motion. Needless to say, the chandelier drop was iconic. I wish I had not known about it already, that would have been an amazing surprise. But it’s now so widely known, that can’t even call it a spoiler now. So from the production, there were so many noteworthy moments and a lot of ingenuity and skill on display.
I was happy that I could be part of this experience. Worth your time if you get a chance.
