Who Was That Masked Man?

Jennifer said I ‘got’ to be the one to blog about our Wednesday night trip to Las Vegas this week to see Phantom of the Opera, so here goes. The high school music department got a block of seats and we were both able to go. The trip itself was less than stellar – riding school buses to Mesquite, Nevada (couldn’t go farther for insurance reasons), 30-45 minute stops at a convenience store for a restroom break, switching to commercial buses in Mesquite and driving into Vegas just in time for rush hour, stopping at an outlet mall to eat at a Panda Express wannabe and finally going in to the Venetian for the show. Maybe all that made the show even better, I don’t know. It was pretty good, though. We had good seats – about halfway back in the hall. SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE SHOW OR THE MOVIE, WHAT FOLLOWS MAY EITHER RUIN IT FOR YOU OR NOT MAKE MUCH SENSE. Anyway, as we sat down and I started looking around, they had the chandelier hanging in the air above our heads in 4 separate pieces (on cables, of course) and the front third of the theater had the side walls draped in some old dusty looking cloths. I whispered to Jennifer that at the end of the auction scene I would bet that the cloths would go up and it would be pretty cool. She looked around and got so excited she started vibrating. Anyway, sure enough, I called it, because when the cloths were pulled up to the ceiling, behind them were old fashioned looking box seats with mannequins dressed in 1880’s type clothing. And the chandelier pieces started soaring around the ceiling and eventually came together as a chandelier above the center of the theater. The theater itself was built specifically for Phantom. The show was really great, with a good professional cast and pretty cool (although somewhat Vegasized) effects. We really enjoyed it. They have changed the show a bit from the Broadway version (with Webber’s help and blessing) and cut it down to an hour and a half with no intermission. I really couldn’t tell what they had cut.
Because we were there with a big group, we were able to stay in our seats till the theater emptied and the theater manager, the technical director, a couple of techs, and three of the cast (Raoul, Carlotta, and Christine) came out and talked to us and answered questions from the group. It was really interesting to listen to them and get their side of the show. All in all, a fun evening. Getting home at 3 am was less fun. Fortunately, the principal was along for the ride and excused the kids from their first two periods the next morning, so Jennifer got to sleep in a bit. Anyway we had a great time and would recommend it to anyone. The sad part is that I couldn’t/didn’t take any pictures so there aren’t any to post. Sorry about that.