The Broadway production + US tour

Scorp wrote:http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/news_reviews/news/story713.php

Someone go to this and report back!

That does sound like fun...not to mention the Operatinis alone are reason to go.

But talk about short notice...no way I could drop everything and get down to the City tomorrow.

The only way it would play different venues is if the size of the sets change (including the chandelier). That's why so many theaters have had to be renovated or built from the ground up to be able to accomodate tours like Phantom and Wicked.

But I'm sure there can be easier ways to for example stage the boat scene instead of that large deck they've dealt with in the US tour. And maybe a proscenium which would be easier to get up/down and transport around the country.

But like you guys, I hope they don't do major (=visible) changes, and God forbid if they change the score like they did with Les Miserables!

Well if Phantom were to come back to Toronto we still have all their stage modifications at the Pantages... just sayin'!

I have doubts they will do a re-design where you won't recognise it (I base this on the fact that they could have done so for Vegas but didnt)

I think because of modern technology they will just modify how things work to achieve the same effects.

Hopefully.

justin-from-barbados wrote:I have doubts they will do a re-design where you won't recognise it (I base this on the fact that they could have done so for Vegas but didnt)

I think because of modern technology they will just modify how things work to achieve the same effects.

Hopefully.

Yes, that's my feeling/hope too.

I seem to remember an article a year or two ago about some sort of technology that was being worked on to allow big, complex productions like Phantom to be shown in smaller venues at an affordable cost. Perhaps the tech has come far enough for the US Tour to take advantage of it.

R.

I wonder how long there runs would be if they modernized the technology to run in smaller houses. Maybe we will get a chandelier that is a tad faster. I'm also curious to see how long it is until this new tour is launched and what the casting will look like. I just hope they don't screw with the production to the point where it is unrecognizable.

A year ago I read an interview with Cameron Mackintosh in which he said something along the lines of "there will come a time when it will be unviable to put a show on like Phantom". Is this the first sign of that...?

this is a bump for a question I asked a while back (I may havemissed a response if there was one)

Do they sell box seats for the Broadway production?

If they do how do you get them? (not seeing them on the ticketing sites)

If so howmuch do they usually go for?

thanks

Raphael wrote:I seem to remember an article a year or two ago about some sort of technology that was being worked on to allow big, complex productions like Phantom to be shown in smaller venues at an affordable cost. Perhaps the tech has come far enough for the US Tour to take advantage of it.

R.

I remember reading that too. I was discussing it with Madame Giry a week ago. I can't find the article now but I thought it was an Australian newspaper that wrote about it. It had mentioned how now they could take the show to arenas instead just theatres.

MasqPhan wrote:

Raphael wrote:I seem to remember an article a year or two ago about some sort of technology that was being worked on to allow big, complex productions like Phantom to be shown in smaller venues at an affordable cost. Perhaps the tech has come far enough for the US Tour to take advantage of it.

R.

I remember reading that too. I was discussing it with Madame Giry a week ago. I can't find the article now but I thought it was an Australian newspaper that wrote about it. It had mentioned how now they could take the show to arenas instead just theatres.

But wasn't that specific for the Aussie/World Tour? I remember they played in an arena or two during the run (and to be honest, I disliked the concept strongly). I would hate for them to do the same with an eventual new US tour.

Mind you, this Arena idea opens up something I;ve thought about for a long time, particularly back when there was going to be a concert staging.

I think it would be great for them to devise a sort of concert setup that uses basic sets combined with projection.

It would be nice for them to have something they can use if they decide to do a special edition concert and it not come off like les mis with people standing up and just singing at the audience

justin-from-barbados wrote:
It would be nice for them to have something they can use if they decide to do a special edition concert and it not come off like les mis with people standing up and just singing at the audience

The Symphomic Pops Consortium (part of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra) has a concert version of Guys & Dolls that's been presented in several cities that fits this bill...it's not a concert and not a fully-staged performance, but it includes costumes and enough staging that the audience gets a sense of the story/action instead of just the cast singing TO them.

I haven't seen it myself yet, but Hugh's done it two or three times so with Ashley Brown and Gary Beach and the feedback I've gotten about the show as a whole has been pretty good.

A concept like that good work with Phantom if it's done properly and not, as you said, people just standing and singing at the audience.

I;ve even outlined how it can be staged...

I also hate having everyone sitting in a like waiting their turn like at some bus stop.

You would have your standard concert rigging trusses and all that to support the speakers. This can also support the smae style of proscenium used in the show along with a horizontal bit going forward to rig the chandelier from.

The background will be almost entirely of projections of the backdrops used in the show. Minimal props otherwise.

Youwill need the dressing room. 4 candelabras for the lair rather than 6, organ and mirror included. The journey down could be filmed and projected followed by the actual boat ride. Same for Masquerade, the actual concert singers in costume and the same scene filmed from a production playing behind them.

Desk for the Managers with a projected curtain or even expanded for a projected office. Graveyard projected also with a modified platform for "Wandering child"


However, I would hate for something like this to start to tour and replace a full fledged production.

I'd also hate to see trokia get hold of this.

I have been trying to find this one site that used to be up that had all of the past tour dates and various cities that POTO has played. Does anyone have a link to this site if it still exists?

phantom10906 wrote:I have been trying to find this one site that used to be up that had all of the past tour dates and various cities that POTO has played. Does anyone have a link to this site if it still exists?

The actual site was taken down a few years ago, but the cache of its last-updated version is here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060615032243/angel-of-music.org/intoverview.html

Someone please tell me that what I've put in bold is not true...

In November, the Phantom road tour will close in Los Angeles. The production will be downsized and will start a smaller-market tour of cities such as Waco and Wichita Falls, Jenkins says. "They can't install the luscious scenery and opera house proscenium and this size cast and make the numbers work. So you'll never see this show in this size again."

The sequel, Love Never Dies, just opened in London. Plans call for it to arrive on Broadway in December or January. Hopefully, it will play there six months, build up a brand and then hit the road.

"When the new show comes to America, they don't want two shows – the sequel and the original – competing with each other," Jenkins says.

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/chall/stories/DN-hall_21bus.ART.State.Edition1.3db6537.html

I wouldn't put too much stock into that statement, Scorp. And as a matter of fact, it can be taken to mean that they plan to get LND off the Great White Way ASAP.

R.

Ticketmaster has the dates up and on sale dates for the LA run: Sept 23rd to Oct. 17. Tickets go on sale 4/25 at 10AM

Edit: From what Broadway LA just told me, those dates are set in stone.

phantom10906 wrote:Ticketmaster has the dates up and on sale dates for the LA run: Sept 23rd to Oct. 17. Tickets go on sale 4/25 at 10AM

Edit: From what Broadway LA just told me, those dates are set in stone.

Is that the full length of the run? Because I thought I heard somewhere that it would end around Thanksgiving.

Might be one of those, "By popular demand, will extend its run to <insert actual closing date here>" situations.

R.

Raphael wrote:

phantom10906 wrote:Ticketmaster has the dates up and on sale dates for the LA run: Sept 23rd to Oct. 17. Tickets go on sale 4/25 at 10AM

Edit: From what Broadway LA just told me, those dates are set in stone.

Is that the full length of the run? Because I thought I heard somewhere that it would end around Thanksgiving.

Might be one of those, "By popular demand, will extend its run to <insert actual closing date here>" situations.

R.

From what I was told, the closing date was set in stone. I would be fuming if they did extend it like that.

I heard they have the option of extending through the end of November.

phantomfett wrote:I heard they have the option of extending through the end of November.

I recall hearing that as well.

Though I'd love for the tour to run longer, I do hate when they do that! When Phantom closed in Toronto, for example, all the phans booked tickets for the final show. And then they extended it, so we all had to rebook, change travel plans, etc. I had a performance with MSUs dance company that weekend, and couldn't even go! I was not fun to be around, let me tell you! But I had to be there, as the company director was dean of the theatre department, and I really did want to graduate At least Toronto had the decency to retain the original closing weekend as the 10th anniversary celebration, so I didn't completely miss out. Still, really disappointing....

Does anyone have a promotional code for the tickets for today's ticket launch for Los Angeles?

I'm very excited. We hqave tickets for Saturday's late show here in Austin. We are also taking my daughter's best friend and her mother who have never seen the show. That makes it pretty special for me.

marvinrd wrote:Does anyone have a promotional code for the tickets for today's ticket launch for Los Angeles?

They told me to keep checking out there facebook page.


EDIT: The promo code is PREFB

I finally got the email with the code four hours after tickets went on sale!@#$%

Rebecca wrote:

phantomfett wrote:I heard they have the option of extending through the end of November.

I recall hearing that as well.

Though I'd love for the tour to run longer, I do hate when they do that! When Phantom closed in Toronto, for example, all the phans booked tickets for the final show. And then they extended it, so we all had to rebook, change travel plans, etc. I had a performance with MSUs dance company that weekend, and couldn't even go! I was not fun to be around, let me tell you! But I had to be there, as the company director was dean of the theatre department, and I really did want to graduate At least Toronto had the decency to retain the original closing weekend as the 10th anniversary celebration, so I didn't completely miss out. Still, really disappointing....

Phantomgirl110 might remember better than I, but I believe the last run the tour had here in SF had the option to extend into mid-January but they didn't, so I guess it's gonna be a crap-shoot as to whether or not it'll happen in this case. All I know is I'm not booking my tickets until I know for sure.

R.