Ok, ok you got him. The Phantom has been officially punk’d. What he had expected to see was another fine rendition of musicale theatre from The Theater Company et al., and what he got was a not so successful finale of a children’s workshop.
I guess The Phantom didn’t read the fine print. That will teach him to be careless. Now if someone could just get him that two hours back.
Since it was a youth directed, youth produced and youth acted production, The Phantom will not deign to review it. It would be mean, mean and unfair, and it would probably result in tears, heartbreak and ultimately anger. No sense adding to the mélange of sturm und drang that is without compare in our budding thespians.
Fool The Phantom once—shame on you, Fool him twice—shame on him. He won’t be fooled again.
Other than that. . . .nah, can’t go there
The Phantom
From your short soliloquy, it sounds as if this was more of a Fright School Musical.
Keep the reviews coming…
Oh Phantom..I hope you do realize that yes this was a Youth Workshop..(keyword Workshop). The cast and crew had 12 rehearsals to costume, choreograph,direct, and publicize a show. Usually it takes six weeks of rehearsal time to put on a regular show. Almost half of the youth in the show have never been in a show before. This kind of performance is there so kids can gain expierence in the theatre, or been in a dance class, or sing or have any vocal training. Because usually in a regular TTC show they dont get the chance to be cast. It is very refreshing to see NEW faces in the cast.
The production crew of this show really takes a huge gamble because we do not pre-audition the kids for the show. We have to work with whoever signs up for the committment to the workshop. I wish you could have been there for all the rehearsals to see the vast improvement throught the coarse of the two weeks.
Needless to say that yes, there are some weak points and yes, some aspects are not as polished but in a general overview they did a superb job. I really don’t think that in TTC history that any show has sold out the second day of performing.
It seems that you might not have even seen the show because of the sold out status last weekend so you can be a little bitter.. don’t worry I understand.
Dear Broadway Bound,
The Phantom not only saw the show but there were more than a few familiar faces on stage, and in lead roles at that. What’s their excuse?
Of course The Phantom now knows it was a workshop as is evidenced by his clear declaration in the very first paragraph. Gentle readers, eyes front, pay attention.
The Phantom is all for educating budding actors and actresses and would never begin to criticize such magnanimous efforts. However, The Phantom suggests that such events not be advertised on television as if they were full-fledged, well-rehearsed and competitively-cast Theater Company productions. To his knowledge, The Phantom is not related to any of the individuals associated with this production and so he was chagrined to find his hard-earned ducats being ill-spent.
This production was clearly a “workshop in progress.” The Phantom is delighted that there were so many friends and relatives on hand, but he feels some sympathy for those, like himself, who may have attended under false pretenses.
The Phantom
nice post
Where’s the Bdwy best review? Always eager to here honest criticism…
Well played, phantom! Mom always said, if you can’t say anything nice, make sure your subjects aren’t in the K-12 age range.
Theatre for kids, by kids (and dare we say about kids) is nifty on spec, and even if it all goes kablooie, it’s still special. That said, I didn’t donate the same two hours that you did, and was not intrepid enough to bring myself to see this same theatrical property when it arrived in my local middle school (a co-worker’s child had a lead role, and it conjured up fond memories of stage moms past…)
A musical about a high school musical? I know I’m late to this party, but holy cow, WHY DID WE NOT THINK OF THIS? The guys at MTI that handle the royalties on this show are now actively gloating at their Grease and Annie Junior colleagues. I’m saddened that the emphasis is more on J. Timberlake than J. Tartaglia. But you can’t have everything.
I have seen some unbelievable shows that were youth-produced, and can say that much credit goes to the adult instructors who pass on the finer nuances of the craft to subsequent generations. In some cases (like the one up here in my neck of the woods) the adults involved scream, whine, threaten and intimidate, and productions ultimately devolve into the worst sort of educational theater. Sadly, it seems like the world is full of Darbuses, so the challenge is before your readers– if you practice the theatrical arts, mentor a young person!
Having had the opportunity to work with kids, animals and former US Presidents in my stage career, I can tell you that none of them are easy to deal with, and my hat is off to those that attempt the endeavor. I’d like it if BCS had a world class youth theater program– keep plugging!
Thanks as always for your candor and cutting insight (and for pulling the occasional punch!)
Love, Harry
Dear Phantom-
Did you by chance get to attend TTC’s Best of Broadway fundraiser? There were some…um…interesting moments and I would love to hear what you had to say about the show.
The Phantom regretfully does not review concerts, dance recitals or musical reviews. He never has, and probably (emphasis on the probably) never will.
Feel free, dear phans, to weigh in with your thoughts, observations and/or ruminations about this show. The Phantom is on the edge of his seat with what you perceived as the more “um-interesting” moments. Perhaps they will mesh with what he found “um-interesting.”
The Phantom
May I suggest that you open up a new thread for the discussion of the Broadway show?
Also, I must point out that you did do a pseudo-review of TTC’s preview for the season. I would consider both the Preview and Broadway Show to be musical reviews…but perhaps I’m just trying my hardest to persuade you to write a few of your thoughts down.
Dear Phractious Phan,
We don’t wish to get into a pointless and phruitless argument about whether the Preview show was a musical review or not. The Phantom would most certainly say it was about the season and the obligatory musical number was entertaining and mercifully brief.
Phurthermore, The Phantom doesn’t review straight musical entertainments because he feels that his expertise is so limited in this area as to render his reviews to pointless and uneducated blather. [Pheel pfree to inpher that The Phantom was phormally trained in the theatrical arts.]
The Phantom invites you to submit a review of the aphorementioned Musicale crafted, cleverly no doubt, from your own hand. He will gladly consider elevating it to its own post.
Thank you for your diligence.
The Phantom
That is a good idea, mister phantom -if you miss a show maybe other people can tell everone about them on this site. Like my friend from my class Sam Mcgee, maybe he went to that broadway show. Sam, was it good or stinky. I have heard 2 of those singers before and they are good,m
I thought the show was fairly decent. The show was definitely not about equality, however. There were four singers that were featured heavily, dare I say maybe too much, while the others were almost merely background,though I found the reason why some of them (not all) were background later on in the show.
The dance numbers (not including the males) were fair as well. The music selection was overdone and campy. The male singer that by far outshined the rest, for the sake of names, was the shorter fellow. Of the women, the blonde who nailed the Barbra Streisand number. And as for those “background performers,” two of them should have been featured more; the blonde who performed the Evita track and the brunette with the Gypsy bit.
As a whole, the show was enjoyable and short and sweet, and a lot of the numbers were beautifully done.
So first off i aplaude the Phantom for not wishing to review kareokee theatre well done! Second why are ppl getting so up in arm about this review! you should feel greatfull that the Phantom has chosen to spare your children the humiliation of their first review! and as the phantom plainly said at first he didnt realize it was a childrens workshop but now he does! so stop crying and put on your big adult undies and deal with it!
~*Queeny