Draft:Phantoad of the Opera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phantoad of the Opera is a satirical theatre production originally performed at the Lyric Theatre in Brisbane on 17 January - 2 February 1991[1][2]. The executive producer and music director was David Pyle and the director was Sean Mee. In addition to the 14 lead actors, the production included a 70-strong dance chorus, a 20-piece band and 40 singers.[3] The entire season of Phantoad of the Opera coincided with Operation Desert Storm (17 January - 28 February 1991) during The Gulf War. For the first time there was live media coverage of a war. This had a significant impact on ticket sales.[4]
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History
Phantoad of the Opera was the fifth of six plays produced by ToadShow Pty Ltd between 1985 and 1996.[2] All productions blended two well-known stories and interspersed the story with popular songs while satirising local politics and providing social comment. Phantoad of the Opera took elements from the 1986 musical The Phantom of the Opera and the 1957 film The Admirable Crichton. Additional elements were taken from Greystoke, Heart of Darkness, 42nd Street, The Lord of the Flies, Mary Poppins, The Pirates of Penzance, and Les Miserables according to theatre critic Sue Gough[5].
ToadShow had produced three smaller-scale musicals The Paisley Pirates of Penzance (1985), Conway Christ Redneck Superstar (1985) and Hound of Music (1986). These were followed by SherWoodstock (1990) then Phantoad of the Opera (1991) and Glamalot (1996).[2] Theatre critic John Harris said, "The musicals are unique to Brisbane, conceived and written by a combination of talents undoubtedly unlike any to be found anywhere else in the world. They employ music with a rock beat, satire with a light touch, and casts of dozens, scores, or hundreds, depending upon the venue."[6]
Synopsis
ACT 1
New York musical entrepreneur Simon Lloyd Greystoke is working on a Broadway show. Toads in the Mist tells the story of the Phantoad, a masked legend raised by cane toads in the jungle. After watching a rehearsal, his wealthy backer Gloria Vanders is worried the show will flop. When Gloria learns the Phantoad actually exists she and Simon travel to the jungle to bring him back to New York to star in the show. They engage tour guide Eric Hopper who is secretly The Phantoad. Along with Eric's business partner, Jane, the group travels up the river in search of the Phantoad. Living on the river are the Jungle Children who know the Phantoad’s identity. Also living there are the Sing Pirates who want to make it big on Broadway. When the Jungle Children fail to produce the real Phantoad, the Sing Pirates present a fake Phantoad to Simon and Gloria. This is too much for Eric who confesses that he is the real Phantoad. Jane is skeptical of Eric's confession because she has fallen in love with the masked Phantoad. Simon offers to take Eric to Broadway to star in the show. Meanwhile the Sing Pirates trick Simon into taking them to Broadway too.
ACT 2
The Phantoad arrives in New York amid much media excitement. In the theatre Simon and Eric meet Gaston Leroux author of Toads in the Mist. Eric previously met Gaston when he was the original Phantoad. Meanwhile, behind them, large crates begin to mysteriously open revealing Jane and the Jungle Children who greet Gaston. He tells them they must return to the jungle. At the Toads in the Mist rehearsal the Sing Pirates are being disruptive when Jane appears on the scene with a camera hoping to expose them. Ginger, Leader of the Jungle Children, shoots Jane with a poisoned prop blow dart and she falls into a coma. Eric arrives to take Jane to hospital. The situation is grim. But it's opening night and the show must go on. Eric dons the Phantoad mask and returns to the theatre. There the Sing Pirates and the fake Phantoad are stealing the limelight. The real Phantoad arrives on stage followed by the Jungle Children and Jane on a stretcher. Amid the chaos Jane wakes. She unmasks the fake Phantoad and then the real Phantoad. Jane tells Eric to hand over the mask. The show is a flop. Simon declares he wants to be the next Phantoad. He returns to the jungle to open a discotheque called the Toad Cave with the hope it will succeed supported by United States Foreign Aid.
Music
Good-bye My Precious One (Michael Roper, David Pyle)
This Is It (Michael Roper, David Pyle)
Without You (Harry Nilsson version)
Cast
Jane, owner of Jungle Patrol - Justine Anderson
Christina, lead in Toads in the Mist - Karen Anderson
Phantoad and Eric the tour guide - David Brown
Ralphy, jungle child - Andrew Buchanan
Crichton, retainer to the jungle children - Simon Burvill-Holmes
Robinson Caruso, leader of the Sing Pirates - Brian Cavanagh
Simon Lloyd Greystoke - Paul Dellit
Gaston Leroux - Michael Golledge
Gloria Vanders - Caroline Kennison
Staffer at Jungle Patrol - Donald McKee
Ginger, leader of the Jungle Children - Sally McKenzie
Queen of the Sing Pirates - Toni Mott
Friday, a pirate - Rebecca Riggs
Smee, the pirate mate - Paul Sugars[7]
Reception
The review in the Courier-Mail by Peter Dean said "This show boils with enthusism, crackles with spirit and steams with energy … But the music is the real star."[8] Tracey Pollock in the Sunday Sun said "For its music alone Phantoad gets 10 out of 10".[9] Writing in The Bulletin, theatre critic Sue Gough said ToadShow were getting close to the objects of their satire, "I yearn for the days when this same team wrote scripts so full of creative wit that I wept tears of joy…when the music and the action were sandwiched together by a connective tissue of wicked irony…".[5]