Saturday, January 26, 2013

A Quarter Century Later: Phantom's 25th Anniversary

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THIS WEEK'S "HOT OR NOT" POLL!
THIS WEEK: CINDERELLA: THE PRINCIPAL CAST
BRAND NEW POLL NOW - JANUARY 31!
CLICK THE PIC TO YOUR RIGHT AND VOTE NOW!

If you were alive on January 26, 1988, raise your hand.  (My hand is up.)

If you were in college on January 26, 1988, raise your hand.  (My hand is still up.)

If you have lived your entire lifetime sometime between January 26, 1988 and January 26, 2013, raise your hand.  (My hand is down, and I am green with envy.)

Sad to say - because I am starting to hate reminders that I'm getting older - I remember the hype surrounding the Broadway opening of The Phantom of the Opera.  It was EVERYWHERE!  On all the night time shows, the daytime shows... if there was a TV show that could figure out a way to get Phantom on it, there it was!  And all the newspapers and magazines.  Today, that sounds funny to say.  No websites, no social media... just TV, radio and print.  Boy have times changed!  For more of that perspective, check out THIS.

The 25th Anniversary Cast: Hugh Panaro (The Phantom), 
Sierra Boggess (Christine) and Kyle Barisich (Raoul)

The Original: Michael Crawford


Since Phantom opened, 25 shows (including Phantom) have been named Best Musical by the Tony Awards.  Since then, 989 shows (plays, musicals, revivals, solos and special events) have opened on Broadway.  Among them, Ragtime, 42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Into the Woods, Les Miserables and The Mystery of Edwin Drood all had their original Broadway runs close and have been revived already.  Man of La Mancha, Jesus Christ Superstar, La Cage aux Folles, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Grease, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Company, and Guys and Dolls have all been revived twice.  Gypsy has been revived three times.  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has been revived four times!

Here (thanks to Playbill) are the Phantoms I've had the opportunity to see in action... how many have you seen?  Write in and share your Phantom thoughts and experiences: jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com

Kevin Gray and Gary Mauer
(National Touring Companies)


Cris Groenendaal, Mark Jacoby,
Jeff Keller and Howard McGillin
(On Broadway)

Jeff
4.146



No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...