Music-al of the Night

A friend in our ward managed to score a SWEET deal (like, $30 sweet) on tickets for Phantom of the Opera at The Venetian yesterday - just a few weeks before it closes. An AMAZING show. We'd seen it once before in 2009, but we really enjoyed it and wanted to see it again before it was gone forever.  And boy, are we glad we did.

We happened to be there on the same night as our friend who got us the tickets AND another friend in the ward who had connections to a member of the cast. He was there with two of his kids and had arranged a backstage tour for them and invited us to come along. He didn't have to ask us twice.

We thoroughly enjoyed the show (from the 10th row, no less) perhaps even more than the first time. Our favourite part was still the chandelier being put together at the beginning, but it was all great.

We met our friend at the front of the theatre and waited on Madame Giry to transform back into Tina Walsh. And it was worth the wait. We walked under the stage, around the stage, beside the stage, on the stage and above the stage. No stone left unturned. The hydraulics underneath the stage were awe inspiring. So many buttons and levers.

She took us backstage to the dressing rooms (for the record, not as glamorous as I'd imagined) and who should emerge clad in nothing but a bathrobe but The Phantom himself. He whisked the kids' programs out of their hands to autograph them and I was this close to handing him mine, but he seemed to have other places to be. So we hit Madame Giry's dressing room and she regaled us with tales of her youth and how she got into acting.
She showed us to the room where they all wait when they aren't on stage, complete with kitchen. The only thing out of place was a strange, gelatinous mass on the kitchen table. Like some leftover pizza. Turns out it was the Phantom's face. Just laying there. Did we poke it? Wouldn't you? She told us that they make a new face every night. Crazy! Also spongy and springy and surprisingly light!

It was so fun to be on the stage where the magic happened. Reminded me of my glory days in high school. Had I made a better Snoopy in my high school's production of 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' I might have caught the bug, gone on to be classically trained...and become an understudy for a chorus dancer in the very show we attended. Oh, who am I kidding? That was the only chance I'd ever have to be on stage again. And I loved every minute. Jason may not have loved every minute, because it took us an extra 1 1/2 hours, for which we are very grateful. We sang all the way home - the Phantom of the Opera is there...inside our minds.