Nothing beats live theater!

Firstly you have to understand that I was a spoiled child. When I was a kid we'd get season tickets to Moonlight Amphitheater every summer, to the point where I couldn't even name all the musicals I've seen there, probably. Oliver, My Fair Lady, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Phantom (yes, there's another musical about the same thing), The Music Man, Big River... all the Broadway at Moonlight nights where they'd bring in different stars to sing various songs from various things.

And then at Spreckles I've seen Mame, Grease... something else that isn't coming to me. Secret Garden at the Center for the Arts. Annie Warbucks at The Civic. The King and I, Into the Woods, Once Upon a Mattress, and another three or four productions of Joseph done very well locally... And you know, some other things that weren't done so well.

But things have been slow lately. Nearly four years ago I finally, finally got to see Les Miserables, and a couple of springs ago I went to Hairspray with a friend, and both were amazing productions—though of course the Les Mis experience was a zillion times more important for me, because I'd been wanting to see it since I was ten. Moonlight's doing Les Mis this summer, actually, but we can't afford it, unfortunately.

So to recap, I was completely spoiled as a child, and then I've been left fairly wanting the last decade or so, really. I mean, the fact that the movies are starting to be made helps, along with the fact that I have the soundtrack for pretty much any production I'd want... but still.

So to see Phantom of the Opera today, to get hit with that first burst of music after the auction scene... I know saying it felt like coming home is completely pedantic and cliché, but I can't help that.

This was my first time seeing Phantom of the Opera done live, and while it wasn't quite perfect, it was really wonderfully done. The orchestra was amazing. The Phantom had an amazing voice and was definitely sufficiently frightening. Raoul had a particularly beautiful voice. It was almost too strong of a voice to be given to Raoul, who always tends off as a weaker character (I don't even remember his voice from the movie... just that he looked oddly like Brendan Fehr), so that was kind of novel to see. Madame Giry, the two opera house owners... all great.

The Meg was just delightful. I couldn't take my eyes off her, she was this pretty blonde thing and she had these perfect expressions. It was practically comical how exact she'd be as she swept across the stage with this perfectly concerned face to do her "He's here, the Phantom of the Opera!" bits, because it was so exactly the same every time, and she always seemed to pop out of nowhere to do it. I've always been fond of Meg anyhow... she was totally gypped in the film.

I can't say I was totally in love with the Christine. She hit all the high notes, of course, and did them beautifully, which is why, I'm sure, she was given the part, but all the bits in between were a little weak. Which was fine at the beginning, because she's supposed to sound a little weak, but I'd like a little build by the time we get to "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," thank you.

All in all it was good, though. Good for the soul. I always want to wrap those moments up and keep them in a drawer or something, you know?

Anyone else Broadway fans? What's the best show you've seen, or the one you'd like to see the most?