"It's over now, the muuuuu-sic offff the (deep, deep breath) ... ni-hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii .....
" ... iiiiiiii ....
" ... iiiiiiiiight."
There are more than a few reasons smaller companies don't take on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," including but not limited to:
Inability to master circular breathing, while bearing pounds of grotesque makeup atop your face, with an additional bone-white half-mask atop that, until it's not.
Lack of chandelier-devastation-equipped theaters.
Lack of stage managers ready to sweep up 10,000 random chandelier fragments every night.
On Sunday, Broadway's Phantom hissy-fitted through his last mirror, groomed his ultimate too-young protege, Punjab-lasso'ed his final Raoul, and stepped off into murky catacombs, leaving behind only a cruel-reminder mask.
After 13,981 performances over 35 years, Lloyd Webber's top smash from a career full of them — "Cats," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Evita," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Starlight Ex….", whoops, scratch that last — closed its final Broadway performance. It's still running in the West End, where it's now London's third all-time, behind "The Mousetrap" and "Les Miserables."
Typically, rights aren't available while a hit's still running, but they have been available to educational institutions, including colleges, high schools, or youth groups. So the main reasons the University of Alabama, Stillman College or Shelton State Community College haven't tried are, well, here's how it's spelled out in understated lingo by Lloyd Webber's licensing.
Size of orchestra: Large. Right there's a sticking economic point, though with the caliber of players gathered by the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. However, the TSO pays musicians, for rehearsals and performances, as of course they should.
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Genre: Adaptation (Literature) Drama Mystery/Thriller Period Romance. Not in and of itself an issue, unless you're the overtasked costume shop, or the folks who design and build sets. By which I mean of course it's an issue, figuring out a way around the chandelier, plunges into catacombs, the mirrors, the boat, the strangulations by Punjab lasso (a garrotte employed by the Phantom). Then there's the dozens of period costumes for folks dressed for an opera, and costumes for shows within the show, makeup and hair for same, not to mention dressers, running crew and more.
Vocal demands: Challenging. After hearing Walking Drakkar Noir Gerard Butler croak and groan his way through the 2004 movie, there's clearly leeway. But you do need trained voices for Lloyd Webber's faux-opera. Fopera.
Dance Requirements: Minimal. Yes, there's less dance in "Phantom" than in some musicals, but like similarly challenging "Les Miz," what it lacks in dance, it overcompensates in fight choreography: swords, hand-to-hand, the aforementioned rope tricks.
Cast Size: Large. You'd need to know if that means Broadway large or community theater large. There are musicals, such as "The Last Five Years," or "Next to Normal," with low-single-digits casts, and then there are epics such as "Ragtime," which for a 2003 production, UA theater had to utilize the entirety of Rowand-Johnson Hall as extra dressing-room space, suiting a cast drawn from seven counties. In general, numbers have shrunk since the '50s -- When 69% of musicals sported casts larger than 30. In the 2000s, that number has fallen to 27 percent -- partly due to costs, but also attributable to the rise of contemporary more intimate shows.
Clearly, audiences still love razzle-dazzle. After "Phantom," the top 10 Broadway blockbusters fall in order, "Chicago," "The Lion King," "Wicked," "Cats," "Les Miz," "A Chorus Line," "Oh! Calcutta!," "Mamma Mia!"
But if you scroll down a little further, there's "Jersey Boys," the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, one of the more solidly constructed jukebox musicals, and No. 12 on the box-office rolls, with a cast of about 12, plus ensemble. At 13 is "The Book of Mormon," which has eight principals, plus ensemble.
The closing of "Phantom" might not be the end of an era, exactly, but maybe the beginning of the end of such massive productions.
Not long ago, producer Cameron Macintosh was quoted saying the run was "losing money," even before the pandammit. Even by creative bookkeeping, what he meant was it lost money night by night, or month by month. Look at payroll and other requirements:
130 cast, crew, and orchestra.
230 costumes, and again, not just everyday clothing.
14 dressers, who help actors in and out of costumes, especially for quick changes, whether principals featured in most scenes, or chorus members who may be playing several different roles.
120 automated cues, for lights, sounds, moving set pieces, actors and such.
22 scene changes.
281 candles. That's roughly 281 more than any show I've ever seen. For the 2017 "Macbeth" I directed, we used faux-candles, made of plastic, with electric lighting tricks. At any one point, there may have been three in use.
250 kilograms of dry ice. It's the stuff bad dreams are made of; while tricky to handle — to touch, it doesn't seem that cold, but that's a trick of your nervous system, so don't touch — it can make wonderful creeping-along-the-ground fog or smoke.
And speaking of which, 10 fog and smoke machines.
Still, in 35 years on Broadway, "Phantom" probably did OK, selling $1.3 billion at the box office, as of earlier this year. That's not even the tops: "The Lion King" rules, at $1.8 billion, followed by "Wicked," $1.5 billion, the "Phantom."
So would a "Phantom of the Opera," a "Lion King" or "Wicked" sell for a local company? Of course. Those shows that aren't seen 'round hyar all that often always do well. My first show was a kind of novelty, "Jesus Christ Superstar" in 2002, at UA. That run sold out every seat. In defiance of fire marshals, and possibly good sense, folding chairs were added to the Marian Gallaway Theatre to accommodate demand.
Sure, we'd love to see U2, Bruce Springsteen or Taylor Swift at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, but none of those are going to happen. Tickets, already sky-high, would have to be house-down-payment-level to afford such tours.
Local theater companies operate on tight margins. For example, the non-profit Actor's Charitable Theatre carries a monthly debt of about $3,000 per month, covering rent, insurance and other necessities, and that's without paid staff, and before even paying for show licensing, and toting up the costs.
Theatre Tuscaloosa benefits from its association with Shelton State, taking care of its facilities and professional staff, but even a hit musical typically runs at a loss, with the remainder of the company's budget made up from sponsorships, advertising, grants and more. Theatre Tuscaloosa began its Paul and Susan Looney Legacy Endowment in 2017, hoping to reach a goal of $1 million, to support the company long-range.
UA Theatre and Dance has a more relatively solid backing in professional faculty, riches in grad students, and a throng of undergrads, but even there, performance and rehearsal facilities are sadly out of date, a deficit UA is working to answer.
The demands for the blockbusters mean, at least until there are licensed cut-down versions, you'll still need to drive up to Birmingham to see a Phantom, a king of beasts, a not-so-wicked witch, as touring companies typically don't stop in the Druid City. Perhaps there'll be an enticement with UA's 130,000-square-foot, $50 million Smith Family Center for the Performing Arts. Construction, currently planned to open in 2026. To see more on that, including ways to contribute, visit www.performingarts.ua.edu/about.
Reach Tusk Editor Mark Hughes Cobb atmark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why there's no 'Phantom' in Tuscaloosa's future | MARK HUGHES COBB
