Music of the Night

I am sure you are waiting on the edges of your seats to hear about our trip to see the Phantom. It was, in one word, amazing. I will be posting throughout the week about some of the other events of this weekend, including our wonderful lunch at the Thai place, but I really wanted to devote this entry to just talking about the play itself...

We arrived in Houston a little early (about an hour before the show started), so we went ahead and went to the Hobby Center for Performing Arts. We pulled up to find that they had valet parking for a reasonable price, and since parking in downtown Houston can be quite the challenge, we opted for this. We went inside to find a place to sit until they opened the doors, and then 30 minutes before the show was to start, they let us in, gave us our playbill, and we went and found our seats. The seats we had were pretty good, although we were on the outer seats at the edge of the auditorium, so there were a few spots in the musical when we could not see the actors on the edge of the scenes.

The Phantom began, and I was immediately drawn in under its spell. This was a production by Broadway Across America, so I expected the people to be able to sing, but wow... I don't think I was prepared for the quality and richness of their voices. They really brought the story to life with a passion and perfection that I was in awe of. And I could not say enough about the set. The entire facade of the stage was part of their set... the chandelier that hung out over the audience was part of their set... the amazing effect of the fog that rolled off the stage during the water scenes... I was in awe of the time and money that obviously went into making the scene perfect.

And I am not ashamed to admit... I teared up at the end. The actor playing the Phantom was nothing short of phenomenal. I knew how the story ended, I wasn't expecting a happy ending for the Phantom, but I also wasn't expecting to have my heart ache for his character like I did. I wasn't expecting tears in my eyes... that is how good this actor was. I really FELT how sad and lonely the Phantom was, how heartbroken. And as the curtain came down, and the actors came out on stage to take their bows, my eyes teared up again. I didn't want this to be over. I didn't want the magic that they were weaving to end.

I know without a doubt that Mike and I are going to be back there for more musicals now that we have gotten a taste of what the full experience is like. But I also know that no other musical will have that special magical quality that I felt that day. Because, you see, that was the first time I had felt like that. I grew up on musicals, I have seen the movie versions of most of them, and I love them. I have a passion in my heart for them, but this was different. I am sure I will love each and every one that we go to see in the future, but this was more than that... this was the magic of a first time experience combined with the magic of the story itself.

There is something so incredibly magical about that ability they have to whisk me away into their world. I didn't watch it thinking "wow, that is a pretty dress that actress has on"... I watched it thinking "wow, that is a pretty dress that Christine is wearing", as if the characters were real people. And for a few hours there, they were.