If you know a little about phantom of the operaYou know, many of them share the dark, isolated basement of the Opera House. It seems odd, then, to speak to the two performers at the heart of the production on a dark but lush recess in the depths of the Arts Centre.
Josh Piterman and Amy Manford visit Melbourne before the iconic Melbourne season begins production. Playing pair Phantom and Kristen respectively, they are on a short break from their all-sold-out Sydney tour. Their production is a remake of a long-running production, the original first opening in London’s West End in 1986. It retains all the key elements, particularly the soundtrack, but the sets, visual effects, and choreography have been reimagined and revitalized.
Josh Peterman as The Phantom and Amy Manford as Kristen in Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Phantom Of The Opera, presented by Opera Australia.attributed to him:Daniel Bud
However, the story itself has not changed – but that does not mean that the characters have remained the same. There is room between the words, in the movement across the stage, in how the line is delivered, allowing the actors to put their own reading of the character into the performance.
At the heart of the story is the tug of war between the primary trio – Kristen, the singer who trained the Phantom to stardom, Raul, her childhood friend turned wealthy suitor, and the Phantom himself, a mysterious figure lurking around the edges of the opera house, casting a sly presence.
“What I think brings people back and forth to watch this show often, and for many years, is that every interpretation is different,” Peterman says. For a character like Phantom, this is necessary. On paper, he’s despicable – a blackmailer obsessed with a weak young singer. But if the story is in black and white, if the ghost appears as an obvious villain, the show won’t last long.
Manford has played Kristen in three different productions – in London, Greece and now in her native Australia. For her, each version of Kristen was a little different, it was strength building. “It was really exciting to rediscover Kristen in this way. She is so much stronger,” she reflects. “I think the really cool thing about this production is that Kristen makes all of her own choices. She’s not blindly following her Phantom into the bunker – she’s choosing to follow him. She’s curious. She’s interested in knowing who this person is and what life they’ve built under the Opera House. .and she knows what she’s doing.”
Josh Peterman as The Phantom and Amy Manford as Kristen in Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Phantom Of The Opera, presented by Opera Australia.attributed to him:Daniel Bud
For Peterman, this is the second time he’s played Phantom — his first run was cut short by six months into a two-year contract — and his basic interpretation has remained consistent. In preparing for the role he asked himself what the core of this character was. “For me, that’s desertion.” This allowed him to think about the different ways this could appear in Phantom, tracing his actions to a broken heart. “Not to say that his malicious actions, his violent actions, and his murderous actions, should be given the sign of approval,” Peterman explains. “But there’s a place it comes from that digs deep into our human psyche for being unloved.”
Small changes can have big ripples in how audiences view a character. In an early scene, where Kristen and Phantom are alone in his den, Peterman plays a role that looks more like a music lesson than the other versions. He worries about space, teleports Manford to various places, and his tunes make it clear that his only focus is making sure she gets the music right. He explains this because, for the character, Kristen’s singing, when done perfectly, calms him – making him forget his own pain and loneliness. “I’ve always seen that as a lesson,” he says. “I think there’s more eroticism in the London play.”
Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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