The Music of the Night...

So last week I had the opportunity to go see the Las Vegas production of Phantom at the Venetian, for free! I'm no expert in critiquing stage performances but I have to say that it was a pretty impressive stage show. I've seen other productions of Phantom before but never one in a venue specifically built for Phantom. The opening scene with the chandelier and the scene transitions were "Vegas impressive" and very similar to the transitions that you see in a lot of the Cirque productions. The vocal performances are great, the set designs are impressive and the costumes don't disappoint. Again, take those observations with a grain of salt. The pyrotechnics were a little bright, but what else do you expect when you set them off in the middle of a dark theater. There really isn't a bad seat in the house (unless you get unlucky like me - more on this later) so you don't need to spend an arm and a leg on tickets if you choose to go, which I highly recommend.

However, not everything was perfect with my experience - at no fault of the performers or the producers of course. A couple of things to consider when you go see a musical: 1) No one is there to hear you sing. You're not the one getting paid to perform so don't ruin the experience for those around you - especially if you can't sing on key. 2) The seats in a theater are staggered for a reason, I hear. Therefore, don't press your two heads together and ruin the view for the person sitting behind you, especially if you're over 6'5 and already causing an issue for people to see in front of you.

Hey, in the end, the tickets were free, the performance was great and I got to go see the show with a nice lady. A great night all around.