It was always going to be a daunting task to take on, but Mullingar Student Players’ performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” fully succeeded in bringing the “house down”, and the standing ovation they received at its final showing on Sunday night last in Mullingar Arts Centre was fully deserved.
By Claire Corrigan
The show, which was the first time the iconic musical was staged in the town, featured show-stopping performances by an enormously talented cast, not least Craig Moore and Laura Allen’s portrayal of the tempestuous relationship between the tragic Phantom and the naive Christine – both of whom received High Achiever Awards from the Royal Irish Academy. Arguably the most famous musical in the world, it tells the love story of Christine, who can’t resist the intrigue of the Phantom, a disfigured musical genius.
The 13th production by the local Student Players was a truly sensational display and also involved elaborate costumes, big numbers and even larger sets including a chandelier and a full-sized elephant.
The top class stage performances were complemented by a live orchestra featuring highly trained professional musicians under the direction of Niamh O’Shea. Speaking with Topic Ms. O’Shea admitted that she and the cast and crew had their work cut out in preparing for the performances, which include famous numbers like ‘Music Of the Night’, ‘All I Ask Of You’ and of course ‘Masquerade’.
“An undertaking of a show of this magnitude is a lot of work. It’s amazing that they have done such a great job on it. We cast the show at the end of October and we actually decided, because the talent was so great, we had to have two recalls. Singing-wise the cast have been working away at it since then, and the band came in about a month before the show and then the week before everything kind of clicks into place. The songs are written for something like a 36- piece orchestra. Obviously we don’t’ have the space in here for that so we compensated for not having all the string players by having an extra keyboard or two. We were really happy with how it turned out in the end.”
Choreographer Amy McManus ensured all the cast were put through their paces since rehearsals began in January. ” We started with the choreography first and went on to other aspects and working on the acting. None of the girls doing the ballet scene had any experience and all had to be trained. They would learn on the Sunday and in the afternoon they would learn the choreography. They’re amazing, and very talented.”
“I’ll miss the show but I’m looking forward to having my weekends back. We’re already talking about what we’re going to do next year,” she added.
Talking to Topic, Director Sean Lynch said he has always been a huge fan of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ . “This one really got me. It’s a phenomenal musical. It’s a toss of a coin between this and ‘Les Mis’ as to which is the best musical ever written. We’re very lucky in Mullingar in the talent we have. The three leads in particular, Conor Leavy, Laura Allen and James Craig, were stunning,” he remarked.
He said the success of the show was very much due to a team effort. “I have to pay tribute to the tutors. This group in particular have been with us for a while and have had their voices trained and acted with us over the years and you see that it in the standard that we’ve achieved. It’s a far higher standard than your normal amateur student acting group. There’s 45 people behind them, and there’s a stage crew of eighteen,” he explained.
Former members of Mullingar Student Players now in third-level education, who would have performed on the stage just a few years ago, returned to take in the “Phantom” shows and during the second-last performance, tributes were paid to members of the previous generation of Mullingar acting talent.
