In October, amid the celebrations of Encore’s Halloween traditions and Villains Night, our Young Artists took the time to study and watch the national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera.
Starting with the workshop
Every Page to Stage event begins with an educational workshop. The workshop orients our Young Artists to the themes, characters, and plot of the story, transforming the viewing experience from pure entertainment into a truly educational journey, with an appreciation of the art they witness.
The Phantom of the Opera gave our students a unique opportunity to explore the masks we wear in our interactions with others, and to gain an awareness of the mask of theatre and performance itself. The story is set in an opera house and lets the audience look backstage at the inner workings of a performance company. That theme is reflected in the mask the Phantom wears, and reinforced by the opening of Act Two, “Masquerade.”
“Masquerade” was the focus of our workshop. As we dissected the lyrics, we uncovered a truly eerie and ominous feeling: the words the ensemble sings simply do not match the joyful nature of the melody. The music itself becomes a mask that the lyrics wear to hide the true meaning of the song, and it asks the audience to consider the masks we wear and what purpose those masks serve.
Halloween at The Smith Center
With that new understanding of the story, our group traveled to The Smith Center in Las Vegas on Halloween to witness a truly magical performance.
At intermission, each of our artists shared something unique that stood out to them, from the performers, to the extremely detailed and transformative set, and of course the intricately crafted chandelier. These intermission discussions are some of my favorite moments. They show how engaged our Young Artists are, and how deeply they want to understand the story and the choices made in the production. What they see on these professional stages, they bring with them to our stage as they grow as artists.
Meeting the Phantom
At the end of the show, we had the opportunity to meet the Phantom himself, Isaiah Bailey, who took the time to answer questions and share his love of performance with our Young Artists. It was such a wonderful way to end the event.
Why we do Page to Stage
This event was a special example of why we do Page to Stage trips. A deeper understanding of story and stagecraft means a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. And a deeper understanding of what it means to be human creates more empathetic individuals: people who truly care, who interact honestly, and who are earnestly curious.
All of these things help our Young Artists become not only the kind of performers they hope to be, but also the kind of people they want to be.
Randy Jo Sly