Phantom ‘fives’ from two veterans
As opening night draws near, the cast and crew of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ are gearing up for what they hope will be a tour de force. Here two of the most senior members of the Workshop Players, Shanuki de Alwis (Director, Choreography) and Surein de S.Wijeyeratne (Director, Music) give us their five highlights – from their biggest personal challenges to what it has meant to take on a production as ambitious as ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.
Shanuki:
1. I haven’t danced ballet for almost 25 years (yes, I am that old) and getting back into the shoes to execute pliés, pirouettes and arabesques well enough to command any ounce of due respect from my better-trained dancers has been a nerve-wracking exercise. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating the pieces with the help of the ballerinas in the cast and plenty of research. Five months hence I’m spouting ballet terms like it’s my second language and am quite thrilled to be dancing again, not to mention to be developing some nice calf muscles! I even indulged in a new pair of pointé shoes for myself…
Back to ballet: Shanuki (centre). Pix by Andre Perera
2. I was incredibly lucky to have gotten the opportunity to visit Broadway with Jerome, Surein and our Lighting Director Gihan, not only to watch the Phantom of the Opera in New York, but to also enjoy an all-access backstage tour conducted by the fabulous Ellen Harvey – the actress who plays the role of Madame Giry on Broadway, the same role I am playing in our production. Highlight of my life, let alone the production or the trip itself, was standing ON a Broadway Stage WITH the acclaimed actress playing the role and having her share tips and tricks with me. Magical. Bringing all the learning back into the local production was an honour… we are that much better now because of it.
3. Not everything’s a rosy picture. We pride ourselves on the family vibe we like to create amongst our cast, but having a cast of over 60 members means this family has more than its fair share of stress and trials. Loud disagreements, kindergarten-like disciplinary lectures, emotional melodramas are all part and parcel of the production. I have no doubt things will get every interesting in the week to come, with everything reaching a high point as we go into the final run of rehearsal. The audience will never know the madness that ensues, because in the end, all that’s left is the fabulous spectacle on stage.
4. The costumes make me cry! We have been blessed with a fantastic costume creator in Jojo and together with her team and our incredibly dedicated costume committee, the output is looking amazing. I get overwhelmed every time I visit Jojo’s workshop for a fit on; just seeing the intricate detail and painstaking work that’s gone into each and every piece that will be worn in this show. Honestly, it might be a challenge for us actors to upstage our clothes this time around!
5. The first time we attempted Phantom, it was not to be and the experience left us broken for a long time. However, it also changed the dynamic of the Workshop Players for the better and sealed some of the strongest friendships I am lucky to have enjoyed to date. To have it all come full circle now and to be sharing the Phantom experience at last with the public, along with those friends I made 12 years ago is one of the most important highlights for me, personally. There are no words to describe the euphoria, nerves and excitement bundled into one. I have warned Surein that I might just cry on opening night.
Surein:
1. The Phantom is the decades-old dream come true… the itch you’ve been waiting years to scratch… the girl who finally agreed to marry you…the weekly lottery ticket that you finally won… the ace of hearts you needed to complete a royal flush… the final note in an unresolved chord… life is incomplete without it. So much so, that I’ve probably been tougher on this cast of actors and actresses than on any other, because it is such a huge privilege for us to be finally performing this. Based on some quick research online, this production appears to be the first amateur production of The Phantom in Asia. So it’s a big deal for The Workshop Players and I hope the production will meet the expectations of Colombo’s diverse and sometimes overly critical theatre audiences. Living up to the hype that surrounds this show is near impossible.
‘A huge privilege to be performing this’: Surein
2. Everyone asks about the crashing chandelier when talking about The Phantom of the Opera and they all wait for it to happen. That is a pivotal moment, but it is not the only highlight of the show. There are quite a few other things going on in the show that will make you gasp, and I’m not telling you what they are! Everybody knows the theme song and songs like Music of the Night and Masquerade, but none of them are the toughest to sing or the most rewarding for a performer. Watch out for some amazing performances from the other cast members and don’t keep yourself focused only on the Phantoms and Christines because you will miss out on some remarkable theatre.
3. Directing the music for The Phantom is a walk in the park. Gather together the right musicians and the right singers, and people talented enough to guide them, and all you do is sit back and watch… and occasionally yell. I have probably learnt more from this cast than they’ve learnt from me. But being talented and passionate still doesn’t get you to closing night without the third element – discipline. Consecutive late night rehearsals, long hours of patiently standing in one place under scorching lights, endless takes of a single phase or verse of one song… We are amateurs, but we throw ourselves into the production without holding anything back. Our time, effort and even our limited budget are all invested in making the show as stunning as it can be. We make no money and have no profits, but at the end of the experience we are so much ‘richer’ than when we began.
4. There is a constant and fearsome competition as to who the best vocal part is. Generally of the six parts we have to work in for The Phantom it is the 1st tenors who believe they rule the roost and they are the most vociferous group. However the first sopranos are an amazing ensemble of talent. Voices you will generally never hear singing together. But on the other hand, the second sopranos are the most hardworking lot of singers I’ve come across. But I must admit that the basses and altos never stand a chance in this mêlée as they are too nice a bunch to engage in petty tomfoolery.
5. The Phantom of the Opera is not a musical production. It’s an advanced social experiment, testing the human beings ability to collaborate. So many artistic and technical facets all working together to create a complex, perfectly timed and dramatic spectacle. Performers, stage crew, sound engineers, lighting technicians, costuming and make up… putting so many pieces of an audio visual jigsaw together, in perfect sync. Regardless of all the backstage drama, the emotional tantrums and the technical disagreements, this is more than a hundred people on and off stage, doing together, exactly what they have been trained to do and doing what they love to do.