Re: What Is It About THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA?

I've seen Phantom several times over the years (for a variety of
reasons) and I've never been bored (well . . . I'm sometimes a little
bored by "All I Ask of You", but only a little) - the rest is wonderful
even in repeated viewings. So, given the popularity of the show and my
own experience, I'd take the declaration that it is "so boring" with a
grain of salt and consider the source. And as for thinking that
word-of-mouth would have killed the show -- wha..??? How could anyone
think that, when it is clear that word-of-mouth is partly responsible
for the incredible success - whether one agrees with them or not, a lot
of people like this show. Smart marketing can only do so much.

Also, I know many men who loved the show, including my very straight,
very staid uncles who consider musicals to be generally "gay" and
worthless (and this was most surprising to me), and I've watched a
number of sweet, young males in the balcony weep openly with the
Phantom's pain (actually, I found this fascinating - there was some
strong empathy going on there). So . . . I reject the assertion that
the show has no appeal for men (of many persuasions).

I've watched my children enjoy the show from different viewpoints as
they grew up - surprising themselves with how different they saw things
as they matured. Throughout the years, the production holds up very
well (unlike Les Miz, which went through some periods of decline in
presentation). I also know people who had never seen the show, but
when the movie came out, they liked it so much they finally made that
long-planned trip to NYC to see the show live.

I think fmomoon is right about familiarity being a factor - when a
person is about to plunk down a large amount of their hard-earned
money, they are probably more likely to go with something that they've
heard is really good - or at least that they've heard of at all. I
don't think it is a matter of being threatened by the unknown -- they
have travelled to NYC after all ;-) -- but it's more of a "sure thing"
than something they've never heard of. When money (or time) is
limited, people tend to choose what they perceive to be more of a "sure
thing".

cp

.

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