POTO fan girl-ing!

"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came. 

That voice which calls to me and speaks my name; 

And do I dream again? 

For now I find the phantom of the opera is there inside my mind!"

-- lyrics, The Phantom of the Opera

my ticket to see the phantom of the opera (POTO) was bought months ahead of the scheduled august-to-september 2012 staging of andrew lloyd webber musical in manila. thanks to friends and technology, my ticket was secured at 10% off during the pre-selling period back in april while i was crossing the babuyan channel and quite preoccupied with safely returning to the mainland, haha.

04.09.12 POTO tickets! 

among other things, i was so excited to see the chandelier crash! what a wonderful treat, i was able to experience more than that! for one, the staging of the underground boat scene -- with the water and reflections on the water -- was beyond what i imagined it would be. plus, a lot more really jaw-dropping treats ;-) 

i've long been a fan of the voices of phantom but things definitely go to a whole new level when you actually see the characters popping in and out of the scenes and singing live! 

waaaaaaaaaaa ahhhhhhhhh i've become incoherent watching, hearing the phantom sing. awesome, really awesome performance! great stage presence and outstanding voice dynamics. i've become a crrrazy fan girl ahhhhh waaaaaaaaaa he's amazing! waaaaaa he's still singing in my head and i could probably scream with giddiness all night into my pillow :D  

to the point of being unfair and, this i won't deny, my expectations were really sky high but the phantom of the opera exceeded them.

the entire production with all the special effects on the floor up to the ceiling is best appreciated when your vantage point is from a higher elevation but not too high nor too far directly in front of the stage. :) this we learned from those who've seen the musical in london's west end and on broadway. the advice proved to be useful and it proved to be very true. 

i don't regret the seat location we chose -- balcony 1 center (B205 and B206 right in the middle of the second row) for the gala show. the choice we made was fantastic and very rewarding. t'was very, very worth it! :) the experience of watching things unfold was... mind-blowing!!! everything was well-executed, effortlessly brought together, and collectively rendering that over-all feel that things were happening with the touch of a genius. i conveniently forgot that the main character is actually dark and shady!

it's such a grand production done with precision and meticulous care, you really don't want to miss anything -- not even those at the back portions of the stage floor. 

09.15.12 with persia at the tanghalang nicanor abelardo | CCP theater along roxas boulevard

see that big picture of the stage with text overlay? that pretty much describes the view from my middle seat in the second row. visual treats and movements at the front all the way to the back of the floor and close to the ceiling are visible without risk of giving the spectator a stiff neck or eye strain. plus, there's the benefit of enjoying well-balanced acoustics on that spot.


p.s. ang galing-galing at ang ganda-ganda talaga, promise! sobrang sulit!!! i knew i got more than what i paid for right from the start, when i got goosebumps watching the intro to opening scene transition.