Do you think Wolf’s assessment is fair?
In the 1980s, the arrival of Cats signaled a new kind of musical – a British, not U.S. American, made spectacle, which would be come to be known as the megamusical. The Phantom of the Opera is the most successful version of this type of show on Broadway. Opening on January 26, 1988, The Phantom of the Opera has enjoyed an unprecedented thirty-plus year run in New York City. In your reading by Stacy Wolf, Wolf discusses the role of Christine and other megamusical women as tools for the exploration of male characters, but necessarily as characters unto themselves. Do you think Wolf’s assessment is fair? Do you see moments of agency for Christine as a character or is Wolf’s reading a valid way to interpret her? How would you compare Christine to other women we’ve seen and heard throughout this course? Mama Rose? Julie from Show Boat? Caroline from Caroline, or Change?Phantom of the Opera has run on Broadway for over thirty years and been translated into multiple languages. How would you explain this success through the musical itself? Why do theater-goers and tourists return to this story again and again? What is appealing about the score, the story, and the performances?
