Symphony in A Major

I’m usually not a fan of having a “bed” in MOTN. Obviously in the original show there’s kind of one, but it’s not in your face like, say, the Restaged tour. Something about that one is just, idk, a bit too forward.

For Masquerade, it works. Here’s why, and it all comes down to one detail.

After the Phantom lays Christine down on the bed, he adjusts her dressing gown to be over her feet, covering her. This is such an important part of the blocking. If he didn’t do this small detail, the scene would come off as so much creepier, AND it would lead to potentially some people thinking the following dream sequence was actually happening. By showing he’s being respectful, making sure she’s covered, setting the box on the bed with a note on it, this makes us know, as the audience, that he’s not being a complete creep. And it shows that the dream sequence is fully Christine’s imagination.

Anyway, this tiny detail in Masquerade is just so perfect, and gives the audience so much information in one simple gesture. It shows an amount of respect towards her that is essential for the character.

Also, I actually love the bed scene. Because it’s fully in Christine’s head. In MOTN for Masquerade, he interacts with the audience more than her, so he doesn’t really touch her very much, except to pick her up after. So by having the bed scene, showing how Christine is affected by his voice, it gives us, the audience, a view into where her mind is at. IT ALSO shows that the phantom is oblivious to her desires (depending on the actor’s choices, of course), and is too caught up in the fact of his face, and afraid of what to do when she wakes.

When you arrive outside the building, check in with the host(s). You will stand to the side, not in the line. Eventually, your guide will come get you and bring you in the side entrance (where the actors come in usually). It’s a dark hallway and you cannot hear the lobby music very well.

Your guide asks what your needs are, takes your bags/purses, and gives you an overview of how the accessible route works, and to make sure you follow their instructions for where to sit/move to in each room. They have specific spots that make sure you don’t interfere with the actors and get a good view. They will also direct those around you to move if necessary.

You wait near this tall stairwell and, depending on your pulse, actors will be going up and down to their places. I saw multiple actors and staff. A lot of them were warming up, which was cool to hear. You also will likely hear the title song from the next door room while you wait to go up in the elevator.

Just a detail for my experience, Hugh Panaro (who was supposed to be our phantom that pulse, but we got the incredible understudy that is Sean Seamus Thompson instead) came in the side door and went right by us. So you may see actors come in and out!

Here is my summary of the experience:

You will miss the first room, which is a long room with ballet tutus overhead, with a violinist playing an arrangement of all the songs. This is also where you typically get your champagne/non-alcoholic bubbly juice.

Instead, you go in from behind, through the Masquerade scene room (which is empty), and wait in the second room, where Madame Giry will teach how to do the Masquerade dance. Madame Giry will enter before everyone else, so you will get your own private interaction with her before everyone else comes in from the first room. You will be at the back of this room in order to turn round quickly to go into the next scene. Madame Giry will insist you get some champagne, and one of the guides will bring you a glass. You will hear the final part of the violin arrangement in the room with Madame Giry.

From there until the Title Song, you miss absolutely nothing. It’s the exact same experience, except you may travel through other rooms on your way.

When the Title Song begins to play, you are escorted to the elevator. You end up at the side of the room and get to see the Phantom and Christine emerge in the boat, with an excellent view of the entire journey to the lair. You then are escorted to sit for MOTN. They always save a spot near the front to account for wheelchair users needing to see.

After MOTN, typically Madame Giry will come and escort the group down into the Phantom’s domain and speak about the Punjab Lasso. You will miss this, as you have to take the elevator. HOWEVER, you get to see something no one else does! When you exit the elevator, the Phantom and Christine are hiding behind a wall from the other guests. Only you can see them! I believe Sean’s Phantom shushed Christine gently, but I can’t recall clearly.

You then enter the bed scene and are right beside the bed (left side). Christine also handed us the note from the veil box, but I don’t think this is always the case. Just got lucky. You get a great view of the Phantom’s reaction coming in and out of the room. He comes right by you.

Experience is the same as normal after that. You go through the Phantom’s domain, see the automatons, etc.

For STYDI, you are on the outside of the curtain. Not inside the room area. People who have seen Masquerade should know what I mean by this. You get a great view of the scene and don’t miss anything.

Now this is the main part you miss in the show. After the Phantom says “if only you knew what they did to me!”, usually you go with the group to an escalator leading up to the Carnival memories, which has a giant clown face above it. The phantom is in the crowd for this and will go up the escalator with you. You do not get to see this, since you go down another route to the elevator.

There is a plus, though. Since you’re not in line, you get to the carnival area before anyone else, and can see everyone arrive, including the Phantom and younger Phantom. I never got to see this bit from this angle when I took the normal route. You also will get to interact with the carnies before anyone else.

We were on the right side of the stage, so we could have gone and fed poor little Phantom popcorn, but my sister was enjoying the ring toss too much so I didn’t bother. One plus is that you will get more actor interactions since you’re often the first one to enter a room, and there is a slight “VIP” treatment feel.

The rest of the show is the exact same experience as everyone else, except you will still enter most rooms early. This means I got to actually see the scene before Wishing where Raoul and Christine talked about him learning to play the violin. I had always been at the end of the line for this.

For the fly tower scene, you will be on the floor level, able to see both sides at once, which was a really cool vantage point. The Phantom also went right in front of us, turned and laughed evilly in our faces. Sean Seamus Thompson, you MENACE!

Note that there may be elevator delays. We ended up a bit late for the scenes before PONR in the individual rooms, but didn’t miss anything really. It balances out with the fact that 80% of the time you’re the first one in a room.

Normally, before PONR, you go up a long staircase and get little Don Juan Triumphant cards. We, obviously, did not do this. The route to PONR was a bit odd here, but didn’t take you out of the experience at all. You just had to hide behind a curtain at one point.

For Final Lair, we were positioned near the elevated stage at the end. My favorite spot to view this scene. We got to see the traps being set up by the Phantom, which can be missed if you’re the last in line.

At the end, the guide takes you back into the elevator, asks how you’re doing, how it was, etc. Our guide was amazing and we just went on and on gushing about how incredible Sean’s Phantom was. He brought us our purses, got us programs (since we don’t descend into the bar area on the escalator), and said goodbye.

We felt like VIPs the entire time. You miss nothing important and anything you do miss is made up for by receiving extra interactions with the actors, getting some backstage views, and always having the best view for every scene. You also will sometimes hear other pulses going on at the same time, and see actors assuming places, but they do a great job of staying in character even when behind the scenes, so you’re never taken out of the show.

My sister had an incredible experience. I was so glad to be able to share my love of Phantom with her and see her be able to experience the show without feeling second-class, or like she had to take the freight elevator or something. She was the VIP. Masquerade is truly setting a high bar for accessibility, and as someone able-bodied, it was so special being able to see both sides of it.

If you need accommodations for Masquerade, and this is holding you back from seeing the show, don’t let it! They will make sure you have the best experience. The guide checks in with you often to see how you’re feeling, and they’re your advocate the whole show.

Truly an incredible experience. Please send me any questions you might have!

Look, he was acting like he had bodies hidden under the baseboards at home. Not sure if he was given the wrong character description because he played Raoul as a villain. Which listen, I’m okay with that for Masquerade, as it is the Phantom’s viewpoint and therefore Raoul is the “villain” but… you’ve still gotta believe Christine is better off with Raoul by the end. And you’ve at least got to believe Raoul loves and would die for Christine.

I did not believe Dan’s Raoul loved Christine. In the very first scene with Christine, he is INSUFFERABLE and acts as if he’s procuring a mistress for the evening, not meeting with his childhood sweetheart. He treats her like an object more than the Phantom which is WILD. Honestly he was more motivated by the idea of killing/capturing the Phantom. He had these serial-killer grins he would do, and when he delivered the “this time, my clever friend, the disaster will be yours!” line, it was VILLAINOUS. I mean he played it like he wanted to tie the phantom to a rack and torture him.

I genuinely believed Sean’s phantom was the better choice by comparison. Yeah he’s got a lot of baggage and dead bodies but at least he loves Christine? I’m not even sure why Dan’s Raoul was engaged with her at all. He spoke rudely to her, was dismissive, there was no love. In a teen romance movie, he would’ve been the rich jerk the girl is with before she discovers the soft, sweet nerd she breaks up with him for at the end.

I have zero doubt Dan’s Raoul would’ve had multiple mistresses just one week after his marriage to Christine. I have no doubt he would’ve been a horrible husband. Maybe Dan Hoy was trying to set up Love Never Dies?

Anyway, I’m okay with the idea of Raoul being the villain in the Phantom’s mind, but he needs to be more excited at the prospect of marrying Christine than of capturing the phantom. The only time he showed excitement was when he talked about catching the phantom. Genuinely.