Each year, the Arts Department offers two trips to New York City. This March, 44 parents and students traveled to New York City on the second Arts Department sponsored trip of the year. The Broadway show this spring was Phantom of the Opera.
The tour bus was filled with eager students who were glad that they did not have classes. Many of the juniors who take Mr. Roper were using the bus ride as a cram session for reading The Last Temptation of Christ.
The bus ride didn’t seem long; however, the students did miss the planned Staten Island Ferry. They did wait for the next one which took another 30 minutes.While on the ferry, students and parents took photos to cherish the memories. Luckily for us, it was a clear day so we could see the Statue of Liberty clearly.
Once the ferry ride was over, we walked past Battery Park and boarded our bus. During the ride to our lunch destination, we passed the 9/11 memorial and also the pier where the Titanic ship was supposed to dock. Mr. Roper makes it a point to mention this pier every year.
Once we passed the pier, students proceeded to the Dallas BBQ, where they ate lunch, located in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was a coincidence that the seniors at Villa Maria Academy had their senior New York Trip on the same day. Villa Seniors were on their way to see Newsies, which Malvern saw last Spring. Because on their trip they were allotted time to roam around the city, some of the Villa girls came to Dallas BBQ to meet up with their friends from Malvern. After lunch was finished, students then took a short walk to the Majestic Theater and took their seats for a 2 o’clock show of Phantom of the Opera.
Phantom was filled with many ups and downs. The first “down” was that the dropping of the chandelier was disjointed. The path was not straight down which was a surprise to the students. The woman who played Madame Giry was familiar to students who go on every New York Trip, because the same actress played Miss Jones in How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. The soprano lead, Christine, was different from my expectations, which were developed by listening to YouTube clips and listening to the soundtrack. Christine played a very shy character. Even when the scene was called to be big and triumphant, the actress who played Christine was a little quiet. Carlotta, whose character calls for loudness, brought it. Her lines from “Prima Dona” were majestic like they are called to be in the script.
Matt Anthony ‘14 observed, “The show was fantastic, but I will admit that at times, it got boring.” Some students loved the musical and some didn’t. The one thing we all can say. though, is that we enjoyed the experience. We got to witness a theatrical show that changed Broadway. Mr. Roper told us that Phantom of the Opera opened doors for shows like Les Miserables to be produced, because in time of its creation, Broadway was going through a slump. Because Phantom went over well, producers of other musicals that were slow and dramatic also continued their work. Mr. Roper explained this to us – and we all know Mr. Roper knows what he is talking about when it comes to theater.
The Malvern Arts Department is welcoming to all who wants to come on the trips. It is a time to enjoy the company of friends and listen to wonderful live music, which is sometimes lost in today’s society.
