Beijing is embracing "Phantom". After a month-long residence in Guangzhou, the production has come to the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center for its grand premiere this Friday. (Photo/Chinanews.com)
On October 9, 1986, a new musical called "The Phantom of the Opera" won a 10-minute standing ovation at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. It has been playing there ever since.
Now, Beijing is embracing "Phantom" too. After a month-long residence in Guangzhou, the production has come to the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center for its grand premiere this Friday.
Since he first took on the role in 1996, Brad Little has played the title character more than 2,500 times, making him one of the longest-running Phantoms in the world. Through the experience, he has gained profound insight into the character.
"It's exactly people think that the phantom is a monster. Truthfully, he's a man, living in the bowels of the opera house his whole life, watching operas, and not having social education. What is his education? Operas. So now you go back to that, look at the operas in our world, they would kill for love? What does the phantom do? He kills for love," he said.
"It is his education to help him behave, and it's the operas that have been written all the years. That's why he's a little more bigger than life. He's a man who just simply loves, but it's raw, it's animalistic, it's just natural."
The veteran musical actor leads the cast this time with an old acquaintance, Anthony Downing as Raoul, and a new partner, Emilie Lynn, as Christine Daae. The chemistry between them, according to the cast, has been great.
The classic story of theatrical revenge and true love has become an inspiration for many artistic creations.
Having premiered in 1986 in London's West End, the musical has played more than 10,000 shows in both New York and London, as well as several world tours, including to Turkey and China in 2015.
The residential performance in Beijing will last until January 2016 in the newly-opened Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.
