Parisian Theatre, Macau. 28 February to 26 March 2017. Reviewed by Lindsay Sykes
The Three Phantoms as a concept and show has been around for a good few years now, and still regularly pulls in the crowds to their concerts. The Three Phantoms is the brainchild of musical theatre star Earl Carpenter. For this performance they have stripped back their theatrical set and are joined by Mark Aspinall leading the Concert Philharmonic Orchestra to create a sensational night out.
Emerging onto the stage in immaculately tailored suits the trio comprises Earl Carpenter, David Shannon and Kieran Brown. Starting with Cry Me A River and then introducing themselves with some jokes – speaking in English with subtitles on the side screens. The Phantoms are joined by 3 leading ladies Olivia Brereton, Marisa McIntyre and Lisa-Anne Wood, three dancers Rachel Chapman, Joanna Walters and Paige Starbuck and the wonderfully talented Alistair Barron also assists (and in one or two numbers, stands out) — though the phantoms are humorously keen to take pains to deny his presence
There is music from The Phantom Of The Opera but it does not predominate. Highlights include a medley from Les Miserables commencing with Aspinall leaving his stand to conduct the 10 voices in a sublime a-capella version of I Dreamed A Dream. The vocal beauty of this particular arrangement is breathtaking and the show should be seen if for no other reason than to experience quite what the human voice is capable of in this one song.
And the four males certainly provide the finest rendition of Miss Saigon’s ‘Bui Doi’ you’re ever likely to hear.
Singing a string of West End favourites, the performers reckon that to see all of the shows they’ve taken songs from you’d have to fork out over £90,000 for tickets alone, the cast cover a nice section of music from the past 30 years
There is less chat in this production than in previous shows but with an audience whose first language isn’t English, the music does the speaking for them
The singers have the ability to hold the audience in the palm of their hands, and there is little to fault about The Three Phantoms, performed with consummate professionalism and gusto by its appealing cast. Above all the show presents 8 international stars of musical theatre whose talents are incomparable. As a whole, the music of this particular night is easy to recommend to any fan of the great stage musicals.
If you happen to be in Macau before the end of March or Singapore in May, then go and see this show and you too can experience the sweet intoxication of the power of the music of the night