Bringing to life one of the most loved and most successful musicals of all time was always going to be an ambitious undertaking, so how did the Workshop Player’s fare? “Wonderful” “Awesome” “Mind-blowingly intense” “Beyond expectation” “Spectacular” “Simply Amazing!” are just a few of the things people have been saying about the mammoth project that the WSP brought to fruition from the 1st of October to the 12th, a run of 16 shows that featured many different actors on various days.

To start off, the set was great, from the façade of the opera to the graveyard scene with the ivy crawling up the walls as the Phantom shoots fireballs to the rooftop sculpture and of course the beautiful chandelier. We were even treated to the infamous crash, one of the many special effects that amazed the audience. We were all excited at the quality of the technical side of the show; there was no skimping on props and the details on the costumes was something I especially appreciated. The Masquerade scene alone had an abundance of beautiful costumes! Though this was no Broadway production, it was after all the first amateur production in Asia, the excellence of the show carried through. I had the pleasure of watching Sean Amarasekera and he definitely played a more classically dramatic Phantom, starting off strong and commanding and then ebbing into an artistic, broken genius.

Dmitri Gunatilake was lovely, she encapsulated the tender Christine and her eyes literally shone as she sang, supported by the sturdy, dependable Raoul played by Stephan Anoj. Devashrie De Silva’s voice was enchanting and I found the chemistry between her Gyles Dharmaratne as Raoul to be sweet and gentle. Both times, however, I found that Carlotta stole the show! Dinushka Jayawickreme and Kumudini David’s prima donna was hilarious and not too caricatured so as to lose her humanity (her heartbreak at seeing Piangi dead was a brief but gut-wrenching moment). Andre and Firmin attacked their roles with gusto and Piangi probably got the most laughs. Madame Giry had a sense of gravitas ideal for the role, and Meg was perfect as Christine’s confidante. Monsieur Reyer was a little ball of fury and Buquet was a hair-raising creep.

There were hiccups in the performances though, we could see the backstage scrambling around sometimes, people tripped, Piangi fell off his elephant but to his credit made it look like it was a part of the play! Sometimes their voices were not powerful enough and were drowned in the music and articulation wasn’t perfect so if you didn’t know the story and most of the words already you probably wouldn’t have understood bits of it, especially when multiple melodies were sung at once like in Notes. There was incongruence with some characters having superficial French accents and some not, but anyone who concentrated on these issues was missing the bigger picture, and that picture is this – the Workshop Players brought the magic and fantasy of the Phantom to Sri Lanka and did a pretty good job of it!

Overall, the production was moving, spell-binding and an absolute success!

Comments from the audience

Favourite Character – Carlotta
Favourite Phantom – Jehan
Favourite Christine – Dmitri and Devashrie
Favourite Raoul – Stephan Anoj

1st October

- Loved the sets. I liked Jehan as the phantom and Dhanushi as Christine but Raoul was underwhelming. Absolutely loved the sets and costumes. - Talisha

- Loved the costumes! The Phantom had his moments but Christine was amazing! Raoul didn’t fit, I thought he was showing off. The Effects were brilliant. - Terunie

2nd October

- A phenomenal performance. The effects and props were all well done and professional. Dmitri Gunatilake’s performance as Christine left me speechless, her singing and expression suited the role very well. The Phantom was played out well but was not forbidding enough. Overall it was another excellent and mind blowing performance by WSP. - Aysha Asad

- The Workshop Players once again graced us with a fabulous production. The acting and singing had the customary WSP brilliance and this production had dazzling special effects. Christine and The Phantom were excellent. I enjoyed this effort more than the production I saw in London a decade ago but I am obviously biased. My best wishes to WSP in all their future productions. - Dinal Edirisinghe

3rd October

- Awesome and epic. Wish the Phantom was a better singer. Stephanie was really good, the stage effects were new and I enjoyed in very much. I liked Carlotta a lot, she was funny and sang beautifully. - Rochelle

- I thought it was of a high standard - the props, costumes, lighting, acting and above all Christine's(Stephanie) and Carlotta was amazing too. The best! I enjoyed their voices and their music very, very much. Loved the emotions portrayed as well as the facial expressions. I felt their emotions. - Marie

4th October

- Awesome special effects but it was hard to understand the story and make out the words of the song. - Shawn

- Sean was phantom and it was WONDERFUL. Really he held my attention the whole time, singing and acting were fab I really did feel for him. Carlotta was hilarious. Christine was amazing, when I closed my eyes it was like I was listening to a Broadway performance. - Natasha

5th October

- The show was simply amazing! It was well worth the wait. I’ve been a fan of WSP for years and I must say this was yet another performance that blew me away. The acting, singing, theatrics, everything was brilliant! Hats off to Jerome and the workshop players! The Phantom was my favourite. - Manisha

- I have been watching stage plays for years and I have to say that this was one of the best shows I have ever been to. The acting did great justice to the original and the stage effects were unbelievable! The singing was great too and every single character added much colour to the show! I definitely would not think twice about a chance to watch it again. - Rosh de Silva

6th October

So I went with very high expectations, because Phantom is by far my favourite musical of all time, and I was not disappointed. Jerome and the team put on a top performance. There was never a dull moment. The characters were portrayed very well and the singing on par and perfectly articulated, so the audience didn't lose sight of the plot during the songs. Jehan brought forth such sincerity to the portrayal of the Phantom, that you could not help empathizing with him. And Dushyanth played a very strong Raoul. But the star of the show was Stephanie, who was the epitome of Christine. Her voice was beautiful and she brought beauty and grace to her performance. The supporting cast was fantastic. Both Niren and Sean were outstanding. The sets were fantastic and far superior to many seen during other productions, especially the transition to the Phantom's lair. Five days later, I am still singing parts of the songs as the scenes play in my head! - Cleona Markandarajah

- This show was truly an awesome experience. I believe i speak for everyone when i say that as an audience we truly appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in making this show, it was nothing less than spectacular. The cast was brilliant in every way down to the smallest role. A special mention of the guys behind the scenes that were responsible for every seamless change, a lot of hard work from some very talented people. - Angelo Pereira

7th October

- A truly brilliant production, from the sets to the lighting, special effects & finally the cast. The commitment of the WSP over the last few months has been truly amazing, resulting in an unforgettable production for us all. - Denushka Wickramasurendra

A mind-blowingly intense & emotional performance by Manoj as Phantom on Tuesday night! Really felt the emotional turmoil he underwent - brought tears to my eyes. Christine (Devashri) gave a beautifully angelic performance, and that vocal range, chills! Madame Giry (Kisholi) was one of my faves that night as well. Very well done to Jerome & the entire cast & crew - as always the Workshop troop never fail to amaze us. Will await the next!. - Surani Perera

9th October

- It was unanimously decided that we were “transported”! Loved Jehan’s mad commitment, the singing of Dmitri, Dinesha’s and Stephan’s charisma, overall performance by all and the insane attention to detail! Flawless! - Ishara Naotunna

- I have a category for this sort of genius; Out.Of.This.World! Savoured each sensation. Bravo to the crew, especially Carlotta, Christine and of course the amazing Phantom. - Arnita Amarasekara

10th October

- Sean was a fabulous Phantom, Carlotta was hilariously well played and beyond happy that we actually had the chance to watch it HERE! Backstage, set and props were so impressive it hurts... Everything seemed to go like clockwork. - Natasha

11th October

- We loved it! We were totally blown away by the detailed effort taken to design the props, the scenes and the sound effects, definitely kept us on the edge. Dhanushi Wijekulasuirya's acting and vocals were particularly exceptional as she played Christine and Dushyanth Weeraman's appearance as Raoul was a pleasant surprise. All in all great vocals and great production. Oh and thumbs up to the two curators of the opera house...they definitely borught in humor to the show. - Kenosha Kumaresan

- I had very high expectations from the WSP as always and they did no less than live upto that!! From the beginning of the show I was at the edge of my seat amazed at the beautiful set and the details on it. From Dhanushi's awe inspiring vocals to Jehan's tear jerking performance to Dushyanth's amazing talent on stage which I was completely unaware of since I had no idea he could sing like that. It was heart-warming, and he stole our hearts! Articulation was on the dot heard all the 't's and the 'k's with great clarity right at the back of the balcony! i couldn't understand most of what carlotta sang but her vocals were outta this world! All in all I think yesterday's performance was SUPER!!! Hats off to the cast and crew! Salute! - Shiloni Abeywickrema

12th October

- The effects are good as well as the costumes and props. I couldn’t understand half of what they were saying. All the actors were good though. It was fabulous and so much effort was put into every little detail. The Phantom was really good. It had me on the edge of my seat. - Jonathan and Janine

- The Phantom was quite spectacular. The sounds were fabulous and so were the special effects. The guy who played the phantom was brilliant and made my flesh crawl. The Prima Donna was really good, Christine acted well but her voice was sometimes thin but she sang the high notes well. The Phantom of the Opera sets a new level of excellence for English Theatre in Sri Lanka. It is hoped that in the future the bar will be raised further. - Averil and Alan

By Marissa van Eyck
Photos (excluding audience) by Nisal Baduge