Abridge Over Troubled Waters

The hook-ups continue as the company received complimentary tix to "Phantom of The Opera". However, here's the catch: the production here in Vegas is only 90 MINUTES long (give or take five minutes). Most shows out here don't run past 90 minutes, so that they can squeeze in multiple performances in a night and make those dollars back. I'd never seen the show and didn't really know the music (a couple of tunes were slightly familiar, probably from the commercial). I don't know what we missed in those 90 minutes, and I do have to admit that some of the plot developments seemed fuzzy, or at least condensed, but overall, we enjoyed the show, and my fiance doesn't even really like musicals, so that says something. Not a bad recommendation for those who can't imagine sitting through much more than 90 operatic minutes. Before the show, we were trying to figure out how they can possibly squeeze a three-hour show into half the time - someone joked that they have white-water rapids instead of the meandering river for the boat scene. Now I wish I had seen the show in NY. Some of the songs are really just gorgeous and the set was amazing - maybe they should make it an hour show and add a performance for the money they put into it. What the set really brought home for me is how theater is really just play (hence the word "play"). Directors, writers, actors and particularly designers are up there creating entire worlds for us to get lost in and it is just so much fun (especially if done well). It's no different than childhood afternoons playing "pretend" and I just love it. The theater is a world where the child in us is always at play. Hey, someone get Hallmark on the phone!