The music of the night comes to Artscape's stage in The Phantom of the Opera. The music of the night comes to Artscape's stage in The Phantom of the Opera.
Terri Dunbar-Curran
AS EARLY as first rehearsal, the new cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera were already being put through their paces working on one of the more technical parts of the show, but musical supervisor Guy Simpson is confident that they will excel.
“I like them to know really early how high the bar is,” he says with a smile. “I have high expectations, but not unrealistic. But, this cast is talented. They will deliver. Yes, we did something really difficult on the first day and they rose to the occasion. But it’s not all drill, drill, drill – we have a lot of laughs.”
Simpson has a good idea of just what a large-scale musical entails, having spent almost 30 years working in the industry as conductor, musical director and musical supervisor. The list of international musicals he has been involved in includes Miss Saigon, Cats, Chicago, Les Misérables, West Side Story and We Will Rock You: The Queen Musical.
“ Phantom is a great score – one of Andrew’s masterpieces. It’s full of incredible melody and drama. And what happens when the music meets the set and acting – there’s this incredible theatricality. It’s fantastic,” he says. “It’s a fusion of music, theatre and design. It’s become an iconic piece of theatre.”
He has worked on productions of Phantom in various countries, including a Brazilian staging in Portuguese. While each show looks almost exactly the same, and the aim is for them to be the same musically as well, the aim isn’t just to replicate the show in each country, but rather to make it work.
“Everyone brings slightly different energy to the piece and different skills. We work with the raw materials presented to us. My job is to guide the show musically. In a way, I’m Andrew’s representative here. Getting them to do things how I think he would want it done,” says Simpson.
Having that connection with the composer of the work is something special. “It’s great to have composers in your life who are not dead,” he laughs. “And he’s not just sitting on the sidelines.”
Having Lloyd Webber on hand is a luxury Simpson appreciates.
“He is quite a shy man, unless you talk his language… musicians are notorious like that.
“Talk music and any musician in the world will connect with you. He trusts me. He lets me do what I feel is right for the shows.”
That trust is something that became deeper as the pair worked together on Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom. After the launch of the new production in London did not meet with the success they had hoped, Simpson was given the freedom to reinvent it somewhat for the upcoming Australian run.
“We were given the licence to rewrite some sections – in collaboration with Andrew. It was fantastic, and much more creative.
“Whereas Phantom is totally set, the score is unchangeable – you don’t mess with it.”
He has also had a long-standing working relationship with Claude-Michel Schönberg, composer of Miss Saigon. “I feel very comfortable with both of them,” says Simpson.
The most rewarding part of the job for him is meeting the teams behind the musicals in each country – the actors, conductors, orchestra members and everyone else involved in making the show a success.
“I also get to travel all over the world and every group that does it is so different.”
Simpson describes himself as “one of the rare folk” who does not have an agent. He works from a diary and commits himself to new projects based largely on how much time he has available.
However, if he happens to be busy with something else at the same time, he is open to seeing how the different schedules can be shuffled to allow him space to work on more than one project at a time.
In fact, while he is filling the role of musical supervisor at Artscape, he is also conducting Love Never Dies in Melbourne.
His diary for the next while predicts a busy season ahead with him heading for Sydney in January with Love Never Dies, then to Japan with Miss Saigon and eventually taking this production of Phantom to Manila and Seoul. He is also busy with a concert production of Promises Promises.
Despite his busy and occasionally flexible schedule, Simpson also has a clear idea of the direction his career is heading over the next few years. “I’d like to do some opera, I think it’s time. My training was classical. I’m becoming a more mature conductor. I’d like to conduct,” he says. “I do miss having the stick and actually doing it. I would like to go back to conducting in the concert arena and opera world.”
With just a few weeks to go until opening night, it’s back to the rehearsal room for Simpson and the cast. There’s a lot more work to be done to ensure The Phantom of the Opera is ready to impress local audiences, but he seems energised by the challenge. “We are doing what we love, that’s the bottom line.”
l The Phantom of the Opera runs from November 22. To book, call 021 421 7695.