PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: CLOC WORLD AMATEUR PREMIERE
Melbourne's CLOC Musical Theatre, one of Australia's largest and most successful community theatre groups, has been known as the home of amateur premieres, whether it be Victorian (Evita, Singin' in the Rain, The Boy from Oz, Hot Shoe Shuffle), Australian (Sweeney Todd, Annie, Les Misérables, Dusty) or Australasian (Cats, Steel Pier, Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard).
The winner of over 100 Victorian Music Theatre Guild awards over its 48 years and 97 productions, CLOC is justifiably basking in the glory of having been awarded the 2012 Production of the Year with its most recent show, All Shook Up (which also took home three other awards for settings, lead actor and musical director).
As CLOC prepares for its 98th production, it faces perhaps its most daunting and biggest challenge and another "first" - the WORLD amateur premiere production of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's legendary masterpiece The Phantom of the Opera. This show promises to be one of CLOC's biggest and most complex productions ever in every facet and department, and one that all at CLOC are relishing with great excitement, confident that audiences will experience a momentous spectacle and an unforgettable spine-tingling night at the theatre.
One of the most crucial and memorable parts of any production of Phantom is the set: the recreation of the famous Paris Opera House - onstage, front of house, backstage and on the rooftop, the subterranean Phantom's lair, the massive staircase, the many visual effects and of course, the famous chandelier. Given the task of designing and living up to everyone's indelible memories of these images is multi award-winning designer Brenton Staples, who was most recently gonged for the tenth time for his amazing and beautiful design of the famous mansion set in Sunset Boulevard, which drew nightly applause from audiences. Brenton has already completed his design for Phantom, including a miniature version with every facet of the set reproduced in tiny detail (the size of a doll's house), some of which you can see here by way of a sneak peek, being watched over by director Chris Bradtke, who, in his thirteenth show for CLOC as director, is at the helm of this massive undertaking.
The Phantom of the Opera opens at the National Theatre St. Kilda – the perfect venue for this show - and runs from May 10-25, 2013, for 12 performances. Preferential ticket bookings open on February 18, 2013.
For more information, please go to www.cloc.org.au or call 1300 362 547.
Behind the Scenes at CLOC's Phantom
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