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The
Sir Wilfrid Laurier production of The Phantom
of the Opera featured Phillip Lukic as the Phantm
and Rebecca White as Christine Daaé.
Fred Sherwin/Photo
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When
it comes to high school musical productions, some are
much more popular than others. Among the most popular
are Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz,
and Grease, all three of which made the list of
the Top 10 high school musicals in North America last
year.
One
surprising omission from the list was The Phantom of
the Opera, most likely because it demands at least
two strong male voices playing the lead roles of the Phantom
and the Vicomte Raul de Chagny � something that is a rarity
at most high schools.
When
she decided on the Phantom for the high school's annual
musical production, Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School
drama teacher and high school musical director Sonya Schrum
was blessed with a wealth of riches in that she had several
strong male singers to chose from.
She
ultimately chose Phillip Lukic to play the masked Phantom,
and Xavier Cadieux to play Raul � both were excellent
choices, as was Rebecca White who played the lead role
of Christine Daa�, the love interest of both Raul and
the Phantom.
White
and Cadieux had a magical chemistry on stage that is all
too rare among male and female leads in romantic high
school productions. Their kiss at the end of their duet
All I Ask of You seemed genuine and further endeared
the audience to the story.
White
was superb throughout the pro-duction. Besides her duets
with Cadieux and Lukic, her solo Wishing You Were Somehow
Here Again was one of the highlights of the second
act.
Lukic's
strong baritone voice gave a level of richness to his
solo performance of The Music of the Night that
was impressive indeed.
But
my favourite number by far was the ensemble performance
of Masquerade, which is one of the most recognizable
songs from the Broadway musical.
Other
performances of note included Michele Hill as Christine's
best friend Meg Giry, and Jordan Mason as theatre owner
Richard Firmin. The rest of the lead cast was rounded
out by Alyssa Rama as the primadonna Calotta Giudicelli;
Serena Ferzil as Madame Giry; Simon Nordin as Buquet and
Andrew Parsche as Fermin's partner Gilles Andr�.
I
honestly can't say enough about the cast, or the student
orchestra which provided the accompaniment to the 23-song
set list.
Student
director Olivia MacKeen was responsible for the special
effects along with Cadieux who did double duty both on
stage and behind the scenes.
The
costumes were amazing, the light-ing and the sound were
both spot on, and the set design elements were true to
the Broadway production. All in all, the play was truly
a top-notch high school production. The cast and crew
should be extremely proud of themselves for a job well
done.
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Phillip
Lukic performs on stage as the Phantom along with
Xavier Cadieux (Raul) and Rebecca White (Christine
Daa�) in the Sir Wilfrid Laurier productuon of The
Phantom of the Opera. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)