I’m a little worried that I might run out of superlatives by the end of this. Hang on, I’m going to open thesaurus.com in another tab. Okay. Here we go.

On Wednesday 14th, I went to The Guild of Students at the University of Birmingham to see GMTG’s The Phantom of the Opera. It was the first time I had ever seen Phantom  live, and it quickly became apparent how large an undertaking the production was. We were an audience to match the scale. There was a teeming crowd, for a student production, on a Wednesday.

Before the show even began, I could see techies running around, making last minute preparations. Turned round in my seat, I could see that the conductor monitor was being stubborn. I was somewhat on edge for them; I overheard the Assistant Director say that “so much could go wrong.” And indeed, there were one or two mic slip-ups during the performance. Début director Megan Probert was lucky, perhaps, that they didn’t occur during the scenes where both singing principles were faced upstage. Furthermore, when the mic falls did come, it was gratifying to see them happen to actors who could handle it. They were calm and you could actually still hear them, which I doubt of one or two members of the chorus that I saw occasionally floundering. Speaking of the chorus, I’m sure I saw moments of choreography in the opera scenes that seemed anachronistic to 19th century France.

Let me be clear though: I’m being really picky. I wanted to get all that out of the way because I literally can’t think of anything else to say against the production. It was clearly a show on a strict budget, but it made you re-assess what you thought was possible with a strict budget. By the end, I was upstanding.

For example, did you notice that I said debut director just then? This was the first production that Probert had directed. She and her team did an incredible job of handling the resources at their disposal. The stage was fully utilised, with pleasing levels and set design to compliment. The chair trick at the end left me baffled (in a good way). Moreover, the scene changes themselves were smooth, without ever being underwhelming. The lighting design was grand and impressive, swinging between garishly theatrical and moody noir, as the scenes demanded. The result dripped with atmosphere. The sound mixing was notably good, especially considering that there was no pit, but the orchestra were hidden backstage.

As for the orchestra themselves… There was frisson abound watching this show. Doubtless, some of this is thanks to Lloyd Webber’s chilling, captivating music, but really, music is only as good as the performance.* Under the baton of Josh Sood, the orchestra gave a truly arresting performance, and I was especially pleased to hear some authentic 80’s synth. The imposing brass section was also exciting. Lovely.

I would also like to note, on the technical side, that it can be easy to overuse a smoke machine. There was no such folly here!**

So far, I haven’t really mentioned the cast. There was startlingly obvious talent, wherever you looked. From the dance troupe and their entertaining ballet, to the supporting roles, to the principals, it was rare to see a step out of place and everyone seemed well up to the difficulty of the show. When the chorus really got to stretch their larynxes (“Masquerade” comes to mind), it made you wish Lloyd Webber had written more choral numbers for the show. There were of course, incredible sopranos in the featured roles, markedly Abby Fiddik (Christine) and Joanna Goldspink (Carlotta), who traded in spine-tingling and warm performances. Jake Dorrell threw himself into Piangi, his energy itself prompting laughs. Ben Cuffin-Munday and Peter Brooks really backed up the much-needed comic relief, which was well delivered. It was a joy to see them enjoying themselves in the role. Andrew Wilson shone in the second act as The Phantom, emoting from behind both his mask and the gruesomely good make-up that it hid***. However, a special mention must go to Thom Udall, who excelled as Raoul. My eye was constantly drawn to him, and I never caught him without character and purpose. He can be truly proud of his performance.

Well, I would say rush to go and see it, but I hear you’re already too late – the rest of the run has been sold, and deservedly so. Best of luck to the entire cast and crew for their run. How does it fare as procrastination?

Entertainment – 9 An extraordinary show.

Effort – 7 If you’re in Birmingham, the place is no trouble to get to. If musicals aren’t your thing, you might struggle to follow a one or two of the subtleties in the plot.

Expense – 8 £12 might seem controversial for a student production, but I’m willing to bet that you’d be paying at least double that anywhere else.

Endurance – 7 It might only be a night’s distraction, but it will distract you for more than a night. A bump from the usual ‘6’ here.

EQUALS – 7.75 It was an excellent way to spend my time.

* You’re welcome.

** Sorry. That’ll be all the Shakespeare I’ve been watching.

*** Credit also to whoever organised that make-up.