The Phantom of the Opera is there… Inside the Guild.

The most successful show of all time comes to the Guild this Tuesday.


The Tab exclusively caught up with musical director/producer Josh Sood, his director Megan Probert and the Phantom himself Andrew Wilson.

Hi guys! Having celebrated over 10,000 shows on Broadway alone, and with its own feature film, the Phantom has had a whole host of different interpretations and approaches. Are there any specific individual touches you look to bring to the overall performance?

Megan: Phantom is an iconic show, so obviously it was important to stay true to certain key elements of the original production. Saying that, and without giving too much away… We’ve tried to take some risks, such as presenting certain characters, as well as some key moments, in a different and, we hope, fresh way. Our aim is to provide something new and engaging for both new-comers to The Phantom of the Opera and die-hard fans on their 38th viewing – all on a student budget!

Haunting opera houses is tiring stuff, apparently! Director Meg attempts to keep The Phantom (Andrew Wilson) engaged.

It’s well known for its powerful, emotive musical numbers, for which you have brought in what might be the largest orchestra the Guild has seen! What’s it been like working with an orchestra of 27 people?

Josh: Working with this 27 piece orchestra has been very exciting. The players that we have from both the music department here and conservatoire are exceptionally talented and they have made the last few days of rehearsals very easy. It’s great to be working with a full orchestra for this show as the score demands the full, lush operatic orchestration that we have become so used too, and I genuinely don’t think there is any other way of doing this show as it really would not have done the show justice.

Josh gives the huge orchestra the Harry potter treatment

The plot obviously revolves around the influence of The Phantom at an opera house, and the various catastrophes he causes. Have their been any real ‘Phantoms’ to deal with on the road to this performance? 

Megan: I’m not sure about ‘Phantoms’ but there certainly have been a few ‘Prima Donnas’ to contend with! All of the production team, cast and crew have worked so hard on this production and we’ve formed a really lovely (and huge) team, so I can’t complain really! And if I ask for the cast to give me ‘Diva’ and ‘Face’, I can’t not expect Jake Dorrell (our resident Piangi) to outshine us all.

Andrew: To be honest, from where I’m sat it’s been a pleasure to work on. Both Josh and Meg seem to have a really clear idea of what they want from us in the cast, which is not only great to work with – but it also seems to have avoided any major muck ups! (touch wood)!

The Phantom’s face is most probably the most famous prosthetic in all of entertainment, and took Gerard Butler almost 4 hours to put on in the feature film. How will you cope with donning his iconic mask?

Andrew: Well our Stage Manager Rebecca Maynard took much joy in covering me in liquid latex for the prosthetic – fortunately this means I can still move my face- and hopefully sing as well!

Apparently the team “had a lot to work with” in transforming Andy.

The Phantom of the Opera is running from 13th-17th of May, and tickets are available from http://www.guildtickets.co.uk/GMTG

All photos courtesy of Charlotte Wilson Photography