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`Phantom' gets a roasting before the curtain opens

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DELMAC

A sold-out show is a sweet dream for any promoter. However, the National Theater's upcoming performances of the Phantom of the Opera, which are nearly sold out, are creating a stink.

Set to begin on Jan. 18 the series of shows will last nearly three months. But the chief sponsor, National Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Center, is now fending off criticism that it is charging first-rate ticket prices for a third-rate cast.

Last week, DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) called a press conference to accuse the Center, which controls scheduling for the National Concert Hall and the National Theater, of overcharging the public by setting the highest ticket price in Asia for the musical.

The legislator's charges were backed up by singer Lin Chi-yin (林慈音). She said leading man Brad Little was not performing for the upcoming Taiwan tour and performer Marni Raab is an occasional replacement for leading lady Rebecca Pitcher.

According to local media reports, the Center poured in around NT$300 million to secure the performances and is selling tickets ranging from NT$1,200 to NT$6,600 for each of the 63 shows.

Chen said Phantom of the Opera tickets in China were between NT$400 to NT$3,200, and in South Korea they ranged from NT$1,200 to NT$4,500.

Chen also said the Center has already won over several big companies as co-sponsors. Moreover, the Ministry of Education, will subsidize the Center with NT$600 million next year.

Ann Liu (劉怡汝), deputy director of the Center, said she has already secured guarantees from the Really Useful Company that the cast performing in Taiwan will be top-notch performers. She said the cast was picked by the Phantom's composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"Mr. Webber thinks all those performances were were up to his standard," she said. "So in terms of quality of performances, it should not be an issue."

Liu argued that compared with Seoul's theater that has 2,300 seats, the National Theater has about 1,370 seats, thus the receipts in Seoul would be higher.

She said the Center would not be making a large profit from Phantom even if every available seat was sold.

Besides, she said, only 100 of the highest-priced tickets costing NT$6,600 are

available for each show.

"The Center, in fact, has to depend on sales of the show's peripheral products and donations from other major sponsors to cover all of the expenses," she said. "Otherwise, we could lose money."

Taipei audiences have had bad experiences in the past when they did not get their money's worth. One example was last year when the

leading character of the Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatley, failed to show up for his troupe's Taiwan tour.

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