The world of Stephen Brockelman: Memoir, Arts, Opinion
Get a head start on Halloween. Phantom of the Opera streams free this weekend.
If you’ve been missing Broadway and local theatre as much as I have over the past 9 months, this announcement from TheatreMania should make you as happy as it makes me.
The Shows Must Go On channel on YouTube will present a re-broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Operaat the Royal Albert Hall. There is no charge to watch and it will stream at 2pm ET on Friday, October 9, and will remain on YouTube for 48 hours.
This production, filmed in 2011 in celebration of the show’s 25th anniversary, stars Ramin Karimloo* as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Christine, and Hadley Fraser as Raoul. They’re joined by Keira Duffy as Carlotta, Daisy Maywood as Meg Giry, Barry James as Monsieur Firmin, Gareth Snook as Monsieur Andre, Liz Robertson as Madame Giry, and Wynn Evans as Piangi.
The large-scale production is directed by Laurence Connor, inspired by the original direction of Harold Prince, with choreography by Gillian Lynne, based on her original movement. The sets and costumes are designed by Matt Kinley, inspired by Maria Bjornson’s original work. The lighting is designed by Patrick Woodroffe and Andrew Bridge, and sound is by Mick Potter.
*I learned from Seth Rudetsky that Ramin Karimloo is a method actor who is a pretty hot Phantom—even without the mask and costume.
As a Sr. Writer at T. Rowe Price, I work with a group of the best copywriters around. We belong to the broader creative team within Enterprise Creative, a part of Corporate Marketing Services.
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A long and winding road: My path to T. Rowe Price was more twisted than Fidelity’s green line. With scholarship in hand, I left Kansas at 18 to study theatre in New York. When my soap opera paychecks stopped coming from CBS and started coming from the show’s sponsor, Proctor & Gamble, I discovered the power of advertising and switched careers. Over the years I’ve owned an ad agency in San Francisco; worked for Norman Lear on All in the Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, and the rest of his hit shows; and as a member of Directors Guild of America, I directed Desi Arnaz in his last television appearance— we remained friends until his death. In 1988 I began freelancing full time didn’t look back.
In January 2012 my rep at Boss Group called and said, “I know you don’t want to commute and writing for the financial industry isn’t high on your wish list, but I have a gig with T. Rowe Price in Owings Mills…” I was a contractor for eight months, drank the corporate Kool-Aid, became a TRP associate that August, and today I find myself smiling more often than not.
