Comparison Of Two Plays Essay, Research Paper

The two plays that I will be comparing in my final project are The Phantom of The Opera

written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and My Fair Lady written by Frederick Loewe. The Phantom

of The Opera which was playing at the Krannert Center in Champaign was what I thought to be a

high budgeted play because of the props, scenery, and costumes that the actors wore. My Fair

Lady which was playing at The Sunshine Company of Champaign was not as expensive as the

Krannert Center and was shown through the costumes and quality of actors that gave the play

life. I chose these two production companies because I wanted to experience one play that was

of high quality and one which lacked high quality.

The most notable missing quality in My Fair Lady was the use of specific and dated

scenery to the times. The theater which this play was given at was a small and old building with

a medium sized stage that was barely large enough to house two scenes one indoor and one

outdoor. The acting was what I considered to be good for the money with which they probably

make. The men in this play did not give enough energy to the audience and never made me feel

like I was in the play. They had no enthusiasm for what they were doing. The women,

especially the lead character Eliza Doolittle, was a decent actress in that she used her energy

wisely during the times when Eliza would get upset or angry at the other characters. The design

elements that were used in the creation of the scenery would not be considered good quality.

There was no use of proper weight, meaning that the stage was equipped with only two chairs

and shelves which held books that could be seen to be fake, while the outdoor scene consisted of

a street with the curbing and a brick wall painted in the backdrop. The doors looked as if they

should have been wider because when the actors came through the door they would have to turn

sideways just enough to be noticed. The one element that was utilized correctly was that the

stage was not bunched into one side or the other. The combinations of colors also was nicely

highlighted as shown in the outdoor scene where the grass was a pleasant deep green and the

brick wall was a deep, smooth red. My personal opinion of this production and the theater

would be that it was of course low budgeted but yet the actors and actresses gave a good

performance with what they had to work with money wise.

The other play that I viewed was The Phantom of The Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This play was showing at the Krannert Center and was a very highly budgeted and detailed play.

The actors and actresses that portrayed the characters of this play were well picked and

possessed powerful voices able of keeping you at the edge of your seat the whole play. From the

ear piercing screams to the beautiful singing that flowed throughout the play. The stage

consisted of four different sections which would rotate as the time changed. The First section

that could be seen was the opera house at which the phantom calls his home. The second section

was rooftop of the opera house. The third section that could be seen was the catacombs and lair

of the phantom. The last section that rotated around was the masquerade ball at the end of the

play. The scenery was very elaborate and well put together. From the antique drapery to the

detailed box seats to the huge organ which blew smoke out as the phantom played his demonic

tunes. Even the river he pushed his way down in his boat was filled with real water.

The props such as the piano and the famous chandelier hanging over the audience were

large scaled and precision hand-crafted. The directing for this play was obviously higher in

quality than in My Fair Lady but of course their was more money involved, so their was more

“Motivation” as an actor would say. My personal opinion of this play is that it was the most

interesting thing that I have been to for a while. My life has not been filled with many plays but

these two were a great starting point for my to see plays regularly. Even though the Sunshine

Company was a low budget company I still had an excellent time. Both of these plays were

interesting enough to make me want to compare them to plays that I will definitely see in the

future.