Goosebumps Phantom of the Auditorium
Review by Ernest Goes To The Theatre/Ernest Edwards
Over the weekend I was at Park Square Theatre for the musical Goosebumps Phantom of the Auditorium based on on the R.L.Stine’s book series. This musical has book & lyrics by John MacLay, and music, lyrics, orchestrations, & arrangements by Danny Abosch. This musical is directed by Ellen Fenster-Gharib with additional direction & choreography by Jack Moorman.
I have not read The Goosebumps series of books from the 1990’s. Based on the title, this musical is exactly what I thought it was going to be. A modern story that pays homage to the Andrew Lloyd Musical Phantom of the Opera. The high school is ready for the annual musical. The drama teacher has chosen the play The Phantom. Which the school says is cursed. No sooner do rehearsals begin that the strange things that can’t be explained begin to happen. The trap door that hasn’t been used in ages, leads to some underground lair deep under the schools basement. A mysterious figure keeps spooking the cast.
I also liked the scenery for the this production designed by Micheala Lochen. The scenery easily transforms from a high school hallway, to the drama room, to the stage, to the mysterious lair deep below the high school.
This production also made good use of the aisles. Which helped with some of the spooky moments in the musical. We the audience, got an up close experience with the spooky figure haunting this high school musical.
The songs are fun, the cast is amazing, and the story is very good. Even if you are not familiar with the musical The Phantom of the Opera, you will enjoy this musical. Including the intermission, the show runs for about 1 hour 45 minutes. There’s one week left to see this wonderful production. Musical runs through December 14, check out www.parksquaretheatre.org for tickets.
