collaboration spotlight — The Phantom Showman mashup by Fernando Varela
When classical singer Fernando Varela first saw The Greatest Showman, the visual spectacle and soaring music reminded him of one of the shows that had originally inspired him to pursue singing as a career, Phantom of the Opera. After some noodling, he found that the songs from both shows could be combined rather nicely.
Details:
title: The Phantom Showman
performers: Fernando Varela (Raoul), Leah Lowman (Christine), & Tony Wakim (Phantom)
original songs / performers: "Never Enough" by Loren Allred as Jenny Lind (vocals) in The Greatest Showman (2017); "All I Ask of You" & "Think of Me" by Sarah Brightman as Christine Daaé & Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny in The Phantom of the Opera (1986)
written by: "Never Enough" by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul; "All I Ask of You" & "Think of Me" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, & Richard Stilgoe
arranged by: Fernando Varela
release date: 9 April 2018
My favorite bits:
the tinkling music box version of the instrumentation
Fernando's lovely clear voice, with just a touch of vibratto
Leah's hopeful princess-y tone
the echo on the Phantom's call
the little flip up into head voice on the second ♫ "never be enough" ♫
the way the songs from both shows weave together
gotta love a dramatic key change
the big harmonized belting moment with a sudden cut-off
pulling back to just tentative vocals and the music box to end
Trivia:
Being a tenor, Fernando cast himself in the role of steadfast Raoul, who falls in love with his childhood friend Christine when they meet as adults. Which is fitting, in a way. After all, Fernando has admitted that the reason he initially pursued opera as a teenager was to spend time with a girl he liked.
This video was filmed at The Ballroom on Church Street, the same location PattyCake used as their castle interior for "Beauty and the Bieber" a year earlier. With brighter lighting, it made for a decent opera house.
Leah and Tony's costumes were both originally created for VoicePlay's "Phantom of the Opera" music video in 2015.
A few months before this recording, Fernando had been a part of the Royal Christmas Gala tour across Europe, which was headlined by Sarah Brightman, who originated the role of Christine in Phantom.
In the lead-up to the release date, Fernando posted a series of coundtdown images on social media.
This is Tony's third filmed iteration of the Phantom. Before VoicePlay's full version of the show's title song, he sang an excerpt in their "Aca Top 10 — Broadway" countdown, which they also performed on the 2015 Sing-Off tour.
PattyCake had released their own Greatest Showman medley in the form of "The Disney Showman" celebrating the life and legacy of the illustrious Walt a month earlier.
Layne later arranged a portion of "Never Enough" for VoicePlay as part of their "Showman Medley" video with Rachel Potter at the end of 2021.
