25th anniversary celebrations

Phantom on a Budget wrote:So that random guy who was particularly bad compared to the other three is the one taking over in London then?

Yeah. Surprise. lol

When he stepped out next to Andrew, JOJ, and Colm, my first thought was, "Hey! Who's the punk with the bad hair?"

My impression of him didn't improve after he had opened his mouth.

Phantom on a Budget wrote:When he stepped out next to Andrew, JOJ, and Colm, my first thought was, "Hey! Who's the punk with the bad hair?"

My impression of him didn't improve after he had opened his mouth.

LOL. I can see why they let all the 'men' step forward and sing their parts before him. I honestly wanted to know what was going on in their minds while he was singing. His voice is DIFFERENT, but ... not the sort of different I'm expecting to sing the Phantom's lines.

I also saw a live screening tonight, and for the most I am thrilled. Yes, thrilled!

Let me say right away that what I loved the most was the gorgeous closeups. I don't see how those present at the concert would get any nuances or feeling of acting. The hall is gigantic, the people on stage tiny, and the sets only work from a frontal or slightly side view. That's the downside of projections. As a theatrical experience I am not sad I didn't go see it in Royal Albert Hall. I was offered tickets, but turned it down, and to be honest I don't regret it. It would have been solely for the spectacle and not for the staging or story telling. And I don't think the spectacle was all that. The filmed version, on the other hand, includes gorgeous closeups of gorgeos costumes on gorgeous cast members. Eye candy all through. And some very fine acting moments. Those who saw it live might disagree with me, but the screening I saw compared to some live clips I've seen makes me feel we're talking two totally different events.

I should add that the screening here in Oslo got totally screwed up. I'm still so angry. We missed everything up until Think of Me, and then we missed everything between Red Death entrance and the applause of WYWSHA. After that it worked properly, but we lost out on some key scenes. Oh yes, there will be refunds. But I've looked at clips online to see the stuff I missed out on, and there will eventually be a DVD. Which I will definitely buy.


The good:

*This staged concert was so radically much better than the 2004 movie. And I'm glad a filmed version of the stage musical will be available worldwide, so those whining about "but the movie is all I have, and that's why I love it" can see the amount of passion the stage musical offers compared to the watered down movie version.

*Sierra Boggess was outstanding. I just have to swallow my pride and prejudices (ha-ha) and whatever else I've thought of her in the past. She was absolutely mesmerizing. Yes, there are negative things to say about her - she depend a lot on her pouty-lips-and-large-eyes acting, and sometimes her voice go astray. Her accent is also the weirdest one ever, almost to the point of becoming distracting. And yet I found her fantastic. That was one positive surprise which made the whole concert worth it.

*Barry James for the win!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, I've never loved a Firmin more. I hope no-one plays the role like he did ever again, cause it was way out of line and just too silly. And that's what made it so awesome. Firmin was a total drunkard. He openly zipped his flask, had a drunk diction, and even walked unsteady at times. If I read this description, I would have hated it. But I loved him so much. And it came as a total surprise. He was the most fun element all evening.

*Some of the changes were very cool. The boxes facing the audience worked well. Meg being allowed to react after finding Piangi strangled was also a wonderful, little detail. Drunk Firmin to the win! Christine falling on her knees, sobbing, in the rooftop scene was touching. And the Phantom almost strangling Christine in the Final Lair, before realizing what he was doing, was a curious and cool detail.

*The costumes looked radiant and fresh overall, to the point where I wondered if Sierra Boggess had gotten especially made costumes for this event. The wedding dress was pristine, the rooftop dress fit exceptionally well, and the slavegirl bodice also looked fresh and sparkly. I won't bet any money that they were brand new, but they definitely weren't old. But the costumes in general were lovely. There were 6-8 costumes which weren't Bjørnson's design (especially a male ballet dancer one in Masquerade, and the who I assume was meant to be Madame André), and it was really easy to tell them apart. They were all less ornamental and more... standard. Bjørnson really added the little extra to her design.

*The original cast on stage, including ensemble and dancers. Kudos. I don't know what else to say.

*Brightman singing the title song + MOTN with Colm Wilkinson, Anthony Warlow, Peter Jöback, John Owen Jones and Ramin Karimloo. Wild stuff. Not entirely positive, but loads of fun. I hoped for something like it. I wish international Phantoms (say Saulo Vasconcelos, Henk Poort, Thomas Schulze, Peter Jorde, Yuichiro Yamaguchi etc). were recognized as well, but I liked the selection of English languaged ones they had picked out.

*The projections sets. For the most they worked very well. And I think they honoured both Bjørnson and Palais Garnier in a most excellent way. I also liked the extended sets - the already mentioned opera posters in the manager's office, the green hills in Il Muto ballet etc. Didn't fancy the Il Muto one, but that was one of the exceptions.

*The orchestra. Rich, sweeping, and for the most on time. There were two or three places they seemed off, like the flute in the Il Muto ballet, but for the most it was rich and rhythmic.



The bad:

*Hadley Fraser. What an angry, arrogant, unlikable, snotty, shouty Raoul he played. What a disappointment. Tim Martin Gleason's Raoul is a furry kitten in comparison. Fraser has an excellent voice, but he just appeared clueless about the role. Or he watched "Love Never Dies" one time too many and modeled the role after the idea that Raoul always was possessive, arrogant and unlikable. I won't say I hated his Raoul, but it was SO not my cup of tea. Especially not after seeing excellent Raouls like Tomas Kofod, Simon Bailey and Will Barratt in recent years. I'm not sure if we're to blame the directing or the actor, but whatever the case, Hadley Fraser goes down as the worst Raoul I've seen. I'll take Oliver Thornton any time.

*No mirror bride. For shame. Was it the hand grab which made Christine faint, then?

*The Il Muto ballet. Gillian Lynne, I love you, but this was a mess. Too many ballerinas, too little space, too much movements, and no threatening shadows to give the scene the nice mixture of humour, horror and beauty. Seeing the Phantom strangle and hang Buquet was a give or take, I don't think it made too big a difference, but the lack of his shadow during the dance was a big minus. And as mentioned, toooooo many ballerinas!

*The same goes for Masquerade. I was sure the scene would be awesomeness on two legs. But for the most I found it to be too many people on too little space. The storytelling was lost. It sounded good, though.

*The chandelier. The movie chandelier looked cool enough up there. But no rising of the chandelier, and especially no crash? Dull, dull, dull. I always thought the chandelier was a less important element in the staging, but the RAH version of it left something to be desired. Why not crash the movie chandelier for the final taping and make a spectacle!

*Who glued on gold appliqués on Sierra's wedding dress bodice? It looked like pigeon poo. Booooh.

*No "Raoul jumping from the travelator". Another booooh. It also meant we got a Raoul in pristine shirt and waistcoat in the Final Lair. Yet another boooooh.


The ugly:

*The ending. F to the U to the C to the K. Christine and Raoul doesn't gondol away in the boat, instead they're walking up the stairs to the left. Christine basically sings the AIAOY reprise to the Phantom, glancing over her shoulder, with Raoul almost forcefully dragging her up the stairs by her hand. I could almost hear "Beneath a Moonless Sky" being played in the background. SUCH a disappointment. Though, I don't blame Christine, with THAT Raoul I would consider choosing the Phantom as well...

*Peter Jöback as the Phantom... really.... really??!??! Being put to sing between Anthony Warlow and John Owen Jones might not be fair to any singer, but he sounds like a cartoon figure. He has the oddest timbre ever. It works very well for Cabaret and other musicals he's done in the past, and also his pop albums. But for the Phantom? I can't believe this casting. Unless he fundamentally change his whole voice, I fear he'll be butchered.


The neutral:

*Ramin Karimloo. Waaaaay better than how I remember him from Her Majesty's. More emotion, possibly, more passion, more depth. I don't know. He seemed to give it all tonight, and he seemed to not go vocally astray too much. He seemed to be more into the role overall, and apart from a lot of the mumbling he thrown in in the second act, and the heavy breathing at places, I thought he had improved massively. His way of pronouncing the T's and D's reminded of Hugh Panaro (but more often than not it resulted in a lot of spitting... did not look good in closeups!). I didn't love him, but I went from negative to neutral. That's something.

*Wendy Ferguson. I love the fact that they got a proper stage Carlotta with many performances under her belt. It brought some stability to the dynamic of the concert. But I'm still not loving Wendy Ferguson's Carlotta. Her acting reminds me of Miriam Margolyes in "Black Adder" and "Vanity Fair": over the top, aggressive and lots of.... eyes... There were moments I liked (can't remember which ones right now, I'm thinking in Prima Donna), but I still think her Carlotta lacks charm and humour. So... neutral on her too.

*Liz Robertson. I had forgotten how odd a timbre she has. It's not at all pleasant to listen to. And she seems to think her left eyebrow is the best way of acting out the role of Madame Giry. Like Carlotta, there were moments I liked a lot, but overall I wasn't impressed. Which is sad, cause I remember liking her a lot when I saw her at Her Majesty's.


That's what I remember from the top of my head. I'll probably add a lot of comments as I remember stuff or read other people's thoughts. I'm highly looking forward to that, folks, so keep it coming!

WTH was up with the Phantom choking Christine during the Final Lair while laughing at Raoul?

That sorta ruined the love thing between Phantom and Christine, don'tcha think?

Saw it live on Saturday at the back of the circle & just back from the Sunday cinema broadcast. Will elaborate further tommorow but I have had a pretty overwhelming weekend, I loved it.

So did anyone else notice the MOTN lyrics reverting to those on the OCR? Wonder who's idea that was? I thought it was a nice touch actually.

BradPhan wrote:WTH was up with the Phantom choking Christine during the Final Lair while laughing at Raoul?

That sorta ruined the love thing between Phantom and Christine, don'tcha think?

I think it worked. The Phantom's supposed to be psychotic, and that was a great way of illustrating that. He saw his enemy and reacted harshly. Besides, I've always felt that until he's kissed, the Phantom doesn't fully understand love anyway. Infatuation, sure, but not true love yet. I loved what Ramin did there. After he let her go, he looked truly shocked at himself. Great acting.

wow, what a night! Ok, it wasn't perfect but WOW, what an atmosphere!! The ending was incredible. Well done to everyone, I thought the performances were top class. I'm gushing, I can't get over how much love for Phantom there was is one room, haha!!

Loved it.

BradPhan wrote:WTH was up with the Phantom choking Christine during the Final Lair while laughing at Raoul?

That sorta ruined the love thing between Phantom and Christine, don'tcha think?

I actually liked that detail a lot, as the Phantom seemed to suddenly realize what he was doing, and he seemed appalled by his own actions and letting her go. I also think it's important to remember the constant threat the Phantom really is. He is a murderer and will stop at nothing to get it his way - until Christine sees him and gives him the compassion he needs.

(which is why I hated the LND ending even more)

Operafantomet- Your words are great. Just to give you a comparison for someone who was there (in regards to spacial notations you had.)...

Masquerade looked fine live, but I can imagine the camera making it a mess.

The projections were able to be seen from almost anywhere, unless you were really close and on the sides... But no one seemed too concerned about them. The playing space was so much more forward, the projections really were secondary.

The ballets, though, yes- they were far too cluttered, absolutely.

The ending- yep, agreed about the LND reference. I found it powerful, even though I didn't agree with it, because they were very committed to it. But it really did come from no where... the show just isn't structured for there to be that kind of love between them.

I sat very close, so I saw faces (and heard footsteps). I got a sense that they were filling the space very well, but too far is too far, which is why I waited to get a ticket until I knew I could be close (and let me say, the Hall gave me a big bargain. ).

it's been a while since i posted here - but I saw a live screening too! got tickets at the last minute, and so happy i went!

i honestly thought it was amazing! not sure why hadley is getting all the bad reviews - but i thoroughly enjoyed him (and yes, i saw tim martin gleason a few times, and thought hadley was wayy better!) i can see why people wouldn't like his portrayal for raoul, but i didn't think it was too awful. and he had a wonderful voice. (did he also remind any one else of robert patterson (?) - the guy from twilight? i 'm not a twilight fan AT ALL, but that's who i kept seeing up there).

ramin was phenomenal - i would say he would be up there with my favorites! great acting and singing overall.

sierra- WOWWOWOW! i think everyone was floored after her WYWSHA. you can tell she really put her heart into it and knew she nailed it at the end. i would buy the dvd just for this performance. she was perfect in my opinion- another one of my favorite christines.

i really dont have anything negative to say. there wasn't an elephant in hannibal, right? or did i miss that? i also think the backdrop falling could have been better - well at least HAVE a real thing falling instead of the projection. masquerade seemed too chaotic as someone said

i liked the singing phantoms at the end, but i think EVERYONE was disappointed that MC didn't sing. does he just feel weird, or is there bad feelings toward alw? and did sarah brightman seem drunk to anyone else? i totally thought she was.

operafantomet wrote:

*Ramin Karimloo. Waaaaay better than how I remember him from Her Majesty's. More emotion, possibly, more passion, more depth. I don't know. He seemed to give it all tonight, and he seemed to not go vocally astray too much. He seemed to be more into the role overall, and apart from a lot of the mumbling he thrown in in the second act, and the heavy breathing at places, I thought he had improved massively. His way of pronouncing the T's and D's reminded of Hugh Panaro (but more often than not it resulted in a lot of spitting... did not look good in closeups!). I didn't love him, but I went from negative to neutral. That's something.

OH I FORGOT ABOUT THIS. THE BULL. I swear, Ramin Karimloo's Phantom is a bull. He kept snorting and huffing and sniffing, it was crazy. I've never heard so much of that coming from a Phantom in my life. When I saw TMG, I thought he did it a lot, but no. Not NEARLY as much as Ramin did.

PMB1034 wrote:
So did anyone else notice the MOTN lyrics reverting to those on the OCR? Wonder who's idea that was? I thought it was a nice touch actually.

I noticed that too...maybe Ramin relearned the role by listening to the recording or something.

From people's descriptions it sounds like -- unfortunately -- Ramin is still playing the Phantom as autistic. Someone pointed out to me today that another problem with this interpretation, involving weird twitching and the like, is that it gets rid of the Phantom's elegance and majesty in his movement. In Leroux's novel, the 1925 film and originally in the show with Michael Crawford, his movements are akin to that of a cat. Maybe Ramin's thinking more of a cat in heat.

MajesticPhantom wrote:Operafantomet- Your words are great. Just to give you a comparison for someone who was there (in regards to spacial notations you had.)...

Masquerade looked fine live, but I can imagine the camera making it a mess.

The projections were able to be seen from almost anywhere, unless you were really close and on the sides... But no one seemed too concerned about them. The playing space was so much more forward, the projections really were secondary.

The ballets, though, yes- they were far too cluttered, absolutely.

The ending- yep, agreed about the LND reference. I found it powerful, even though I didn't agree with it, because they were very committed to it. But it really did come from no where... the show just isn't structured for there to be that kind of love between them.

I sat very close, so I saw faces (and heard footsteps). I got a sense that they were filling the space very well, but too far is too far, which is why I waited to get a ticket until I knew I could be close (and let me say, the Hall gave me a big bargain. ).

Thanks for those "additional" comments. Glad to hear Masquerade looked better live. It did not look goof on screen. I liked the triple "Little band", though.

Liz Robertson was an awful Madame Giry, but then, what can you really do with the character?

Having had the pleasure of seeing both Heather Jackson and Marilyn Caskey, I wanna say that a good Madame Giry adds a whole new dimension to the story. But it requires more than eyebrow acting, which I felt Liz Robertson was most concerned with in the concert.

Peter IS as bad as Scorp and Earlfan have warned us he was. I'm sorry, if you liked Paul Stanley's Phantom then you will like Peter's. If you didn't like Paul's, then CONGRATS, you will be certainly getting a taste of Paul Stanley coming your way.

Maybe Paul Stanley is a good guy to compare him with. I was more on Oliver Thornton (which, I know, played Raoul and not the Phantom, but I always giggled when I tried to imagine him as the Phantom).

operafantomet wrote: Maybe Paul Stanley is a good guy to compare him with. I was more on Oliver Thornton (which, I know, played Raoul and not the Phantom, but I always giggled when I tried to imagine him as the Phantom).

You're right! Joback does indeed sound like Oliver Tornton! Oh dear, the more I hear the clips, the more I go

How was the Wandering Child scene done? Where was the Phantom? Was there a grave? No clips of that on Youtube yet.

The sad story of tonight's screening in Oslo....


Very jolly before the screening. Who cares if it was a rainy and foggy autumn night, when one can wear such an awesome cap directly from Broadway.



Alas the cinema didn't manage to get a signal before way out in Hannibal. And then it disappeared again in Masquerade. We were stuck with this picture on the screen for some 10 minutes, with scratchy and bouncy sound. Interesting picture as such, but it was no fun knowing everything we missed out on, and which we got small sound portions of. For example Outrage, this whole affaire is an outrage... Yeah, it really is.



It was briefly replaced with this... And then disappearing completely until the end of WYWSHA. I suddenly remembered why I love and prefer live theatre...

Miss von Krolock wrote:How was the Wandering Child scene done? Where was the Phantom? Was there a grave? No clips of that on Youtube yet.

The grave was projected, and without the gates, but very recognizable. The upper projections was like a vast graveyard with large tombs, stones etc. There was no cross, rather the Phantom was standing behind some semi ornamental edge (the same place he sung his curse at the end of act 1). He was shooting fireballs from his hands (I.E. gesturing to the technicians where the next flame should appear on the floor). This worked well, as he seemed to trap Raoul and Christine, and they had to both defend themselves from these flames, and to find a way to escape. I liked it a lot, though set wise I much prefer the ivy cross and the skull on stick.

operafantomet wrote:

Miss von Krolock wrote:How was the Wandering Child scene done? Where was the Phantom? Was there a grave? No clips of that on Youtube yet.

The grave was projected, and without the gates, but very recognizable. The upper projections was like a vast graveyard with large tombs, stones etc. There was no cross, rather the Phantom was standing behind some semi ornamental edge (the same place he sung his curse at the end of act 1). He was shooting fireballs from his hands (I.E. gesturing to the technicians where the next flame should appear on the floor). This worked well, as he seemed to trap Raoul and Christine, and they had to both defend themselves from these flames, and to find a way to escape. I liked it a lot, though set wise I much prefer the ivy cross and the skull on stick.

Thanks! Sounds good ^^

no fun knowing everything we missed out on, and which we got small sound portions of. For example Outrage, this whole affaire is an outrage... Yeah, it really is.

Haha! Talk about perfect timing with that line^^ Very annoying though what happenned at your screening Well, at least you got something...

Ok, so the Phantom took off his jacket after releasing Raoul from the lasso. What did I miss here??

Originally I thought he was going to give it to Christine to keep her warm on the way back up to the surface, but I was wrong. Then I thought perhaps he had to use it for the throne trick, but I was wrong. So I'm guess he did it to make the Phantom sexy, in which case I don't agree with it, but I'll never complain about men stripping on stage.

Phantom on a Budget wrote:Originally I thought he was going to give it to Christine to keep her warm on the way back up to the surface, but I was wrong. Then I thought perhaps he had to use it for the throne trick, but I was wrong. So I'm guess he did it to make the Phantom sexy, in which case I don't agree with it, but I'll never complain about men stripping on stage.

He probably figured white is a much more subtle colour when it comes to esca... no, wait. That can't be it either.

operafantomet wrote:

BradPhan wrote:WTH was up with the Phantom choking Christine during the Final Lair while laughing at Raoul?

That sorta ruined the love thing between Phantom and Christine, don'tcha think?

I actually liked that detail a lot, as the Phantom seemed to suddenly realize what he was doing, and he seemed appalled by his own actions and letting her go. I also think it's important to remember the constant threat the Phantom really is. He is a murderer and will stop at nothing to get it his way - until Christine sees him and gives him the compassion he needs.

(which is why I hated the LND ending even more)

This is why I'm kind of raising my eyebrow at the idea right now (though I'll have to wait until I see the encore performance on Wednesday to see how it plays out). It's not so much LND's (lack of) quality that's an issue, but that it's poor acting in general because you can't anticipate your character's journey. Javert can't be suicidally conflicted when he sings "Stars" and Nora Helmer doesn't spend her first scenes with Torvald acting like she wants out from under his roof--they haven't reached the point where those become valid choices for them. If Sierra wants to think Christine runs off and makes moonless sky lovin' with the Phantom that's her problem, but she can't play that choice in a moment when Christine feels her best chance of safety and happiness lies with Raoul. It doesn't fit the arc of the scene or the development of the character.

~LCD

LadyCDaae wrote:

operafantomet wrote:

BradPhan wrote:WTH was up with the Phantom choking Christine during the Final Lair while laughing at Raoul?

That sorta ruined the love thing between Phantom and Christine, don'tcha think?

I actually liked that detail a lot, as the Phantom seemed to suddenly realize what he was doing, and he seemed appalled by his own actions and letting her go. I also think it's important to remember the constant threat the Phantom really is. He is a murderer and will stop at nothing to get it his way - until Christine sees him and gives him the compassion he needs.

(which is why I hated the LND ending even more)

This is why I'm kind of raising my eyebrow at the idea right now (though I'll have to wait until I see the encore performance on Wednesday to see how it plays out). It's not so much LND's (lack of) quality that's an issue, but that it's poor acting in general because you can't anticipate your character's journey. Javert can't be suicidally conflicted when he sings "Stars" and Nora Helmer doesn't spend her first scenes with Torvald acting like she wants out from under his roof--they haven't reached the point where those become valid choices for them. If Sierra wants to think Christine runs off and makes moonless sky lovin' with the Phantom that's her problem, but she can't play that choice in a moment when Christine feels her best chance of safety and happiness lies with Raoul. It doesn't fit the arc of the scene or the development of the character.

~LCD

THIS. I'm sorry, but sometimes I found LND instances popping up in the show. It made me wonder if it was an actors choice or if it was a choice made by Webber... Throughout the entire production, Sierra played Christine as if she was frightened of the Phantom (after she removed his mask) and wanted to go with Raoul. Then right after she kisses him she does a total 180*. Girl, you just talked about how your tears 'grow cold, and turn to tears of hate'. And now you're hooking up with him/having second doubts? Bitch, please. Then again, with the way Hadley played Raoul, it made me wonder if this was all 'according to plan'.

ML6 wrote:Then again, with the way Hadley played Raoul, it made me wonder if this was all 'according to plan'.

I can definitely picture Webber sitting in a high-backed chair, stroking a cat and plotting this.

That being said, I did not go see it today. You know you need a job when you can't afford to spend $20 on a movie ticket while you're still living with your parents. So unfortunately, I'll probably have to wait until the DVD comes out. But reading what you all have to say about it is very interesting. I'm intrigued.

phantomphan1992 wrote:

ML6 wrote:Then again, with the way Hadley played Raoul, it made me wonder if this was all 'according to plan'.

I can definitely picture Webber sitting in a high-backed chair, stroking a cat and plotting this.

Girl, you know he was. Now that he has a new cat, I'm pretty sure he brought it to rehearsals and sat there going, "NO! THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED GILLIAN, REMEMBER... WE NEED TO INCORPORATE LOVE NEVER DIES. YES! YES... NOW THOSE PESKY FANS WILL FEEL MY WRATH WHEN I MESS AROUND WITH THEIR PRECIOUS SHOW!" Okay, maybe he didn't say that, but I think Gillian Lynne was under some pressure ; I'm more curious to what Hal thought about this... the director seemed more lean to let the LND instances flow into the show.

OH! There was something I *did* like, now that I thought about it. Two things, actually. Remember when Meg volunteers Christine? She steps forward and Andre goes, "Daae, curious name, any relation to the violinist?" Christine then replies, "Yes, he was my father." I liked that interaction. Another thing I liked was the interaction between Christine and the picture of her father on her vanity. The way she was acknowledging the picture gave her a bit more character. Shocking to hear me saying that, but when I thought about it, there IS a picture of her father on the vanity in the stage show. I've never really seen her look at it.

Not really a staging thing, but I did like the way that Sierra sang Wishing. I got the sense of her really taking in the vastness of the graveyard and honestly pondering over if she should really be hung up on her father any longer. The pauses that she put into the song were a nice touch, and it seemed to make it a bit more intimate than a 'BELT' song.

operafantomet wrote:

Phantom on a Budget wrote:Originally I thought he was going to give it to Christine to keep her warm on the way back up to the surface, but I was wrong. Then I thought perhaps he had to use it for the throne trick, but I was wrong. So I'm guess he did it to make the Phantom sexy, in which case I don't agree with it, but I'll never complain about men stripping on stage.

He probably figured white is a much more subtle colour when it comes to esca... no, wait. That can't be it either.

Strike three, we're out. Someone else's turn to guess!

Sierra played Christine as if she was frightened of the Phantom (after she removed his mask) and wanted to go with Raoul. Then right after she kisses him she does a total 180*. Girl, you just talked about how your tears 'grow cold, and turn to tears of hate'. And now you're hooking up with him/having second doubts? Bitch, please.

Like I said, I kind of have to wait to see what kind of "vibe" I get off the idea before making a final judgement on it. It comes down to the difference between regret and remorse--if the feeling is generally "I wish it could be otherwise, but it's just not meant to be" I'm okay with that--I think it's a valid choice for Christine, and one I tend to agree with. But if it comes off as "Noooo, I changed my mind, I want sexytimes with the crazy guy!"...ummm, no. Does not compute.

Strike three, we're out. Someone else's turn to guess!

Last-ditch attempt to gain Christine's affections by performing an improptu striptease?

~LCD

LadyCDaae wrote:

Strike three, we're out. Someone else's turn to guess!

Last-ditch attempt to gain Christine's affections by performing an impromptu striptease?

~LCD

I like LCD's explanation! (I also like the shirtsleeves look, so I may be just a tiny bit biased - don't judge me!)

Alright, I'm going to try to keep my review kinda short (okay, so it wasn't as short as I though it would be... oops). More a collection of thoughts than anything else.

- First and foremost, oh wow I *LOVE* the fact that we had high definition cinematic close ups and artistic camera angles. The film crew did an incredible job picking great angles from which to best highlight the action on stage for the most part.

- The Orchestra was utterly incredible. The score has never sounded better. Very lush, very beautiful and powerful.

- Ramin: I don't like that he basically yelled/spoke his way through half of the show, and he was fairly off key when he sang many times *cringe*. The Phantom is supposed to be an incredible singer; not an incredible shouter. However, I do think that he made some great acting choices, both nuanced and broadly expressive, and the closeups really help to highlight this. It's clear he's put some serious thought into the emotions of the character and it shows. I just wish his vocal performance was up to that same standard.

- Sierra: I do see where other people have commented that she geared her performance toward LND, particularly during the Final Lair. That being said, wow, she really surpassed my expectations, both with the strength of her voice and the emotion she invested into the role. Her Wishing was wonderful in particular. So, yeah, I retract what I said before about her being boring.

- Hadley: *headdesk* When a jerk of a Raoul. Seriously. Shame though because he has a pretty nice voice and good acting skills. With a better director *cough*HalPrince*cough* he could be a Raoul I would enjoy watching. Stupid LND influence. (And on that note, I am *very* glad I didn't decide to dress up in my Raoul costume at the screening given how much of an arrogant boob Hadley's portrayal made him.)

- Wendy: I personally think Wendy did a great job with the role. She wasn't as flamboyant or humorous as other Carlottas I've seen, but it works in context of the close up filming. There's lots of small things I liked about her performance, such as her "Oh sh*t!" realization moment during the Sitzprobe. While i was looking forward to Kiera Duffy and was disappointed to hear that she had to bow out, I think that Wendy probably had a richer performance than Ms. Duffy would have given because of her experience with the London show.

- Liz Robertson: A bit more restrained interpretation of the role than I would have liked, and her voice is a bit thin for my taste in Girys. Wish her cane had been Mic'ed or something, because the cane thumps did not translate well.

- Managers: It took me a little while to warm up to Barry James, because he was so scowly and cantankerous in the beginning, but when it became clear that he was just MUI (managing under the influence) then it becomes more fun. Fellow who played Andre looked pretty distinguished and I did like that he was the one who asked Christine if she was related to the Swedish violinist. I think both performers' voices were a little drowned out at times, but I like them both.

- While I can appreciate that they wanted to fill up the stage at RAH, I think that for the scenes with the Slave Dancers in Hannibal, the Ballerinas in Il Muto, and to some extent Masquerade they could have done with fewer dancers. It was hard to appreciate the actual choreography moves when the massed performers were crowded together like something out of a Robert Palmer music video.

- Generally the projections worked well given that using real curtains was impossible due to the setup of the orchestra and stage. Sometimes the projections didn't look quite the right color or had sort of striping issues on the movie theater screen but it wasn't terribly distracting.

- God I *hate* those giant gold sandbag-sized tassels on the Red Death costume.

- Final Lair Scene: I'm not 100% on board with how they staged it, but I do think there's some interesting psychological implications to be had from the Phantom's now infamous "choke hold Christine" move. I didn't like that Sierra's Christine seemed really really torn about leaving the Phantom. Didn't have much sympathy for Raoul - Hadley's "Christine please forgive me, etc." kinda falls flat given how he's behaved throughout the show. I like how the deformity makeup was made very realistic in anticipation of the Hi def camera work. Hilarious how the candle that the Phantom uses to cut down Raoul is so clearly a dressed up flashlight on close view.

- Post-show attractions: Sad to see that Sarah can't even really manage to sing the verses of the theme song very well anymore, even though I already knew she couldn't hit those cadenza notes. Warlow and JOJ were mangificent - JOJ really nailed that 'soar'. Colm was, well, Colm. And that new Peter fellow. *twitch* I was embarrassed. Seriously. My friend who went with me actually laughed at him. I don't blame her. Was nice to see MC, and while I won't speculate as to why he didn't speak or sing it was great that he was there. Also, good on ALW for really paying tribute to Steve Baron, Mary Millar, John Aron, and of course, Maria Bjornson. Is it just me or was the "You have come here..." en masse thing just kinda weird and not very inspiring? It's just such a dissonant piece that it doesn't work well as a sort of "good job, old chap!" piece. Also, my friend and I thought Gillian Lynne looked kinda drunk or at least loopy when she appeared onstage. Nice to see Charles Hart, too.

Bah, I could go on for a while I suppose, but most of my strongest impressions are there. Overall I had a great time, despite several cringeworthy moments. I would definitely recommend that anyone who's on the fence go to see it. It's a beautifully put-together show for the most part, and I think its effectiveness is best appreciated with a full movie theater sound system and giant hi def screen.

~Madame~

It really sucks not being able to see this at the same time as the rest of you....Lots of stuff makes me go,"WTF?" I'll wait 'til I see the dvd to make judgements. What's up with the Phantom taking off his jacket? Where did he put it? That's a pricey coat to just leave laying around, especially with a group of looters coming to find him....