25th anniversary celebrations

PhantomsGhost wrote:

PMB1034 wrote:So looking here at the tracklist/runtimes, who is smart enough to figure out what cuts (if any) there will be to the CD. I enjoyed the Finale in the moment & doubtless will on the DVD, but in terms of re-listenability I'd rather have an official Seal My Fate etc.

If my math is right, Act I is 72:01, Act II is 60:59 without the grand finale, and Act II with grand finale is 78:16

Full show of the DVD is around 2 hours 13 minutes no finale

Act I and Act II CD version (no finale) combined is 2 hours 21 minutes. (again, if my math is right)

Looks like this CD set will be the full show. (well, you know, if my math is right lol)

You are brilliant! Thankyou. Your Math is definitely going to better than mine (because mine is atrocious), so I'm going to start looking forward to the whole show .

Can anybody explain to me why they put the face of the Phantom in the eye of the Phantom mask? My OCD is bugging the fuk out just looking at it.

I wondered if BBC Radio 2 would do anything for Phantom 25th...and they are. Tuesday, November 15th at 10-11pm there's a documentary called Phantom Phenomenon:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/2011/wk46/tue.shtml#tue_phantom
and
http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/34093/bbc-radio-to-celebrate-25-years-of-the

The US will be on standard time by then, and I think the UK is already on standard time, so according to my time zone which is central, this would be on 4pm.

I so love BBC Radio 2. I don't really listen to US radio any more. (except NPR in the mornings)

It was recently brought to my attention that in one of the projections they used for the RAH show, the Eiffel Tower of all things is in the background. It wasn't completed until 1889, so why is it there?



Unless Phantom is now supposed to take place in 1897 so a certain other show makes a little more sense than it does, but that would cause yet more problems as even the creators of THAT show talked about the transition from gaslight to electricity, and electricity was in the Paris Opera before 1889, so the show has to take place even earlier. 1881 was/is a good date for the show.

I don't think Björnson would have been impressed, being the perfectionist she was.

I hadn't even noticed that. Well, there are any number of theories why the Eiffel Tower's there:

A) they ignored continuity (and there's plenty of precedent for that) in order to make the background more easily identifiable as Paris. You know, like how in American movies whenever they cut to a scene in London, they have to have the obligatory "Rule Britannia" music cue.

B) as you said, to set the story in the 1890s to tie the original more closely to the sequel. Again, ignoring continuity (in this case regarding electricity).

C) somebody f*#ked up.

Any of the above seem like a perfectly reasonable explanation to me.

TAFKAR

Raphael wrote:I hadn't even noticed that. Well, there are any number of theories why the Eiffel Tower's there:

A) they ignored continuity (and there's plenty of precedent for that) in order to make the background more easily identifiable as Paris. You know, like how in American movies whenever they cut to a scene in London, they have to have the obligatory "Rule Britannia" music cue.

B) as you said, to set the story in the 1890s to tie the original more closely to the sequel. Again, ignoring continuity (in this case regarding electricity).

C) somebody f*#ked up.

Any of the above seem like a perfectly reasonable explanation to me.

I'm thinking they used a recent picture as basis, and built on that. I'm guessing someone just forgot to check up if the Eiffel tower would have been there or not. There are probably several buildings of more recent date in the photo, which H/A speaking shouldn't be there. But the Eiffel tower is of course by far the most iconic one.

A school production also put in the Eiffel tower recently. It's probably like you say, Raphael, people choose the most famous attraction to display a city - Rome always gets the Colosseum, Paris always the Eiffel tower, New York always the Statue of Liberty etc. But for the RAH concert few, if any, noticed it before that picture was released. It wasn't a very featured detail, unlike the school production. So my guess is that they used a recent picture or video as a basis for the RAH LED projections, and probably didn't even think twice if the tower should be there or not.

What I DO like, judging from that picture, is that they've chosen different filming angles for the DVD. The closeups of the LED screens and the many views of the conductor and orchestra was quite disturbing for that intimate moment we're sharing with the Phantom.

And if I'm not mistaken, isn't the Eiffel Tower in the wrong place geographically in relation to the Opera House?

operafantomet wrote:What I DO like, judging from that picture, is that they've chosen different filming angles for the DVD. The closeups of the LED screens and the many views of the conductor and orchestra was quite disturbing for that intimate moment we're sharing with the Phantom.

Yeah, that's the benefit of shooting multiple camera and (presumably) multiple performances. I was screening the San Francisco Symphony's "Sweeney Todd in Concert" over Halloween weekend and there's one moment of GLARING continuity error from cut to cut that clearly shows that they pulled from all their available material when they edited the performance together.

TAFKaR

Yes, if I remember correctly, the Eiffel tower would be in front of the statue of Apollon (some four kilometres away) instead of behind it. unless there are more than one of those statues on the rooftop? I've never been there...

operafantomet wrote:Yes, if I remember correctly, the Eiffel tower would be in front of the statue of Apollon (some four kilometres away) instead of behind it. unless there are more than one of those statues on the rooftop? I've never been there...

No, you're right, there's only one Apollo's Lyre, and seeing the building from THAT angle means the Eiffel Tower shouldn't even be in view at all, no matter what the time period. So basically they decided to take the crude "we're in Paris!" route and stick a cliché in there. What next, do we get a "Paris, France, Europe (you know, that other continent!)" legend appear in the opening titles of the DVD?

Ignore me, I'm just annoyed that if I buy this DVD I will be forced to sit through a LND trailer apparently before getting to the main titles.

What I DO like, judging from that picture, is that they've chosen different filming angles for the DVD. The closeups of the LED screens and the many views of the conductor and orchestra was quite disturbing for that intimate moment we're sharing with the Phantom.

The LED screen close-ups in particular were pretty mood-killing for me--there would be these intense close-ups of the characters and I'd keep getting distracted with "Dang, the resolution on those candles isn't very good at all, is it?"

Re: the Eiffel Tower: I'm inclined to believe that it was more of a misguided attempt at "See, we're in Paris!" than anything else. Historic detail, as the movie amply proves, is not the strong suit of ALW and underlings.

Ignore me, I'm just annoyed that if I buy this DVD I will be forced to sit through a LND trailer apparently before getting to the main titles.

Hopefully any attempts to promote The Sequel Which Does Not Exist will not come with the skip button disabled.

~LCD

Can you imagine the horror if at the end of the concert, as Christine walks away, on the screen in big letters appears,
" The story continues in the beautiful sequal, Love Never Dies. Read more at www.loveneverdies.com"
OG

There is a LND trailer on the DVD. Its the Aus production which cinematically looks a lot better than the London version, in all fairness.

So I just finished watching the DVD. Nice to revisit and notice little details I may have missed on the night. They've done a good job mixing it, although I've got a sneaking suspicion they've re-recorded parts of the vocal. The grand finale looks / sounds awesome and is there in its entirity - including the much mooted 'Phantom carries Christine offstage' ending, which a lot of people didn't see at the cinema. There's also a very nice 'making of' featurette which has quite a bit on the construction of Ramin's mask and re-vised make up.

Altogether a decent little disc

looks to me though that the Eiffel tower in that pic is under construction though.

justin-from-barbados wrote:looks to me though that the Eiffel tower in that pic is under construction though.

ALW explanation: The Eiffel Tower originally began construction in 1881 but when it was discovered that the builders had the map of Paris upside down, they dismantled it and moved it to its current location.

TAFKaR

I know that phantom is released in the UK on Monday, but does anyone know where?
Asda, TESCOO??
OG

I don't think the Tour Eiffel is under construction in the projection; it's just a cloud obscuring the view of the top. Anyway, even if it is supposed to be under construction in that image, it still wouldn't make sense as they didn't start building it till 1887 I think. It's just a piece of fail.

I expect those are the sorts of places you'd find it, thephanfullerton. Plus places like HMV I guess, and of course online. I'm not really in any hurry to watch it so I'm going to wait till the price drops before buying; it usually does so pretty quickly anyway.

Scorp wrote:

I expect those are the sorts of places you'd find it, thephanfullerton. Plus places like HMV I guess, and of course online. I'm not really in any hurry to watch it so I'm going to wait till the price drops before buying; it usually does so pretty quickly anyway.

Thanks Scorp, I'll have a look around tomorrow. I don't know why, but I am very excited about this DVD. Especially about the bonus features. I wonder how lond the doc is? I'm a huge fan of all the behind the masks around the world, and I wish we could have one long doc that lasted hours and HOURS, covering everything in the show, with a full tech. run through; acompanied by a boxset that contains film recordings of the major casts of all the main productions around the world. THAT, would be AWESOME. Although, there is an upcoming 'phantom unmasked' DVD for pre order on ebay...
OG

thephanfullerton wrote:

Scorp wrote:

I expect those are the sorts of places you'd find it, thephanfullerton. Plus places like HMV I guess, and of course online. I'm not really in any hurry to watch it so I'm going to wait till the price drops before buying; it usually does so pretty quickly anyway.

Although, there is an upcoming 'phantom unmasked' DVD for pre order on ebay...
OG

I say that, but now that I look at it, it says it is unavailable. I t was quite strange though, because it is for the 25th anniversary, but it was originally on pre order for 2015. Perhaps the project was canceled? It was also meant to house a performance of LND in London, but with ALW current LNDAustralia obsession, that might be part of the reason that its gone. I don't remember the DVD being released.
OG

thephanfullerton wrote:

thephanfullerton wrote:

Scorp wrote:

I expect those are the sorts of places you'd find it, thephanfullerton. Plus places like HMV I guess, and of course online. I'm not really in any hurry to watch it so I'm going to wait till the price drops before buying; it usually does so pretty quickly anyway.

Although, there is an upcoming 'phantom unmasked' DVD for pre order on ebay...
OG

I say that, but now that I look at it, it says it is unavailable. I t was quite strange though, because it is for the 25th anniversary, but it was originally on pre order for 2015. Perhaps the project was canceled? It was also meant to house a performance of LND in London, but with ALW current LNDAustralia obsession, that might be part of the reason that its gone. I don't remember the DVD being released.
OG

I have a feeling that DVD wasn't produced by the powers-that-be (hence the use of a different mask on the cover) and when RUG/Cammie found out about it they killed it off, as with the Marcus Tylor book. Could be wrong, though...

Aled_Boyo wrote: The grand finale looks / sounds awesome and is there in its entirity - including the much mooted 'Phantom carries Christine offstage' ending, which a lot of people didn't see at the cinema.

Wait wait wait! What is this you speak of?!

Also, is the Final Lair the one that was shown in cinemas - given the wardrobe malfunction with the Lasso and Ramin's tailcoat?

~Madame~

The last shot of the concert - after the finale and the explosions, etc - is Ramin and Sierra taking their final bows as he picks her up and carries her off stage. It got a huge cheer on the night!

The doc is about 20-25mins long. Its pretty good as it shows a lot of the rehearsals and backstage footage from the night. The Final Lair is definitely the same one as they did on the night, with Ramin taking the jacket off for no apparent reason.

As I mentioned before, they've tweaked a few of the vocals for sure - like Piangi's bum note in Hannibal, for example. And there are a few wierd editing choices here and there, but overall its a nicely-put-together piece. My one MAJOR gripe is that you can see Ramin's tattoo on his wrist at the end of MOTN. Kinda ruins the moment, but hey, the boy done good at the end of the day.

*ponders the carrying off thing* I wonder if that was pre-planned or if Ramin did it on impulse.

Can you tell us what parts of the show were re-edited? There are parts of it I liked very much, so I hope they weren't changed. I'm told that Think of Me at least is completely lifted from another performance that features different camera angles because the projection screens behind Sierra weren't working during the show that was live broadcast.

It is a real shame that the powers-that-be C&D'ed Marcus Tylor's book. I was really looking forward the sequel in which he said he'd be focusing on the costumes. To be fair, though, I'm surprised he didn't try to clear it with RUG et al before publishing. Ah well, at least we have the first book.

~Madame~

I couldn't tell you precisely, as I'm only going by memory from the night. The title song's got a few weak edits and there's a really obvious jump cut in PONR when the Phantom enters. But to the casual observer it probably doesn't matter!

This waiting makes me go crazy!

The movie was posted to me nov 11th, but I wont prob have it until Friday or Monday

I want to see it now!

I'll give a detailed recap later, but I feel like this is a completely different film than I saw (twice) in the theatre. I think the camera editing was really good!


*yep, he loses his coat in the Final Lair*

*you don't see the light flicking on on that candle*

*waiting to have LSD experts analyse the camera angles in the Final Lair final version*


I feel like the camera people have given me a new film to watch.

Madame Giry wrote:
Also, is the Final Lair the one that was shown in cinemas - given the wardrobe malfunction with the Lasso and Ramin's tailcoat?

There was a wardrobe malfunction with the lasso?

Viscountess wrote:

Madame Giry wrote:
Also, is the Final Lair the one that was shown in cinemas - given the wardrobe malfunction with the Lasso and Ramin's tailcoat?

There was a wardrobe malfunction with the lasso?

Yes. If you saw the live cinema broadcast of the final RAH Performance, Ramin takes off his tailcoat after cutting Hadley loose from the Punjab Lasso. Apparently his arm got tangled in the 'invisible' wire that's used to hold up the lasso and he didn't have time to untangle himself without interrupting the performance. To be frank, the coat removal is actually pretty smooth - perhaps a bit random-looking - but he doesn't break character or tempo at all.

~Madame~

Madame Giry wrote:Apparently his arm got tangled in the 'invisible' wire that's used to hold up the lasso and he didn't have time to untangle himself without interrupting the performance. To be frank, the coat removal is actually pretty smooth - perhaps a bit random-looking - but he doesn't break character or tempo at all.

I agree! Random as it was, the way he did it convinced me it was a part of the blocking and not any malfunction. So kudos for that.

I liked the RAH concert, but I don't have a strong urge to buy the DVD for some strange reason. Think I'll wait until prices drops in a month or three. I will definitely buy it, though.

Yeah, I wondered why the hell he took off his coat when watching it, but I had no idea until someone here reported it that there was a malfunction.

If there're enticing extras on the US version of the DVD, I might buy it, but if it's just the concert, probably not.

Hey, if they released the RAH DVD with the 'exclusive' 25th anniversary book that they included in the (fairly useless) '25th Anniversary Boxed Set that - oops - doesn't actually have anything from the 25th anniversary performance itself', then I'm sure more of us would be willing to spring for that type of special DVD set on the first day or so of release.

Hear that, RUG? It's a way for you to MAKE MORE MONEY!

~Madame~