25th anniversary celebrations

Behind the scenes of the 25th, includes great views of the makeup (and Christopher Tucker!!!), rehearsals, and more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObXrFt4lyXY

So they didn't use the actual chandelier from the movie, just the same design.

Was poking around on Amazon.com and came up with this intriguing entry:

http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Opera-Anniversary-Michael-Heatley/dp/1862059411/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327883952&sr=1-1

Does this mean they *will* be releasing the 25th Anniversary book independently of the 25th Anniversary Box Set? Does anyone have that set to see if it's the same author?

Thanks!

~Madame~

I did some digging as well on that title, and it looks like Amazon.uk has it for release on April 16th of this year; I do hope this is the same book from the box set! Im almost certain it is.

If any of you get the American version of the RAH DVD that comes out tomorrow, will you let me know what special features are on it, and if it's worth getting? Thanks.

I got the RAH BluRay and it has a trailer for LND and a nice documentary "Getting Past The Point of No Return" which shows the musicals journey of being staged at the RAH, and also alot of nice shots of the makeup and chandelier being built. Im almost certain these two special feautres are on the dvd as well

So just an extended version of what's on YouTube. Nothing documenting the history of the show? No Behind the Mask-type documentary? Meh. I'll pass.

The clip on youtube of whats on the dvd/bluray is merely just that..a "clip" its much longer than whats shown in the clip and is worth the watch; I got it mainly for the fact its the full staged version (give and take some tweaks to make it work for the RAH) I think that alone is worth the purchase, trumps the 2004 movie in terms of viewing pleasure by miles. Not to mention alot has been cleaned up, at least on my bluray I noticed new angles that had not been shown in theaters (possibly from the previous performance) also the orchestra is less prominent during the full shots and the LED screens have been cleaned up dramatically somehow, and look superb on bluray;

Some of the big differences in the bluray vs the live screening

Descent to the lair: when this was screened live it was obviously a double of christine (we phans know this, but it was pretty obvious to non-phans as well) however on the dvd/bluray it shows a bit of the double but it's meshed with the actual shots of Seirra singing when tech. they are getting ready in the boat (this may have been filmed after but it blends perefectly well) and the only way I notice is because there were no shots of Sierra singing (because she was backstage getting ready in the boat) in the live screening. Thus the magic of editing works again! lol

Music: The orchestra sounds just as good if not better on the bluray/dvd , alot of the odd "scratch-like" mic noises are gone, which in the live screening obviously couldnt be helped.

Improved Effects/Sound: While they didnt pull a Lucas and digitally "add" new effects they have been polished up; most notably the chandelier "explosion" is much louder and you hear glass breaking which is fantastic! During Wondering Child the flames the Phantom throws have a very impressive "whoosh!" noise that was not featured in the live screening; actually anytime fire is involed they have really enhanced the effect by adding very crisp sound effects that mesh perfectly.

These were just the differences I picked up on the first viewing; if I spot anything else I'll update!

Maybe if it's at Redbox I'll rent it.

Redbox sadly wont be carrying it for the foreseeable furture...the phanatic that I am checked a while ago (and recently), just in case the blurays were sold out at my best-buy ,which oddly enough they did! but I had one reserved.

They had the Les Mis 25th DVD not long after it was available to buy, I think. I'm not that anxious to see it because I did see it in theaters.

Redbox says it'll be available March 6th. I can wait a month...or more.

Thanks for the updates about the RAH/Bluray, Strangerthanudreamt.

I agree with you that the RAH is a far superior alternative to watching the 2004 film. Talented cast, gorgeous costumes, and great orchestra in hi def? Yes, please! Though I have some quibbles with character interpretation, on the whole I really enjoyed it when it was in the movie theaters and I'll probably pick it up soon.

~Madame~

SenorSwanky wrote:So just an extended version of what's on YouTube. Nothing documenting the history of the show? No Behind the Mask-type documentary? Meh. I'll pass.

I'm not sure what you're expecting. They did a full up "Behind the Mask" documentary (for better or worse) for the 2004 DVD. It would probably be silly to slap that on the 25th DVD, because for most stage fans, the documentary is probably the only reason they'd by the 2004 DVD at all. So from the business perspective and selling, that makes sense. Not to mention you're just duplicating your efforts and most people have already seen it anyway. The behind the scenes footage for the 25th is good, plus the actual concert is well worth the purchase price.

I would've liked the BBC Behind the Mask documentary on the DVD instead of watching it in multiple parts on YouTube. I love the one on the movie DVD, and at this point, it is the only reason I crack that out.

The concert was OK. Definitely had its moments but also its weaknesses. Might break down and buy it at some point. But I was hoping that it would celebrate more than the concert and more of the history of the show. Had the same problem with the concert itself.

SenorSwanky wrote:
The concert was OK. Definitely had its moments but also its weaknesses. Might break down and buy it at some point. But I was hoping that it would celebrate more than the concert and more of the history of the show. Had the same problem with the concert itself.

Because bringing out all surviving original London cast members, original creative team, paying tribute to those who have since passed on, having three famous past Phantoms sing, having Sarah Brightman sing, acknowledging Hal Prince's contributions, absence and (alleged) presence in New York, and not mentioning a word about Love Never Dies wasn't enough tribute to the history of the show - I guess.

ETA: Oh, and creating a special souvenir program loaded with background info about past/existing productions, actors, designs, advertising, etc - doesn't count either. Nope.

~Madame~

No, it wasn't, though I did love seeing those moments; only thing better would have been if they'd convinced MC to sing and left Joback out of it. But beyond the lack of historical bonus materials on the DVD, I would've preferred a dream cast, not a mixture of LND and recent London performers. I thought Sierra did a pretty good job, and Ramin was great in the Final Lair, but not the rest of the show. The managers were pretty amusing acting-wise. Earl was a nice auctioneer, though I don't like how that scene was staged. Not very eerie. The whole thing was too brightly lit.

In this I actually agree with SenorSwanky. This concert didn't quite know what it was celebrating.

25 years of Phantom in London? Hardly. They shut down Her Majesty's the whole weekend - Phantom's original home - and apart from the managers none of the leads were British and a part of West End Phantom history (granted Wendy Ferguson replaced Keira Duffy the last minute, but I'm talking original casting here).

25 years of Phantom worldwide? Hardly. No mention of 11 years of Phantom in Hamburg, 23 years of Phantom on Broadway and Japan, or 10 years of Phantom in Toronto. None foreign Phantoms and Christines were participating (that is, none non-English speaking ones), and apart from some listings in the brochure they weren't represented at all. Compare to the Les Mis concert, where Jean Valjeans from all worldwide productions were invited to sing at the end.

So what were they celebrating? Phantom on general? Probably. But apart from the events surrounding the concert, the actual performance on stage felt more like watching the prelude for "Love Never Dies" and/or the future Phantom. To me the casting screamed of "we want to renew the musical, it'll be freeeeesh, LED screens, young people!" rather than Phantom history.

So this was not about London Phantom, or worldwide Phantom, or Phantom history. It was about the future. The twist at the end of Final Lair, the casting and the inclusion of Peter Jöback in the finale all emphasized future, not past.

That said, I liked the concert. A lot! I'm just pointing out what I think was the discourse of it all. When people say "Well, London got its celebration, now it's New York's time", it always makes me wanna point out that this was very little related to the London production. It was a Phantom orgy (sorry for the mental images there ) but a general one, not specific to time and place. I actually hope the NYC celebrations will be more about one production and less about general and/or future Phantom. Cause that's already been done.

StrangerThanUDreamt wrote:The clip on youtube of whats on the dvd/bluray is merely just that..a "clip" its much longer than whats shown in the clip and is worth the watch; I got it mainly for the fact its the full staged version (give and take some tweaks to make it work for the RAH) I think that alone is worth the purchase, trumps the 2004 movie in terms of viewing pleasure by miles.

Aaaaaaamen!

Though, Wandering Child is edited to death in the DVD/bluray release. That's one scene I felt was much better in the live screening. In the release they don't let the camera linger for a second, but jumps from Christine to the Phantom to Raoul to the Phantom to Christine and back again. They ruin the tension of the scene instead of slowly building it up.

But in general the editing is good.

I too am a bit confused as to what more they could have done to make it "bigger", I mean even Les Mis had refreshed the cast with some younger and newer faces for it's 25th while still paying dues to the original cast at the end; I would think any Phantom phan would want to own the closest thing to the real stage show, as that alone is worth the purchase, special feautres are nice but like a previous poster said, they've already done a few of the "behind the mask" type specials on the show (one on the 2004 dvd , and the bbc one on youtube in nine parts) Which both give a decent amount of info on the shows history and whatnot, and how much more exactly do you want to know? From what I remember the BBC one gives the unpolished story with the good and bad that happened; whereas the 2004 one is more polished in terms of what it shows.

I know many people had their 'dream cast' in mind to see in the 25th, but you also have to remember (as Cameron states on the bluray) it wasnt just casting "phantom" for a live show, they had to to cast "phantom" based on a cinematic perspective as well due to the fact it was being shown in movie theatres world wide and being released on bluray/dvd. So we can all bicker on who should've been who and what more they could have done, but the fact remains...it's happened, it was filmed, and it's released...cant change it.

StrangerThanUDreamt wrote:I too am a bit confused as to what more they could have done to make it "bigger", I mean even Les Mis had refreshed the cast with some younger and newer faces for it's 25th while still paying dues to the original cast at the end

Right, and I don't like what they did very much, particularly compared to the TAC Anea referred to with the international Valjeans singing in their own language, accompanied by international Gavroches carrying their flags. That was a nice touch. Plus, the TAC had just about the best performers in their roles you could imagine, rather than stunt casting. Arguably the only improvements would've been Anthony Warlow as Enjolras (I think he was invited, but was otherwise engaged) and maybe Rebecca Caine as Cosette. It was just a stellar cast that celebrated the history of the show from all over the world, and they plugged in some of the lesser greats who'd been in more high-profile roles into the smaller bits (Michael McCarthy, Paul Monaghan, Peter Polycarpou, Matt Cammelle, Peter Cousens, etc.). A lot of the past greats are probably too old to have performed some of the roles now, and in the TAC, they were still in their primes. But they still could've improved in some of the roles. PK as the Phantom, for example. Or at least have him in the post-show bit instead of Joback.

I would think any Phantom phan would want to own the closest thing to the real stage show

Not if they don't like the performance enough. And it's sad that's the closest thing to the real show we've been offered. A sure way for me to have bought this DVD would've been a special edition with an OLC or OBC pro-shot on another disc.

how much more exactly do you want to know?

It's not so much what I want to know but what I want to experience--clips, reminiscences from the cast and creative team on how the show was developed. It's just fun to look back and relive the heyday of the show.

I know many people had their 'dream cast' in mind to see in the 25th, but you also have to remember (as Cameron states on the bluray) it wasnt just casting "phantom" for a live show, they had to to cast "phantom" based on a cinematic perspective as well due to the fact it was being shown in movie theatres world wide and being released on bluray/dvd. So we can all bicker on who should've been who and what more they could have done, but the fact remains...it's happened, it was filmed, and it's released...cant change it.

That makes no sense. I don't think most of the performers were very good for the camera. Maybe the lead three, but the supporting cast were kind of weak in that regard.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really don't want a filmed version of the stage show released any time soon. I'm perfectly happy with the 25th anniversary production.

If a filmed version was ever released, I'm afraid the show would then be doomed to close...and honestly, that would depress the hell outta me.

(and that's me probably being superstitious, but seriously, I don't want one out there.)

I bought my DVD copy this morning after a dentist appointment at Barnes and Noble. They have this 'exclusive' which has a highlights version of the brochure for the 25th. It's also in miniature. Gotta admit I was a bit disappointed in it. I was kind of hoping for a full miniature version of the brochure.

I would like to have had many more extra features and maybe a nicer package, but I'm still happy to have an official copy of the 25th show, now.

I really am glad to have something else filmed besides the 2004 movie. This is a huge improvement over that version.

operafantomet wrote:In this I actually agree with SenorSwanky. This concert didn't quite know what it was celebrating.

25 years of Phantom in London? Hardly. They shut down Her Majesty's the whole weekend - Phantom's original home - and apart from the managers none of the leads were British and a part of West End Phantom history (granted Wendy Ferguson replaced Keira Duffy the last minute, but I'm talking original casting here).

25 years of Phantom worldwide? Hardly. No mention of 11 years of Phantom in Hamburg, 23 years of Phantom on Broadway and Japan, or 10 years of Phantom in Toronto. None foreign Phantoms and Christines were participating (that is, none non-English speaking ones), and apart from some listings in the brochure they weren't represented at all. Compare to the Les Mis concert, where Jean Valjeans from all worldwide productions were invited to sing at the end.

So what were they celebrating? Phantom on general? Probably. But apart from the events surrounding the concert, the actual performance on stage felt more like watching the prelude for "Love Never Dies" and/or the future Phantom. To me the casting screamed of "we want to renew the musical, it'll be freeeeesh, LED screens, young people!" rather than Phantom history.

So this was not about London Phantom, or worldwide Phantom, or Phantom history. It was about the future. The twist at the end of Final Lair, the casting and the inclusion of Peter Jöback in the finale all emphasized future, not past.

That said, I liked the concert. A lot! I'm just pointing out what I think was the discourse of it all. When people say "Well, London got its celebration, now it's New York's time", it always makes me wanna point out that this was very little related to the London production. It was a Phantom orgy (sorry for the mental images there ) but a general one, not specific to time and place. I actually hope the NYC celebrations will be more about one production and less about general and/or future Phantom. Cause that's already been done.

Amen, woman. Amen.

My sister surprised me with this last night. She said that she purchased it just to nitpick it. Unfortunately the overall experience I had in the theatre is gone. I miss Andrew chasing Sarah across the stage and other little things that happened that night that weren't intentionally part of the performance. (Spiting, the flashlight candle, etc.)

PhantomsGhost wrote:I bought my DVD copy this morning after a dentist appointment at Barnes and Noble.

No wonder Border's went bankrupt. B&N is really trying to stick it to their competition. Amazon doesn't do teeth cleanings.

I don't fear the show closing at all. I think, in hindsight, the 2004 film only strengthened interest with a new generation. And when I see the show on my computer or TV screen, it only makes me want to see it live MORE.

Why yes, B&N has started doing dental cleanings, now. Makes it a one stop shop for all your dental and entertainment needs.

(Seriously, though. I can't believe I didn't catch that... )

ETA

Oh! I just really took a closer look at this mini-brochure, and they've added in Wendy Ferguson picture and all. And just for that, my opinion of the brochure went up a notch.

I also may be in the minority of not really wanting a pro-shot full show released; if you think the RAH celebration lacked in your home compared to the theatre, I dont think the stage show would hold up well on a home-viewing format; Simply put it wouldnt translate with as much spectacle as it would seeing live. I also agree the 2004 film (while not my favorite) greatly revived interest in the show; However my "nitpicks" with the 25th arent about the cast, loved the whole cast, more so about the limitations on the sets/design; The LED screens arent awful, but they dont give that depth and mystery that the Bjornson sets do but I also see how they want to make the most of the space in utilizing big projections; And yes..I wanted an actual chandelier crash, esp since they had such a pretty one with lots of beads it would've made for for a thrilling crash effect! But alas, they did what they could in the space provided, and while I love Les Mis, im very glad they didnt do a strictly "concert" version like Les Mis did, but rather stayed as strue as possible to the original stage show ( I do think the mirror in the layer could've been worked in somehow though). And honestly back in 2004 many of us would've killed for something like this to be out when all we had was the film version.

SenorSwanky wrote:[quote="StrangerThanUDreamt" But they still could've improved in some of the roles. PK as the Phantom, for example. Or at least have him in the post-show bit instead of Joback.

Amen to that. I'm baffled over the choice of Joback and that PK was not included in this project!

All in all, while I find Ramin to be rather talented (my voice teacher and I both agree that he's a fine singer)....to me, he doesn't have that finger-printing IT factor---so hard to put into words---that Peter Karrie had/has, that MC had/has, ETC. I think part of it is that I'm just not feeling this young Phantom thing. It just doesn't work for me. One can clearly see the unfortunate influences of the 2004 movie and LND.

I think Peter K. is a great Phantom...but honestly I dont think he would have translated well in the "up-close and personal" format of movie-theatre/dvd; Dont flame me for this but I think he would've been too over the top for such a format; and while it would have been nice to see him in the line up at the end; It makes good business decsion to showcase London's new Phantom in such a big way,Im not saying it's fair but it makes sense from a marketing point of view to give people a teaser, and since Jobeck is pretty big in his home country they probably wanted to showcase him; While on that note, I am in the minority again when it comes to him, I think he's going to be great and am very interested to see/hear what he does with the role; His vocals remind me of MC, which is hard to come by; and he has a dark handsome look that I think will translate well.

Phantomess wrote:
All in all, while I find Ramin to be rather talented (my voice teacher and I both agree that he's a fine singer)....to me, he doesn't have that finger-printing IT factor---so hard to put into words---that Peter Karrie had/has, that MC had/has, ETC. I think part of it is that I'm just not feeling this young Phantom thing. It just doesn't work for me. One can clearly see the unfortunate influences of the 2004 movie and LND.

This is a pretty accurate assessment, I think. It's not that Ramin is a terrible performer, it's just that he's not a very good Phantom. And I do think that's due in part to how young he reads onstage. He just doesn't convey the sort of gravitas a performer needs to be truly memorable in the role.

~LCD

PK is over-the-top, but I also think he plays well on TV, having seen high-quality clips of him in the role on TV.

LadyCDaae wrote:

Phantomess wrote:
All in all, while I find Ramin to be rather talented (my voice teacher and I both agree that he's a fine singer)....to me, he doesn't have that finger-printing IT factor---so hard to put into words---that Peter Karrie had/has, that MC had/has, ETC. I think part of it is that I'm just not feeling this young Phantom thing. It just doesn't work for me. One can clearly see the unfortunate influences of the 2004 movie and LND.

This is a pretty accurate assessment, I think. It's not that Ramin is a terrible performer, it's just that he's not a very good Phantom. And I do think that's due in part to how young he reads onstage. He just doesn't convey the sort of gravitas a performer needs to be truly memorable in the role.

That I agree with. And I want to add that I get the feeling he tries hard to add his own stamp to the roles he performs. But it doesn't come natural, like it seems to do with performers like Ethan Freeman, Peter Karrie and Mikael Samuelson. I think this is why I so often have the feeling of watching Ramin in mask instead of The Phantom.

I don't think he's a bad Phantom, though.