Phantom Of The Opera

The show itself is brilliant.I have seen Phantom of the Opera countless times at Her Majesty's Theatre London and would highly recommend it but the one this week w/c 10.3.17 was disappointing. The role of Phantom and Raoul were brilliant but I have to say the role of Christine was the worst one ever !!! She clearly struggled reaching some of the top notes. There was no chemistry or romance between her and the Phantom. She crucified some of the songs that I know and love. Such a shame, we had been looking forward to this for 3/4 months and I came away feeling quite sad. I also felt quite ashamed and embarrassed when I heard the price they were charging for ice cream and bottles of water. £2.50 for the smallest bottle of water and £3.50 for the tiniest tub of ice cream, what must visitors and tourists think, what a rip off.

Just a short review. I love the theatre and go regularly but have never seen this one before. After listening to friends over the years, rave about this show I was very excited to go. I believe my expectations were too high and I was extremely disappointed. I thought the theatre shabby, the seats extremely uncomfortable unless you are very short as there was next to no leg room. I was surprised at how small the theatre was too. I would recommend other shows.

I was excited to be able to watch the Phantom of the Opera in London, which I loved during it tour in Singapore a few years back.

However, I was disappointed with the show in London and was close to falling asleep throughout the performance.

The Phantom was nowhere imposing and Raoul sang without much emotions. Christine was passable but forgettable.

I did spot quite a few people picking up their coats during the interval and leaving while a number of people who stayed after the intervals were visibly restless.

This was a far cry from Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre where the audience gave a standing ovation at the end of the performance.

Got completely lost to begin with. Make the most of the early sight of the chandelier - it's all you get. The new set is eerie and very dark. I realise that it is difficult to change an accepted format, but for those who have seen the original show, this is disappointing. Christine is brilliant. However, (I know this isn't important in a musical), Raoul is too short and not very convincing as Christine's partner. First night, I know, but the Phantom is not nearly frightening enough; something to do with his stance, I think - he did not command the stage. The girl in front of me said she thought he looked like 'one of those old guys in The Muppets' when he was revealed. That said, the music is wonderful, the sound effects very good and the Millennium Centre is great.

new production at cardiff last night, seen the original west end production three times, no chandelier dropping , mascarade totally spoiled .Phantom and christine excellent, Raoul too weak and talked rather than sang.

I've never seen such an incredible musical! It was fantastic especially actor's voice! I was really fascinated by their peformance and the stunning atmosphere.

It would be great to take this show to Japan! I think Japanese audience could be surprised and moved it!

VERY DISAPPOINTING, having seen the show twice previously, i have just watched the new production in Manchester 6th April 2012 and they have completely destroyed the revamped version with the new sets starting with no rise and fall of the chandelier, A disaster beyond your imagination which proved to be like a wet sparkle fizzing boringly, No staircase for the masquarade, Poor effort on the cemetary scene and whatever happened to the initial trip down to the labyrinth with the gondoler. The whole show was rushed and very disapponting.

Hello

There are very few things that can actually make you feel the spine tingling sensation. I have listened to the music, seen the film and watched the interviews with Micheal Crawford and co. For me this has a special magic, very much like Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. Would the real thing stand up to what I had already heard? I have said this before but I will say it again. From the start it was spine tingling, amazing, loud and wonderful. There was a full 23 piece orchestra who put their heart and soul into the music which gave it a life. Then came the first song, not the bit before hand but that first proper song. When Christine is asked to sing. Those first few notes made me shiver and yes at one point it brought a tear to my eye. The real thing beats anything hands down. Their voices were not drowned by the music but enhanced, once more creating the atmosphere of the theatre. Each song, though memorable, was given a new dynamic. more at http://drawnonwords.co.uk/2012/03/02/phantom/

A pathetic attempt at serious opera, fed of the fact that no-one in the audience had ever been to the theatre before. I sat surrounded by tourists.

The Phantom of the Opera

What did you do?

On 10th November I watched the Phantom of the Opera in Her Majesty's Theatre in London. This was the evening performance and I sat in the Royal Circle part of the audience, along with my sister and parents. We travelled by train and then the underground and we then walked to find the theatre which was very grand and ornate. The show consisted of two acts with an interval in between and it was approximately two and a half hours in total and this time was certainly exciting!

Background Information

Phantom of the Opera has been in the West end for now 24years and therefore is the longest ever running show by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was originally a book written by the French author Gaston Leroux, and since the musical production a film version has been made. The show is structured as a musical, however many of the songs reflect the operatic style and the music is played by the ensemble made up of many instruments and the set includes many props such as a boat for when the Phantom takes Christine to his lair as well as the huge chandelier which crashes to the stage from the ceiling in one place and is key in creating tension. As well as this, there is much lighting and effects. There have been many different cast members during the lifetime of the show, however I saw John Owen- Jones playing the Phantom and Sofia Escobar playing Christine.

The story of it surrounds an opera singer, Christine Daa , who has been brought up in the Paris opera house and when her father dies he tells her that he will send an 'angel of music' to look after her. Later, she starts to hear a voice singing to her and guiding her and so she thinks that this is her 'angel' however, it is in fact a disfigured (found out later) man who wears a mask to cover this and he is a musical genius. He wants Christine to sing his songs as soon as he hears her voice and he falls in love with her, although he threatens the people of the opera house in order to make Christine prosper in the Opera House. She is fascinated by him and is drawn to him, however she falls in love with Raoul instead and they become engaged. This makes the phantom very jealous and angry and so he makes threats which later turns into he kidnapping Christine and threatening to kill Raoul and so in order to save him Christine agrees to marrying the Phantom. Both Christine and Raoul go free together however, as the Phantom then realises what he has done and the show ends with the Phantom vanishing forever.

What was good?

I thought that this story was excellent as not only did the multiple dramatic and tense parts mean that the story was continually gripping, but also the fact that the genre of it was a tragic love story meant that it was interesting, thought provoking band it made you feel connected with the action as you sympathised with the characters, namely the Phantom.

Although, I thought that one of the best things about the show was the music. This is because it was extremely powerful and the fact that it was so complicated, made up of numerous instruments and parts, yet flawless made all of the music influence the atmosphere and it showed that it must have been rehearsed very well. The songs were each in their own way very effective as they told the story in an interesting way and I also liked how the same ones kept being repeated throughout the show as it meant that the action linked together well.

The show started with Raoul as an old man in the Paris Opera house which is in a state of disrepair, with an auction taking place selling the contents of it. It then flashed back to seventy years before when the Paris Opera House as at its height and I thought that this structure was very effective as it got me wanting to know what had happened even before the main action had started and it the contrast between this somber, dark beginning and the bright, loud scene afterwards meant that you had already been introduced into the action.

The set also made the show very good as it went with the action very well and flowed scenes together nicely, such as Christine's dressing room had a mirror in it and this opened to reveal the phantom and so Christine went inside it and the next scene was them together going to the Phantom's lair.

As well as this, the lighting and effects made ere good as they gave the show the right atmosphere for the part of the story it was at. This happened when the chandelier crashed to the stage- the rest of the stage was dark and so very tense, which also made the dim light of the chandelier appear more eerie.

The show was a musical so obviously had singing and the quality of this made the sure brilliant. All of the principle roles had fantastic singers who had a very wide range that they could use their voice in and the different pitches of voices made the harmonies excellent and very powerful such as when Christine, Raoul and the Phantom all sung at the same time the overall sound was very compelling.

What was not so good?

The show was brilliant and so the only thing that was not as good was that the story became quite confusing in many parts and as it was being told in song this meant that you had to listen to the lyrics very well and sometimes it was hard to pick out the story, especially as the lyrics could be quite fast. Therefore, they could have made it easier to follow.

Would I recommend it?

I would definitely recommend 'The Phantom of the Opera' to people though, because all aspects of it are not simply average but have been very well thought out and are very effective. Also, it is a very gripping show and even though the story is slightly somber, the music and singing make it uplifting and these have amazing musical range and are very powerfully composed. Also, it is very atmospheric and has something for everyone, making it a show that you would want to see time and time again!