Penna2 said: "... As for this video - he just seems uncomfortable with the situation - he looks off at least once at the camera as if asking a question and you can see someone cross the screen for whatever reason.
I've heard him sing MOTN many times and some versions I like better than others. This wasn't my favorite, but I'm sure he'll be fine when in the zone of the role.
One more thing - Amelia is absolutely adorable and her voice is magical. Wish I could see this production."
+1000
I agree that the tempo of MOTN seems a bit fast. However, I like all three of these clips. They're not perfect, but they seem to be just run-throughs, i.e., probably not meant to be highly polished, and it's neat seeing Ramin and Amelia perform in a (somewhat) casual and intimate setting. I wish I could see them together on stage and fully in character!
Lot666 said: "chernjam said: "When I saw clips of the London opening, the spooky/ghostly Coney Island coming to life with the Coney Island Waltz - it made me think what could've been."
That's the scene I missed most in the Australian production. As someone who saw the London production three times, I found it quite effective.
I'm so jealous that you saw it three times!
Related to the original opening: One that I like is that it begins in the future before flashing back and telling the story -- it's a nice bit of parallelism with POTO. It's too bad that was lost after the changes.
I just got the CD and was pleased to see that the liner notes include not only lyrics but additional details about the staging and story. After reading through the whole thing, I decided that there's one other minor thing that I like about the changes. That is, the liner notes say that, during "The Phantom Confronts Christine," the Phantom puts his mask back on after Gustave takes it off. In the changed version, the mask stays off, and the Phantom covers his face with his hand for a minute or two before forgetting it and going unmasked. I think the revised version is more interesting.
However, I still don't care for the addition of the Phantom threatening to abduct Gustave, especially not the way it's presented, with the music from "Stranger Than You Dreamt It." That music works perfectly in POTO, but I think that the ominous melody and accompanying plot twist seem overbearing and out of place in LND, where the Phantom is generally presented as less unhinged than he was in POTO. Also, the original LND score is light on POTO music, and I think that was the right call; with the changes, there's a little too much. Of course, that's just my opinion and it's hard to do a true comparison without having seen the original. Perhaps the show was boring with a threatened abduction.
In all versions, I think there are way too many iterations of "Bathing Beauty," and it's hard to weed them out with a playlist because these annoying snippets crop up in multiple tracks, some of which include other songs I'd like to hear.
Buquet/Reyer: Matt Bond <-- I don't know anything about the actor, but those two characters appear simultaneously in the opening "Hannibal" scene, so I'm curious how they will be played by the same actor.
==> this board is a nest of vipers <==
"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene" - Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage