PHANTOM will be the next ALW musical to stream for free

I already own the Blu-ray, which I bought as soon as it came out because we actually attended the Royal Albert Hall event, but I'm still excited for this!

At least its not the 2004 film

TaleofTwo said: "Globefan said: "At least its not the 2004 film"

It's actually pretty amazing how they managed to make this concert seem "staged" on camera. Much better than the 2004 film, yes."

It was staged.

uncageg said: "The promo that just came out on YouTube appears to be the full show with Sierra Boggess."

It's the 25th Anniversary Production at the Royal Albert Hall, which was filmed and released on DVD/Blu-ray. Ramin Karimloo in the title role, with Sierra Boggess as Christine and Hadley Fraser as Raoul.

ggersten said: "Not really a spoiler overall but in this production:

That was to be expected here, as this production was staged for just two days at the Royal Albert Hall, so we didn't find it all that disappointing.

Updated On: 4/16/20 at 02:22 PM

Just finished watching the performance. I’m nowhere near as seasoned as some of you, with only several dozen musicals and plays under my belt, but I absolutely LOVED seeing this staged version of Phantom of the Opera. It kept my full attention, and it seemed I’d go forever forgetting to take a breath. Loved hearing the music again, seeing actors new to me perform, and watching the story play out in front of me on the TV (stage) as if it were the first time all over again. This brought back so many wonderful memories. Having seen the tour twice (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh), and the Broadway original in NYC, this is another memory I’ll always cherish, especially the guest stars who take the stage after the final curtain call. How incredibly special! I plan on watching it again tomorrow and making a donation. Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

Updated On: 4/17/20 at 08:26 PM

David10086 said: "I wish they would stream the 1977 movie "A Little Night Music". It's worth watching solely for the superb performance by Diana Rigg - who saved this movie. (Taylor wasn't bad, but she wasn't good either - she was just 'there'."

Oh yeah, Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous A Little Night Music

CATSNYrevival said: "Could they have done something with the chandelier in post to at least make it look like it fell at the Albert Hall or would people have complained about that too?"

It was streamed live at the time. We watched it in the cinema. So there was nothing to do then!

I guess very long after the fact they could have done something. I believe Billy Elliot was re-edited from the camera shots/angles used during the live streaming. But, doing something else with the chandelier was likely viewed as an unneeded expense for a DVD...

ggersten said: "I guess very long after the fact they could have done something. I believe Billy Elliot was re-edited from the camera shots/angles used during the live streaming. But, doing something else with the chandelier was likely viewed as an unneeded expense for a DVD..."

That's what I meant. I was thinking maybe some creative editing could have made the chandelier effect a little more exciting on film. There was some creative editing implemented already. I don't know if they did this when it was originally broadcast in cinemas but if you watch the title song, while the Phantom and Christine doubles are traveling to the underground layer back and forth across the bridge, they splice in some footage of Sierra Boggess to further the illusion that it is Sierra and Ramon crossing the bridge but, of course, we know it's not really them. Not to mention the footage they use is identical to a shot of Sierra we see moments later near the end of the song.

Updated On: 4/17/20 at 11:06 PM

I will point out I was not a fan of this show personally but seeing it live changed my mind. This performance is nice to have but pales to comparison to Broadway on most fronts. Maybe it was better live but I would not consider it defining for the show.

TaleofTwo said: "Globefan said: "At least its not the 2004 film"

It's actually pretty amazing how they managed to make this concert seem "staged" on camera. Much better than the 2004 film, yes."

Was it blocked like any of the regular running productions? No, but it certainly wasn't a concert. It def was a larger scale production made especially for the RAH.

And indeed thank goodness it wasn't the movie...I was worried for a sec that since the Joseph stream was the official film, the this would be too. The movie is new travesty. Heck, I expected the Superstar film to be the film too, I don't think anyone would complain about that, but the arena tour was LIT.

I don't say this lightly, I'm hard to please, but this Phantom is the only one worth watching. It helps that it was a special event so energy was naturally high, but it still was a dang masterpiece.

ggersten said: "Not really a spoiler overall but in this production:

I was a little disappointed about that too but I guess it would've been a bit difficult to pull off in this theater which is absolutely gorgeous.

I watched it from beginning to end last night too (helped make this Friday a little less depressing). I was tired but couldn't turn it off, it was so beautifully done. I'm going to watch it again tonight.

Not sure if this would be a spoiler but ..

Ramin Karimloo was awesome but I still loved Ben Crawford's performance when I saw it in February. Whenever Broadway reopens this will probably be the first show I go see again, unless I find decent tickets for Moulin Rouge.