Phantom...It Just keeps getting worse... (Don't read if you're a fan) — Page 4

Masquerade being good in the film...
DO people (and the choreographer) realize that VOGUE did not come out till the seventies/eighties. I thought it was pathetic to have a man vogueing on the steps...It couldn't have been any more innacurately gay!

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Hey...if you think ALW repeats himself, you need look no farther than JATATD....can we say....6 melodies in the entire show?
And phantom as a movie was very weak. i was not impressed with most of the music and all of the acting...but the costumes were cool. I like the costumes.
Emmy rossum...notsomuch

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I'm sure it's the cast one sees that determines how one feels about the show. I've seen clips of Crawford and Brightman, and I'm not impressed. Love them on the album, but not in performance. Some Phantoms I've heard are not pleasent to listen to (I'll never know wht people loved John Owen Jones so much). Gerard Butler might not have the smooth tenor we are all used to from the Phantom, but I can understand why he got the aprt (all one has to do is watch the interviews with the creators to figure it out) and I don't hate his voice, but I'm not the biggest fan (I only really hate that he sings "Go now and leave me!") The only Phantom to really impress me (and it might have been because of his great chemistry with his wife playing Christine) is Gary Mauer. Even from my nosebleed seat at the Fox Theatre I could feel the power of his performance, and his voice was perfect for the role (I wish Mauer and Southard could release a POTO recording! Even if it was only a few selections from the show, I'd buy it in a heartbeat).

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>>Don't ever compare an actor to another actor. It comes across as juvenile.<<


THAT is juvenile? Whatever. The poster has the right to comment in whatever way he/she chooses. Who are you to tell somewhat what opinion they can have on a PUBLIC message board? People compare actors to other actors all the time. You think your fellow Wicked geeks don't comment about that sort of thing? Get off your high horse and stop being mean because you think you're better than somebody else.

Yes, seeing this thread resurrected is a bit bizzare. Since it began, Phantom has become the longest running show on Broadway, which is, I am sure, a really prickly burr under the blankets of fans of "quality" shows, particularly those among the Sondheim fans who are bitter that such a boring show with such derivitive, repetitive music and bad lyrics is loved by so many.

A new production, apparently with added glitz and special effects, has opened in Las Vegas, but I'm sure that doesn't bother the folks who find that it just keeps getting worse. It just confirms their judgement---and Sondheim would never play Vegas anyway.

I don't believe that good marketing can account for the repeat visits by many patrons. It's just possible that this show does get to the hearts of many theater goers...has, does, and probably will continue to do so for some time to come. Silly people.

It isn't, in my opinion, a theatrical sin to have a love story that affects people of all ages featuring accessible, melodic music and beautiful staging. Others have enumerated its assorted sins and will no doubt add others---or repeat the same old same old, but the Phantom continues to lurk Muhahaaaa

Another ALW sucks/Sondheim is God thread. Yawn!

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I really dont think its fair to compare POTP to Sondheim. Phantom for one is musical theatre, where as , by Sondheim's own admission, he prefers to think of his work as a play set to music. They are different in form and character development. WHen people say that Phantom is boring, I often wonder what they would do if they went to see Turandot. I high suspect they would have the same reaction. Many of the numbers in Phantom are operatic in construction and that is why they are boring to many. Right now, it is easy to say how "cheesy" Phantom is, but lets face it when that thing came out it was THE hottest ticket in town, and audiences raved, as I am sure some of these posters probably did at the time. It would have been sacreligious at the time. Phantom and Les Miz were the Babe Ruth that saved baseball, they brought worldwide attention that theatre was alive and well, and nothing can be better than that.
Phantom is a fun show. I am an actor/singer and I love Sondheim. But I enjoy seeing some fun every now and then that doesnt need to be analyazed and heard 4 times before I get the cleverness of the lyric. The opening number in Phantom is pure magic plain and simple. The pure spectacle of what occurs is amazing and never fails to give me goosebumps. I also perform Chekhov and Ibsen, but one learns to appreciate the art form in its MANY forms. To rail on a success such as Phantom wreaks of amateur. It is the community theate actor that sits in the audience and is convinced he is as good as the guy on the Broadway stage, Well, he's not. I respect the person that says that was good but it wasnt my cup of tea. But to rip apart a show, any show that is so obvioius and worthy of praise in one way or another. The Phantom movie can be looked at as a bomb. I decided to enjoy the art directrion, the costume, and the lighting. I enjoyed the film. I found the good in it rather than the bad. Noone writes a melody like Andrew Lloyd Webber..his 35 year history proves it. Memory proves it. I Dont Know How to Love Him Proves it. The average public likes to come out humming shows every now and then. Hum Passion...I dare you. I always find circumspect the pseudo intellectual that PROUDLY proclaims the god Sondheim, because it is the thinking mans theatre. Is Sondheim genius, yes he is. Is Webber genius? Yes he is. Are they different? Yes they are. It is pure theatre ignorance to not aknowledge them both. You dont have to like someone or his style to respect them. Andrew Lloyd Webber deserves the repsect. He took the My Fair Lady era and brought it forward. He was one of the most instrumental people in keeping the art form alive when many said musical theatre was dead. And like Claire Ruth said to the owner of the NY Yankees when he tossed aside Babe Ruth.. " You and all the other owners in the game today should line up and kiss his a**." So, pucker up all ye narrowminded haters.

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**KEEP QUIET, SPIDEY . . . KEEP QUIET!!!***

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It's still playing? SHOCKER!

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Updated On: 7/14/06 at 01:53 PM

I'm tempted to say, "You go! phillyactor"....but that is so juvenile, that I won't.

Giacomo Puccini is still pissed. So is Roger Water.