"Phantom" test screening: my review- Page 6

[blueroses24]

Posted: 9/30/04 at 5:50pm

I bet it would have been! Ok...so the movie starts out with a candle and ends with that (safe for the fact that Raoul is at Christine's grave and the whole rose thing). Is the auction in color or in black and white?

How were the managers singing voices? I spoke with someone last night who swore that Cirian Hinds had been in the Phantom of the Opera before as both Phantom and the Raoul...I doubt this, but was just wondering. I know that Simon can sing....or at least he could when Amadeus was made.

~Rachel~

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 9/30/04 at 6:39pm

Sorry to keep pounding you with questions Rose, but yea know, being the one with the info.

In your opinion, do you think any of the actors are Acadamy Award worthy for their performances?

[Plum]

Posted: 9/30/04 at 10:05pm

Oy, I'm sorry I even suggested AICN. The talkbalkers are bunch of extremely insecure young men who like to work out their psychological issues by seeing who can be more of a pretentious ass on the board. There are a few smart ones (and women), but that board has an obscene signal-to-noise ratio.

[beacon1]

Posted: 9/30/04 at 10:48pm

Ach...

Let'em squabble. She graciously provided her review and if they want to tear it apart like a bunch of terrier puppies so be it. They aren't as big or bad or brave as they think they are...they just know how to type/keyboard/or whatever they call it now.

Rose...you made my day!

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 12:10am

I hope AICN didn't frighten you away from us!

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 12:12am

And you guys have made mine! Once again, thank you so much for your kind words! I appreciate it. Don't sweat it, Plum. I still think it was a good idea.
Managers' singing voices: They were pretty good, but I have no idea if Cirian Hinds was ever in the show before. And I didn't know you knew about the ending! I didn't want to wreck it for you guys, so I kept quiet on it. But if you want to know, I'll tell you.
As for Oscar performances: I'm sorry, but I really don't know about that yet. It's too early for me to make a statement on that. Plus, I need to see more movies.

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 12:15am

NOOOO! Don't tell us the ending! Unless...

//POSSIBLE SPOILERS!
I deleted this, because...well I was right.
//END

Just say "Yes" or "No". Don't give away the ending! I want to be surprised. And even if someone said, "you don't have to look at it!", then they don't know I have 0% self control when it comes to Phantom...and I would have to look at it :P Updated On: 10/1/04 at 12:15 AM

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 12:46am

I'd rather give the ending through PMs for anyone who REALLY wants to know, so nobody finds out by accident. So, shall I send you a PM, Jake?

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 12:48am

Sure... Thanks :)

[blueroses24]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 9:10am

That ending was leaked a loooong time ago by someone who bought the script off of ebay. :) Actually though, I will probably forget the ending the instant the movie starts. I'm really dumb when it comes to stuff like that. I was sitting there watching Love Story and even though Oliver sits there and tells you that she going to die (or he's reflecting on it) as soon as the movie picks up, I forget the ending, and then when she's dying...I sit there hoping that she'll live and get upset when it happens. LOL.

So anyway...no doubt I will instantly forget the Phantom of the Opera ending and the ending will be a suprise to me. :)

~Rachel~

[secret-soul]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 11:33am

Rose, I wanna know! PM me!!!!!
Ciaran Hinds...I don't think was ever in the show...

[BlueRose]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 1:02pm

What lyrics did they use? Where they the ones on the original london cast recording or the updated ones used in the stage show now?
I thought your review on AICN was great. Some people just need to complain, don't worry about it. We all think you're fantastic!

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 1:05pm

Rose, if you don't know the answer to BlueRose's question, don't worry! (It was a good question though) I'm a PHAN myself and even I have difficulties spotting the new lyrics.

Heres some more questions from a member of PhantomFans:
During her rendition of think of me, Does the elephant fall on carlotta or is it the backdrop?

how is the chandelier cut down? it seems to me that cutting a rope from backstage seems a little to easy to cut down a 7 tonne chandelier.

is the punjab lasso for raoul in the final lair scene realistic? it always seemed to me as something that could only work onstage.

when she described the deformity as looking like erik's face had been stretched, tell me its not stretchy-face-man from the carnival scene in the trailer? (the 19 second mark)

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 1:19pm

*Yeah, about the lyrics, I have no idea. Sorry!

*If I remember correctly, the drop falls on Carlotta.

*The chandelier fall: After he is unmasked, the Phantom takes Christine to the top of the house and cuts the rope. He might also pull on it to get it to fall; I can't remember.

*For the punjab lasso, the Phantom first ties Raoul to the gate, then gets the lasso and puts it around Raoul's neck himself, manually tightening it. I agree with you, Jake; the way they do it on stage can ONLY work on stage, so I'm glad they changed it.

*I haven't seen the trailer, but I can safely say that the "stretchy-face guy" is NOT the Phantom, because he wears a burlap sack over his head in that scene.

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 3:01pm

Do you think that we're being too spoiled? Not by this review, but by the pictures and everything we're seeing? Or is seeing it an entirley different experience on its own? I'm getting worried that I'm going to know every little bit before I actually see the movie :P

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 4:42pm

No. You'll enjoy it every bit as much as you would without the "spoilers."

[captain_zahn]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 8:17pm

I feel a bit silly asking this, but some people have noticed that in pictures it seems that Patrick's sideburns change in direction in different scenes. Is this something that you noticed in the film?

[beacon1]

Posted: 10/1/04 at 11:46pm

Aaah...but once he starts singing and acting as Raoul...who's gonna care...

If at the end of the movie you can't remember the hair looks "different" then he's certainly proved himself to be an Oscar-caliber performer.

Go Patrick! Go! *shakes pom-poms and does a split!*

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 12:36am

I didn't notice that at all.

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 1:04am

beacon1, you are hilarious!

Just wondering...I know you've answered the questions about the singing, but is the scream-sing still at the end of "Phantom of the Opera" (the song)? (You know where he says, "Sing for me..." and shes all, "AHHHHHHHHHH, ahhahahaha!") Anyway, I love how it sounds.

If it is included in the movie still, does Emmy do a good job? Those notes would be pretty hard to nail I'm sure and many stage actresses can't pull it off :P

[blueroses24]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 1:45am

That's what I'm talking about, Jake! That's also one of the best parts in Think of Me. I hope she can sing those vocalizations successfully.

~Rachel~

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 1:55am

She does. Emmy kicks operatic ass.

[GavrocheCramer]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 2:14am

Hi... Thank you soooooo much for you patience in answering the questions we phans have about the movie (or at least the ones that we can mutter out amidst our drooling gaping mouths as we scower the internet for additional info about the film) ANYWAY TO MY QUESTIONS:

I am a musical theater major at a very respected institution for the theater arts and music. Quality musicianship is very key to our program... I am very critical of vocal quality in musical theater. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor I found appaulling in terms of their singing... I would be quite bothered if Emmy's interpretation of Christine results in a similar effect as Nicole Kidman's Satine. Nicole hit the notes thanks to the mircales of modern computer technology and excessive added reverb. But she would not have a prayer if she were forced to singing live (without her friends at the recording studio/lab spending hours altering her voice to the point beyond recognition). So what I want to know is: Does Emmy have a resonance and maturity to her sound? And does her vibrato have real consistancy (or does she even have a developed enough voice to start producing vibrato)? I just don't want the show to have that EXTENDED MTV Music Video quality that made evita LONG... OH so long! I just pray that she doesn't sound like a pop singer trying unsuccessfully to sound like a trained broadway performer (so few can... Queen Latifah can! Buy her new CD! Vocal Jazz and a musical theater flair :) Nicely trained voice)

The phantom really does not have to have a absolutely mind blowing, technically accurate voice in my opinion, however. Pitch as always is curcial and if I heard someone singing a song from Phantom outside of the show I would demand vocal quality and a real command of a classical foundation in vocal study. Not that he would sound like a opera singer... but would have studied to the point that a performer can really develop the musical line and phrases without resorting to gimicks and cliches to be expressive. So many more options. But in the show Eriks/phantoms voice is masked with reverb (and effectively so) because he is echoing from some unseen location. It is creepy. Micheal Crawford is a HORRIBLE singer! HORRIBLE... he has to have vocal folds of steal as he essentially is shredding his vocal folds everytime he sings. BUT I didn't reallize how bad he was until I saw him singing out side of phantom. His voice worked for that one role... but see him in Hello Dolly or those god awful programs he does on PBS. He always sounds like the phantom... strained, strained, strained! but it works for a creepy/romantic figure clouded in shadow and echo in a opera house. so....

SECOND QUESTION:

Are the characters mouths moving always when they are singing? Let me elaborate (I am long winded sorry), I hate it when in some contemporary filmed musicals... such as evita... when a song is song that relays an inner though the film maker/ director opt to act like the music is in there head and they don't move their lips... the voice is in the characters head. I find that is distracts from the theatrical excitement a musical gives us. Chicago had theatrical presence I felt like I had just walked out of a stage show. AND the characters sang fully and for the most part they sang well. I hope that this film retains its origins and does not move to do the "my inner thoughs as a musical voice over" rather than the character singing the song as if it were an actual staged show.

Thank you for listening to my long winded diatribes and I hope you can answer my questions :) Thanks.

[GavrocheCramer]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 2:22am

I can't type tonight... I meant "inner thoughts" not "inner thoughs" Sorry for any confusion

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 10/2/04 at 3:15am

I know I've mentioned it before, but I love Emmy! Especially now that she "kicks operatic ass"! WOO HOO

Again, I have another question from [b]Fishy[/b] from PhantomFans.Net...though its something I've been wondering too.

-What is with the Phantom being very very obviously the Phantom onstage during PONR? Does everyone (like the police, Raoul, etc.) know that he has murdered Piangi and is everything but getting it on with Christine? I just want to know how they handle PONR, with the Phantom disguised as Piangi disguised as Passarino...except...yeah.

---
I know you said something before about Christine being hypnotized, but...this does seem somewhat confusing to me???