#1
Posted: 11/3/10 at 6:54pm
So I ditched Time Warner last month and picked up Dish Network, and I was thrilled to find the Ovation Network- it reminds me of Bravo back in the 90's before they became a crappy reality TV network.
I was flipping through last night and found that a Making of the Phantom of the Opera Documentary- I figured it was probably the one from the double disc Movie DVD, but it was something I have never seen before, with a TON of vintage footage- much of which I have never seen or heard before (and I have more stuff on Phantom than I care to admit too)
The 2 hour show went from two years before the London Premier all the way to opening night and the craziness that went along the way.
Things that I did not know about:
Hal Prince was fired from the show: This was something I never knew- and what was truly interesting is that when he was asked about it on camera he said "how do you know about that, I didn't think anyone knew about that" to which the voice off camera said "Cameron Mackintosh told me all about it" cut to Cameron. He was fired in favor of Trevor Nunn and for two months Nunn was at the helm of the production but was fired himself when the tepid London reviews came out for Les Miz! Hal then got the job back!
Great rehearsal footage with the OLC, and even better was hearing the unreleased demos of Steve Harley (the original Phantom on record) singing The Music of the Night.
They also talked about some of Crawfords temper tantrums when things were not going well, and I couldn't believe how many problems they actually had getting the show going.
Also of note: At one point they had motorized rats with glowing red eyes in the lair scenes, REAL flying doves for the rooftop scene, and a mechanical white horse that would take Christine down to the lair during the title song.
I know I'm probably forgetting more, but I have to go back and watch again, because of every Phantom documentary I've ever seen, this was by far the best, and MOST honest. If you have access to Ovation, check your listings, because I guess it will be on throughout November.
I was flipping through last night and found that a Making of the Phantom of the Opera Documentary- I figured it was probably the one from the double disc Movie DVD, but it was something I have never seen before, with a TON of vintage footage- much of which I have never seen or heard before (and I have more stuff on Phantom than I care to admit too)
The 2 hour show went from two years before the London Premier all the way to opening night and the craziness that went along the way.
Things that I did not know about:
Hal Prince was fired from the show: This was something I never knew- and what was truly interesting is that when he was asked about it on camera he said "how do you know about that, I didn't think anyone knew about that" to which the voice off camera said "Cameron Mackintosh told me all about it" cut to Cameron. He was fired in favor of Trevor Nunn and for two months Nunn was at the helm of the production but was fired himself when the tepid London reviews came out for Les Miz! Hal then got the job back!
Great rehearsal footage with the OLC, and even better was hearing the unreleased demos of Steve Harley (the original Phantom on record) singing The Music of the Night.
They also talked about some of Crawfords temper tantrums when things were not going well, and I couldn't believe how many problems they actually had getting the show going.
Also of note: At one point they had motorized rats with glowing red eyes in the lair scenes, REAL flying doves for the rooftop scene, and a mechanical white horse that would take Christine down to the lair during the title song.
I know I'm probably forgetting more, but I have to go back and watch again, because of every Phantom documentary I've ever seen, this was by far the best, and MOST honest. If you have access to Ovation, check your listings, because I guess it will be on throughout November.
