The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!
The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!
The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#1
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:05am
Ok, sorry to be so blunt, but I have been in a big The Phantom of the Opera mode lately. I love the show. I have been trying so hard to give the soundtrack a chance, because the orchestrations and orchestra are truly wonderful (Masquerade is astounding), but the cast stinks so bad it is almost (well it is) impossible to listen to. Emmy is actually ok, but Gerard just sucks. I mean if I was confronted with him as The Phantom I would laugh in his face, whereas with Crawford (who I normally don't care for) I would have shivers running down my spin. I guess it is such a shame that we have a new POTO recording that is so bad because of the casting choices. Gerard is sexy, but he simply doesn't have the voice to pull off the Phantom, much like Colm. I just don't know what ALW was thinking! Don't know why I'm posting this - just am. It was my first musical - the musical that brought me this great passion. I just would love a new recording that is acutally listenable. Gerard is a joke - flat out a joke!
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#2
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:11am...Wait, you never saw the movie?
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#2
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:13amI saw the movie. I am just saying that I am totally into POTO again, and it's disappointing (highly) considering this is more complete. better sounding, and with updating orchestrations, compared to the OLC. WTF was ALW thinking when he approved Gerard Butler as his lead. Dumb, dumb, dumb!
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#3
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:13amThe movie was terrible, so what did you expect?
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#4
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:15amThe movie was ok. I just don't get it. There hard to be someone out there who had a powerful voice for the Phantom. I mean I would just laugh during the finale if Gerard were singing..."oh I'm so afraid". I just wish it was better.
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#5
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:28amSorry if I'm so blunt. This was my first musical. I was touring with my drum & bugle corps in 1988 and one of our competitiors was doing The Phantom of the Opera as their show, and I loved their show so much. One of the guys in my corps had the cassette of POTO and I borrowed it. I had never heard a musical before and it was love at first listen, and this show still holds such a special place in my heart, because this show opened up a whole world that I never even knew existed (I am from Wisconsin) and now I am so passionate about musicals. POTO will always hold this place in my heart, and I love it so much because of that. Les Miz too, which I also discovered that summer. I just wish this recording (the OST) was better.
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#6
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:46am
Bluntness I don't mind. 
The fact that this thread is taking me back to the insane Phantom wank in 2004 is kinda trippy, though!
Stand-by Joined: 12/22/06
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#7
Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:55amEmmy's singing was so-so, but her acting sort of depressed me...
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#8
Posted: 2/16/07 at 2:17amthe only song I like on the soundtrack is "Poor Fool He Makes Me Laugh"... that says a lot I think. one of the songs I overlook on the OLC is the best on the soundtrack. wtf?
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#9
Posted: 2/16/07 at 2:22amI agree. the completeness of songs like "Poor Fool" is great. But, again Gerard sucks in that song. Totally not Phantomesque.
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#10
Posted: 2/16/07 at 6:09am
I totally agree. Gerard Butler ruined the whole thing for me. A missed opportunity.
If Sunset Blvd gets shot, I hope they'll make a better job of it. Evita was great and I'm not a Madonna fan.
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#11
Posted: 2/16/07 at 8:08am
Unfortunately the failure of the Phantom movie has most likely ended any chances of a Sunset Blvd. movie musical ever being shot.
If you like those new orchestrations and would like to hear them without Gerard's "singing" ruining them go see the Las Vegas Spectacular version. The show has never sounded and looked so lush. Many of the changes from the movie were put into the Vegas Phantom, and I loved the cast.
As far as what ALW was thinking when he cast Gerard my understanding is that he wanted the movie to have more youth appeal, and he envisioned the Phantom as a sort of teen idol.
Featured Actor Joined: 1/5/07
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#12
Posted: 2/16/07 at 8:51am
i think joel schumacher had more to do with getting butler and rossum cast. he wanted to go young, real young to appeal to a younger demographic. alw consented and approved.
the result = one of THE WORST movie musicals in history. it makes grease 2 look like a masterpiece.
Understudy Joined: 1/8/05
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#13
Posted: 2/16/07 at 10:42am
It's nowhere near the worst movie musical ever made. It's certainly not great but by no means completely horrible.
To get around the awful singing, I just bought the Italian soundtrack (same great orchestrations, better singing) and watch the movie with the French dubbing.
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#14
Posted: 2/16/07 at 10:48am
I saw PHANTOM at an early screening, when there was still some buzz that it was going to be an Oscar contender. It was a fascinating experience, because the first 15 minutes or so were just extraordinary.
But - and its actually very rare when this happens - you could pinpoint the minute the film started to falter. Half way through the title song - when she was walking down the hallway with the hand-candelabras -- there was suddenly this shift and nothing in the rest of the film equalled what had come before it.
Schumacher just isn't a gifted film maker. The film probably would have been "better" or at least more tolerable if they had cast bigger names in the two leads - but it became very insufferable very quickly. A fascinating experiement on how not to do a movie musical for modern audiences.
Featured Actor Joined: 11/3/06
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#15
Posted: 2/16/07 at 10:52am
"It's nowhere near the worst movie musical ever made. It's certainly not great but by no means completely horrible."
The movie was crap. It was 143 minutes of my life I will never get back. It ruined the entire show for me. Christine is suppose to be this amazing singer and when that skinny homely girl opened her mouth I wanted to shoot myself. And then they hire Minnie who doesn't sing her part at all. Raoul was nice on the eyes and ok on the ears, but he was boring, oh and then there's the Phantom, give me a break, I was laughing at the end, he looked like he had a sun burn and his singing was terrible. I agree the best part was "Poor Fool" They should have had the chick that played Meg play Christine at least she sang well enough and had a nice bosom!
Featured Actor Joined: 11/3/06
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#15
Posted: 2/16/07 at 10:52amI was so disgusted I posted my message twice! Updated On: 2/16/07 at 10:52 AM
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#17
Posted: 2/16/07 at 10:58amI found the film to be boring. Which I find odd as I really enjoyed it on Broadway. I didn't expect the movie to live up to the show, but I never thought I would be bored.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#18
Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:22am
The film was a massive disappointment to me. I knew it would be, because Joel Schumacher ruined "Batman" for me and I knew, instantly, he'd ruin this too. Still, I gave it a chance. I was not surprised. I was disappointed. I have a soft spot for this musical and the amazing performance that Michael Crawford gave. They should have made this movie in the 90s when they said they would. At least it would have been properly done by WB. Gerald Butler just stinks totally and utterly, IMO, Emmy Russom, can't stand her, Patrick, can't stand him. Everyone else, don't really care. Schumacher casting people young? Stupid. Phantom is not supposed to be sexy, it's supposed to be operatic and larger-than-life. The Phantom is supposed to be genuinely ugly.
And then you have all these stupid inconsistencies... Mme. Giry looking about 50 and yet she's the same age as Erik when she rescues him from the circus. The Phantom looks like a young man, late 20s, early 30s at that. Mme. Giry is obviously so much older
Christine hears his voice when she's a child. Ah, isn't that creepy paedophilia? The Phantom wouldn't have been the same age.
Just a lot of things, a lot of continuum problems, bad lip-syncing, great sets, ultimately wasted because you're so bored because everything seems to be running more slowly than the stage-show on a bad night. Just bleh
Maybe one day "Phantom" will receive a proper and authentic filming, true to the nature of the musical but obviously more cinematic. And hopefully not as identical to the stage script
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#19
Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:35am
"Maybe one day "Phantom" will receive a proper and authentic filming"
It will never happen. That's the tragedy of this, and I'm speaking as someone who thinks Phantom on stage works. Yes, the individual elements can be criticized ad naseum, but I think Phantom is the best example of the late 20th century mega-musical. It's too bad that future generations won't be able to understand what made this a great musical by watching the film. It reminds me of the Chorus Line movie in that regard. Oh well, Phantom will probably still be running on Broadway, so those future generations can go see it there.
I don't agree that the Phantom has to be old and ugly. I've seen all sorts of portrayals of this character, and I think it makes the most sense when he's done as a potentially handsome, distinguished gentleman who has a hopelessly disfigured face and soul.
The problem with the movie casting wasn't the age of the actors, it was their performances.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#20
Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:38am
I suppose. But I've always thought of Erik as a middle-aged guy because that's his age in the original book. Still...
Perhaps when "Phantom" closes, they'll release a DVD? Something like "Cats", "Joseph", "By Jeeves" etc.
re: The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#21
Posted: 2/16/07 at 2:18pmEmmy Rossum ruined it for me. Her singing was absolutely terrible... And Gerard made Erik (or "Gerik") such a whiney emo.
Joined: 12/31/69
The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#22
Posted: 2/16/07 at 2:38pm
Gerard is no good.
But Emmy cn sing, act, and she's hot. Call about a triple threat! She would be an awesome Belle.
The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#23
Posted: 2/16/07 at 2:48pm
It's time to trot out the "Emmy Rossum emotion bar"!
http://www.alleykitten.org/phanatica/index.php/Emmy_Rossum
Stand-by Joined: 1/7/07
The Soundtrack to POTO Stinks!#24
Posted: 2/16/07 at 5:15pm
Emmy...Rossum...sucked...the...end.
Gerard...Butler...sucked...the...end
The...film...sucked...the...end.
I can't stand all this crap about how "Emmy began her career at the Met as a singer in the Children's opera chorus so she was already an accomplished singer"..boo hoo. She squeeled, squeeked, and was dead on screen. She gave up her singing to go into acting which really didn't help much either.
Gerard, one of my favorite actors of all time...no. Joel just wanted to work with him after seeing him in "Dracula 2000" so, WHY NOT PUT HIM IN THE FILM!! dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnn. Of course it will work!....
It just didn't work. It was too much of a melodrama and with the whole "the cast should be young and sexy and the relationship between the phantom and christine is a deep, sexual one"....no. They butchered the film and although it was beautiful to look at, emmy and gerard should not have been given the credit they received for their performances. The did not deserve it at all.
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