Barely writing about it now, but I thought it was a wonderful way to experience PHANTOM for the first time. In any format. I have the OCR, the movie and the soundtrack, and never get past "The Music of the Night" only because I listen/watch all the way through and never have time to catch up. I was determined to get my $22 with this lavish production and (obviously) watch it all the way through! Also, I've never seen it on stage in any fashion; I saw THE LION KING on my last trip to Vegas. Anyway...
I loved the staging of the production and thought it was very well executed in the space. I felt that the ensemble was a tad too large for some numbers, especially "Masquerade", but otherwise there were some very beautiful stage pictures.
Maria's design is wonderful and I loved the closeups on some of the artistic details of the set and costumes. I did expect the chandelier to fall, but I found the way it was executed tonight done very well, but not as good as it would have been if it had fallen.
Sierra and Ramin were wonderful together and had fantastic chemistry going. I could really feel for them and the characters' love for each other and how much they did and didn't want to be with each other. I really loved them both and cannot wait to get the CD/DVD of this production just to relive the experience they both gave me.
Hadley was a wonderful Raoul and I couldn't help but wonder what Steve Barton would have thought about the entire evening. I also did not get the memo about the Carlotta understudy, because in our theater (which only had about 30 people in an average size movie theater) we were each given programs that listed the entire cast, crew, and orchestra and thought that Kiera was the one playing Carlotta. I found her acting choices interesting, as well, but rather liked it more than how she is usually played as the super diva.
Liz Robertson and Daisy Maywood as the mother-daughter pair seemed odd at some times. The audience probably couldn't tell from afar, but it seemed that Daisy was far older than the age that I thought Meg was supposed to be; probably because of close-ups. I also wondered why Sumemer Strallen didn't play Meg seeing as she, Ramin, and Liz were all in LOVE NEVER DIES. Same with Joseph Millson. Liz was great and I was very impressed with her performance.
I thought that all of the musical numbers were magnificent!! No other words to say about it! A lot of the projections worked for me, especially the one after "Think Of Me" and Christine performing to the Royal Albert Hall audience and the labyrinth during the title song. I thought they were very effective, but never seeing the show on stage, I cannot compare them to what "probably" was better in Maria's design.
I, compared to some, love LOVE NEVER DIES and (although I enjoy it and its concept album) I can see now why many thought it wouldn't work or shouldn't even happen; the ending was already too, too powerful the way it was and should have been the definitive ending to the story. But again, I appreciate LOVE NEVER DIES. lol.
The encore was great and I did not expect any of it; except their appearance. It was a wonderful addition to a wonderful performance and reminded us who and why the show exists in the first place and why it has become such a success.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and had a tremendous time watching this production! I seriously cannot wait for the DVD and CD release. If you didn't get to see it today, I suggest you see the encore showings. Even if you don't like ALW or PHANTOM, it is still a wonderful experience!
Updated On: 10/2/11 at 10:03 PM
