The Phantom of the Opera - His Majesty's Theatre

That competition was for the *Broadway* production.

OK. Saw it tonight. I'm about a bottle and a half of wine in so this review is what it is.

I'm not a purist but having said that, this was the first show I saw when I landed in the UK in 1989. I've seen several casts in London as well as the ludicrously spectacular but shallow Vegas production.

Tonight, I appreciated the very obvious hard work the cast, crew and FOH staff had put in. I loved the lighting, the clarity of sound and the sparkle of the visuals. I think if you had never seen it before, or if you were a casual theatre goer, you would think this was a blockbuster spectacular. My eyes and ears loved it, my heart did not.

Everything everyone has said is true. The proscenium is reduced. The bad is that the subtle underlying erotic quality is gone. The good is that the sheets flew off quietly and efficiently. The chandelier is intact and does what it promises, though I don't think it's any more thrilling in speed or size. The Angel is gone but I actually quite liked the horse sweeping to the front, revealing the Phantom. Yes, maybe the sound is not as full as before but nothing to alarm my untrained ears.

The one thing I lamented and very much regretted was not the physical aspects. It was the cast. The cast that moved me most, the cast that slapped me in the face and strangled my heart was the Gina Beck-Ramin Karimloo-Simon Bailey trinity. There was passion, authenticity and I really did feel for all three characters. Tonight, I felt nothing for any of them. Maybe it's early days but I came away feeling I had watched an expensive but ultimately hollow show. I don't know what was missing. Everyone was pitch perfect but to me, there was just zero chemistry between the leads. And that, ultimately was what let me down the most.

She plays every Friday, according to her Twitter, so that's the new alternate's show day.

It makes me think of the old studio system in Hollywood, where the talent would be taught pretty much everything, including media relations. Any below the line staff never needed that kind of training, but when SM puts stuff out there, it's forever and this girl is young and thoughtless enough to think it doesn't matter. Not to mention that everyone has gotten into the mindset that our opinions matter and reflect us. I am unhappy with the changes as anyone else, however, I also used to work for one of the major entertainment conglomerates for over a decade, and if any staff at any level swore at a customer or inside/outside stakeholder (including easing up on specific language that still had the same implication, i.e. "someone needs to get laid"), kiss your job goodbye. They were that strict. There's no excuse for being rude.

I’d say much more esteemed in London. A handful of hardcore Phans aside, a true tourist trap in NYC. Like Chicago, plodding on forever in the lower half of the weekly published grosses. Must do better then break even I guess but keeping the record possibly a factor in them not putting it out of it’s misery. Desperately needs some TLC and decent resident direction.

Did chuckle when people said they’d boycott London and only go in NYC now as they still have the “full” orchestra. Good luck being able to tell the difference over the talking/rustling/fumbling/eating! That’s one risky plane fare….

Well, you'll have to get used to that in London now, as Seth has imported the MoTN staging from Broadway.

Fortunately, Broadway has for a few years started using the Wandering Child trio (with a slight difference after the trio ends, which is a hangover from the duo version).

Separately, I've heard there are concerns from associates of Björnson who did not work on this production about some of the alterations. It's a shame Cameron did not think to use their knowledge rather than hire Matt Kinley just so the latter could do what he said. After all, Hal Prince etc used Paul Kelly (who'd worked with Maria Björnson on Phantom previously) when adapting the design for Vegas. If they really felt the need to adapt Björnson's designs, then it would have been better IMHO to pick someone like him or Jonathan Allen.

Also, I don't think the Broadway audience is necessarily any less well behaved than London. My last couple of times seeing the show on Broadway were better than in London, where actually the fumbling/rustling/whispering were very prominent (my last experience in Her Maj's was rather ruined by a mother and daughter constantly munching through something and asking each other every 5 seconds whether they were 'Team Raoul' or 'Team Phantom'). And I don't think it's fair to say the 'tourist show' view in NYC is any more pronounced than it is in London. The make-up of the audience seems fairly similar in terms of foreign tourists v domestic audiences.

I remember some years ago seeing it done with Christine just falling to the floor because the Phantom actor, I htink it was Karimloo, had a bad back & couldn't catch her. It wasn't just the falling to the floor per say that I thought was less effective but that it then begged the question how she ended up in the boat if the Phantom didn't carry her to it.

Saw this last night and not being too regular of a visitor (have now seen it four times over 14 years) I have to say I didn’t mind a lot of the changes that have been made. It definitely felt like the lots of the original production was right there on stage and the rest felt like a solid nod to it.

I agree with plenty of the other posts that the new proscenium upon entry doesn’t compare, although my main gripe here is with the poor attempt to cover in sheeting rather than the proscenium design itself. A few napkins draped around the sides and the two (what look like) washing lines at the top just looks a bit cheap. That said I loved the addition of the set piece reforming and rising up from the stage. It gave something else to focus on after the chandelier had gone up and just made the whole fake proscenium on stage a little more impressive. About that chandelier, it’s quite the beast! If anything it almost felt a bit too big - so much so that it almost feels like there’s not quite enough detail too it and so it comes across a bit plastic-like. I’ve never been as close as I was last night so this might just be because I was nearer to it, but I started to wonder if Cam Mack had got the paper maché out and made his own. That said, everyone seemed to be lapping it up. In terms of some other noticeable changes, the horse at the end of act one I actually quite liked and got a gasp from a few around me, the post-interval fake curtain does look atrocious but thankfully is just used the once, and the lack of movement of the candelabras does make it ever so less dramatic but again most people won’t even notice.

For the sound I have to say I didn’t spot too much of a difference. In fact the only point where I noticed the lack of orchestra was during masquerade when the drummer is on stage and it immediately made me realise just how much better having some percussion down in the pit would have been. That said, I can’t imagine many would spot the difference if they weren’t already aware. Again I’m not sure if it’s because I was closer, but is the whole of the title track now mimed? It definitely appeared to be from my seat, as the vocals sounded noticeably different throughout. I was always under the impression that they were pre-recorded up to the boat’s appearance and then made a brief transition to live until Christine’s high notes at the end when the pre-recording kicks back in.

As for the performances, this is where the show was most lacking for me. Loved Lucy St Louis’s performance and her vocals were good overall but at times they just didn’t seem to have enough power. I liked to feel like I’m in a safe pair of hands with Christine, but I always had that ‘is she going to hit the note?’ feeling for some reason. Killian was good overall but definitely lacked the charisma - I just didn’t get a sense of why Christine would be so intrigued by him. Even in the final lair it just seemed to be lacking that despair that makes you feel for him.

All in all, it was still a solid 4 star. A very very similar production with a good, but just not the strongest, cast at the helm.

Ah I guess I’ve never noticed the miming all the way through when I was a little further back. I wonder if it’s the new sound that made it more obvious or just because I was closer.

Forgot all about the fake curtain being used at the end as well!

And yep you’re exactly right on the chandelier - it just looks a bit clunky and lacks the elegance. One of those things where if it was 80% of the size that it is, it would probably look far more pleasing.

How long is it taking to get into the theatre? I’ve seen pictures of queues around the theatre.

Going next week with an elderly relative (not my decision - IMO it’s too risky at the moment!). I’m concerned about him not being able to stand for so long outside, especially given the heat as apparently we will be in the middle of another heatwave…

Email says to arrive 30mins-1hour before curtain.

Took us about ten mins last night. Looked worse than it was because there were actually three different queues on the go.