Giles

Phantom of the Opera at Albert Hall

NCM Fathom and Omniverse Vision are partnering to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber's history-making The Phantom of the Opera with a fully staged musical celebration broadcast LIVE from London's Royal Albert Hall. Broadway’s longest running show, seen by over 100 million people worldwide, comes to life on the big screen for a special event featuring over 200 cast members, orchestra musicians and luminaries involved with The Phantom of the Opera over the past 25 years.

The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for viewers to experience one of the most beloved musicals of all time from their local movie theater. Witness this LIVE cinema event on Sunday, October 2 at 2:00pmET / 1:00pmCT / 12:00pmMT / 11:00amPT (HI/AK Tape Delayed at 2:00pm Local Time) with three additional showings on October 5, 6 and 11 at 7:30pm local time.

TICKETING
Tickets are on sale NOW for all four events! Choose your preferred performance date from the drop down menu and enter in your zip code to purchase tickets today!

~~

fully staged?? hmmm me thinks not... the best effect when you see this live is the descent into the Phantom's liar - which can only be done on Broadway and on the West End - even the national tours can't do this amazing stage effect - I'm a sucker for Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals - I'm there!

davidh777

So did you see it, Giles (referred to in another thread)?

TheBang

I saw it. The staging was disappointing. So many things were left out because of the stage arrangement. They had several huge LED screens that replaced stuff in the back, but it wasn't the same. I wasn't terribly impressed by the Phantom, but I thought Christine and Raoul were great. Another disappointment was that Michael Crawford didn't sing. I was thinking of picking this up on Blu-ray, but maybe now I'll pass.

Giles

well the elephant in the opening 'opera' was gone, as was the 'mirror-bride' moment in the Phantoms liar.

well the Phantom was better than Gerard Butler - who couldn't sing spit.

I also liked the casting of Christine and Raoul - 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' was the highlight for me.

Michael didn't sing because he was high tailing it to the Royal Albert Hall since he is currently in a West End production of 'The Wizard of Oz'

TheBang

Oh, there were plenty more reductions than just that. The grand staircase for Masquerade, the dressing room mirror, the boat travel into the Phantom's lair, the back half of the lair including the gate. I won't begrudge them the chandelier drop, but the list goes on and on. It was almost more like a concert production than a "fully-staged" one.

Ha, I think I've blocked the movie out of my mind.

Has anyone seen the Las Vegas Spectacular? Seeing this 25th anniversary show has reinvigorated my interest in Phantom. I'm interested in the seeing the Vegas differences, but it's been 10 years since I was last in Vegas, so I don't know when I'll be able to get there.

iggystar

Those LED screens were so distracting and odd, plus the orchestra being right on stage on top of the screens. I agree about this Phantom, he wasn't as charismatic as he should have been. With half of the Phantom's face obscured, obviously one would need to make up with body movements.

I also agree about Christine and Raoul! The actress who played Christine was gorgeous.

I enjoyed the ending with Lloyd Webber's speech and the previous leads singing together. Crawford was such a glaring omission though!!! I kept wondering why he didn't sing, was there a in-fight, was his voice messed up? He just had another gig? Bummer!

I thought Sarah Brightman was amazing, making sure she made she hit that one high note. A diva would never be outshone by her younger counterpart.

I'm the hugest fan of Gerard Butler. I love that man, but he was horrible in the movie adaptation. The only thing I loved about that movie was Patrick Wilson as Raoul. It was my first time seeing him in anything and his voice and acting were just sublime.

Giles

the staging was similar to the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary production - the minimalist amount of staging - so people expecting a direct port of the 'theater' experience rightfully were not given that aspect - it's just not possible one: economically and two: the limitations of what could be accomplished on the Royal Albert Hall stage. The boat part was there, just not as elaborate. I thought the audience just left and right to the stage were visible distracting at times.

the Phantom was supposed to be monstrous, Gerard's charisma was distracting. I don't think unless you're in the first five rows of the theater you're going to see all the makeup that close up

did you notice how Sarah B. tried her best to have little contact with Lloyd Webber, it was both odd and awkward for her and us the audience. I think though old(er) age hasn't been kind to her - I also didn't think she was in tempo with the orchestra.

iggystar

Ok, so it would have been too costly to do a full-on stage just for this special event and the stage is too small? That makes sense, but didn't you find the screens distracting at times as well? There would be this bit of pixelation that bothered me a bit. I barely noticed the audience.

I think I had the most problem with Gerard's singing. I don't remember his charisma bothering me because the Phantom is a character that, although monsterous, is always played so that you're drawn to him despite him being grotesque. You're logical self knows he's a monster, but then he's singing and captivating you. Kind of like the vampire appeal. Yes, me and my girlfriends dissect this theory.

I totally noticed the awkwardness between Sarah B. and Andrew and I guess I think my expectations were lowered for her performance because I didn't actually think she was going to sing. I could imagine her practicing for months though, just to hit the high notes. Perhaps that's why she sounded a bit rushed.

Did you enjoy the chorus of Phantoms?

TheBang

Haha, yes, as he introduced her and they walked towards each other, I started cringing and thinking "Awkward! Awkward!"
Yes, the only one I knew was Colm Wilkinson though. I'm too lazy to look up who the other ones were and why they were notable. Anyone?

Giles

I had forgotten Colm had done the role of the Phantom for the Canadian production - the chorus was great albeit Crawford not singing - *sigh*

davidh777

I saw that Canadian production, a road trip back in the days before Phantom started touring. I had already seen it in London so I went with friends. Can't remember if Colm was in that performance, though.

iggystar

Lol, me too. I did look up to see which possible actor played when I saw Phantom the first time around '97. Looks like Ethan Freeman...I don't think he was a part of the chorus.

Flicker

I'm thinking about getting the Blu Ray edition but it pisses me off having to wait until February!

TheBang

Well, as I mentioned, watching this in theaters rekindled my interest in Webber's Phantom, and I sought out and listened to the sequel, Love Never Dies. Has anyone seen and/or heard this? I didn't particularly care for it on the first listen, but by the second or third listen, some parts grabbed me, and now I've listened to it a lot of times.

A Blu-ray of the Melbourne production is being released on Feb. 7, and I'm interested to see the production, having only imagined it in my head so far.

sp00kie

Its out on bluray/dvd now

Yea you shouldn't expect the exact replica of the broadway show, its more concert style, but still excellent as the performances are some of the best, I liked the singers far more than those in the movie version thats for sure, the fabio jr in the movie was horrible...

The performances at the end by the old casts was just incredible to see, but I like sierra boggess voice far more than that of sarah brightman, thats for sure.

What you get from the bluray is the close up experience you wouldnt get with any live experience, they do close up camera work and in HD you see every detail of the intricate costumes and makeup. They even had a remote camera around the chandelier you see the camera in some shots. I've seen complaints about the led stage effects but again thats only if you expect a duplicate of the original. Overall its a great performance and disc to have. Video clarity is very good, and musical arrangements are also good. I found the orchestra above the stage to be kind of neat actually.

Giles

she's also prettier than Sarah B.

I haven't received my copy of it yet, but I've heard the audio mix is really off.

Giles

oh and the sequel: Love Never Dies is a Fathom Event being presented to the theaters on Feb 28 and March 7th:

Love Never Dies

sp00kie

Lol yea by quite a margin, i felt kinda bad for sarah being out shone like that:P

Maybe I'm not picky but the sound was fine to me.

Goldberg74

Got the BR for the wife. Sounds and looks good to my untrained eye and ear.

The BR of Love Never Dies comes out in May according to Amazon.

Giles

in regards to the BR of 'Phantom of the Opera' if you have a 5.1 home theater setup - the way the mix was created - there's essentially nothing coming out of the center channel, if you listening to it in 2 channel stereo there's nothing to note as being wrong.

sp00kie

Oh that must be it, I only have a stereo setup.