Monday, September 23, 2013

Celebrate Musicals Week Day 1 Phantom Stage Review


I have been looking forward to this from as soon as I found out about this!!! I will start out with my review of the 25th Anniversary stage production at the Royal Albert Hall.
CAST: 
Ramin Karimloo as Erik
Sierra Boggess as Christine Daaé
Hadley Fraser as Raoul 
Liz Robertson as Madame Giry
Daisy Maywood as Meg Giry
Barry James as Monsieur Firmin
Gareth Snook as Monsieur André
Wendy Ferguson as Carlotta

Now, I found out.....Well, actually I've always known about Phantom, but I never actually felt very curious about it, until Les Misérables the movie was being advertised. When I started following Eva Schon from Ramblings of a Janeite on Pinterest, I mostly saw Les Mis and Phantom "teamed" up in everything. If there was something about Les Mis, there was always something of Phantom next to it. I got on Wikipedia, which is always my go-to website for whatever I want to know about. The plot was very interesting, and I have to say, even before I read the book, I firmly decided in my mind that I wanted Christine to go with Erik. Crazy, I know. Well, let's just say, with Ramin Karimloo as Erik and Sierra Boggess as Christine, I ship them even more. Ramin's voice, is.....is.......breathtaking. For me, when I think about a creepy guy with the voice of angel, I think deep and mysterious. That's exactly what I thought about Ramin's. He has such a sophisticated voice and great acting skills. I've heard how people think that he didn't know what he wanted to do with his performance and such, but I think he knew exactly what he wanted to do. 
Sierra Boggess is the most perfect Christine you will ever find. Her voice is amazing!!!! Her acting is superb!!! I love her version of Think Of Me. Like, how awesome is the way she acts. She goes from very fearful and nervous to bright and confident!!!! 
Hadley Fraser, gah, this man is brilliant!!!! His voice, is acting.
Now, I was very disappointed how there was no chandelier to fall. I know how hard that is to do that stunt, but it was still disappointing. And there was no mannequin of Christine, thought it probably would have totally made me freak out. I love Firmin and Andre, the guys who play them seem to work very well with each other. Their version of "Notes" is my ultimate favorite. Even the background thingy they used was awesome!!! I loved the scene they used for the cemetery part. "Wandering Child" was beautiful, thought I would have liked it without Raoul's part. (Sorry Hadley! Love you and your voice, but I think that it was great until you came in.) 

Now the ending had to be like nearly the best part of the musical. Sarah Brightman (YES SARAH BRIGHTMAN) came out and sang with four, well five including Ramin at the end, phantoms!!!!!!! Too bad Michael Crawford couldn't sing. I was so impressed with Colm Wilkinson's performance, I can't even....... Peter Joback was my least favorite Phantom there. Sorry! I loved it when Colm pushed Ramin out for some extra cheers and applause. Because we all should know and agree on something: He really did deserve it! 

This was the first version I had ever seen. My dad and mom like POTO and owned the movie. They eventually got rid of it because they said it was basically too scary-creepy like. I have seen so many scenes to compare versions, I feel like I've already seen the entire movie. But have to say, if I had bought it, it would definitely be in next years garage sale. The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall is my favorite version by a landslide.

Comments Rule:
Please, use good words. Please do not use my comment box as a battle field, people!!!! If you want to prove a point or your opinion use kind words, please!!!

4 comments:

  1. OH YES. I agree about Ramin, and it was too bad that Michael Crawford didn't sing. And finally, someone else who doesn't hate Sarah Brightman! She isn't my favorite, but I do enjoy listening to her in POTO.
    I can't wait for the rest of your posts! :)

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    1. Sarah's not my favorite either, but without Sarah, we wouldn't have a Christine. I think people, especially Phans need to remember this.
      ~Hannah S.

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  2. Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, and Hadley Fraser and three of my favorite theater performers. I'm totally going to have to look up this version of The Phantom and watch it!

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    1. You ought to! They are amazing! :)
      ~Hannah S.

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