Is this the full show? - The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011) Discussion

[–] nillindeiel 13 years ago

Unlike the Les Mis anniversary shows (where they do just stand and sing), this is a fully staged production. They act everything out, they dance, everything.

There are some alterations from the traditional stage version that they had to make simply due to the venue and the layout of the stage. But other than those mostly minor (save one main change concerning the chandelier), it's the stage production we all know and love.

Nillindeiel

"You were made to be ruled. In the end...it will be every man for himself." ~Loki (Avengers Teaser Trailer)

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[–] Fire-in-the-Holes 13 years ago

Awesome. Thanks.

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[–] losty815 13 years ago

Yeah I was really surprised. I was expecting a concert-style show (like the Les Mis 25th) with the stars singing at microphones, etc.
But wow, it was a fully-fledged show. It was well above and beyond what I was expecting.
The only thing they really couldn't do (because of the venue presumably) was the chandelier falling. Instead they did a weird attempt at portraying it. In my humble opinion, it didn't work too well.
But wow I cannot rave about this show enough.

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[–] nillindeiel 13 years ago

The only thing they really couldn't do (because of the venue presumably) was the chandelier falling.

It was because of the venue. If I remember hearing correctly, due to the age of the RAH and what not, they have certain safety rules/regulations that prevented them from being allowed to do a chandelier crash setup. With that in mind, I felt they did the best they could with the circumstances they were given and thought it worked for what it was (if that makes sense)

Nillindeiel

"You were made to be ruled. In the end...it will be every man for himself." ~Loki (Avengers Teaser Trailer)

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[–] tbarry23 13 years ago

A friend of mine thought they should have done an animated chandelier crash using the projections. When Christine bows after Think of Me, she is bowing to images of the audience projected on the back LED wall and projections. The same could have been done at the end of the act, with a digital chandelier "crashing" into the audience. At least then we would have a crashing chandelier!

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[–] losty815 13 years ago

Yeah I guess you're right. I'll concede they did the best they could under the circumstances :)

I've just found out that a good friend of mine is heading to London for a few weeks over Christmas and the New Year (we're Aussies) and it looks like she'll be seeing Ramin Karimloo as Valjean in Les Miz. Jealous!!!

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[–] davidwoodall 13 years ago

I was lucky enough to see Ramin Karimloo in the lead role in 'Phantom' in the West End! Superb.

Anyway, I thought the changes were understandable. The chandalier was specially built, and massive (to fit in with the Royal Albert Hall), which can't have helped safety issues. It was a little disappointing but fully understandable that they didn't have the crash, and I thought having it 'explode' instead was a reasonable alternative.

When all's said and done I've wanted a fully staged production of 'Phantom' (rather than a proper movie) on DVD for ages, and I was certainly not disappointed. Quite the reverse!

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[–] lasvegasira 13 years ago

Have any of you seen the version of "Phantom" in Las Vegas? The theater was specifically built for the production, and it's a character in and of itself. It's a very streamlined performance, with a couple of small sections cut and no intermission (which takes away from it IMO) but overall, a really great version of the show.

But the chandelier is one of the most impressive things about it. I've seen the original version of the show 5 other times, and from a technical FX standpoint, none of them come close to the Vegas version. The chandelier comes down so fast, it's actually scary to watch fall. And at one point, the Phantom actually descends from it. Very cool...

"You know what a cautious fellow I am..."

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[–] trenna-1 13 years ago

Watching in live in a movie theatre back in November, I was disappointed in the stage presentation. The stage was so small, front to back, that they couldn't get a lot of the stuff, such as the dressing room, on the stage.

However, the dvd used many more closeups and angles than the live broadcast which I think was an improvement.

I was also disappointed with some of the singing but live and with that song quality has it's own difficulties.

That said, it is amazing to have this after 25 years at a fraction of the cost of a theatre ticket.

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