Last night, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, was broadcast live to cinemas across the world as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations. Specially staged in London’s Royal Albert Hall, this incredible event brought people out in their droves to see the most anticipated theatrical event of the year. (The screening I attended was a complete sell out). The atmosphere in the hall must have been electrifying, yet the cinema streams had their advantages. Attendees got to see everything in high definition, up close and personal, and came away having seen something better than Joel Schumacher’s 2004, Hollywood version starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. The credits began to roll, and I stepped out of our screen thinking I had been there in person. The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall was something special, and something all fans, or as the die-hards call themselves, ‘phans’, should see.
The stream kicked off with a trailer for the Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies. As much as I like the London version, the quick flashes we saw of the Melbourne production were fantastic, especially on the big screen. (And by the way, ‘Beneath A Moonless Sky’ sounds epic in surround sound). After a quick voiceover announcing the show would soon be available to purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray after a stint in cinemas, the stream cut to another trailer advertising the recordings of the Royal Albert Hall production and a new Phantom tour in 2012. Andrew Lloyd Webber never misses a trick; god knows how many people were viewing this stream across the world! After a short documentary detailing the genesis of Phantom, which lasted around twenty minutes, a title card emerged announcing that the show would begin ‘in five minutes.’ Cue last minute toilet trips for everybody. The live feed eventually flickered to life, and we were greeted with a stunning view of the Royal Albert Hall, which looks considerably bigger on screen than it is in real life.
The show began. Immediately, it became clear that those who had opted for the cinema screening had the best seats to the show. The close-up shots of the actors made this look more like a film, yet somehow, it never lost the magic that makes Phantom the theatrical experience that it is. The emotion, the clarity, the sheer brilliance of everybody’s acting ability was visible for all to see. I can’t imagine what it was like for those opposite the stage, across the other side of the Albert Hall. It’s easy to be carried away by the magnitude of such an event. Yes, it has the flashy special effects and the pyrotechnics, yet its brilliance lies in the two main actors: Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom and Sierra Boggess as his obsession, Christine. Their performances were nothing short of breathtaking. Our screening came with German subtitles, a potential annoyance, yet they were soon forgotten and I found myself so immersed in what was happening on screen that there were moments when I would question whether the subtitles had appeared on screen for a scene that had just occurred.
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| Karimloo joins the cast once again as The Phantom. |
Whoever follows Karimloo’s Phantom is going to have a tough job. I was lucky enough to see him twice in the title role at Her Majesty’s where the original show has been playing for 25 years, and saw him twice in Love Never Dies at the Adelphi before it (criminally) shut. How wrong I was to presume that Karimloo’s performance would be a ‘rehash’ of his earlier days as the iconic character. Karimloo brought an entirely new interpretation to the role, a renewed energy that really built upon the third dimensional aspects of such a character. The tears on his face in moments of silence, the anguish in his eyes, the yearning in his body language: these subtle yet powerful moments could only be appreciated by those in cinemas and the first few rows of the Albert Hall. Obviously I cannot comment on the show from the perspective of those ‘in the Gods’ as I was not there, yet I hope they can appreciate Karimloo’s achievements. The final lair sequence from ‘Down Once More…’ onwards can be described as nothing short of devastating. You could have heard a pin drop in our cinema. The idea of a live stage stream to cinemas could have resulted in a disaster, but it was anything but, something which bodes very well for the forthcoming Love Never Dies DVD.
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| Boggess and Karimloo in 'Love Never Dies.' |
Boggess, in her role as Christine was also phenomenal. Karimloo and Boggess have real chemistry, something which has been allowed to develop through Love Never Dies. It pays off here. The graveyard sequence where Christine sings ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’ was chilling, and rightfully earned Boggess a rapturous round of applause from the audience at the Albert Hall, and I imagine, right across the world. Hadley Fraser as Raoul was also brilliantly cast to complete the perfect trio for such a spectacle.
The staging, as was to be expected, was pretty simple, relying heavily on projections, with the odd prop or two, yet this did not detract at all from the experience. In fact, it probably worked better than it would have done had every prop from the original production made an appearance. The boat sequence was played out almost exactly how it is in the original, and the chandelier, although already raised, was revealed in spectacular fashion. The projections, in a way, enhanced the show. For example, Christine reads a letter from the Phantom and we see him writing it, on the screen in the background. The Phantom’s abrupt appearance at the end of the 'Masquerade' sequence is enlarged by the screens, and as such, impose a genuine threat upon all of us. His skull mask was pretty creepy! My favourite use of projections was at the end of ‘Think Of Me.’ In the original, Christine turns her back to us and faces back stage, as if she is facing the audience of the Paris Opera House. Here, she does the same thing, although the audience at the Albert Hall was projected onto the screens to make it look as if she was singing to them, before the ‘back stage scene.' It was a nice touch, one in which the audience was physically brought into the show itself.
Favourite scenes for me had to include ‘The Music of the Night’, the boat sequence, the finale from ‘Point Of No Return’ and ‘Masquerade.’ ‘Masquerade’ is a big number anyway, but nothing compares to three, full companies singing it and blasting off the roof in the process. It’s nothing short of epic, especially against the orchestra which stretched the length of the stage. Perhaps this was one let down of being in the cinema. There was so much going on in the ‘Masquerade’ sequence that the cameras didn’t know where to look. A series of quick cuts were frustrating at times.
The only problem we had with our stream was a short break where the signal dropped. In the mean time, we received quick flashes of ‘The Gospel Channel’ (much to the humour of the audience) as the cinema tried to regain the picture, which they did within a minute, and thankfully, it was during a part where no one was really bothered. (the ‘Don Juan’ rehearsal scene, if I’m not mistaken).
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall really was a phenomenal event and one which can be watched over and over again. Phantom has survived the West End for 25 years now and shows no sign of abating. The most successful piece of entertainment ever keeps going strong and it’s no wonder why. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score has entranced generations of people, and will, I’m sure, entrance generations to come.
You can purchase The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall on DVD here and Blu-Ray here. The CD recording is also available here.
