The Phantom of the Opera

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, and close to Leroux
Review: This play is probably closer to Leroux's novel that the Andrew Lloyd Webber play, but sadly: the sets, music, and acting all loose out [majorly] to it. It has to be seen on a level of it's own. And keep in mind that this play was derived in a hurry to raise funds for a real-estate agency. But I would recommend buying it if you are a Phantom Phan. :)

Rating:
Summary: This musical theater version falls far short of Broadway.
Review: I have enjoyed performances of Phantom of the Opera in New York and San Francisco where you pay extravagant prices for major-league theatre. This video is not worth the discounted price of $20. The orchestra, the dance, the vocals, the costumes and the acting are all minor-league. For an absolutely pleasurable musical theatre experience on video, try CATS. You will not get up from your chair or pause your VCR for anything until the end. I guarantee it!

Rating:
Summary: The worst thing I ever saw.
Review: The story, music, acting, and vocals was very weak. If you love weber's music, you will hate this.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money or time
Review: How anyone can claim this better than Andrew Lloyd Webber's version is beyond me. The lead female is good-I would have liked to have seen her in Andrew Lloyd Webber's version. The songs are unmemorable, the acting is sub-par, and the sets are some of the worst I've ever seen. One a positive note, the actors who play the managers are quite good, but don't but the video because of them. Don't buy it for any reason.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This is the best version to date that has been done on this story line. Acting and music is excellent. Will be difficult to improve on.

Rating:
Summary: More feeling than Webber
Review: This version of "Phantom" is by far my favorite. Although the time frame is a little messed up, the music makes up for it completely. While Lloyd Webber is fine, his version holds none of the humor and deapth of emotion David Staller gives this performance. If what the Phantom does to Carlotta at the masque doesn't tickle you, get it simply for the ending. That ending had me standing up applauding Erik. This performance was worth every cent I paid for it and then some, and I've been collecting Phantom things for some time now. I've seen every version of Phantom, including the clip from the Tony's, the Charles Dance version (which is my second favorite), the Meatloaf music video, Paul Stanley (whom I respect because he is a phan, even if he isn't the best Phantom), ect ect... and this one is still my favorite. Buy it, you won't regret it.
Raoul: "I could have been killed! What's wrong with you??"
Persian: "Oh, I am feeling fine, thank you very much."

Rating:
Summary: To View or Think
Review: Like many blockbuster Broadway musicals (or blockbuster movies, in fact), Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera is designed to be spectacular. In fact, the majority of his musicals are spectacles: they dazzle the eye with big budgets and seduce the ear with sweeping melodies. The truth is, the explicit nature of Webber's work is only one form of theatre. Now think of another: Sondheim, who is equally talented, but more often implicit and less commercial. It is very easy for a newcomer to musical theatre (or one who frequents only major touring productions) to be humanly dazed coming out of the Webber/Hal Prince production and then expect the rest of the theatre world to deliver similarly muscular musicals.

The million dollar question remains: Is theatre a visceral roller coaster set in two acts or can it challenge an audience to think? If the latter, what is the appropriate size and presentation to evoke thought? Lawrence Rosen and Paul Schierhorn's Phantom of the Opera is limited in size, budget and, yes, talent. In fact, it seems to live in a time capsule: a small regional musical inspired by Victorian operettas with no sense that it exists under the shadow of a late-twentieth century pop giant. Having seen many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, the moderate song/dialogue/song structure feels common to its form. Instead of rejecting its technique, I found myself quieting my commercial sensibilities in order to appreciate its low-key interpretation. (Just like Christine, I, too, have been trained to hear only Webber's grandiloquent music.)

But it made me think! Bruce Falstein's book to the score presents a striking philosophic debate absent in most Phantom interpretations: What is passion? Should it be driven underground, symbolically like a monster? And what is passion without liberty (a timeless French theme)? In a superficial world, there is little room for the passionate genius to express himself freely, to create angelic music. Will even the genius be driven underground, cursed to deformity by conformity? This Phantom, without gargantuan sets and heroic harmonies, made room for a few universal themes previously overlooked.

The romantic triangle between Christine, Erik and Raoul is open to multitudinous interpretations and I'm ready to watch them all. Webber's gilding of Gaston Leroux' novel (already pervasively Gothic) with baroque artifice is sensational, indeed. I love theatrical excess! But I wonder if its truthful. Lawrence Rosen and Paul Schierhorn's Phantom is financially restrained but a purer narrative and in the end it struck me that Christine's choice to follow the fashionable Raoul is an obvious choice, but is it a courageous one?

For me, viewing this small musical was my choice, like staying at a bed and breakfast for a change instead of the Hilton. Now what's yours?

Rating:
Summary: NOT the ALW version...and yet...
Review: This version of The Phantom of the Opera is NOT the ALW version...and should not be expected to be as stunning as the Broadway play. This was not my favorite Phantom...and yet, for it's amateur quality, I found myself liking it just the same. Though it strays somewhat from the original novel, it is still a bit closer to Leroux than the ALW version.

Though it has shortcomings...if you are a die-hard Phantom fan...put this version in your Phantom collection.



Rating:
Summary: David Staller is too good for this.
Review: If your looking for an Andrew Lloyd Webber version this is NOT it. But if your looking for a fresh new interpretation. You've come to the right place. This movie was staged at the Al Hirschfield Theater in Florida. It's more of a comedy than a romance. It's based more on Leroux's novel and even includes "Doroga", the Persian Police Inspector. The set's are low budget, and the background music is highly synthesized. In spite of all this David Staller does not disappoint. His angelic voice and his passionate acting alone are a good enough reason to watch this movie. I would have LOVED to see him act in ALW's version.

Rating:
Summary: this is garbage
Review: This is the worst DVD I have ever purchased . DO NOT ! buy this junk.I am returning it even though I will not get a refund.