Andrew Lloyd Webber's Version

My Review:

    Oh boy...where do I start on this one? : )

        This has to be the most loved Phantom version that has been created! One of Lloyd Webber's masterpieces, it had a great impact on the revival of Leroux's classic tale since it first opened in 1986. 

        Needless to say, it is one of my favorite renditions. The sets are luxuriously designed, and the music haunts the memory.

        It does stray from Leroux's book a little, but it is so well done in so many areas that we can forgive ALW this transgression! : ) The Persian is gone, (he is blended with Madame Giry,) who is now the Mistress of the Corps de Ballet  instead of a box keeper. Christine is a ballet dancer first before she becomes a singer. Also, other details of the novel are gone, like the scorpion and grasshopper,
the torture chamber, etc; but there is only so much one can take in in a musical when the chief aim is to concentrate on the emotional plot of the story. 

    What is an ingenious stroke which I like is that the Phantom's work, Don Juan Triumphant, is performed as an opera where he sneaks into the leading role to try and win Christine! Great fun! Here we see Erik getting some credit for his music
in the public eye instead of being forgotten as in the book.

I have only two little gripes with the plot.

1) The twenty-thousand francs bit is mentioned at the beginning when the new managers take over....but then it is dropped for the rest of the musical. Surely our new managers just didn't hand the money over politely while they are fuming about
his letters and demands! If it was a detail that they couldn't devote much time to in the musical...it should have been left out.

2) In the Roof Scene, Raoul promises to take Christine straight away to a safe place....and they plan to order the horses, etc. The Phantom overhears them, and then in he crashes the chandelier at Christine's feet in the auditorium. 

Surely they would have left that night if they were in such danger from the Phantom!

But the next scene is dated six months later...and Raoul and Christine are having a great time at the masked ball. Okaayyyyeeee......

If I was Christine and Erik did that to me...I think I'd be a bit scared! (Erik doesn't do this to Christine in the novel.) So what gives? Hmmm.

Sorry, but those are my musings.



Anyway, this musical is excellent...enough blabbering....you've got to go buy a ticket to see it! : )