The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

I have loved "The Phantom of the Opera" for many years and listen to the soundtrack album with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman almost religiously. I began watching this with great worry, remembering how underwhelmed and disappointed I felt with the 2004 film adaptation. Imagine my delight when I discovered this even better than the original cast!

Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Bogges are both incredible actors and singers and are absolute magic together, as well as individually. Ramin has the passion and soul the Phantom needs and Sierra has the voice of an angel and makes feel every note she sings.

For years, I have had to put up with people telling me that Joel Schumacher's utterly redundant 2004 adaptation was actually brilliant; or that they cannot afford to see the real show. Well, the 25th anniversary concert exposes the 2004 adaptation for the diabolical mess that it is, with it's far superior singing, acting and set. And the fact that it is available on DVD means the 2004 film can shoved into the deep hole it belongs in.

Simply perfect, there is no excuse to miss this. Watch it and let it's music caress your soul.

A fantastic show very much diminished by the amateurish and highly distracting video direction. This video production suffers from the impulse of "we paid to have all these cameras and operators on site so we better damn well use them, even if it means ruining the home viewing experience".

Director Nick Morris' shot selection was weak, the frenetic tempo of his camera-to-camera takes overshadows the stage direction. He manages to miss key actor entrances because he has a close-up on another actor. Other times he goes immediately to a close-up for what should be a subtle entrance. This is most obvious with the Phantom's entrance after Wishing You Were Here Again. Morris commits other unforgivable shot selections like fast cutting close-ups of the destruction of the chandelier rather than giving us the more awe-inspiring audience perspective.

And don't get me started on his coverage of "Masquerade". One of my favorite scenes on the show is completely ruined by Morris' quick cutting between medium and close-ups of actors, rarely showing us the stage-wide view of the choreography, which is so essential to the power of the scene.

The action on Angel of Music is almost impossible to follow, and so on. As I said, abysmal. I've seen better directing of local cable channel dramatic productions.

This is a stage play that is meant to be seen from farther away than the 6" from the Phantom's face this director felt we needed. Most certainly someone should have realized that close-ups of actors that included the LED scenic backdrop was just a bad idea. It looks terrible.

I've seen this show live 3 times but never from the most expensive seats. This video production could have given us the best seats in the house but instead chose to cut quickly between various odd angles that the audience would and should never see.

10 stars for the stage production and 3 for the video production.

I just this version of Phantom of the Opera last night with one of my dearest friends and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it! Pretty much this is the best version I have seen so far! Everyone did a fabulous job at portraying their characters especially Ramin and Sierra. Towards the end of the show, my friend and I completely lost it because of the intense emotions that the two literally put into their characters so well that their performance will tug on your heartstrings. Ramin is by far the best Phantom in my opinion. He blew me away by not just his voice but the emotions he put into his character, showing his character's sensitive side and vulnerability with just a dose of sexuality. I do put him as my favorite above Gerard Butler's Phantom (Gerard was very good in the 2004 movie version, but he didn't have that intense emotion that Ramin has). Sierra was excellent and the best Christine I have seen so far (Emmy Rossum was also very good in the 2004 version, but sounded more classical than operatic to me). Towards the end, Sierra's emotions got the best of me and I did see she fought really hard to stay in character when she sang one last time to the Phantom. I have always been not a fan of Raoul and I still am not,but the guy who played him in this version has an amazing voice and played his character well! I think he exaggerated his performance just a tiny bit, but at least he didn't have an emotional breakdown on stage. For the lady who played Carlotta was hilarious and she is right up there next to Minnie Driver's 2004 version. It was great having Carlotta as the snobbish but sort of comedy reliever that makes the story less intense. All in all, like I said everyone on the stage performed well into their characters and I truly want to see them perform in other Broadway roles as well. Well worth watching on Netflix and be sure to have a box of tissues near you...just in case.

Finally a full staging of my favourite musical and the second longest running one in the U.K is here for the first time on DVD. This live production filmed straight from the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London, which was broadcasted to cinemas and theatres around the world and celebrates 25 years of the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical, is nothing short of a lavish treat for the eyes and ears, with amazing performances and acting from the cast, including all the songs that fans of the show will know and remember.

The 25th Anniversary production stars the amazingly talented Iranian born Canadian Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom and American Broadway star Sierra Boggess as Christine Daae, with a great supporting performance from Hadley Fraser as Christine's love interest Raoul. Karimloo and Boggess incidentally are no strangers to the characters, having played them previously in the London production of the sequel to this show 'Love Never Dies'. Their chemistry on stage is perfect as are their performances.

Ramin is terrific as the Phantom and injects emotion and passion into the show playing the phantom as essentially a victim, with a voice that at times can be vengeful and deadly, yet soft and vulnerable at others. His delivery of the 'insolent boy' line near the beginning strikes fear right around the Albert Hall. I would even go as far to say that he is the best Phantom that I've watched so far, having previously experienced others on stage live and unfortunately the terrible 2004 movie version starring Gerard Butler. His acting is great without being over the top, and you really feel for the character. Sierra Bogges is also amazing displaying sensitivity, vulnerability and sexuality all throughout the show. Her performance of 'past of the point no return' being a particular highlight. The two leads work very well together and make the show believable.

There are also good supporting performances too. Hadley Fraser's Raoul is dynamic and energetic without becoming too irritating and makes quite a good match against the Phantom in the battle for Christine's heart. Wendy Ferguson and Wynne (Go Compare) Evans are very funny as the diva Carlotta and Piangi, the two Italian opera supremos who are the subjects of Phantom's rage and eventually driven to obedience. Equally as funny and memorable are the opera house managers Firmin and Andre, played brilliantly by Barry James and Gareth Snook, who camp it up and provide some additional comedy.

The staging and scenery is spectacular, with the doomed chandelier hanging above the audience and the on stage sets, especially the bridge leading to the Phantom's lair, featuring prominently. Due to the venue they had to make a very slight change to the chandelier scene at the end of the first part of the show, but it isn't a big deal and still has a great impact in my opinion.

The show is pretty much identical to that of the theatre version that one may see in London's West End or anywhere else it may be on. Some lines were changed ever so slightly but nothing noticeable or significant. The performances throughout will leave you astounded and definitely not disappointed. In fact there are simply no scenes or performances that can be criticised. If you are a fan of the show you will love this and not be disappointed.

As in usual 'anniversary style', like the Les Miserables 25th concert, they bring back all the old Phantom's and stars who have performed over the years in various productions. Including Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Andrew Lloyd-Webber also makes a speech about the show and it's legacy.

So now finally you can watch the show like you were in the theatre itself whenever you want. One advantage this production has over seeing it live is that you get to see all the facial expressions and emotions up close, thereby really getting a feel for the show almost like a movie in some parts (but definitely much better than the actual movie).

Assuming one likes this musical (and few don't), I believe this is the finest film presentation of all, far surpassing the big budget movie of a few years ago (which I thought was pretty good). As others have said, the staging is magnificent with backlighting and projection enhancing the performances. The singing and acting are superb. Costuming goes beyond the pale. Also, we get the closeups one cannot have in a live performance. We get to see the emotional expression of the actors. There is little time wasted on minutiae as the play goes forward. Some of the highlights are the duet "All I Ask of You" and the magnificent "Masquerade." The three principles are all at the top of their game in this 25th anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall. It is a visual and auditory delight and I am excited that the play I have seen numerous times is there for the viewing.