Phantom of the Opera, Royal Albert Hall

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Stream for free on YouTube this weekend only:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nINQjT7Zr9w

 

As a side note, Sierra Boggess makes some really creative choices with her accent.

 

And as handsome as Ramin Karimloo is, his inability to sing the written note is almost fascinating. His pitch kills me. No ability to sing proper vowels.

 

 

EDIT: They took it down early! Sorry folks.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Benjamin_Nicholas

[BSR]

Stream for free on YouTube this weekend only:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nINQjT7Zr9w

 

As a side note, Sierra Boggess makes some really creative choices with her accent.

 

And as handsome as Ramin Karimloo is, his inability to sing the written note is almost fascinating. His pitch kills me. No ability to sing proper vowels.

Thanks for the link because I never would have known about it otherwise. I saw the Las Vegas production five times but have never seen Phantom anywhere else. The lavishness of this production was a real treat.

 

For everyone there are degrees of attraction: hot, smokin' hot, and then there's ________. For me, Ramin Karimloo is one of those guys who fills in that blank. Needless to say, I can't watch/listen to him with any objectivity. I'm no voice expert, but even if I were, I'd be like, "Pitch problems? What pitch problems?"

 

Even though Ramin is dressed in a tux and his face is obscured by the Phantom mask & makeup throughout the 2h40m, I was visualizing him the whole time like this ...

Edited April 19, 2020 by BSR

[Karl-G]

Andrew Lloyd Weber is streaming six of his musicals on successive Fridays; he has already shown "Joseph" and "Jesus Christ Superstar." This weekend "Phantom," etc.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I saw the Las Vegas production five times but have never seen Phantom anywhere else.

 

I truly believe the original Vegas cast was not only the best sung Phantom, but the very best version of that show ever done.

 

They cut the fat, kept the best songs, expanded the orchestra, went from a $10 million budget to over $100+ million, added a ton of pyro and whored-up the chandelier into what appeared to be a Transformer. I saw it a dozen times in LV and always enjoyed it.

 

Brent Barrett and Sierra Boggess were near perfect in that original cast.

[EZEtoGRU]

 

As a side note, Sierra Boggess makes some really creative choices with her accent.

 

And as handsome as Ramin Karimloo is, his inability to sing the written note is almost fascinating. His pitch kills me. No ability to sing proper vowels.

I saw Ramin Karimloo perform in London two times in the production of Love Never Dies. Spectacular. It seemed that that score was written for he and Sierra. The storyline was somewhat fractured but the score and the performances were largely supurb. The second time was literally a 48 hour flight to/from London specifically to enjoy the show and to have my perfunctory caviar and champagne at Harrods in the Food Halls.

 

I love the Phantom as well. I've seen it 2-3 times in London, once in NYC, and once in Vegas at the Venetian.

 

I would love for Lloyd Webber to write at least one final original musical before he gets too old. Lately he seems content to do remakes of previous famous works. I think his latest endeavor is Cinderella to be presented on the West End.