To celebrate 25 years on the stage, a special production of Phantom of the Opera was performed at Royal Albert Hall in London today. Scheduled for 7 p.m. London time, it was broadcast live into movie theatres around the globe -- including one in Appleton. Marcus Theatres brings these productions in all the time: concerts, opera, live theatre, etc, but this is the first time that I've ever been available to attend one that I really wanted to see.
The cast consisted of entirely unknowns to me, but they were all splendid and the production was as lavish as ever. One really good part about watching a broadcast is the fact that the camera zooms in on the cast, allowing you to lip-read some of the lyrics that might otherwise be lost. This particular musical contains a lot of music where cast members sing over the top of one another -- not unlike an opera. Although the cast consisted of unknowns, the definitely more well-known past performers were introduced at the end and sang some songs. There was Colm Wilkinson, Sarah Brightman, John Owen-Jones, and Michael Crawford (although Michael Crawford did not sing).
What a really fun time it was, and I've discovered some heretofore unknowns that I can now follow. Turns out that a lot of these people have appeared both in Phantom and in Les Miz rather consistently and with great reviews (Colm Wilkinson, of course, but also John Owen-Jones and Hadley Fraser). I believe the whole thing will be available on DVD so I'll have to add it to my collection.
http://broadwayworld.com/article/THE-PHANTOM-OF-THE-OPERA-25th-Anniversary-Concert-Set-for-Royal-Albert-Hall-Karimloo-Boggess-Star-20110930
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