The Phantom of the Opera

I was fortunate enough to see this on stage and this version holds up quite well, by comparison. Sure, some of the dialogue scenes are cheesy, almost Disney-esque, but the quality of the music is consistently high with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart's wonderful music and lyrics delivered well by Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson - who is surprisingly engaging as "Raoul". It hasn't the impact nor menace of either the 1923 or 1943 iterations, the colour and glamour of the costumes and sets see to that; but that doesn't impact too negatively on the story of a young opera singer "Christine" who becomes the obsession of the murderous "Phantom" who lives in the sewers beneath the Opéra Populaire in Paris. Luckily, she has the dashing, chivalrous "Vicomte de Chagny" to keep her from her scarred pursuer. Minnie Driver is great as the ultimate diva "Carlotta", and Simon Callow and Ciarán Hinds as the sort of "Stadler and Waldorf" of theatre management create some light comical breathing space now and again from the continuous pace of this sumptuous drama. Miranda Richardson doesn't quite cut it as "Madama Giry", nor Jennifer Ellison as "Meg" - but all in all, Joel Schumacher has created a feast for the eyes that does some justice to Gaston Leroux' original story, and even more to the magnificent musical theatre adaptation from 1986 with rousing performances of "Think of Me"; "Music of the Night" and the eponymous title track made famous by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman to entertain us.