It’s the longest running musical of all-time on Broadway and one of the most famous musicals ever, and yet The Phantom of the Opera remains as popular today as it’s ever been. And it’s been 25 years. It debuted in London in 1986 and has swept across the globe tens of times, and in 2004 it was adapted into a feature film by Joel Schumacher (of all people) that was crowd-pleasing but didn’t accurately capture the magic of buying tickets to a grand production with live music. In honor of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical’s 25th anniversary, an all-out production of The Phantom of the Opera was filmed at the Royal Albert Hall and now it’s available on Blu-ray. Unlike Schumacher’s version, this taping wasn’t optimized for film logistics (the best possible angles, etc.) but it does a superb job of capturing the stage production up-close in a way that most people have never experienced.
The career of dancer Christine Daae (Sierra Boggess) gets an unexpected boost when the mysterious figure (Ramin Karimloo) haunting the opera house demands that she be made the lead in the upcoming production. His choice seems warranted as Christine has been receiving singing instruction as of late from a presence she thinks is an angel sent by her father. Eventually, she discovers that her tutor is none other than the Phantom of the opera who wants to take Christine away to live with him in the darkness. She’s not too keen on that idea, and eventually she agrees to help rid the opera of the musical menace’s shadow.
The audio on this Blu-ray presentation is utterly fantastic and immersive. Piped through any decent sound system, this Blu-ray iteration of The Phantom of the Opera is as much, if not more, of an audio presentation than a visual one. It looks beautiful in HD and the colors are vivid, but the audio is the real treat.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
None.
"The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall" is on sale February 7, 2012 and is not rated. Musical, Romance. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Starring Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess.
