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For today’s A to Z Challenge I chose “The Phantom of the Opera” which was in fact the first professional musical I saw in 1997 with my family at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
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| Brad Little, Lisa Vroman. Photo by Joan Marcus. |
I really cannot imagine a better setting to see “The Phantom of the Opera”. I have had the privilege of seeing the show 4 times at the Pantages starring: Ron Bohmer/Sandra Joseph, Brad Little/Lisa Vroman, Tim Martin Gleason/Trista Moldovan and the 2.0 version starring a lackluster Katie Travis and Chris Mann. Previously in 2015 I ranked my favourite performances and stand by those rankings.
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| Katie Travis and Chris Mann. Photo by: Matthew Murphy & Alastair Muir |
3 Favorite POTO soundtracks:
1. The Phantom of the Opera Studio Cast
with Claire Moore (Sarah Brightman’s original alternate), Graham Bickley, and John Barrowman.
Claire Moore is my all time favourite actress and I collected all her albums before getting the chance to meet her at the stage door of Les Mis in London. Dream come true. There is also FYI an album with Ethan Freeman as The Phantom but I couldn’t find it on Amazon.
2. Canadian Cast Recording
with Colm Wilkinson, Rebecca Caine and Byron Nease.
Colm Wilkinson and Rebecca Caine known for being Jean Valjean and Older Cosette in the original London cast of Les Miserables are stunning in this production. This is definitely my favourite cast recording and you can’t deny the terrific orchestrations.
3. The Royal Albert Hall 25th Anniversary Concert
with Sierra Boggess, Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser.
I’m not quite sure of why everyone is so obsessed with Sierra. She is a fabulous Christine but IMO she’s not “The One”. However this is a fabulous recording with the full orchestra and the three leads have great chemistry with each other.
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| Ron Bohmer, Sandra Joseph. Photo by Joan Marcus. |
6 Favorite Solo Albums
And for those of you who want to know my all-time favourite solo numbers not featured on cast recordings here are just a few of them (in no particular order):
- Brad Little (Music of the Night)
- Peter Karrie (Music of the Night)
- Lisa Vroman (Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again)
- John Owen-Jones (Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again)
- Lesley Garrett (Think of Me)
- Thomas Borchert, Lisa Antoni (The Phantom of the Opera – in English) ** fun tidbit, Lisa Antoni is the German singing voice for Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns) **
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| Sean McLaughlin, Trista Moldovan. Photo by Joan Marcus. |
5 Favorite International Cast Renditions
You will notice I avoided any international productions since I don’t feel like I can properly judge them without knowing the language but here are just a few favorite international versions of the title song:
Jan Ammann (German)
Ivan Ozhogin (Russian)
Laurant Ban, Cecilia Cara (French)
Luca Velletri, Renata Fusco (Italian)
Irasema Terrazas y Saulo Vasconcelos (Mexico)
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Music is always awesome. And that which transports one to a completely different world all together. Phantom of the Opera would be such a great experience with so much of variety. Good to know more.
Love musicals but what a shame we still haven’t seen these. Saving this post as a reminder!
The Phantom of the Opera is one of my Dream Broadway musicals.
I wanted to see this and Hamilton both, live. Then the virus hit and I stayed home. I’m sure the shows were cancelled too. It’d be so wonderful to see this in person.
Great pick for today’s post! Phantom of the Opera was the first broadway show I ever saw in person! Loved the music and the script. Nice soundtrack recommendations as well!
The Royal Albert Hall 25th Anniversary Concert is the best one for me. It was breathtaking. I wish I can hear it again.
A lot of great material of The Phantom of the Opera musicals. My wife is a big fan. She will love this!
We have been to see Phantom in London and in the north too, it is deffo one of those true classics x
I don’t know how I’ve gone so long not seeing the Phantom of the Opera! Definitely going to check it out soon!
Happy Birthday to your brother! And this would be the one opera that I would love to go to. Maybe someday.
I’ve always wanted to see the Phantom of the Opera but haven’t had the chance. It looks amazing!
I’ve never seen Phantom of the Opera but it’s always been one on my list. I look forward to listening to the soundtrack as well.
I love the Phantom of the Opera. I never knew there were so many different versions. Thanks for sharing. I loved this!
I never knew about the different versions. I remember going to see this when I was in grade school and loved it.
One of the very all-time favourite musicals and definitely a favourite of mine. Although a fan, I certainly haven’t seen it live as many times as you have and really appreciate your passion here. It really shows how it is so universally loved that there are so many versions performed over the years. A real tribute to the talent of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Hhhhhmmmmm….now, “The Phantom of the Opera Studio Cast ” is a version I do want to watch!
i honeslty did not know that there were so many versions of it ! thank you for showing them to me
What an interesting topic, I loved reading your post 🙂
I saw the Phantom of the Opera in Los Angeles when I was younger and it was awesome! I didn’t know there were so many different versions though. Thanks for sharing.
I didn't know there were so many different versions. Dramatic music, very compelling.
A classic.
When I was writing my dissertation, I came across an entire role-playing site that was dedicated to several iterations of Phantom of the Opera 😀 It has a very dedicated following 🙂
The Multicolored Diary
you are absolutely right the PHANS are obsessed 😉
Finally one that I know fairly well! Love the song, very dramatic.
Oh my goodness, I just realize the lyrics are in German and I can actually understand it..!?
https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/2019/04/under-arrest-p-is-for-polygraph.html
hehe yep the video i posted was in german. other german musicals i've mentioned are MOZART!, ELIZABETH. Being in Switzerland I imagine you know French too? next couple musicals i mention are french and german.