Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

For the 25th anniversary of Phantom Andrew and Cameron did a fully staged concert version of pretty much the whole show at London's Royal Albert Hall complete with minor set piece and fully costumed with a cast and orchestra of over 200. (More complete then the movie just a like cut here or there NOTHING to really get excited over.) This version is nothing short of incredible. Now fans of Sarah and Michael DON'T KILL ME, please. I saw this in the theater for the live broadcast and was amazed by the performances in this. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, who co-starred in the "Phantom" sequel "Love Never Dies" in London, reunited for the special production and with amazing chemistry. Having grown up on the OLC recording and owning about a half a dozen others I've never grown to really like the piece outside of the original cast. Maybe it's nostalgia for it or just the way others have sung it but this time I was blown away. Never in my life have I cried at this show until now. Ramin's Music of the Night was like hearing the song for the first time all over again and Sierra's high notes are flawless and clearer then ever Sarah did back in her early days. The odd standout performance for me was of all things Kiera Duffy as 'Carlotta'. She brought a fullness and venerability to the role I never ever thought about and her look go absolute terror during the rehearsals for The Phantom's opera still sticks out in my mind as genius. The performances in this alone make this for me THE version of phantom. Visually one should know off the bat that the chandler does not crash down... it is after all just a concert. The staging is mostly done with LED screens which, while not MY preferred thing, are alright. Small set piece are brought on and off and the costumes are all here in their glory. While I hope the LES screens don't make their way into the regular staging they did help to set the mood for the night, but it was hands down the cast and orchestra that makes this astounding. At the end there is the usual speeches and bringing out of the old cast and Michael and Sarah are there and while Michel doesn't sing Sarah does. She sounded eh.. ok... I wish she would get over her whole singing-with-my-arms-in-front-of-me thing but it was nice as she was backed by four past phantoms. That all is just sprinkles and dusting on what I hope will be looked back as one of the finest performances of this show ever done.