Phantom Of The Opera

It’s over? Why should I review it? I dunno… the luster of my youthful eyes viewing it has diminished, and in light of seeing the Nutcracker a week earlier, and Cirque’s untouchable «O» a week later, this was a whole lot of build up and excitement for a «meh» experience that had us deferentially walking out and enthusiastically sharing the devotion of talking about something else.

I’ve seen Phantom Of The Opera 8 times and counting. I can’t get enough of this musical. My husband seen it 3 times with me and the last time I went in January 09, he said he’d rather stay home and watch the kids than go with me to watch the show. My three year old knows the words to Phantom of the Opera because I sang it to her when she was in my belly until now. My favorite Phantom is Brad Little and second best would be John Cudia. I also saw the show in Las Vegas. Next stop for me will be taking both of my kids to see the show in NYC. I highly recommended.

I love Phantom. A lot. I think I might drop out of school and join the cast. Ok, probably not, but I still LOVE it.
PHANTOM (Andrew Varela on my night) — Great job. He was dark, handsome and made you wonder wtf was Christine thinking going for Raoul instead? (Really Christine, wtf?! on this one.)
Raoul — Whiny, lame, blah blah, just like Raoul should be. Good job.
Christine — Spectacular!!! «BRAVO!» exclaimed in that same voice Raoul does. haha.
However, I was a bit annoyed b/​c… (–1 star)
THE CHANDELIER — what was this steady controlled fall? In the London performance the chandelier moved about the whole room and crashed! I did not like the steady fall. It was fake. boo. I hate fake.
SPLIT STAGE — Where was the split stage during Masquerade when they show the poor people dancing on top? Split stage makes it a lot cooler.
COSTUMES — did they cut the costume budget? Really, some of the costumes were AWFUL! The slave costume in Hannibal or whatever looked cheap. Christine’s costume during masquerade was HIDEOUS! Ew.
Overall spectacular, but those things made me sad.

My boyfriend and I were looking up musical soundtracks on Youtube. We of course looked up phantom songs. In comparison to the Phantom of the Opera singers on You Tube and the performers I watched… our cast kicked a$$!!!
So just based on that… lemme upgrade my review to 3 stars

«…and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before…»
This is true after viewing the haunting and beautiful tale of Phantom of the Opera at the historic, memorable, and authentic Orpheum Theatre.
John Cudia kicked Michael Crawford’s ass in my opinion.
Quick side note: Sitting too far under the mezzanine may obstruct your view of the stage.

For some reason, maybe because I can’t hear very well, my sense of smell is extremely heightened. A slight whiff of a certain fragrance can take me into a state of nostalgic bliss. For this reason, the scent of dry-​ice fog takes me back about 10 years ago when I was certain a chandelier was going to fall on my head. Beyond the fear factor, this smell also takes me back to gorgeous arias, goose-​bump causing music, and incredible costumes/​stage props. I absolutely LOVE the Phantom’s dungeon and was contemplating ways to mimic this décor in my own house.
Not sure if/​when they will be back in San Francisco, but if you have a chance to see the show in NYC or Las Vegas, DO SO.

5 stars for the musical.
— ½ star for the Orpheum Theater. The seating isn’t very comfortable. My
bf is 6 feet and his knees practically touched the seat in front of him.
OMG, I have always wanted to see this musical, and I finally did! The performance was amazing. I agree with Amy K., the understudy for the Phantom was outstanding and if you had a good view, the other half of his face was actually handsome. Christine Daae, could not have been performed better by Trista Moldovan. She has a beautiful voice. The entire cast was great. I thought the fat lady was funny. All in all the musical was executed very well.

I am not a fan of musicals at all, but I enjoyed the most recent movie version so I figured the holiday break would be a great time to see the Phantom at the Orpheum.
Even though my seats weren’t the best (my fault for booking so late), I truly enjoyed the entire experience. The singing was wonderful and not overbearing, and the special effects were impressive. Again, I am really not into musicals but this one I am quite fond of.
I would definitely watch the show again, hopefully with seats that provide a more centered view of the stage. Maybe in 2009…

This was one of my to-do’s for 2008– to see a musical. I’ve always heard so much about Phantom and I’m glad I was able to see it. The performance was great, but there were times when I felt a little lost about the story line because it was hard to understand the lyrics. Other than that, I enjoyed the show, and being a designer (in my previous life), I especially loved the costume designs! It makes you appreciate the performance that much more, knowing how much time and effort goes into a production!
Definitely see the Phantom if you get the chance to… it makes for a great date night or a family outing.

The Phantom was fantastic! I’d seen it before but that was in 8^th grade and I had horrible seats, so all I could remember was the dude swinging down on the chandelier. This time I had 4^th row Orchestra seats and the view was awesome! The Phantom is by far the best musical I have ever seen, and is good one to see with someone who isn’t a hardcore musical lover. The story is easy to follow (beauty and the beast-​ish) and the music is romantic and thrilling at the same time.
As for the performers – Unfortunately John Cudia, the famed broadway Phantom was replaced that day with his understudy. But his understudy was still really great. Trista Moldovan played Christine (the Phantom’s love object). Her voice was awesome and she was hot!

I’ve seen a lot of musicals but the guy who played the Phantom, John Cudia, had the BEST voice of any male singer I’ve heard on stage.
His voice was beautifully powerful and moving. The Phantom of the Opera is such a classic and thought the leads did it justice. The orchestra was great, the effects made me jump at times, and I felt connected to the characters.
Call me weird but there’s something I find sexy about the Phantom. It’s kind of like how I feel about Batman. Don’t judge.

3.5 stars. I was super excited to learn that Phantom was back in town. I didn’t think the production was bad compared to the other reviewers. The actors were talented and had great voices and the opera was impressive (to me). I thought the main actress hit a lot of high notes but hey, what do I know? It was a great production, corny at times, but expected. The pyrotechnics in the theatre did surprise/​scare me at those times. It put a smile to my face and I enjoyed it.

I might get put in the stockade and pelted by peasants in the street with rotten food for giving a masterpiece such a review.
But please believe me I really, really wanted it to be higher. I was able to get tickets in advance for opening night, and I’m not sure how everyone else feels about it, but I left that night slightly disappointed. Granted I was there in the Curran theater back in 1997 and 1999 where I was able to hear the amazing sounds of Lisa Vroman and Karen Culliver performing as Christine Daae’ and while their sound couldn’t compare to the 1986 cast with Sarah Brightman, they left a remarkable impression on me with the amazing octave levels their voices reached.
I have to say that the current Christine of Trista Moldovan was a bit disappointing. I say this because there are two scenes that I absolutely love in Phantom, one in the middle of Act 1, scene 4: Which was the scene where the Phantom escorts Christine by boat to his lair beneath the Opera Garnier and the two sing in a duet together and at the very end she is supposed to hit this very high E6 note. It never came. I was short, plateaued early and left me unsatisfied. (Kinda sounds like one or two failed relationships I’ve had.) My other favorite scene comes in Act 2 scene 7: where Christine sung «The Point of No Return» where you were Christine was to showcase the variety on pitch in her vocal range, once again she would leave me hanging and once again, unsatisfied. (Insert joke here.)
Raoul was played by Kyle Barisich (Who turns out to be a south bay native) was good. And the actors who played as Monsieur Andre and Monsieur Firmin two gentlemen in the play who bought the theater provided a wonderful sound and good comedic relief. The one though that was able to breath some life and really displayed a strong energy every time he appeared was John Cudia. His voiced echoed the entire theater, causing the hair at the back of my neck to stand on end, he honestly felt reminiscent at times to past phantoms I’ve been able to see like Franc D’Ambrosio and even the great Michael Crawford of the original cast.
Despite my feelings about Trista Moldovan, who for all I know maybe had an off night, (granted it WAS opening night.) or maybe my expectations were just to high. Regardless, if you have never seen Phantom live you definitely need to go see it, but if you are a Phantom of the Opera nut and saw them 10 years ago which was the last time they were here in the San Francisco, try to dial down the expectations a bit. I still had a good time, and the sets were beautiful and the orchestra played flawlessly, all in all it was nice to get all snazzy hit the town and watch a play.